This is actually from last week’s ESPN Gameday…..but Erin Andrews and the WSU flag, how could we pass on that? Even though she knows nothing about WSU, other than our hoops coach is pretty hot….but here’s a screenie from today:
Will and Stephanie Walker, doing their best every Saturday. Even in these worst of times, arguably the worst three-game stretch to open a WSU football season in recent memory, they are still at it. Great job, again. If you want to see their gallery of flag screenshots, check it out here.
I don’t know if any of you watched gameday this morning, but they did a feature on SEC defenses. It’s startling to see highlights of how these teams play defense, and their size and speed is pretty incredible. But the #1 thing that Tommy Tuberville and Nick Saban pointed out is the size, speed and depth that these SEC teams have on the defensive line that is just incredible. They are all big, strong, and can run sub-5 40’s. I know it was an eye opener when we went down to Auburn in ’06 and got a load of their speed in the linebackers and secondary, and the issues Alex Brink had in getting anything done through the air. But their defensive line was just another animal altogether, and it was a shock to the system. I shudder to think what an Auburn or LSU defensive line would do to our offensive line right now! You watch those programs, then look at us, especially up front? We’ve got a long way to go (thank you captain obvious!).
There are some links and such on gameday morning, and you know where to find most of them. Vince has a quick breakdown of the game today, and as usual, keeps it real. But I thought the Bud Withers story today was exceptionally good, and really dials in on what we were preaching yesterday – CHANGE. Everything is different this year, from what and how they eat all the way down to what you see on the field, and they are all still adjusting. But to think about it in real-world situations, here this organization went from a laid back, folksy type in a grandfather figure like Doba to a structured, disciplined, detailed system with Wulff.
“I’ve come into a situation that’s no different than somebody else taking over a new business,” he says. “There were some things internally that maybe weren’t exposed. It’s no different from any other major business. You evaluate it and you start building it and fixing.”
Most have bought in to this change, but not all. And it’s those who resist the changes as the ones who are probably struggling the most.
“It takes day-after-day consistency to really develop,” he says. “Sometimes it takes a little tough love to get that across. But ultimately, that’s what they wanted. The kids that really wanted to excel wanted that.”
That’s one thing that gets a little lost in all this. It’s easy to look at these huge kids and think of them as full-grown men, but they aren’t. They are still just kids, texting, playing video games, trying to deal with girls and maturing and getting passing grades. It’s a ton of pressure on a regular student, but factor in all that is new in the football program, and you can understand it a little more. A lot of them deep down need the system, the structure, the discipline that maybe they haven’t had before.
Let’s go out and get a win today. We need it as fans, but think how much these players and coaches are dying to feel GOOD after a game!
ENJOY YOUR SATURDAY, AND GO COUGS!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
