WSU Cougar Football 2007
Season Recap
WSU Hires New Coach.
Mike Price "Withdrew"
his name from consideration. Whether that was because of a
better offer from Texas-El Paso or because of bad blood left
over from when he "Bama'd" us up side the head in the Rose Bowl
we may never know, but with his resume at WSU you would
think they could look past that irritating moment and give him
another shot. Paul Wolff has an intriguing record at
Eastern, and he bleeds cougar gold, but so did Coach Doba.
The cougars should be able to move the ball, but our problem was
really on defense, wasn't it? Next year will be a
challenging one, with the Huskies getting much better (7 of the
top 10 recruits in Washington have already committed to the U).
Mike Price could have flashed Rose Bowl rings, while Paul Wulff
has only his record at Eastern to lean on. He will have
the tough job of proving he can win at the next level before the
big recruits take a chance on him, which can be extremely
difficult to do. Most of us wanted a change, and we got
it, its only fair to give Wulff 4-5 years before we make a final
judgment on him. It will certainly be interesting to
watch!
WSU loses to Oregon 53 - 7
I'm old enough to
have taken classes with Rickey Turner, and remember the day Mark
Rypien committed to WSU "because his father was a Coug" (or
something to that effect). I remember tearing off my shirt
in the middle of an intersection and stopping traffic while
celebrating WSU's improbable win over the hated dogs of Montlake
in 1982 after years of horrible play (I remember BEFORE the goal
post was in the Coug Ceiling). NEVER in 25+ years have I
been as depressed about the cougar coaching staff as I am right
now. Don't get me wrong, in the past I have been more
frustrated because of losses that should have been wins (Just
last year against the Huskies), and more angry (at a specific
Rose Bowl time keeper). But I have never had the feeling
that our coaches staff was never going to make the Cougars
competitive. You can talk about Coach Doba's First year,
and it was great - but it now appears that that year was just
left over Price greatness, and this Coach can't get the job done
when it counts.
I felt that way watching San Diego
State even though we won. The teem just didn't look right.
And feeling has been growing dramatically over the past few
weeks. As you know I haven't even been writing about the
games for the first time in a decade. Haven't been to a
single game this year even though I have access to good seats.
Maybe it is the frustration of seeing little BSU do great things
with even less money and drawing power than the Cougs. I
kind of feel like WE should be THEM. We could have hired
every coach they have, and we could have recruited EVERY player
they did, but we didn't. WE didn't pick the right coaches
and (with a couple exceptions) we didn't pick the right players.
Maybe, just maybe if we show enough
displeasure the University will see that the Cougar Nation is no
longer willing to accept the kind of ineptness that WSU football
was when I was a student in 1979. Maybe they will step up
to the plate and hire a coach with real credentials that can
reclaim the glory years that seem so far in the past.
It looks today as if the Football
team has quit on the coach as well.
53 to 7... no one is surprised.
And I am starting to take it personally.
WSU verses San Diego State at Quest Field - 4PM Start time
This is one of the
three "They had better at least win this one" games on WSU's
schedule this year, the others being Idaho and of course
Stanford. Though San Diego State may be better than
Stanford when it comes right down to it. San Diego State
has 12 new starters and a weak secondary, so expect WSU to go to
the air early and often to work on that inexperience. We
should be on the other side of a 42-31 score this week (SDSU is
0-16 against the Pac-10 recently), just what the Seattle based
cougar faithful expect from the annual Quest field patsy.
Of course, nowadays no team is so lowly that it can't give the
Alex Brink Cougars trouble, just evidence last years squeaker 17
-15 win over Grambling in Seattle. Or the season ending
loss to the Huskies. It had better be easy to avoid a loss
Saturday against San Diego State. If the game is even
close then watch for Cougar faithful to be burning Coach Doba in
effigy after the game.
On offense: Watch for WSU run
enough to set up the pass but go deep frequently. The San
Diego State secondary is so inexperienced they are not even sure
who is going to start at free safety on Saturday.
Hopefully WSU can help them figure out who shouldn't be
there.
On defense: WSU will be more
aggressive as the game goes on, but since this is San Diego
State's first game of the season WSU will have to adjust to any
new wrinkles on the fly.
It will be a fun one for those of
you who get to see it! I was planning on flying over for
the game, but discovered the BSU alumni long ago packed the
airlines for today's game with UW. Hopefully BSU can
take the Huskies down a notch.
Wisconsin spanks the Cougars 42-21
When the score was
14-7 WSU in the first quarter the Cougar nation sat up and
noticed, but so did Wisconsin, who ran off the next 21 points to
take a comfortable lead. In gesture of "Wisconsin nice"
they ran the ball into the line on the 2 yard line to run out
the clock and save WSU an even more lopsided score. Not
that there weren't some awesome plays in this one, mostly in the
kicking game. One of WSU's early touchdowns came off of a
blocked punt - not of Wisconsin - they blocked WSU! But
the WSU punter (Blunt) got a luck bounce of the ball back into
his hands and scampered for a WSU first down. The Cougars
scored several plays later. In the 2nd half Wisconsin blew
a punt so badly the ball landed for a net 1 yard punt, but with
the penalty against Wisconsin the net was -14 yards, and WSU
managed to score from there. If you take out those two
luck plays the score might have been 42-7 or worse.
Positives: Yes, the number 7 team
in the nations scored 42 points, but the Cougar defense fought
with aggressive ferocity for much of the game. Coach Doba
focusing on the defensive side of the ball really has helped the
team on both sides of the ball, they are not going to finish
number 8 in the pac-10 this year, maybe 4 or 5? Also WSU
did a great job of running the ball early, the running game
won't be as anemic as I had thought after all of the losses
there.
Negatives: The gaping whole is the
secondary - once Wisconsin started picking on them the game was
over in a hurry. You could hear the announcers
talking about how great Brink looked early, but as the game
tightened up so did he - certainly Wisconsin took the tight end
Jed Collins out of the mix in the second half, and Brink had to
through longer, but his accuracy dipped as well.
This was a very up and down
performance for the Cougs - lets hope its the 1st quarter
Cougars that show up next week.
#7 Wisconsin is the Cougars first opponent in 2007
This should be better
than last years drubbing by Auburn, but at Wisconsin, with
80,000 screaming fans (at least 500 of them will be Cougar
faithful?), but for most of America the Cougars will have to do
it to be believed. One small consolation? A recent
poll comparing pre-season rankings with final standings proves
something we have long known - WSU is the single most
under-rated team in College football (Boise State came in number
2 in that list). And just to warm your heart, the most
over-rated team in College football? OK not THE most
over-rated, but the 3rd most over rated team in ALL OF COLLEGE
FOOTBALL over the past 10 years? The pitiful Washington
Montlake Mongrels. It just warms your heart, doesn't it?
WSU Fall Camp opened August 3rd and 4th
The 3rd for the
new recruits and the 4th for returning players.
The Cougars will conduct their first contact
practice in full pads Thursday, Aug. 9, at 9:00 a.m.
Here are some scheduling notes
taken from press releases and the wsucougars.cstv.com website.
The Cougars will conduct three full-scale
scrimmages: (1) Saturday, Aug. 11, at 2:30 p.m., (2)
Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 2:30 p.m. and (3) Saturday, Aug. 18, at
7:30 p.m.
In addition WSU will hold a game-like
practice Saturday, Aug. 25, 2:30 p.m., prior to the Cougar
opener Sept. 1 at Wisconsin, but the workout will be
non-contact.
Washington State University's season-opener
game at Wisconsin, Sept. 1, is the first of five live television
appearances by Cougars this season. The game will be shown by
ABC and the network will also televise the Cougar game at USC
Sept. 22. Additionally, FSN will televise the UCLA game, Oct.
27, and the Cal game, Nov. 3, while FSN will show the WSU-Idaho
contest Sept. 15. Both ABC and FSN can select additional games
during the course of the 2007 season, with selections made six
or 12 days in advance of the games
Brink enters the 2007 season having started
his last 28 games dating back to his freshman season - more than
any other starting quarterback in the Pac-10. His number
of wins is NOT.....
So... What were they saying about Cougar Football 2007?
Expect terms like
"Flying under the radar" and "Sneaking up on people" from coach
Doba this fall. Here are some quotes from the "pundits"
(of course they ALWAYS underestimate us, right?)
"The Cougars can probably go
as high as 7-5 – in theory – but that is so far, an unproven
theory and it is more likely that their defensive secondary
weaknesses will be too much to overcome in the end."
Rivals.com sports writers.
"The defense has just 5 starters
back but was hard with by injuries last season and Doba has gone
the JUCO route to shore it up. The Cougars take on the NCAA's
3rd toughest schedule however and it will be tough to top last
year's 6 win total." -
www.philsteele.com
"With each passing year, it becomes painfully apparent that Doba
-- a super-nice guy and former legendary high school coach -- is
in way over his head. After a successful 10-3 debut in 2003,
he's gone 8-17 in the Pac-10 since."
From Coach Doba's listing on the
"Five Worst Coaches" in SI.COM
WSU's only consolation in the above
quote is that both UCLA's Karl Dorrell and Arizona's Mike Stoops
are mentioned in the article as well. His Best Coach?
If you need to ask then you probably graduated from an SEC
school (So why would you be reading this?).
The Consensus at the Pac-10 Media
day was an 8th place finish. Coach Dobas assessment of our
chances? "The key is staying healthy," Doba said, "and
having a little luck." Funny, that's what Pete Carroll said when
they asked him about USC's chances of another national title
this year.
The conflagration in Cougar Football continues.
It is becoming
increasingly obvious that Bill Doba is not going to create a winning
football program at Washington State. News today that two
more promising players have left the program (because they
couldn't get their homework done!) and that cornerbacks coach
Ken Greene has been dismissed for misconduct only buttresses the
belief that the wrong guy is in charge. While it is true
that you must enforce discipline, the goal is to avoid
situations where these kinds of actions become necessary.
Coming on the heels of defections by Robb Akey and Running backs
coach Kelly Skipper you have to wonder who is left to tend the
store.
Successful sports teams have a
specific look and feel to them - a feeling of confidence, top
down control and increasing quality. In great programs you
hire assistant coaches that are so dedicated to the job at hand
that they don't have time to get in trouble. In great
programs you prioritize the grades and attention to people like
Dewayne Patterson and Derrell Hutsona so that they stay on the
field. True, WSU has made a living taking players
that other teams wasn't interested in, but in all three of these
situations the problem might be that Coach Doba recruited
players and coaches without a proper work ethic.
In great programs coaches have the
confidence to hire staff that are good enough to replace the
head coach - so the head coach doesn't have to be replaced.
Coach Doba seems more interested in hiring former Cougar players
than in hiring the best person for the job. Of course it
might be that they are so disorganized that people with long
ties to the school are the only ones willing to take the risk of
coming to work under Coach Doba. A possible exception to
that thought is Marty Long, he seems to have been the one good
hire in the spring.
One indication of a team on its way
out? Comments like "We have to have confidence in
ourselves because no one else does..." "This is a team
that really likes each other and gets along well" (read - there
are no battles for any of the major positions).
People who have read this site for
a while know we have been supporters of Coach Dobas' decisions
in the past, even when the WSU faithful were in the stands
carrying signs saying "off with his head!". Consider
this official notice of me jumping off of the bandwagon.
Coach Doba is making no comments at
this time regarding any of these situations.
Unless this team starts out the
season with a strong winning record (which seems more unlikely
by the day) a change at the top seems inevitable.
Is the 2007 version of Cougar football doomed from the start?
Maybe it is in
comparison to the incredible season WSU basket ball just had
under first year coach Tony Bennett, a hangover from the
irritating end of last year or irritation at the fading glory
that was Cougar football, but I am unsure if I have ever felt as
negative about WSU's chances coming into the season. Here
is a list of the things that haven't gone right for the Cougars
so far:
1. Starting defensive tackle
Feveae'i Ahmu (foot surgery)-injured but should be able
to play in the fall.
2. Starting defensive end Matt Mullenix missed spring
ball with a knee injury
3. Starting defensive tackle Aaron Johnson might require
surgery on his back for a bulging disk
4. Starting defensive end Lance Broadus, just had surgery
on his left Shoulder and might miss games at the beginning of
the season.
5. Running back DeMaundray Woolridge flunked out of
school in December - that one hurt. I thought this would
be a breakout year for him. It always amazes me when
someone can't do something as simple as 100 level college course
work to keep them on a team - you know he wasn't signed up for
differential equations. What was a higher priority than
staying in school?
6. Starting cornerback is WEAK. That translates into a
defense that can't sell out to stop the run without allowing
some very long touchdowns. You've seen that before - the
offense fights and scraps for 6 points, then the defense gives
up a long bomb TD and the offense is back out on the field 30
seconds later. Not even Coach Doba has a clue who will be
the starters at this position.
7. Backup SR running back Darrell Hutsona, was held out
of spring drills to improve his grades
And that's just the guys we know well, lesser known Cougs (read
- the guys you get to know after the seniors graduate and its
their turn) Have a myriad of injuries as well.
If there are any positives in this irritating spring they are
mostly on the offensive side of the ball:
1. DeWayne Patterson got his grades in
order and should be able to play - he's a good one.
2 Both Loren Langley and Romeen
Abdollmohammadi seem to be kicking well - I would still go
with Romeen - he deals with pressure better.
3 By all accounts Alex Brink has improved, but then
he has almost always looked great. The only thing he
hasn't been able to do at WSU is win.
4 Gary Rogers gives hope for the future, but
Coach Doba has thrown so many people under the bus for
Alex Brink that he will be the starter unless a large rock
falls out of the sky and lands on him, no matter how many games
WSU loses.
5. Tight end. We seem stocked, which will make
converting on 3rd downs easier than it was last year.
6. Linebacker will be the strength of the defense strong
and with depth, I wonder if at least one of them might be moved
to shore up another position - someone like Alex Hamilton.
7. Michael Bumpus - this should be his big year.
The receiving core as a whole seems to be quite good.
The big question is will the defensive line have to be
completely revamped for fall or will some of these guys make
miraculous recoveries? WSU does not seem deep enough to
spot another team that many players in a critical area and
remain competitive. In the past couple years I've
predicted more Cougar victories than we have actually achieved.
I hope I'm wrong this time, or WSU will have a season full of
heart breaking 38-28 losses and a 7-9th place finish - I'm
leaving 10th place for the Huskies, of course. Lets hope
that we don't lose anyone else before the season starts, and
that some of the young guys can step in and perform.
WSU Mascot "Butch
T Cougar" Crowned 2006
"Capital One National Mascot of the Year"!
Check it out at
Capital One.
Here is the web bio for
"Butch T Cougar".
We always knew Butch
was the best, now he's getting some national recognition, due in
no small part to cougar faithful around the country, I'm sure.
Way to show your cougar spirit! First the Space Needle,
then the Nation.
Can the world be far
behind?
WSU Basketball? "Did you mean MSU?"
Everyone is
jumping on the band wagon, now that the Cougars under first year
coach Tony Bennett are surprising everyone and putting together
an awesome season. The fact that the last time WSU had a really good team was
in 1983 is just scary. That is so long ago that I
was still a student and went to many of those games.
Remember Stuart House? Didn't think so. I do
remember a really tall lanky guy that we used to chant for to
try to get him into the game when the Cougars were blowing
someone out. He was awful as a young player. But a
lot of people don't know that that extremely tall young man?
Well he grew up to be an extremely tall older man not playing
professional basketball... That kind rags to rags story
was the normal progression at WSU for basketball players for the
past 20 years. We had a high graduation rate because the
players knew they were going to NEED that degree. Well no
more. Tony Bennett and company have resurrected Cougar
basketball and suddenly the "just like new" seats in the upper
sections of Friel court are being used for something
besides tarp storage. The victory over UW is just the
latest in a procession of solid victories this season, a season
that will probably land WSU in the NCAA tournament again.
Finally! And the most exciting thing? Only one
starter (Avery Clark) is a senior. Next year could be even
more magical.
OK - I just Googled "WSU
Basketball Friel" To make sure I spelled "Friel" Correctly, and
Google came back with "Did you mean MSU Basketball Friel?"
That just hurts. That's probably because the last time the
Cougars were in the NCAA tournament the public internet hadn't
been invented yet. Heck, the first Macintosh computer came
out in 1984 and the Windows operating system was introduced in
1985. Head coach Tony Bennett was 14, and some guy named
Mark Rypien was the Cougar Quarterback. Hopefully Tony
Bennett will remain the cougar basketball coach, and this
is the first of many great seasons to come!
Want to hear some more intelligent
commentary on WSU basketball? Check out the official WSU
Basketball website
here. To hear a glowing report of the recent thrashing of
the UW Huskies check out Steve Kelley's column
here. If you are a Cougar Basketball Fanatic,
knowledgeable, and want the world to hear your views,
email me here. I would love covering WSU Basketball on
this site.
First in line as WSU Defensive Coordinator? Larry Lewis.
Cougar fans that have
great memories will remember him as another Mike Price protégé,
working with Mike at Weber State, then becoming the assistant
head coach in charge of defensive line and special teams.
For the last 7 years he was the head coach at Idaho State, doing
well at first but fading in the past couple years. He was
fired from the Idaho State job November 20th. With the
Special teams and defensive challenges over the past couple
years, having someone he trusts and knows at the helm might be a
big boost for coach Doba. He was part of the brain trust
during the 1997 Rose Bowl season, and defensive line was
impressive. With seven years as a head coach under his
belt at a smaller school, being the defensive coordinator at WSU
might be the perfect move for him AND WSU. It is only a
rumor right now, but it sounds positive. We loved Robb
Akey, but WSU has been in the bottom half of the Pac-10 the past
three years. Shame you can't get someone like Dirk Koetter
as the offensive coordinator.....
Shower and a Suit - Suddenly Robb Akey is the coach at Idaho.
It is not often that
a defensive coordinator for a football gains the kind of
notoriety that Robb Akey did at WSU. His fiery spirit and
sideline enthusiasm made him easy to find fan favorite on the
sideline and a frequent cut-away for stations covering Cougar
Football. When I picture Akey it is easy picture him
jumping in the air and shouting (Coach Doba? not so much).
When I have run into him at Cougar fundraisers he seemed very
much like the kind of guy you would love to hang out an watch a
game with. So what's with the suit? The
Seattle Times announcement of his departure to Idaho
includes a press picture of him in a coat and tie (Suddenly you
notice the grey hair). Robb suddenly looks the part.
Last year might have been Akey's best year of coaching ever, not
withstanding the teams overall performance. With
decimating injuries on the defensive side of the ball Robb still
managed to make WSU a defense that was respected if not feared.
Head coach is a big step for him, and we wish him all the best.
I don't know if there is someone on
the current staff who can easily step into his shoes. Leon
Burnett is the only name that even comes to mind. He is
current linebackers coach.
Robb Akeys' defection only
emphasizes the difficult situation that WSU finds itself in
right now. The past couple years of non-performance have
exposed a Cougar program that is in disarray. What seemed
at the time like a great coaching change to keep our program at
a high level (Promoting coach Doba) has instead turned into a
painful death march of missed opportunities. It always
seems like victory is just beyond the grasp of this coaching
staff.
This change can be for the better
if WSU can recruit a great replacement. It should be
easier to find a great defensive coach for WSU than it was to
find a head Coach at Idaho.
