Last Call for Seniors

Hoping for TV coverage of the game tonight? If you are on the islands you are set, but you are out of luck if you are in the greater 48. What’s weird is how ESPN had the game on it’s schedule as part of the ESPN Game Plan. It was listed all week as one of the options…..until yesterday. SEE!?!?

However there is a streaming option via the web, if you feel so inclined. It’s showing as available tonight via something called Oceanic-Time Warner, an outfit that streams UH games. Tonight’s game is listed at $12.56, not totally unreasonable.

Now for the bad news. It’s not exactly a slam-dunk that you will be able to get the game, even on the web. From someone named “RosiesBoy” on Cougfan, some valuable information has been passed on:

So, if you DO decide to fork over the cash for the feed, just be prepared in case something doesn’t go quite as planned.

On the game tonight, whether you watch it, listen to it or follow it online, one thing lost in this bad season is that this is the end for some pretty good seniors. Greg Trent has been playing regularly since early in 2004, taking over for an injured Will Derting in the fourth game that year. After some serious growing pains, he evolved into a pretty good tackler, albeit a bit undersized in the middle. We’ll never forget how hard Trent played, no matter the situation.

But the biggest “headline” senior has to be Brandon Gibson. In what was regarded as a real boost to the team last year, Gibson decided to return to WSU after being informed he was a sure 2nd-day NFL draft pick (rumors had him pegged for the 4th or 5th round). It’s easy to forget how big Gibson was in 2007. He led the PAC-10 in receiving yards per game (107.3) and had a team-high 1180 yards, as well as nine TD’s. This year it’s been a different story:

2007:
Catches: 67
Yards: 1180
TD: 9
100-yard games: 6, including the last 4 of 2007.

2008:
Catches: 56
Yards: 655
TD: 2
100-yard games: 1

It obviously hasn’t gone as planned for Gibby, for one reason or another. I think back to the very first game of the year and wonder if things could have been different? You don’t want to over-react to how things go early in a season, but the team showed some fight vs. Okie State, even with some horrible special teams play. They never gave up and rallied for a couple of scores in the third quarter to make it somewhat interesting. But then there were those drops.

Gibson had at least one deep ball that was flat-out dropped, and another that he probably could have had. Both catches could have changed that game. And who knows how his season could have gone from there? Maybe it helps loosen up defenses, knowing they have to respect the deep ball from Gary Rogers to Brandon Gibson? Maybe Gibson’s confidence gets even better and he uses that opener as a springboard into 2008? Instead it’s been one frustrating week after another.

That said, it’s hard to fault Gibson for 2008. We saw FIVE different QB’s play for WSU this season – Gary Rogers, Kevin Lopina, Marshall Lobbestael, JT Levenseller and Dan Wagner – after basically one guy started for 3 1/2 seasons. So how could anyone develop any continuity? Besides, several WSU receivers opposite Gibson were hurt from the get-go, like Jeshua Anderson, or others were far too young to have any impact, like Jared Karstetter or Kevin Norrell. And you can’t forget tight end Devin Frischknecht and his bum ankle. Frischknecht was set up to have a big senior year, at least I sure thought so, after showing some real upside at the end of last year. He had a huge Apple Cup in 2007, five catches for 88 yards and two TD’s, and you could see that he might have been a big boost to the passing game this year. But it just wasn’t to be.

The best news for Gibson is that he’s now the leading WR in school history, passing Jason Hill’s career yardage record. So even with a tough final act in 2008, he will still have a secure place atop the WSU record book. Here’s hoping that Gibson has one last big performance tonight to cap off an excellent four years at WSU!

ENJOY THE GAME tonight, and GO COUGS!