So now that it’s been a few days, and yours truly has had a little bit of time to rest and recover from the weekend (read: sober up), I thought it would be a good idea to ramble through some post-spring game thoughts for our beloved Cougs. And what better way to do it than to roll through it Peter King style, with his weekly “observations” as well as the things he thinks?? Obviously I’m no Peter King, and he rubs some people the wrong way at times, but I am a fan of his work and enjoy his weekly musings. So, here goes…..
Obligatory travel complaint: So we took the RV out for the first time this year, and overall things went pretty well. We hadn’t been out since October of last year so the first trip of the new season you find you are holding your breath, hoping everything works. THUMBS UP there!
But I will offer some advice. On the drive home on Sunday, we thought we would be cute/smart and take HWY 2 at the turnoff at George after smooth sailing on I-90. BIG mistake. It added at least a couple hours on to our trip, and while it was scenic and everything, the idea of a 7-hour drive from Spokane to the Seattle area wasn’t the best idea on a tired, sleepy-eyed Sunday. Now don’t get me wrong, part of the RV “experience” is to get out and enjoy the countryside as you make your way from point A to point B. And it is beautiful country. But the slowdowns on a Sunday afternoon through Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Stevens Pass and all the way along the highways, eeesh. It’s nice to look at if you don’t really care when you get home, but wow, never again!
Ten thoughts from the spring game:
1) Jeff Tuel – I know, I’ve “fawned” on Tuel since his strong showings against pretty good teams last year, and especially his games against Oregon State and UW to end the season. But Tuel looked as good as can be expected, as he pretty much carved up the two’s with his passing. There was one big miss he had, where he misfired on a double-slant in the end zone that would have been six points, as both wide receivers were WIDE OPEN. I mean he literally could have just taken his pick of which guy he wanted to throw to, and it was a TD, and he just missed a little high. But otherwise he was precise and in control.
Cool side story on Tuel: One of our friends of the blog was at the WSU function in Spokane on Friday night. Many former players were there, and it was a great time. But this guy happened to have a very enjoyable conversation with none other than Jeff Tuel’s mother, in town for the events. Now obviously a Mom is going to say good things about her boy, I mean that’s pretty much in the job description when you sign off to become a parent? But she said that they have seen a big stride forward with him in regards to his confidence, where he has said some things like “I know it’s my time now, it’s my team”, things like that of late. Things you WANT to hear from your starting QB! She talked about how he was a bit overwhelmed at the Peyton/Eli Manning passing camp last year, that he couldn’t believe he was really there. But he also made good friends with Andrew Luck during the camp, and he held his own on the field, and his confidence started growing. But you go back and look at Tuel’s play the last couple of games in 2010, plus the way he played vs. Stanford and Oregon as well, and you can see the growth. But thinking of all that as you watched him on Saturday, just watching his body language and the command he has of this team, the ease in which he made good decision after good decision in game-like conditions, well….it’s OK to get REALLY EXCITED about what lies ahead for #10!
2) Running Game – It’s been the overall talk of spring, in that they really have shown a strong improvement in the running game. Yes, it was against the second string defense that was already thin anyway due to guys like Travis Long and Brandon Rankin standing on the sidelines, but, you can tell things look to be improving in the running game. Both Logwone Mitz and Rickey Galvin ran hard, showing very little hesitation about what to do once they get the ball. Mitz looks like he is in a little better shape compared to last year? Not that he was too heavy in 2010, but he definitely looked a little quicker with the football. And I understand the praise on Galvin. He’s not exactly Reggie Bush fast, but not many people walking the earth are in that category. But Galvin does give the backfield that extra element of breakaway speed that they have been missing for some time.
The O-line had their way with the backups too, and the surge was evident on almost every carry. Maybe they are all a bit bigger, stronger and quicker than they were before, and it’s hard to really judge in spring game conditions. But they sure were moving the defense backwards on running play after running play, and that’s a good thing. We have yet to see this offense average over 3.0 yards per carry under Paul Wulff, but if Saturday is any indication, there is at least hope that they can be average on the ground??
3) Secondary – As a unit, they all looked fast and athletic, and certainly more confident than I can remember. And Deone Bucannon just absolutely BROUGHT IT on one hit, where the sound of plastic-on-plastic echoed throughout Joe Albi! Maybe it was the Alaskan Amber talking, but Bucannon looked bigger than I thought, and I think he’s put some decent weight on his frame. Still, he looked quick as can be, and he still is excellent running through people when he tackles them! Aire Justin looked good too, really long and athletic as well. I know Adam’s report is out there right now, but I sure hope somehow Justin is on the field this fall. Losing him could really hurt the corner position, and while we have more depth than we have had in years, the kid is a real talent.
4) Linebackers – They looked improved. Maybe it had to do with going up against backups, but the linebackers played with an edge, I guess, is the best way to put it? Alex Hoffman-Ellis attacked the line of scrimmage, and even others like Mike Ledgerwood and Darren Markle had some strong moments during the course of the day. I really liked the look of the new kid linebacker, Darryl Monroe. Let’s just say he looked as advertised, where he definitely looks like a Pac-12 player right now! If they had to start the season tomorrow, he could be on the field immediately and you wouldn’t think he is a true frosh. The future is bright for that one.
But the question a lot of us were asking after the game, where was CJ Mizell?? Running with the two’s, and unfortunately you really didn’t hear his name or jersey number called a whole lot over the PA system….
I don’t want to get into it too much on Mizell. It’s been widely reported since last fall that he’s not exactly a shining star during practices/scrimmages/whatever. But we all saw what he did at times when the lights came on last season and the action was real. The kid can play, he’s got all the natural ability in the world and would be a huge boost to the defense if he’s “all in”. Right now, not so much, but let’s see what happens this fall.
5) Marquess Wilson – Wow. Huge frosh year, yeah, and there is always the dreaded sophomore slump to worry about. But uh, not this kid. He does look slightly heavier than last year, maybe just a few pounds, but he still has that nice, long frame that you want out of your playmaker on the outside. And man, those hands….
I have always had a hard time explaining this, but with Wilson, there is just something different about the way he catches the ball. I think of it as the way it was when Ken Griffey Jr was in his prime, and you would watch him take BP and the ball just had a different sound when he connected compared to the other guys. The way the ball hits Wilson’s hands, the way it almost seems to stick in his fingers like he’s got Spiderman hands or something, it’s just different than you normally see from the other wide receivers. And on top of that, he is just so fluid out there, so under control in what he is doing, the way he runs and cuts and finds the open spots against the defense. He is silky smooth, like a graceful NBA small forward just gliding around the field. I know we’re excited about Jeff Tuel, but Marquess Wilson could be an absolute NIGHTMARE matchup for many a corner on the WSU schedule in 2011! He seriously looks THAT good. And you start to think about the WR corps overall, and having Karstetter’s huge frame on one side of the ball and Wilson on the other, well, hey defense, you want to blitz? Go right ahead! 🙂
6) Shotgun, Shotgun, Shotgun – I hope you like the shotgun offense, because that is all we saw most of the time! You saw them do different things with it on Saturday though, including some fly-sweep type stuff, and play-action out of it as well.
One thing that has to be said, right now – the snaps were JUST FINE, THANKS! I know last year a major point of contention were those awful snaps that forced Tuel to field ground balls almost half the time, as Williams struggled with getting it back there consistently. But that looks to be a thing of the past, as it was pretty clean through most of the day. But I thought it was interesting how they are now incorporating more of the tight end in those shotgun sets. You saw Lintz come in and almost like an H back, where he was one yard off the ball behind the line and would motion across a couple of times, and it’s a good extra wrinkle they have added in to the offense. Last year we saw a lot of shotgun, but also we saw it with a lot of four wide receiver sets. Wulff said late last year that they would look to use the tight end more in 2011, and now you can see how that is going to come about. I like it because A) having the bigger body in there can help you run out of the shotgun, with the extra blocker helping out up front, B) the tight end can block initially, then release as a safety valve for Tuel if things start to break down and you don’t need to have Tuel constantly make plays running the ball, and C) we now know that Lintz can flat-out catch the football after that diving TD catch, so the tight end can be a legit receiving threat as well!
7) Backup QB – I think it’s pretty clear right now that, despite the tools that Connor Halliday possesses right now, Marshall Lobbestael is going to enter fall camp #2 on the depth chart. Marshall started for the backups, and he looked OK, if not a little shaky. But Halliday struggled a bit in his reps, missing some things here and there. You can see the arm strength though, as there were a couple of deep balls he aired out that made you go “WOW!”, but he clearly has a ways to go.
Maybe things will change in August, but I have a hard time seeing Halliday passing Lobbestael after what we saw on Saturday?
8) Punting and Kicking – First, punting – WHERE HAVE YOU GONE REID FORREST!?! – If you saw it or heard about it, uh….wow. Let’s just say I’m glad it’s only April! I think one, if not two balls, were kicked into the stands?? Plenty of time to work out the kinks, but definitely an area that has to be improved to say the least. Kicking was better though, as Andrew Furney nailed a pair, including a long 53-yarder on a breezy spring day.
9) New Faces – We touched on Darryl Monroe earlier, as well as Rickey Galvin, who is a new face but kinda isn’t? Anyway, Henry Eaddy looked quick and shifty, taking one to the house on an end-around. You can definitely see he has the physical ability to play at this level. Maybe even just special teams early on, but I’m sure he will see the field next fall. Didn’t see a whole lot from Kristoff Williams, but with his size, adding him to the current group of wideouts is exciting.
Finally, 10) Spokane week = HUGE WIN. Maybe the biggest thing of all was how successful everything was for the first Spokane Week under Bill Moos. From the uniform unveiling, and the entire week of functions and events culminating in the spring game, it’s just hard to imagine things going any better than they did. It’s a huge step for WSU and Bill Moos in their attempts to connect with the Spokane area. All during the tailgate, many people were saying at how impressed they were with the whole week, what a great idea it was, how Bill Moos just “gets it”. So a huge hat-tip to Moos and WSU for the whole idea, and let’s hope this is only the start of a very cool annual event.
That’s about it for now. Enjoy your Tuesday, and as always, GO COUGS!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
