SB Nation - Micah Hannam

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.

Injuries, injuries, injuries

Nuss — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:12:11 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Jeff Tuel couldn't escape this one last Saturday. Will he fare much better this weekend behind yet another patchwork offensive line?

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Coming into the season, here is what the two-deep looked like on the offensive line:

Left Tackle	Left Guard	Center	Right Guard	Right Tackle
Steven Ayers (#So.)	Zack Williams (#Jr.)	Kenny Alfred (#Sr.)	B.J. Guerra (#So.)	Micah Hannam (#Jr.)
Tyson Pencer (#Fr.)	Brian Danaher (#Jr.)	Andrew Roxas (Jr.)	Brian Danaher (#Jr.)	Joe Eppele (#Jr.)

Here's what it looks like now:

Left Tackle	Left Guard	Center	Right Guard	Right Tackle
Tyson Pencer (#Fr.)	Alex Reitnouer (Fr.)	Kenny Alfred (#Sr.)	Joe Eppele (#Jr.)	Micah Hannam (#Jr.)
Joe Eppele (#Jr.)	Reed Lesuma (#Sr.)	Chris Prummer (#So.)	Reed Lesuma (#Sr.)	Joe Eppele (#Jr.)

Obvious things I'll go ahead and point out:

Only two starters are left from the projected starting five -- the same two guys who made it through all of last year.
Of the 10 players on the original two-deep, only four are healthy enough to play this weekend.
There are three players on this week's two-deep who didn't even appear on the original two-deep. One of them will be starting.
That one player is a true freshman, who will teaming with a redshirt freshman to make up the left side of the line. That's Jeff Tuel's blindside, in case you were wondering.
There are nine different players on the original two-deep; there are only seven different players on the current two-deep. Meaning, if this line suffers more than two injuries at any point in the game, Paul Wulff will be turning to either true freshman Tim Hodgdon (whom they still hope to redshirt) or redshirt freshman Michael Pfeiff.

And we thought the injuries last year were bad.

What does all this mean for Saturday? It means we're going to have an awfully, awfully tough time scoring points. It seems like it's been beaten to death, but the fact that Cal -- with its awesome offensive line and Jahvid Best carrying the ball -- could only score three points against this unit doesn't bode well for the Cougs.

I honestly thought the Cougs had a chance to keep this game closer than most people thought, figuring the Ducks will be suffering the inevitable let down. But that was when Danaher was starting at left guard. While the change of one guy might not seem like much, when you go from a guy who made eight starts last season to a guy who was still in high school and rated a two-star recruit last season -- at a position where physical maturity is at a premium ... that's a big, big difference. That's not even taking into account that communication is going to be doubly difficult in the Autzen atmosphere.

Truly, I'm afraid what we're going to see offensively on Saturday is going to resemble last year in a lot of ways. Want to know the biggest reason why our passing game was so horrific last year? Because the offensive line could not block five-on-four, at least one tight end and one running back were kept in to block on almost all obvious passing plays. (Which, of course, was most of the plays.) That meant we were sending just two or three receivers out into patterns against seven defenders. It becomes a vicious cycle where you can't pass if you can't protect the quarterback, but you also can't pass if you protect the quarterback too much.

And you wonder why Brandon Gibson had 10 fewer receptions and 500 fewer yards than he did the year before. It wasn't Gibson.

There's a chance that Paul Wulff and Todd Sturdy don't do that as much on Saturday, since Tuel obviously isn't the stationary target that Marshall Lobbestael is and Kevin Lopina became as his injuries mounted last year. You'll likely see just a running back protector in early in a hope to give Tuel a chance to throw the ball to a guy who's actually open, but if he's successful, expect Oregon to ramp up the pressure by bringing extra guys. And unless Tuel can elude the rush and make them pay with a big gain or two, the Ducks will be relentless.

While I want, want, WANT to believe that this game can be closer than expected, I'm coming around to the idea that it's probably going to be ugly, simply because of the matchup factor.

I still think the defense will turn in a yeoman's effort, but I'm extremely concerned about the big plays -- especially against a spread offense predicated on misdirection and confusion. If the offense struggles like I think it's probably going to, the defense is probably going to feel the need to make something happen. That's death against an offense that requires assignment-sound defense to stop it.

Unless things such as poor decision making, poor discipline or unforced turnovers rear their heads tomorrow, if it turns out to be a blowout, don't lose faith.

If you'd like to hear Paul Wulff talk about the injuries at length, listen to his Thursday press conference via the player below. It's distributed via our podcast; you can find subscription options at our podcast page.

THE AFTERNOON PAPER: Is it all starting to slowly crumble - already?

Nuss — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:26:48 -0000

If you've read our position previews, you've seen one common theme pop up over and over again: Health will be paramount to this team's chances for any kind of respectability this season. We all know the Cougs simply don't possess the depth to compete if even a few of their top players miss game time.

So, while camp got off to a good start on the injury front, a good number of question marks have started to creep in. It's not all doom and gloom -- the team has yet to suffer a catastrophic injury that requires surgery or such, which is good -- but it's enough that, with just about a week to go until Stanford, I'm starting to get a little nervous.

The most significant injury of camp came yesterday, when it was discovered that the sprained ankle starting cornerback Brandon Jones suffered on Tuesday could sideline him anywhere from one to three weeks. Jones had established himself as the team's best corner in camp.

No, the injury's not devastating -- Chima Nwachukwu, who obviously has a lot of starting experience at corner, slides into Jones' spot, and the team seems to feel comfortable with Tyree Toomer or LeAndre Daniels filling in for Nwachukwu at safety. And it's not like Stanford is likely to chuck it 40 times next weekend with a freshman quarterback and Toby Gerhart in the backfield.

But it's part of a growing list of nicks and bruises -- which looks worse when put together as below -- that could either cause players to miss game time or limit their effectiveness. These are just the guys who figured to get significant playing time against Stanford:

Running back James Montgomery sprained a knee last Friday, and I believe he's still out of practice, as I can't find an update on his prognosis. (EDIT: Per Grippi, he is indeed still sitting out practice, doing some light jogging on the side.)
Wide receiver Jeshua Anderson has been battling a hamstring injury for a couple of weeks now, and has only recently resumed straight-line running activities. He appears on target for the Stanford game, but if you remember back to track season, a hamstring was bothering him then, too. I don't know if it's the same leg or not, but one has to wonder if this is going to be a chronic issue with the team's most experienced receiver.
Wide receiver Daniel Blackledge, who had been the best receiver in camp early on after a strong offseason, has only recently returned uninhibited to practice after suffering a leg injury.
Other receivers still not at full speed include Johnny Forzani (foot) and Jeffrey Solomon (back).
Linebacker Andy Mattingly has only recently returned to full practice after suffering a groin injury. By all accounts, the team is just taking it slowly with him, but muscle injuries such as this always possess the potential for re-aggravation. (See Anderson, Jeshua.)
Starting middle linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis has been suffering through a foot problem that kept him on the sidelines for the last week. He's returned to limited practice now that a more serious injury has been ruled out, and could be ready for Stanford.
Running back Marcus Richmond -- a versatile back who generally serves as the team's full back when it needs one (he threw the block that sprung Logwone Mitz in the Apple Cup) -- appears to be out for "a while" (Grippi's words), also with a sprained ankle. Not sure if he's on the same timetable as Jones.
Starting right tackle Micah Hannam has flu-like symptoms. And since we've all been there with the flue and know that it can take up to a week or more to recover, there's certainly a possibility that Hannam won't be at peak effectiveness for Stanford.

It's not like any of this is completely unexpected -- injuries are going to happen, it's a fact of football -- and again, I'm as thankful as anyone that none of these are catastrophic and don't figure to have long-term effects. But if even half of these injuries have effects that carry over into Stanford (or beyond), it's going to make an already uphill climb even steeper. We need these guys to be as close to 100 percent as possible to have a shot at the Cardinal.

Here's the best of the rest of the day's Cougar news from around the Web:

Mattingly told Ted Miller at ESPN.com that the Cougs will surprise people in the Pac-10. (No surprise there.)
Jim Moore's unemployment checks must be running out, because that slacker churned out two columns in two days: one on reasons to be optimistic about the direction of the team (for the P-I) and one on guard B.J. Guerra (for Cougfan.com).
The San Francisco Chronicle has this preview of Stanford, which has to include the best written line of training camp. Bonus points to the reader who finds it and posts it in the comments.
Speaking of Stanford, San Jose Mercury News college football writer takes umbrage with Jim Harbaugh's new $50,000 bathroom.
The Sporting News has a "Best of the Pac-10" list, and guess what? The Cougs actually had one mention! (A darn good choice, if you ask me.)
Miller ranked each school in terms of its running backs unit. WSU checked in at No. 7. Seems fair to me, although it's not a stretch to see that ranking being higher by the end of the season.

We'll be back later.

UNIT PREVIEW: Offensive Line

Nuss — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:00:12 -0000

Kenny Alfred has been the rock of the WSU offensive line for three years, and if this unit is going to significantly outperform expectations, it's got to start with Alfred being better than he's ever been. (via media.scout.com)

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Welcome to the first of CougCenter's unit previews for the upcoming season! Over the next couple of weeks, you'll see us take a deeper look into each of the seven groups of players that hold the keys to WSU's potential success this season.

First up: The big fellas up front -- on the offensive side.

Overview

They say that success in football starts up front, so perhaps no unit was the posterchild of WSU problems in 2008 than the offensive line. Seven -- SEVEN! -- different combinations started for the Cougs in 13 games, and only three times did the same unit start back-to-back games. Only two guys -- Kenny Alfred and Micah Hannam -- started every game, and even both of those guys were banged up all year to the extent that each needed surgery in the offseason.

And there was the crux of the issue. The offensive line was never really given any chance to succeed because of injuries up and down the line starting in August and never really stopping throughout the season. The result (predictably) was a unit that looked completely discombobulated for the majority of the season, repeatedly failing to open any kind of hole for the running attack and occasionally allowing defensive players free shots at decapitating their quarterbacks. The line was, in a word ... miserable.

But this year represents new hope. Besides having virtually every player return, save for mountainous left tackle Vaughn Lesuma, the boys look stronger, fitter, and more prepared to deal with the rigors of the Pac-10 after an intense offseason with strength and conditioning coach Darin Lovat. While the strength gains can be seen across the entire roster, perhaps nowhere will it benefit the Cougars more than on their lines. That, combined with the possibility of continuity that just wasn't there in 2008, represent real hope that this unit can improve exponentially from the disaster of a year ago and lead the turnaround charge.

Depth Chart

Pos.	1st String	2nd String	3rd String
LT	Steven Ayers (6-4, 315, #So.)	Tyson Pencer (6-6, 297, #Fr.)	Alex Reitnouer (6-5, 240, Fr.)
LG	Zack Williams (6-4, 293, #Jr.)	Brian Danaher (6-3, 284, #Jr.)	Tim Hodgdon (6-3, 285, Fr.)
C	Kenny Alfred (6-2, 300, #Sr.)	Andrew Roxas (6-1, 306, Jr.)	Chris Prummer (6-1, 269, #So.)
RG	B.J. Guerra (6-3, 311, #So.)	Brian Danaher (6-3, 284, #Jr.)	Kevin Freitag (6-3, 301, #So.)
RT	Micah Hannam (6-4, 284, #Jr.) OR	Joe Eppele (6-8, 306, #Jr.)	Reed Lesuma (6-4, 311, #Sr.)

Key Player

It's tough to pick one guy as the key to this unit -- after all, cohesion is so important -- but if we've got to pick one, it's got to be Alfred. He's one of the precious few legitimate NFL prospects on this roster, and as the center he is essentially the quarterback of the offensive line. Yes, he started every game last year, but he was hardly the Alfred we grew to love from the moment he stepped into the lineup as a redshirt freshman three years ago. An effective Alfred, fully recovered from offseason surgery and playing at his peak, is a rock in the middle of this line that the rest of the guys can build from.

Biggest Question Mark

This one is easy: Can they stay healthy enough for the five best players to see enough snaps together to be able to compete in the Pac-10 slate? The great offensive lines in the history of WSU football seemed to be those that were greater than the sum of their parts, and this is one of those units that seems to fit that mold. They need to be on the same page from day one and put all that "learning" they did last year to good use immediately, and the only way that's going to happen is if the vast majority of them can stay healthy through camp. After all, there is no soft landing for these guys in the first week of the season, so they've got to be ready to do some damage immediately. So far, so good, as there have been no reports of significant injuries five days into camp.

Best Case Scenario

Their newfound strength really does make a huge difference, and the guys make it out of camp with just the normal nicks and bruises. Five guys elevate their play to stand out among the rest, flashing a chemistry that Paul Wulff could only have hoped for. Once the season starts, the linemen discover that the strength gains not only help with durability, but with their physicality in the trenches as well. The Cougs' stable of talented running backs find lanes that only appeared for moments last year, and WSU becomes this year's Stanford, riding a strong running game to go from laughingstock to up-and-comer in the conference. Additionally, the quarterback that makes it out of camp starts every game, spending more time on his feet than on is back or running for his life, and the passing game is able to emerge as a nice compliment to the rushing attack. The offense becomes middle of the pack in the conference.

Worst Case Scenario

The strength gains look pretty on the practice field, but when the time comes to pop pads with Stanford, they look overmatched once again. Chalking it up to the first game of the year, the unit rebounds a bit against Hawaii and SMU. But it doesn't take long to see that bigger biceps can't mask the fact that a lot of these guys just aren't Pac-10 caliber, and the punishment starts taking its toll. As the Pac-10 season wears on, injuries start creeping in and the lineup shuffle begins. The line deteriorates, the running backs look like they did last year, and Jeff Tuel is starting by the end of the season because Marshall Lobbestael had to have a leg amputated after a compound fracture, Kevin Lopina's head was disassociated from his body and JT Levenseller decided he'd rather quit the team than put himself in that kind of peril.

Likely Scenario

The strength gains are real, and they result in a tangible difference come September. Nobody's going to confuse these guys with USC or Oregon up front, but they're doing things they weren't doing a year ago. There are still some injuries, sure, but they're a lot fewer and farther in between, and there's enough continuity at the majority of the positions that these guys begin to find their way. The running game is good enough to keep the Cougs in more games than everyone thought by eating clock and keeping the defense on the sidelines, and the best quarterback is able to start 90 percent of the games because he's not getting killed. More than that, there's real hope for 2010, as every guy is scheduled to return except for the graduating Alfred, and if they improve as much from this year to next as they did in the last 12 months, this unit could become a real strength, rather than liability.

Poll

What's closest to what actually happens this year? CougCenter's ...

Best Case Scenario?

17 votes

Worst Case Scenario?

17 votes

Likely Scenario?

89 votes

123 votes | Poll has closed

Finally, some more good football news

Nuss — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:45:05 -0000

We're a couple of days late on this, but for all the bad football news in the past 12 months -- both on and off the field -- this is a piece of news that deserves some recognition.

The Cougs tied for the Pac-10 lead with 15 players on the conference all-academic teams. That's up from 12 in 2007.

Congratulations, guys. Believe it or not, the reason we all go to college is to get an education. (Although, we really won't be sad if we have all these all-academic selections and win a bunch of games next year, OK?)

List of selections after the jump. I cannot believe how many offensive linemen are on that list. Smarts are supposed to be a big part of playing on the line, so that's got to count for something next year, doesn't it?

First Team
- Chima Nwachukwu, S/CB
- Matt Mullennix, DE
Second Team
- Matt Eichelberger, DT
- Joe Eppele, OL
- Adam Hineline, DT
- Micah Hannam, OL
Honorable Mention
- Kenny Alfred, OL
- Steven Ayers, OL
- Daniel Blackledge, WR
- Brian Danaher, OL
- Devin Frischknecht, TE
- Hallston Higgins, LB
- Kevin Kooyman, DE
- Vaughn Lesuma, OL
- Ben Woodard, TE