SB Nation - Chima Nwachukwu

AUDIO: CougCenter Podcast, Episode 16 - Football Wrap

Nuss — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:21:08 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Is there a chance these sorts of scenes could be fewer and farther in between next year? We think so.

Before we put this football season completely in the rearview mirror, just one last order of business: The final football podcast until August. We briefly look back at this train wreck of a season, but spend most of our time looking to the future and discussing just what it is that this team needs to do to take a step forward next season and in 2011.

As usual you can listen to the audio via the player below, or visit our podcast page for myriad subscription options. You can also find us in the iTunes directory under keyword "CougCenter." The advantage of subscribing? Besides having the audio directly delivered to your player of choice, I often upload the audio to the podcast site before posting it here -- this podcast was uploaded last night, so those of you with subscriptions have had access to this for the better part of 12 hours.

Also, be on the lookout for our next podcast, coming at you on Wednesday. We'll focus specifically on hoops, debriefing the Great Alaska Shootout and previewing the matchups with Gonzaga and Kansas State.

Poll

Your expectation for wins next year?

Two or fewer

64 votes

Three or four

123 votes

Five or more

16 votes

203 votes | Poll has closed

Spaulding Roundup: In A Washington State Of Mind

Nestor — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:49:43 -0000

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

Remember what he did to Dewayne Walker's defense in 2007?

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Not sure how I can follow up the excitement around Mr. Smith's decision to come to Howlandwood this morning. I will give it a try. The timing of his announcement was a perfect convergence during the game week sandwiched between two Washington schools. Not only are we feeling good about what transpired last weekend at the Rose Bowl, now all on a sudden we have additional adrenaline shot (even though this wasn't a total surprise) heading into the second exhibition Ben Ball game tonight (and oh BTW Concordia apparently beat UCI last night in their second exhibition game). Let's hope we can keep the good vibes going around BN thanks to the state of Washington all the way into next weekend.

Washington State's football team are hurting again this season. They are streaking in the wrong direction. Here is the "inside slant" from Sportsline.com which accounts what transpired for the Cougars in their last game at Arizona, which somewhat encapsulated their season to date:

Washington State won the toss but decided to defer its decision, and the Wildcats returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, beginning an onslaught that saw Arizona take a 21-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game.

From there, it was the same old story, which has become exceedingly redundant for Washington State fans, as the Cougars never got back in the game. Their lone score came midway through the fourth quarter after Arizona led 48-0 and had emptied its bench.

Washington State is now 1-8 overall, 0-6 in Pac-10 play, and has lost every conference game by at least 13 points, and all but one by at least 21.

"They opened with that kickoff, and it's hard to open the game when you are down seven," linebacker Andy Mattingly told The Spokesman-Review.

Not that it likely would have mattered much in the long run, as the Cougars were again completely dominated despite Arizona going conservative pretty early on.

Arizona outgained Washington State 471-185, including a 294-59 edge in rushing.

Cougars are also banged up. They lost their starting QB Jeff Tuel (who is a freshman BTW) in their last game and his status is up in air during this game week. Here was the update from the Spokeman-Review yesterday:

"He’s sore today, but (there was) very little swelling, which is a real positive," coach Paul Wulff said Sunday. "He had to get an MRI today to see if there was anything going on more than they anticipated."

Tuel, who is still on crutches, was injured in the second quarter of the Cougars’ 48-7 loss to Arizona on Saturday, a defeat that dropped WSU’s record to 1-8, 0-6 in the Pac-10.

The freshman was trying to scramble when linebacker Xavier Kelley caught him from behind. As Tuel went down, he slightly dislocated his kneecap, suffering what is known as a subluxation, in which the kneecap is pulled laterally from its usual path.

"It’s just wait and see," said Wulff, who expects to know the MRI exam results today. "We’ll see what happens tomorrow and on Tuesday."

Tuel has done ok since he took over at the QB spot this season, completing 71 of 121 passes (58.7 percent completion rate), 6 TDs and 5 ints. If he cant go this weekend, sophomore Marshall Lobbestale will take his spot who has completed 56 of his 116 attempts, throwing for 3 TDs and 5 picks.

Tuel is not the only injury concern for the Cougars:

[Q]uarterback isn’t the only area of injury concern for Wulff this week. The Cougars lost two safeties Saturday and played the second half with Myron Beck, who has played mostly linebacker this season, filling in deep.

Wulff is hoping usual starting strong safety Chima Nwachukwu will be able to return from his sprained ankle.[...]

Kicker Nico Grasu (quadriceps pull) and left tackle Tyson Pencer (ankle sprain) will probably miss this week, replaced by Kevin Rooney and Steven Ayers, respectively.

So they are not in great shape. However, I wouldn't get overly confident if I were UCLA. As mentioned yesterday they are going to look at this game as their last chance of getting a victory at home. That place has been the venue of one Bruin nightmare after another in recent years (except for the miracle in 2005). Bruins have injury issues of their own and concerns around their defensive unit which will require total focus and concentration of the entire team heading into Saturday.

Looking though Washington's stats for this season it instantly becomes clear the kind of struggle they have experienced the entire season. However, there is something we all have to be mindful as UCLA fans. Our run defense right now is atrocious. It's embarrassing really. UCLA's rushing "defense" is crrently ranked 78th in the nation and 8th in the conference. We are giving up almost 157 yards on the ground per game and have gotten gashed repeatedly in recent weeks (still cannot figure out why Sark didn't stick with the ground attack against UCLA).

Our LBs are struggling. Reggie Carter is playing hurt and hasn't been the same. Akeem Ayers is still having problem with overpursuit. Bosworth is playing his heart out but he can only do so much. So I can see a scenario in which WSU will attempt to turn this into a ball control game with RB Dwight Tardy. Does any one remeber what Dwight Tardy did to UCLA last time we went up to Pullman? Here is a reminder:

Cougar running game huge in UCLA win (via KXLY)

Yeah, he tore up that legendary Dewayne Walker defense for 214 yards on 37 carries. It was ugly and pathetic. Tardy is having a so so season this year gaining 321 yards in 69 carries. Those are still respectable numbers as he is averaging more than 4 yards per carry. To put it in perspective. Tardy while gaining 214 yards against Walker's defense in 2007, had about 462 yards in his previous 7 games (poor kid suffered an ACL injury in 51 yard TD run in the final mintue of our game).

Given our history in Pullman our defense better be ready for Tardy an co. Tardy has been coming on somewhat strong (at least per game stats). He rushed for 45 yards in 4 carries against Arizona, which followed a 73 yard rushing effort (in 8 carries) against the Irish. I know what you are thinking. It's the Irish. However, we don't have standing to make fun of the Irish defense, given how ours have performed in recent weeks.

So are going to need our guys to come out and get in rhythm offensively to take control of this game. The reports from Spauling are encouraging re. Prince:

Prince, who suffered a concussion against Washington, went through an exertion test Monday morning and then was cleared by a team doctor to lift weights and practice. Barring a setback, he will start Saturday against Washington State.

"I rode the bike for 30 minutes and did some up-downs," Prince said. "The training staff asked how I was feeling and I said I felt normal. There will be various tests through Thursday."

If Prince is 100 percent and ready to go on Saturday, having him in there will hopefully allow our offense to stay in its rhythm:

"Offensively, we did a lot of good things, especially in the throwing game," Neuheisel said."We're kind of finding some rhythm. The receivers played a pretty darn good game. Kids are starting to come of age, and that's huge. If you look at the first two series of the game, almost everyone got to touch the ball. We're starting to spread it around."

Hopefully Prince is ready to go. It was a lot of run to see spray the ball around all over the field on Saturday. He was simply on fire and it certainly appeared that Chow had taken the leash off our offense. I hope if Prince is healthy Chow comes out with an aggressive game plan for an all out attack on Saturday. If the Bruins can take control of the game early on and maintain an aggressive posture for the entire game, it will do wonders for their confidence not just for the entire season but for the future of this program.

GO BRUINS.

AUDIO: Paul Wulff press conference, 11-3-09

Nuss — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:16:02 -0000

Paul Wulff’s gets together with reporters for his weekly Tuesday teleconference, and we've got the audio for you.

Sometimes these are a little boring; this one is not. Lots of interesting information, including a discussion of a slight change in offensive scheme (virtually all shotgun against Notre Dame, something I noticed), an update on injuries, what Arizona will try to do against the Cougs, and more.

Audio graciously provided by the Washington State University Sports Information Department.

Two reasons why people who blame the coaches for this entire mess are at the very least misguided

Nuss — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:19:48 -0000

The coaches have taken a lot of heat for the past almost two years now for what has transpired on the football field. That refrain reared its head again Saturday, after one play in particular.

Now, anyone who watches Chris Berman and Tom Jackson on Sunday afternoons knows that you do one thing, and one thing only, on a Hail Mary pass. Go ahead, say it with me ... "YOU KNOCK IT DOWN!" The wonderment, of course, spread from the notion that if we all know that, how in the world did Aire Justin and ~~Xavier Hicks~~ Jay Matthews not know it?

If only it were that simple.

Consider the following screen shot, captured at the moment when Golden Tate caught the ball (about 1:50 on the video), which I have so deftly illustrated to make my point.

The probability that Justin and ~~Hicks~~ Matthews could have knocked that ball down is minute -- or even nonexistent. Yes, it appears Justin is going for the catch. But I supremely doubt the outcome would have been any different had Justin or ~~Hicks~~ Matthews done their darndest to just get one hand up there and knock it down. This simply looks to me like a case of one team having an exceptional athlete and another team having two guys who simply don't possess the raw physical tools to make this play.

Seriously -- look at how high Tate is off the ground. We have one athlete on our active roster who could have gotten that high and made that play. And he plays on offense. Now, if you want to criticize the coaching staff for not putting him in on that defensive play, then fine.* But that's a different conversation.

* I'm not sure I buy that you could have put Jared Karstetter in, anyway. The Irish were a medium range pass away from getting into field goal position, as they still had a timeout left. The defense had to at least entertain that notion, and have a defense in that could account for that. Besides, when you start doing things like that, you often increase the likelihood of a breakdown.

Now, let me direct you to another play before bringing this back around to my overall point.

Remember that whole blocked PAT, with Chima Nwachukwu scooping up the ball and trying to run it back the other way for two? (I tried to find video, but alas, no luck.) Our 5-foot-11, 201-pound starting safety -- who started running with the ball while no one else was paying attention, and ostensibly had anywhere between a five- and 15-yard head start on the other team -- got tracked down by this guy:

Mike Ragone

#83 / Tight End / Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Height: 6-5

Weight: 251

Year: junior

And if he hadn't caught him, he was about to get caught by this guy:

Kyle Rudolph

#9 / Tight End / Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Height: 6-6

Weight: 260

Year: sophomore

This sort of thing happened over and over again throughout the game. The defensive line getting shoved around by opponents that outweighed them across the board. The offensive line flailing away at blitzers. Alex Hoffman-Ellis and Mike Ledgerwood squaring up to tackle Robert Hughes, only to meet him at the point of attack and get driven back three yards.

Which brings me to my point. Before you start pointing the finger at the coaches -- and goodness knows, I've done it enough -- please take into consideration what they're working with. I posted this numerous times on the game thread on Saturday, but it's worth repeating if you weren't there: MEN > BOYS.

There will come a day where we're once again able to compete with Notre Dame (and USC, and Oregon, and Arizona State, and ...). But as these two plays showed, we're not even in the same ballpark with these guys yet. Yeah, we can complain about scheme, and some of those points are certainly valid. However, that the coaches have been able to squeeze as much improvement out of these guys as they have this year -- facing such overwhelming physical odds -- says something.

We're heading in the right direction. It might not be as fast as you want, and you can argue that it might be a bit faster with another coaching staff. But there isn't a coach on earth that would have beat Notre Dame -- or most of the other teams on our schedule -- with what our coaching staff has to work with.

Notre Dame 40, Washington State 14

Grady. — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:32:29 -0000

More photos » by BAHRAM MARK SOBHANI - AP

Awwwwwwwww snap, yo! The Cougars got SERVED, 40-14, by Notre Dame in an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani)

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OK, this team is getting a little too predictable.

Last week, I selfishly touted my correct pregame prediction of the Cougars' game against California. The final score was 49-17, which I had accurately predicted on the podcast the Tuesday prior to the game.

This week, I failed. By one point. My prediction was Notre Dame 41, Washington State 14. The final score saw the Irish top the Cougs in San Antonio 40-14.

There's a point here, one that has to do with more than my own gloating. Although, admittedly, the gloating is a lot of fun.

That point is that, for better or worse, we have this Cougar team figured out. We know when they're getting blown out, we know about how much they'll be getting blown out by, and we don't feel the least bit nervous about that projection.

There was a transfer of power in the Pac-10 tonight. Oregon secured the outright conference lead from USC, and has the inside track at the Rose Bowl, or perhaps another BCS game. It's easy to forget as recently as 2002 we were in the same position. Now, instead of having a packed stadium hanging on the emotional ups and downs of every play, we have predictability. A team that is not competitive now and probably won't be competitive until at least next fall. Possibly longer. We start slow, recover slowly, score a touchdown or two along the way and head home trying to find the positives among the multitude of negatives.

The decent Cougar fanbase showing in the 'neutral' Alamodome, and the national broadcast by NBC, still weren't enough to help the Cougars get started off on the right foot. In the first quarter, though, WSU hung tough with the Irish, surrendering only a field goal and touchdown. In fact the PAT on the touchdown was blocked and nearly returned by Chima Nwachukwu for two, making it deep into Notre Dame territory before being caught by a Notre Dame tight end. 9-0 ND after the first.

The second quarter saw momentum swing decidedly in favor of the Irish. Rushing TDs by Golden Tate and Robert Hughes put Notre Dame up 23-0 midway through the period. From there, the Cougars pieced together their best drive of the half, culminating in Jeff Tuel finding Jared Karstetter for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Even that lone bright spot was wiped out, however, on the final play of the half. On a Hail Mary from the fifty yard line, Jimmy Clausen found Golden Tate, who was able to outjump Aire Justin and come down with a spectacular catch, albeit it sharing the ball with the three defenders trying to pry it away. Still, tie goes to the receiver, and Notre Dame went to the intermission up 30-7.

Fewer fireworks were seen in the second half, with an Irish field goal being the only score in the third. Jimmy Clausen appeared to re-aggravate his turf toe, and replacement Dayne Crist struggled before hitting John Goodman (no, not that one) for a 64 yard TD. Crist would suffer a leg injury later in the game getting tangled up with Toby Turpin, but the outcome was decided and Clausen would sit out the remainder of the contest as a precaution. Tuel, who was picked off twice on the evening, did find Karstetter one more time to bring the Cougs to the final score.

Player of the Game: Karstetter. Our #1 receiver only caught two balls, but made the most of them with two touchdowns. He only had 19 receving yards, but that wasn't abnormal for an anemic WSU offense whose longest play from scrimmage was a 20-yard run by Dwight Tardy.

Unsung Hero: Dwight Tardy. Speaking of which, maybe he's not done yet. Tardy notched 72 yards on 8 carries, a 9 yard average making him by far the most consistent Cougar on offense this evening. He also averaged an impressive 25.3 yards on his three kick returns. Perhaps he doesn't have to be just a trick-play quarterback going forward.

It was over when... Golden Tate caught the Hail Mary at the end of the first half. I know it was a spectacular catch, but the Cougar defensive backfield still needs to learn to swat the ball down. Going for the interception makes a team a lot more susceptible to giving up the touchdown. Oh, and any sort of pressure whatsoever on Jimmy Clausen on that play would've been nice.

Stat of the Game: The Cougars were 2 for 11 on third down. Hard to keep the defense rested and off the field when the offense keeps getting forced to the sideline. That stat led almost directly to a 2:1 time of possession advantage for the Irish, with ND controlling the ball for 40:54 compared to Wazzu's 19:06.

SECOND QUARTER GRADES: Defensive Backs

Dancing Football — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:49:55 -0000

More photos » by Don Ryan - AP

Chima was a tackling machine in the second quarter.

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FIRST QUARTER GRADE: C-

SECOND QUARTER GRADE: C-

STATS: (Best viewed in widescreen)

			Tackles					Sacks	Pass Defense					Fumbles			Blkd
DEFENSIVE LEADERS		GP	Solo	Ast	Total	TFL-Yds		No-Yds	Int-Yds		BU	PD	Qbh	Rcv-Yds		FF	Kick	Saf
21	Chima Nwachukwu	3	18	7	25	1.5	- 4	.	0	-0	1.	2.	.	1	- 7	0	.	.
26	Xavier Hicks	3	6	5	11	1.0 .	-1	.	1	- 15	1	2	1.	0	- 0	0	.	.
24	Daniel Simmons	3	10	1	11	2.0 .	- 5	.	0	- 0	0.	0	1.	0	- 0	0	.	.
3	Brandon Jones	3	9	1	10	2.0 .	- 4	.	0	-0	1	1	.	1	- 0	0.	.	.
27	Terrance Hayward	3	7	4	11	2.0 .	- 4	.		.	0.	0.	.		.	.	.	.
39	Kyle McCartney	3	2	1	3	.		.		.			.		.	.	.	.
28	Jay Matthews	2	2	1	3	.		.		.	.	.	.		.	.	.	.
01	Aire Justin	1	0	.	0	.		.		.	.	.	.		.	.	.	.
5	Eric Block	1	0	.	0	.		.		.			.		.	.	.	.

COMMENTS: The grade didn't change because the play on the field has not changed much. There has been a significant drop in passing yardage allowed, but that can easily be attributed to the fact that the Cougs played two pass-heavy teams in the first quarter, and three teams who are balanced or like to run the ball in the second quarter.

These guys still are having trouble keeping up with Pac 10 wide receivers. Opposing quarterbacks completed 68%of their passes in the second quarter. The Cougar secondary is making it a little too easy on the other guys.

Two bright spots for the defensive backs in the second quarter have been the play of Chima Nwachukwu and their ability to step up in the run defense. Chima has been a tackling machine, leading the group with 25 in games 4-6. In the run game, the secondary as a whole has recorded 8.5 tackles for loss. Reading the run and getting in the backfield to make plays is something these guys need to do to help out the often-overmatched defensive line.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE: Like I said last quarter, these guys are not going to suddenly get faster and be able to keep up with talented wide receivers. To improve their grade they are simply going to have to play even better in the run game and contain in the pass game. For the rest of the season, it would be fantastic to see Xavier Hicks make a few plays to make the most out of his remaining days as a Cougar. We've been hoping all along that he would show more of those flashes of brilliance that he did when he was younger, the flashes that made us believe that he had a chance to be an All Pac-10 type guy this year. So far these season, there has not been much of that.

Poll

Grade 'em up!

A

0 votes

B

1 votes

C

9 votes

D

12 votes

F

9 votes

31 votes | Poll has closed

AUDIO: Paul Wulff weekly press conference

Nuss — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:03:04 -0000

After a week off for the bye, Paul Wulff returned today for his weekly teleconference with reporters in advance of Saturday's matchup with Cal. I gotta be honest -- this is one of the most boring press conferences ever. But give it a listen if you so desire.

Items of note:

Injuries made up a huge portion of it. Likely to play: Guard Zack Williams, defensive tackle Bernard Wolfgramm, center Kenny Alfred, middle linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis. Better than 50 percent chance to play: Guard B.J. Guerra, tackle Steven Ayers. Less than 50 percent chance to play: Tackle Tyson Pencer.
Looks like defensive end Kevin Kooyman isn't getting any better. An injury redshirt application is becoming more and more likely.
Defensive tackle Josh Luapo had successful knee surgery. He's still out for the year.
Myron Beck has more or less completed a switch back to full-time safety, which gives the team the chance to put Chima Nwachukwu back at corner some with the season-ending injury to Daniel Simmons.
The team really emphasized mental preparation and maturity in setting goals for the second half of the season.
Jahvid Best is good.
Cal's main problem against Oregon and USC? The passing game.

Special thanks to the Washington State University sports information department, who provides the audio.

AUDIO: CougCenter Podcast, Episode 9

Nuss — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:33:48 -0000

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

Don't grimace, Reid! You're Grady's first half MVP!

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Podcast time! Table of contents:

Opening - Was Saturday's loss to ASU a positive step in the right direction?
8:40 - Biggest positives and negatives from the first half of the season?
12:55 - MVP of the first half?
16:30 - About that Pac-10 officiating ...
22:30 - Hoops!
29:45 - Games of the week/upset specials

Apparently, Podbean is having issues again. (This is kind of getting old.) If the streamer won't work, try this player.

Monday hodgepodge: Recruiting, injuries and more

Nuss — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:53:21 -0000

Bye weeks are always a little weird and awkward for blogs, since -- like the team -- we get into a certain week-in, week-out routine with games every Saturday. For the first time in a month and a half, there is no game to look forward to this weekend (assuming you do, in fact, look forward to them).

Of course, this isn't a bad thing, as this team needs a week off to heal in the worst way. Every team says they look forward to a bye because of the injury factor, but this team is a special kind of hurt. We all thought it couldn't get any worse than last year, but it has. Boy, it sure seems like a long time ago that we were talking about this team being healthy out of camp.

So, the bye will not just allow for an extra week for some of the guys who have been out to get healthy, but it will allow those who have been playing banged up to get right. That's a big deal moving forward.

Why? Because if this were last year, I honestly wouldn't care about this team getting healthy. They were in so far over their heads on a weekly basis, that it honestly didn't matter who was on the field. But this team has shown signs of life -- the kind of life that leads you to wonder what they might be able to do with a few more bullets in the chamber, specifically on the offensive line.

Looks like we'll probably get a chance to find out against Cal. Guards Zack Williams and B.J. Guerra and guard/tackle Steven Ayers all have a shot at being back in the lineup. Assuming both Kenny Alfred and Micah Hannam are healthy for Cal -- both were banged up by the end of the ASU game -- we actually could have our entire starting five back on the offensive line (assuming Paul Wulff wants to put Ayers back in the starting lineup for Tyson Pencer).

One player who almost certainly won't be ready for Cal is Brian Danaher, the backup guard who returned from a concussion on Saturday. Wulff seemed concerned about Danaher all week, even refusing to re-insert him into the starting lineup. Well, it turns out his concern was well founded, as it's believed Danaher suffered yet another concussion.

Danaher now has a disturbing history of brain trauma, and while I'm sure the coaches, trainers and Danaher don't need my advice, I'm going to give it to them anyway: Shut him down. Maybe forever ... but at least for this year. Knowing what we now know about these brain injuries -- and given that there is so much more to learn -- there is no reason to put his future at risk. None whatsoever.

Another player who won't be back for Cal is corner back Daniel Simmons, who suffered a broken leg and is done for the year. Major bummer for him, as he had fought his way into the starting lineup this year. However, he's still just a redshirt freshman, so still lots of promise to look forward too.

Tough to say exactly what Wulff and defensive coordinator Chris Ball will do in this spot. If Eric Block is healthy -- he's been struggling with his digestive issue again, and didn't play on Saturday -- you could see a move of Chima Nwachukwu back to corner. That could also happen if they're comfortable with Jay Matthews, who played but didn't record a tackle.

I don't think they'll do that, though. my guess would be that they would elect to put either Terrance Heyward or Aire Justin (remember him?) over there. Why? Because Cal is a team that's obviously going to focus on running the ball, and it's going to be more important to have sound tackling from the safety position, and the dropoff in that respect is significant after Nwachukwu. If LeAndre Daniels or Tyree Toomer were still back there, it would be a different story. But they're not.

The good news is that the Cougs should get some help up front in trying to stop Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen in the form of defensive tackle Bernard Wolfgramm, who appears as if he should return from his hip injury. That's beyond huge, because we all remember what Best did to Matt Eichelberger and Ai Ahmu last year ...

There's absolutely no doubt that with Wolfgramm, this starting four up front is light years ahead of those guys. Even against USC's vaunted line, there weren't any holes like that. (At least, not after the first drive.) Additionally, middle linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis should return from his staph infection. While Greg Trent was as hard-nosed a player as you'd find, he wasn't the most fleet of foot. Hoffman-Ellis gives the Cougs a chance with his athleticism.

There also appears to be more help on the way for next year. Somebody asked recently about defensive end Brandon Rankin. I couldn't find any info out there, but the intrepid Vince Grippi did some looking and dropped this little nugget in his pregame report from Saturday:

Two players who signed with WSU last February but couldn’t make it into school, Brandon Rankin and Quayshawne Buckley, seem to be on track to get into school in the spring semester. Buckley is waiting to hear his test results – that was kept him from qualifying – and is confident he did well. Rankin is on track to finish his classes. In case you don’t know, Rankin is 6-foot-5, 260-pound junior college defensive end who has earned a four-star rating from Scout.com and will have two years left. Buckley, a 6-4, 270-pound defensive lineman, earned three stars as a high school senior last year.

Rankin is the kind of kid who could have an immediate impact. Imagine a defensive end rotation with Travis Long, Kevin Kooyman -- who looks more and more like he's headed for a medical redshirt -- and Rankin. How cool would that be?

That about covers it for today. We'll be back along either tonight or tomorrow with a lengthy post looking at the defense. You'll also start seeing the second quarter grades (can you believe the season is half over?), and we'll have Paul Wulff's press conference for you to listen to tomorrow. And since basketball kicks off its season this weekend with Midnight Mayhem, we'll probably be sprinkling in a little hoops content this week, too. I can guarantee it will be part of what we talk about on the podcast, so you've got that to look forward to as well.

In other words, while the football team will be on a bye ... we won't.

FIRST QUARTER GRADES: Defensive Backs

Dancing Football — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:30:16 -0000

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

Contrary to popular belief among Cougar fans, this is not the accepted positioning for covering an offensive player.

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GRADE: C-

STATS: (Best viewed in widescreen)

			Tackles					Sacks	Pass Defense					Fumbles			Blkd
DEFENSIVE LEADERS		GP	Solo	Ast	Total	TFL-Yds		No-Yds	Int-Yds		BU	PD	Qbh	Rcv-Yds		FF	Kick	Saf
26	Xavier Hicks	3	12	8	20	1.0	- 4	.		.	.	.	.	1	- 0	2	.	.
2A	Chima Nwachukwu	3	13	7	20	.		.	1	- 0	1	2	.	1	- 31	1	.	.
3	Brandon Jones	3	14	1	15	.		.	1	- 0	.	1	.		.	1	.	.
24	Daniel Simmons	3	8	2	10	.		.		.	2	2	.	1	- 0	.	.	.
15	LeAndre Daniels	2	6	1	7	.		.		.	.	.	.		.	.	.	.
27	Terrance Hayward	3	3	.	3	.		.		.	1	1	.		.	.	.	.
0I	Aire Justin	1	3	.	3	.		.		.	.	.	.		.	.	.	.
39	Kyle McCartney	3	2	.	2	.		.		.	.	.	.		.	.	.	.
5	Eric Block	2	2	.	2	.		.		.	1	1	.		.	.	.	.

COMMENTS: Before the season started, we knew that the secondary had some talent at the top, but a significant drop off after that. Injuries have tested that depth. Several guys have missed time, especially at the safety position (Eric Block, LeAndre Daniels, Tyree Toomer).

We needed senior safety, Xavier Hicks, to assert himself as a leader on the field and make big plays. While he has forced two fumbles and leads the team in tackles, he hasn't really made any of the "big hits" in the passing game that we have seen in the past. He has played to the level that we expect from him, not to the level we hoped he would rise to.

Overall, the secondary has faced pass heavy schemes the last two games and struggled. There have blown coverage assignments and an inability to cover talented wide receivers. Opposing quarterbacks have had wide open guys to hit and only the inaccuracy of a couple young QBs has saved the Cougar secondary from some more embarrassment.

However, that is not entirely their fault. The defense has had very little in terms of a consistent pass rush. Even an extremely talented secondary would have trouble covering receivers for as long as the Wazzu secondary has had to throughout the first quarter of the season.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE: Obviously, these guys aren't going to suddenly become faster and be able to keep up with Pac 10 wideouts on a regular basis. What they can do is stay focused and and stay disciplined. Too many times we have seen wide open receivers because of mistakes by the secondary in their zone assignments. If they can limit those, the back-breaking big plays can be avoided.

Additionally, we need more turnovers out of these guys if we are going to beat someone. By all accounts, Chima and Jones made very athletic plays on their interceptions against SMU and that must continue. This unit is still going to struggle to keep up with receivers, so they need to create takeaways to get themselves off the field.