Hey Jerry Jones, how’s that TO experiment working out in Dallas? Ohhh, too soon?? BURN.
Actually you have to admit, TO showed some moxie playing on a high ankle sprain just 3 weeks after the injury. He showed it in Philly, too, in the SB on basically a broken ankle. The guy has amazing healing ability, and he does situps in his driveway so he’s pretty special. But once again, the Cowboys are out. And I think America is a much better place for it too. Just think of all the TO/Romo/Jessica Simpson/Jerry Jones BS that we would have had to stomach for the next 3+ weeks if they would have made it. Thank you NY G-men!
On to business – Our Cougs had some recruits in on visits this last weekend, and the news has been fairly positive. The Times has a quick run-down of the newest Cougar pledges, all of which are JC kids. Not sure I’m excited about a bunch of JC’s at this point, but we may not have much of a choice. They are so behind the 8-ball with this recruiting class, not only with the lateness of the new hire but the lack of progress under Doba, that it’s really a scramble to the finish line.
A big-time JC safety has suddenly shown interest in WSU and was on his visit. Cougfan has a free story about David Sims and his trip to Pullman and how the process is going. But is there a Terry Mixon-like story here? Should WSU just avoid the 4-star JC’s due to potential baggage?
A JC running back did just commit last night to WSU. Chantz Staden, a 3-star player from Arizona, looks pretty good on tape. This is from his 2005 senior year and it’s impressive. Check it out:
He’s got some pretty good hands, as a lot of his highlights are catching the ball out of the backfield. With Wulff’s offense, running backs probably will need to have the ability to do multiple things, so you have to like that. Good cutback ability too on a few of those runs. Not to get too pumped over a high school highlight tape! He doesn’t look like he has blazing speed, but there’s a few plays where he outruns everyone. Could be a nice get for this year’s class.
I hate to be down on JC’s. Dennis Erickson has done well going that route, especially early on the job to get some instant success. And Jerome Harrison was a JC, remember him? It’s not like they never work out. I guess I’m gun-shy over the JC’s that just never pan out. I would think that based on some comments Wulff has made since taking the job, that we’ll likely see a heavy lean towards high school players in the future. But this year is more about just getting some talent, any way you can, and hope things will work out. More visits are set for this coming weekend, so again, we’ll see how it all shakes out.
Finally, we’re number EIGHT in the latest polls! Yep, we fell 4 places after the UCLA loss. No biggie. We are better in the hunter role anyway, and not the undefeated, “hunted” team with a big fat target on their backs. We all know this is going to be a grind of a season, and to steal a line from Brinkhater, quite simply we just don’t match up well with UCLA. Period. Let’s see, they basically play the exact same style of defense that we do, only they are bigger, faster, stronger and better. It’s not a good matchup. And as Brinkhater said last night, we actually have a better shot at the Kansas and Memphis teams of the world, rather than a team like Ben Howland’s Bruins.
Speaking of Ben Howland – you have to just tip your hat to what he’s accomplished down there. Really, to think that he can reel in the McDonald’s All-Americans, and then get them to buy into the team-first, defensive approach? It’s a recipe for many Final Four’s. It must be pretty hard to get kids focused in LA-LA land, with so many distractions at every turn, but he’s getting it done in a huge way. They have become like USC has become in football, where you get all the stars, yet get them to buy in.
Enjoy your Tuesday.
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