SB Nation - Kevin Kooyman

SECOND QUARTER GRADES: Defensive Line

Grady. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:01:31 -0000

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

The 2009 defensive line: no longer the worst thing about our football team!

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Second Quarter Grade: C-

First Quarter Grade: C-

Stats (h/t cfbstats.com):

Sacks

Name	Yr	Pos	G	Sacks	Sack Yards	Sacks/G
Travis Long	FR	DL	6	2.0	14	0.33
Casey Hamlett	JR	DL	6	2.0	4	0.33
Anthony Laurenzi	FR	DL	6	1.0	6	0.17
Kevin Kooyman	SR	DL	1	1.0	1	1.00

Tackles

Team Rank	Name	Yr	Pos	G	Solo	Assisted	Total	Total/G
7	Travis Long	FR	DL	6	19	8	27	4.50
13	Jesse Feagin	SR	DL	5	6	3	9	1.80
14	Bernard Wolfgramm	JR	DL	5	6	2	8	1.60
15	Casey Hamlett	JR	DL	6	6	2	8	1.33
16	Dan Spitz	FR	DL	5	5	3	8	1.60
18	Anthony Laurenzi	FR	DL	6	6	0	6	1.00
21	Kevin Kooyman	SR	DL	1	2	2	4	4.00

Tackles for loss

Team Rank	Name	Yr	Pos	G	TFL	TFL Yards	TFL/G
2	Travis Long	FR	DL	6	3.0	15	0.50
6	Jesse Feagin	SR	DL	5	2.0	10	0.40
7	Anthony Laurenzi	FR	DL	6	2.0	10	0.33
10	Casey Hamlett	JR	DL	6	2.0	4	0.33
14	Dan Spitz	FR	DL	5	1.0	4	0.20
15	Kevin Kooyman	SR	DL	1	1.0	1	1.00

Unit stats - first quarter:

Forced Fumbles - 0
Rushing yards per attempt allowed - 5.32 (111th)
Rushing TD allowed - 6 (94th)

Unit stats now:

Forced Fumbles - 5
Rushing yards per attempt allowed - 5.45 (114th)
Rushing TD allowed - 17 (t-113th)

Explanation:

Not much has changed on the defensive line from the first quarter. They're still struggling, but not nearly much as they did last year. So, hey, that's a plus.

It's still Travis Long dominating the statistical categories, with 13 more solo tackles than his nearest competition on the line. The unit has suffered greatly from the possibly season-long loss of Kevin Kooyman, but at least they're no longer giving up 80-plus yard runs and getting blown up for holes you could drive a semi-truck through. That might change with Jahvid Best coming to town Saturday, but I really do believe this unit is much improved in handling their assignments and covering gaps when they need to.

And, yes, the rushing yards and TDs allowed are bad, but I can't re-emphasize enough that we gave up 50 rushing touchdowns last season. Right now we're on pace for 34, and while there's one less game to play this season, that's still an improvement of sixteen touchdowns - that's downright amazing. The D line has stepped up whether it's at the line of scrimmage or the goal line itself. We've gone from historically bad to just plain bad. It's a noticeable improvement.

Another tangible improvement: turnovers. Along with the rest of the defense, the defensive line has started recovering fumbles and aiding the Cougar offense. That's good for a unit that will be spending waaay too much time on the field this year and beyond thanks to an anemic Cougar offense. The D line needs to up the level of pressure on the quarterback, and that's possible with the teams on the remainder of the schedule having generally weaker units than say, USC or Oregon. And did I mention how awesome Travis Long is going to be down the road?

How to get the grade up:

Stay healthy, put some kind of pressure on the opposing QB, and keep teams under six yards per rush. In fact, if the WSU defensive line can help get that average down below five by the end of the year, we should all be willing to buy them a round of drinks. Except for Long and the others who are under 21, of course.

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.

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.

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

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 Line

Grady. — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:45:51 -0000

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

Nope. Not fast enough, buddy.

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GRADE: C-

STATS:

Note: "Rank" refers to team rank

1. Sacks

Rank	Name	Yr	Pos	G	Sacks	Sack Yards	Sacks/G
1	Travis Long	FR	DL	3	1.0	7	0.33
2	Anthony Laurenzi	FR	DL	3	1.0	6	0.33
3	Kevin Kooyman	SR	DL	1	1.0	1	1.00
4	Casey Hamlett	JR	DL	3	1.0	1	0.33
	Total			3	4.0	15	1.33

2. Tackles

Total/Game

Rank	Player	Yr	Pos.	Game	Tackles	Assisted	Total
8	Travis Long	FR	DL	3	9	5	14	4.67
12	Kevin Kooyman	SR	DL	1	2	2	4	4.00
14	Jesse Feagin	SR	DL	2	3	0	3	1.50
16	Dan Spitz	FR	DL	2	2	1	3	1.50
17	Bernard Wolfgramm	JR	DL	3	2	1	3	1.00
18	Toby Turpin	JR	DL	3	2	1	3	1.00
22	Anthony Laurenzi	FR	DL	3	2	0	2	0.67
26	Casey Hamlett	JR	DL	3	1	0	1	0.33

3. Tackles for loss

Rank	Name	Yr	Pos	G	TFL	TFL Yards	TFL/G
1	Travis Long	FR	DL	3	2.0	8	0.67
4	Jesse Feagin	SR	DL	2	1.0	6	0.50
5	Anthony Laurenzi	FR	DL	3	1.0	6	0.33
6	Dan Spitz	FR	DL	2	1.0	4	0.50
9	Kevin Kooyman	SR	DL	1	1.0	1	1.00
10	Casey Hamlett	JR	DL	3	1.0	1	0.33

4. Unit stats

Forced Fumbles - 0
Rushing yards per attempt allowed - 5.32 (111th)
Rushing TD allowed - 6 (94th)

EXPLANATION:

This is a situation, once again, where I'm dishing out a passing grade largely due to improvement. Not that you could really get any worse than last year's 5.78 yards per carry surrendered and 50 - count, em - 50 rushing TDs coughed up. Now not all that is the D line's fault obviously, but a good chunk of it has to be.

Now, it's 2009, and there's some hope that the line can put the past behind them. The 5.32 yards per attempt allowed aren't a monumental improvement, but considering we averaged close to 7 until the UW and Hawai'i games last season, I'll take it. The unit needs to force some fumbles now - only linebackers have been able to accomplish that feat this season. Still, there seems to be a modest improvement in goal line defense and keeping the other guys out of the end zone. The competition average two rushing TDs per game this year. Last year it was almost four. Of course, USC may cause some serious regression today.

I'm not sure whether it's good news or bad news, but Travis Long is emerging as the star of this unit. Good news because he's a freshman and the sky is the limit going forward. It's also bad news because with an injured Kevin Kooyman we have no upperclassman willing to step up and make the plays we need. Long leads the Cougar linemen in tackles, tackles for loss, and is tied for the lead in sacks with one. It's disheartening, though, that the highest a Cougar ranks on the team in total tackles is eighth. Also scary is that outside of Long's 14 tackles, no one else on the line has more than four (Kooyman). That means a lot of guys are getting past the first line of defense and running into the linemen and the secondary. Of course, it also simply shows that with the exception of Stanford, we've played some pass happy teams.

That's where the role of quarterback pressure comes in. And so far, there hasn't been enough. The Cougs are forced on some plays to drop back and play coverage to make up for our lack of depth in the defensive backfield (Plus, the defensive backfield is admittedly bad). And that's led to fewer hurries than I'd like to see, especially against our pass-crazed opposition. Encouraging, though, are our four team sacks - 1.33 per game - that put us in a tie with a ton of other teams for 74th nationally. Want to feel better about the Cougar D? That ties us with LSU, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Washington. It even puts us ahead of Michigan, Virginia Tech and Arizona State. The downside? It's a per game stat (boooo) based on small sample size and the fact we've played some fairly weak opposition.

HOW TO GET THE GRADE UP: Kevin Kooyman will help accomplish that just by getting healthy and stepping on the field. The rest of the line, defensive tackles especially, need to pick up some slack and make some plays. More tackles, certainly, but also more pressure and forced fumbles. The D line has to keep up its current pace against tougher, Pac-10 competition. That's going to be really difficult with the likes of Jahvid Best and Joe McKnight running circles around us. Still, they have to try, and they have to keep 2009 from turning into 2008 Part II.

Poll

What's your D Line grade?

A

0 votes

B

1 votes

C

4 votes

D

13 votes

F

3 votes

21 votes | Poll has closed

What I'll be looking for today, and pregame notes

Nuss — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:35:46 -0000

As mentioned ad nauseam this week, there were a lot of reasons to feel like the Cougars have most definitely improved this year after watching a loss to Stanford that really was more closely contested than the final score would suggest.

But one thing that stood out to me more than anything was the reason the score wasn't as close as the game seemed to be: Stanford has playmakers, and we don't. At least not yet.

While Chris Owusu was bigger and faster than anyone we could match up with him, nobody on either side of the ball looked dominant for the Cougs. Yes, James Montgomery looked good when he got some space, Andy Mattingly made a nice play on that fourth-down pursuit of Andrew Luck, and Jared Karstetter looked like he's developing into a big, physical target.

But even in that, none of them -- or any of their teammates -- looked like guys who could take over a game, or break it open.

Now, there remains the strong possibility that some of that had to do with scheme. But one of the biggest things I was shocked by last week was just how hard it was for our receivers to get open against potentially one of the worst defensive secondaries we will face in Pac-10 play. Of the 18 passes completed by quarterbacks, only 10 were caught by wide receivers. The other eight went to running backs and tight ends.

I know this isn't necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison, given the differences in the offenses, but in 2006 Brandon Gibson, Jason Hill and Michael Bumpus were the team's top three pass catchers and combined for 150 of the Cougs' 260 total receptions. If we throw in the two other wide receivers who caught passes that year (Chris Jordan and Charles Dillon), that number goes up to 175 of 260 -- a robust 67.3 percent.

This team doesn't appear to have even one guy on the order of Gibson, Hill or Bumpus on offense -- a guy who can fly past a defender on a route or make a move and turn a five-yard gain into a 30-yard gain.

Like I said, I'm hoping some of it was scheme, or even to a lesser extent guys getting up to speed in the first game. Besides being young, much of our receiving corps missed significant time during camp with injuries. Because if that's not the case, and we simply don't have a receiver who can get open against a subpar secondary, I think this year could be more painful than we're hoping for.

Same thing goes for the defensive side of the ball. The Cougs forced just 13 turnovers in 13 games last year, and are off to a similar start this year after zero takeaways against Stanford. I just don't see a Will Derting, Mkristo Bruce, Rien Long, Marcus Trufant or Lamont Thompson out there.

So that's what I'll be looking for today. Granted, this is a bottom half WAC team, but do some guys start to flash some ability to make some plays? If we do, maybe it's a sign that these guys just need to get some experience for it to shine through. If not ... well, I kinda don't want to think about that today, because I want to enjoy my Saturday.

Game notes I've run across ...

We talked all week about how important it is to get pressure on a run-and-shoot quarterback. Well, that job just got a lot harder: Kevin Kooyman has a PCL injury to one of his knees, and is out three-to-four weeks, according to Grippi.

In his place will be Casey Hamlett and Jesse Feagin. If you're keeping score, our three defensive ends will be a true freshman, a transfer from a now-defunct Division II program and a senior who, before last week, had played a grand total of 10 games in his career (most recently two seasons ago after sitting out last year to concentrate on academics). Oh, and by the way, they had just one tackle between them in the opener. Cross your fingers.
Furthermore, defensive tackle Dan Spitz is out, and Grippi keeps hinting that Louis Bland might not play, either. I've said before that I'd be shocked if Bland doesn't play, given what a warrior he is (lowercase w) -- he also said on a local radio show this week that his knee is "100 percent" and he's going to play -- but when Grippi repeats something like this over and over, it's usually got legs and makes me think the coaches might not let him play to save him for the long haul.
Aire Justin is also out at corner. But I'm starting to wonder if that matters, as he doesn't look like he's improved one bit since last year. No wonder Daniel Simmons shot past him on the depth chart in camp.
Eric Block is out too after that monster hit. (Sense a theme here on defense?)
We talked on the podcast about how the Cougs should try to defend the run-and-shoot. Grippi gives us what might be a sneak preview:

"(Myron) Beck didn’t start against Stanford and only made one tackle. But the 6-foot, 209-pound former safety – he started the first three games there last season – may hold the key for the Cougars defensively. Beck should see plenty of action as a hybrid linebacker/safety, called upon to help in pass coverage and run support. The Cougars didn’t have him against Hawaii last year and he missed most of the offseason recovering from back surgery. But he’s run well the past two weeks and the former Ingraham High (Seattle) star is ready to play."
I talked to Stephen Tsai again yesterday, and he said the Warriors' regular backup QB is out. Why is that a problem? Because they had to fly their third-stringer in from the islands yesterday to take his place. Greg Alexander has had issues with knee soreness in the past -- one reason why his coaches want him to stay in the pocket more -- and if he has to leave the game for any reason, that would be a huge advantage to the Cougs, I would think.
I can't wait to watch LB Aaron Brown play for Hawaii. Why? Because he was a student at the school I taught at for his first two years. Even though he left us for the football factory in the valley, I'm interested to see how he looks.

The Tailgater's Guide to Cougar Football: Week One

Grady. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:22 -0000

Please, someone, stop this thing before it kills us all.

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A weekly series from CougCenter, the Tailgater's Guide is dedicated to helping you prepare for all the action on Cougar Football Saturday; both on the field and off.

The Game

Stanford Cardinal (0-0) at Washington State Cougars (0-0); 3:00 p.m. PT

Location

Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA

Coverage

TV: Fox Sports Northwest (announcers TBD), FCS Pacific
Radio: Cougar Sports Radio Network

Last Meeting

2008 (at Stanford): Stanford 58, WSU 0

The Line

Stanford -16.5

Why you should care: Cougar football is back! And not a moment too soon. And, for the first time since the season opener last year, WSU fields a (mostly) healthy lineup on both sides of the ball. It's WSU's first shot at a win in 2009, and one of the best opportunities they'll have to steal a conference victory. It's also the first chance to see some marquee freshmen take the stage for WSU: WR Gino Simone, DE Travis Long and LB Darren Markle, among others.

Most intriguing storyline: Kevin Lopina will start at quarterback for the Cougars, with Marshall Lobbestael relieving possibly as early as the third or fourth series. Will one of the two QBs distance himself from the other? More importantly, will either have success?

Key matchup: Stanford's Toby Gerhart against WSU's defensive line. In one half of football against the Cougars last year, Gerhart ran for 132 yards and four (!) touchdowns. Needless to say, WSU's revamped defensive line with Kevin Kooyman and Travis Long need to buckle down to keep this game competitive.

Why Stanford might win: If the Cardinal can keep turnovers to a minimum and run over the Cougar defense with ease, they should have this one in the bag. The Stanford passing game is questionable, but then again so is the WSU defensive backfield. It should still be advantage Cardinal. This is essentially a must-win for the tree's bowl hopes in 2009, given their difficult end to the schedule.

Key Player (Stanford): Gerhart. Obviously. Grippi has a good article on him in this week's Spokesman-Review.

Why WSU might win: If the three-headed rushing monster of James Montgomery, Dwight Tardy and Logwone Mitz is successful, it could take the pressure off the rotating quarterbacks and keep WSU in the game. If the Cougs can force Stanford to make some mistakes (read: turnovers) and keep Gerhart's rushing yards to a minimum, they have a chance.

Key Player (WSU): Lopinastael. One of the two Cougar quarterbacks has to have success passing the ball for WSU to remain in this one. Handing it off to the backs can be successful, but when Stanford loads the box it'll be up to Kevin or Marshall to make a play.

Pregame activity: Lawson Gardens. Sure, not the most manly outing out there, but this will satisfy your significant other's need for something other than football, and give you an opportunity to see the place perennially voted "Pullman's best kept secret" by Daily Evergreen readers. It's also one of the last chances to get there before everything turns brown in the fall. And while they don't allow dogs (booooo), it's still worth a walk around. Of course all of this assumes you can find the place, which is almost statistically impossible. Ask a local. Or Google Maps.

Pre- or postgame meal suggestion: LocoGrinz Hawaiian BBQ, Moscow. If you have the urge for ridiculously good Hawaiian food, make the drive across the border to LocoGrinz. Or better yet, call and order ahead so that it's ready by the time you get there. Everything on the menu is enticing, but nothing tops the Pulled Pig (a.k.a Kalua Pork) with noodles on the side. Also worthwhile is the Korean BBQ chicken, if you can handle the spiciness of the sauce.

There are rumors of a second location opening up in downtown Pullman sometime soon. If so, I'm there.

Travel Tip of the week: When parking on campus, it's important to have an escape plan. Does your parking lot empty into the horror that is the North end of Stadium Way? Or can you sneak down Colorado or another side street to your freedom downtown? Sometimes parking farther away from the stadium has its benefits - although if you're clear out by the rec center you may have to resort to going through apartmentville and/or through Airport Road before you can get home. Best bet: If you're going to park farther away from campus, park closer to downtown or Dissmores.

Or, better yet, bring your RV and avoid all the traffic.

Gametime snack of the week: Cashews. Obscenely delicious, and easy to sneak into games in small quantities. I'm kidding of course about sneaking things into games - you should really spend $3.50 on a pretzel that costs probably $.50 cents to produce. Although, it's hard to complain about college concession prices after you've been to a Mariners game.

PREDICTION: I would love to see the Cougars start off 2009 with a huge conference win. Unfortunately, Toby Gerhart is still too much for a rush defense that was horrific last year and will only be marginally improved this fall. The Cougs may keep it close in the first half, but the Cardinal prove to be too much to handle. Stanford 38, Washington State 17.

Pac-10 Picks:

Oregon 38, Boise State 34 (Thursday). The Broncos are nearly unbeatable on their home blue turf (blurf?), but I still think Oregon brings in too much talent to let an early win slip away.
Oregon State 63, Portland State 7. Remember how awful we were last year? We still drubbed Portland State. That can't be a good sign for the Vikings when they travel to Corvallis.
USC 49, San Jose State 6. That's an easy enough prediction to make.
UCLA 38, Stan Diego State 14. These last two feel like the exact same game. Enjoy your blowouts, L.A.!
Arizona 31, Central Michigan 17. Arizona always seems to have an early season game where they are far from impressive. This could be it in '09.
Arizona State 56, Idaho State 3. So many close, exciting games this week, I surely won't fall asleeeeeeeeoqhfjrfesvqbefvejnvejrngjqtngejon
California 38, Maryland 21. California has gone from perennial also-ran to a school with a chance to sweep both the Pac-10 basketball and football titles this school year. Ugh.
LSU 49, Washington 10. Please. I've never gambled on sports, but LSU -17.5 is the most tempting line I've seen in a long, long time. UW hasn't improved that much.

Season record: 0-0

Now to wrap things up, our burning question of the week. See you at the game, and Go Cougs!

Poll

Burning Question: Which Cougar QB earns the majority of the snaps Saturday?

Lopina

90 votes

Lobbestael

17 votes

107 votes | Poll has closed

Final scrimmage recap

Grady. — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:02:34 -0000

Martin Stadium, with the team running sprints after the scrimmage

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EDIT #2 (9/1) - Sooo.... after talking it over with WSU's media relation folks, I decided to take the video down for good. There's no set-in-stone rule on this sort of thing, but because the shots are wide-angle, they could potentially give opponents unnecessary insights to formations and such. Now, the reality is that I don't think anything from practice was particularly new or unusual with respect to Wulff's schemes, but we'd rather not take the chance of ticking off the coaching staff of the team we root for. So - no video. Don't worry; you're not missing anything Earth shattering.

EDIT (8/30): I'm taking down the video until we get official word/OK from WSU, because we really should have asked them in the first place -Grady

It's difficult to get excited about a team with low expectations. After all, WSU is expected to finish at the bottom of the Pac-10 conference. The Cougs are coming off a historically rough 2-11 season - one without much hope or a major talent influx to look forward to.

Still, all it takes sometimes is an exceptional performance by an individual to get a fan excited about their team again.

Meet Gino Simone.

Can I get a do-over on my wide receiver preview? My hope for a Simone redshirt was completely misplaced. Gino is a phenomenal wide receiver, and he can help the team immensely. Right now. Despite the lack of height (he's 5'11"), Simone runs routes like a pro and has the hands to match. He caught the longest pass of the evening, which was the first play from scrimmage - 41 yards from the arm of QB Kevin Lopina. He ran a gorgeous crossing route for another catch, one of four total on the day. He caught the scrimmage's only passing touchdown, a 7 yard reception. He would have had the game's only 2-point conversion completion had a flag not snuffed it out.

Jeshua Anderson didn't play and still needs to rest up for the opener, but never fear. Pac-10 play will tell us if it's for real, but today, Gino Simone played like a number one receiver. I'm excited.

Now, let's break down the rest of the scrimmage by the winners and losers.

Winners

Kevin Lopina

Wulff has been taking the stance all position races are even. Still, when it comes to quarterback, Lopina is the favorite, and he did little to prove otherwise Friday. Kevin looked at home in the offense, staying accurate (9 for 11) and comfortable throughout the scrimmage. He utilized the speed of his receivers, Simone included, and was able to move the ball despite a tough day for the running game. He was a little fortunate; Jared Karstetter made a spectacular adjustment to an underthrown ball for a long completion early on. Lopina also gave up 10 to 15 easy rushing yards on a rollout in favor of throwing to a fully-covered receiver. It almost cost him an interception. Still, Lopina was accurate enough to keep his place atop the currently invisible quarterback depth chart.

Reid Forrest/The Kicking Game

It's painful for me to say it, but our best shot at a first-team all Pac-10 selection this year may just be our punter. Once again, Forrest looked phenomenal, averaging around 50 yards per punt and downing two kicks inside the ten yard line. The first of those was a beautiful ball that touched down at the ten and bounced laterally to safety. The second, well, the second was just insane. 62 yards. Too bad our return man has a case of the dropsies.

Nico Grasu also looked like his usual clutch self, hitting 2 PATs and a 31-yard field goal.

Wide Receivers

Aside from Simone, the rest of the receiving corps also had a banner day. I mentioned Karstetter's 37-yard catch, and Kevin Norrell also looked comparable at times to a former Cougar #4 (Brandon Gibson). Randy Johnson (no, not that one) caught a couple balls as well. Some of it was the quarterback play; a lot of it was the receivers getting good separation off the line and hauling the ball in when it came their way.

Defensive Line

Another potentially sketchy unit for 2009 showed glimmers of hope in the scrimmage. There was really no running game for the crimson or white teams (although we'll talk about the RB situation later), and pressure was applied to the quarterback fairly consistently. Travis Long and Kevin Kooyman each recorded a sack, and with the Lobbestael offense backed up against the goal line they almost earned a safety (the refs - yes, there were refs - got a little generous there). This was the kind of performance that gives us hope we won't be run over yet again in 2009.

Linebackers

Andy Mattingly looked like his old freshman self again, with a mammoth hit and good pursuit of the ball. The other linebackers did well aiding in run protection and swarming to the ball carrier. Pass defense was a little rough at times, but with the quarterbacks and receivers on it would've been difficult for them to stop it.

Xavier Hicks

Came off the end untouched to block a Dan Wagner punt attempt. It was an exciting play, but extremely scary to witness our special teams melting down like that just before the regular season.

---

Losers

Marshall Lobbestael

How can someone who played well have a bad day? When he didn't play well enough to clearly snatch the starter's job away from Kevin Lopina. Ocho Rojo was solid throughout and threw strikes to his wide receivers. However, he did sail the ball over a couple receivers' heads and struggled a little on his sideline routes. When it came to throwing it down the middle, however, Lobbestael was dead on.

If only we could put Lobbestael's arm on Lopina's body, with Alex Brink's brain. Then we'd have something special.

Running Backs

This is a little misleading. While there was virtually no run game for the Cougars in the scrimmage today, the Big Three (Tardy, Montgomery, MItz) were all sidelined. So don't read too much into it. Arthur Burns, Carl Winston and Leon Brooks ran for a total of 26 yards. Not great. Winston did score the other of the scrimmage's two touchdowns, following that Hicks blocked punt.

Offensive Line

If the D-Line looked good, it only makes sense that they made the O-Line look overwhelmed. And so they did. Pass protection was decent, but the number of "sacks" (remember, no tackling of the QB) were a little too high for comfort. Also, the lack of rushing support in clear rushing situations around the goal line was a little disheartening. Still, with the key running backs out, the O-line provided enough protection for the quarterbacks to move the ball downfield. A couple rough QB-center exchanges are cause for concern - fortunately it's still just practice.

The Return Game

There really wasn't much to get excited about in the punt/kick return game, save for one decent punt return after Forrest had to kick it out of his own endzone. The kick returns should have/could have been better considering that most of the kickoffs were line drives - something that could cause us some trouble in the regular season. Still, I feel there was enough experimenting by the coaches going on in special teams that the right group of blockers may not have emerged yet.

Defensive Backs

No interceptions and a lot of accuracy from the quarterbacks do not bode well for the corners and safeties. They covered the deep ball fairly well, but were sometimes a little too tight with their men and risking pass interference. They had all sorts of trouble tracking Gino Simone and the other wideouts, and with the run game under wraps it would've been nice to see an interception or two. I did love Hicks' blocked punt, however.

Dan Wagner

I have to be careful here, as I don't like to be mean to 18-23 year old players doing the best they can (and a heck of a lot better than I could). So, allow me to say the one positive thing about Wagner's day: he didn't throw an interception. However, he did misfire on a wide open receiver down the field that would have easily been a touchdown. He also had that punt blocked, but that was hardly his fault.

Jeff Tuel didn't make an appearance; I am still very afraid of injuries forcing us to burn his redshirt.

Overall, a solid scrimmage and a good performance by the Cougs on both sides of the ball. I'll leave you with the only huddle from the scrimmage, at the end:

UNIT PREVIEW: Defensive Line

Grady. — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:00:25 -0000

Toby Turpin takes out his aggression on a water cooler during WSU's 69-0 loss to USC last season (Ted Warren, AP).

View full size photo »

Part two in a seven-part series previewing the Cougs' offensive and defensive units.
Saturday: Offensive Line
Today: Defensive Line
Wednesday: Running Backs

Overview

Let's rewind to the Pullman home opener in 2008. Sun in the sky; hope on the horizon as the Cougars host the California Golden Bears in an early Pac-10 Conference showdown. The Cougars' opening kickoff, a play that was cause for concern in the Bill Doba era, makes it safely to the end zone for a touchback. Cal takes over on their own 20 yard line. The fans are cheering. The Crimson and Gray are ready for their first defensive stand in Pullman. Their first defensive possession at home in the Paul Wulff era.

The ball is handed off to lightning fast Cal running back Jahvid Best. Gone. 80 yards. Touchdown.

Achilles, meet your heel.

A large part of WSU's historically bad 2008 was a historically bad 2008 rush defense. Washington State, in 13 games, gave up an average of 5.78 yards per rushing attempt. Good for 120th - and last - in the nation. The Cougs gave up a stunning fifty rushing touchdowns; thirteen more than the nearest challenger for defensive ineptitude. Teams pounded the ball against WSU last year, and they didn't stop. Look for a bright spot, and it's hard to find: the Cougars were 97th in sacks per game (still better than the Huskies at 99th!). 96th in tackles-for-loss per game. 117th in fumbles forced. And so on.

The defensive line was bruised, beaten, embarrassed, and left for dead.

Fortunately, there are reasons to be hopeful going into 2009.

Namely, the first and last games of 2008. Against a dominating Oklahoma State offensive line (one lined with NFL prospects and huge hosses from the Midwest), the then-healthy Cougar D-line only surrendered 4.1 yards per carry. An impressive stat in what is now a pretty good-looking 39-13 loss to the eventual #14-ranked team in the country. Then, of course, the last game, against the hated U-Dub. Now, the Cougars may have surrendered 224 yards to the hapless 0-12 Huskies, but they did it over a whopping 58 attempts - good for a 3.9 yard per carry rush defense. Tyrone Willingham's plan to pound the ball and run away with the Apple Cup failed. The D-line gave up only one rushing touchdown, and may very well have saved our season from being a complete abomination.

But enough about last year. Let's talk '09. And hope.

Depth Chart

LE 93 *** [6] Kevin Kooyman (6-6, 246, Sr.)
     50 [dnp] Adam Coerper (6-4, 250, #Fr.)

LT 90 * [4] Toby Turpin (6-4, 284, #Jr.)
     92 [dnp] Dan Spitz (6-7, 260, #Fr.)
     61 [dnp] Anthony Laurenzi (6-3, 290, #Fr.)

RT 95 [dnp] Bernard Wolfgramm (6-3, 288, #Jr.) or
94 [dnp] Josh Luapo (6-0, 321, #Jr.)
      99 [dnp] Jessy Sanchez (6-2, 259, #Jr.) INJ

RE 98 * [dnp] Jesse Feagin (6-2, 266, #Sr.)
      92 [dnp] Casey Hamlett (6-3, 239, Jr.)

Key Player

Toby Turpin is going to be key stopping the interior run game; you know, the one that haunts us so much. However, I'm going with the senior leader, Kevin Kooyman. Kooyman has all the physical tools to go from good role player to impact player, and this is his last chance to make an impact at WSU. 2008 was the breakout year for the kid out of Maple Valley, with 31 total tackles and six starts. Now, the challenge for Kooyman, and the rest of the line, is to take all those gains from the weight room this off-season and turn them into gains on the field. One thing WSU desperately needs is an end that can break through the opposing line and put pressure on the quarterback, or earn tackles for loss. Kooyman is the most likely candidate for this given the lack of experience at the right end position. He's going to have to stay healthy, though - a common theme at just about every Cougar defensive position.

Biggest Question Mark

See all those [dnp]s above? Those, as you might be aware, stand for "did not play". So, among the entire defensive line depth chart, you have the following: 10 career starts, 2 players with any sort of game experience last fall and five varsity letters (three of which belong to Kooyman). That's inexperience. If Kooyman or Turpin get injured, who anchors that line? Are these young, inexperienced lineman good enough to stop the tidal wave of rushing attempts the Cougars are going to face? Do they have the talent to prevent a bad line from becoming worse?

Okay, that's a lot of question marks, when I promised you just one. To summarize: can the Cougars overcome their complete lack of experience on the defensive line?

Best Case Scenario

Fortunately, you, the loyal members of CougCenter, know that experience alone doesn't win ball games. If seasoned veterans were all you needed to have success in sports, then Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Sweeney would be powering the American League's best offense in Seattle. Luckily, talent and experience are two different things, and the Cougars may have more raw talent and depth in the line for 2009 than they did last fall. Bernard Wolfgramm is an exciting prospect at tackle, and he'll be battling it out with 321 (!) pound Josh Luapo. Best case scenario: the Cougar line shocks the world in 2009, holding the opposition to a much more average four yards per attempt. The D-line also cuts the number of rushing TDs in half, leading the Cougars to a couple upsets on the way to a five win season.

Worst Case Scenario

Week one against Stanford: Kooyman tears his ACL, MCL, PCL, and WWE trying to block the Cardinal line. Turpin suffers a similar fate, with a broken foot in the next game against Hawai'i. The patchwork D-line suffers just as much as last year, giving up big play after big play and 7 yards per carry. Opposing quarterbacks live the high life, with no one within fifty yards attempting to sack them. The Cougars head into the Apple Cup winless and embarrassed. Then, salt gets poured into the wound as the chop-blocking Huskies rout the Cougs 69-0 by injuring every other remaining player on the D-line. Paul Wulff has to put a jersey on and play right end so that the Cougs don't forfeit.

Likely Scenario

If the Cougs can stay relatively healthy - injuries are to be expected on any unit on any team of football players - they have a good shot of keeping teams to about 4.5 yards per carry. Not deserving of any major awards, certainly, but enough to keep WSU from being embarrassed and take pressure off of the linebackers and secondary. Sure, the Jahvid Bests of the world will steamroll the Cougar D, but teams with less potent rushing attacks struggle and the Cougs stay more competitive. The younger players suffer at times, but guys like Adam Coerper and Dan Spitz show some glimmer of hope for the 2010 season and beyond. The Cougars' D-line improves from last season, but not enough to strike fear in the hearts of opposing quarterbacks.

Poll

Over/under time! Will the Cougars give up more or less than five yards per rushing attempt in 2009?

More than 5 yards/att

49 votes

Less than 5 yards/att

81 votes

130 votes | Poll has closed

Cougs release fall outlook with early 'depth chart'

Nuss — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:28:23 -0000

WSU has released its fall outlook, complete with a "depth chart" and stunning analysis from Paul Wulff featuring such gems as "We have some players that have played college football." (I did not make that up.)

The reason I put depth chart in quotation marks is because when a depth chart is released with A) None of the incoming players listed and B) Your leading returning wide receiver as a third stringer, you have to take these things with a grain of salt. Coaches use these things for all sorts of psychological reasons, and it will obviously change a whole lot between now and Sept. 5.

However, that doesn't mean we can't talk about it. My initial thoughts.

The Jeshua Anderson thing is stupid -- he clearly, unquestionably is our best pass catcher, and I can't even dream up a scenario where he's not considered one of our top three wide receivers.* Maybe Wulff is trying to reward the guys who were in spring practice while giving Anderson a carrot to chase. But seriously ... who are they fooling? There are a certain number of guys on this team who will be starters barring some kind of training camp injury -- Kenny Alfred, Kevin Kooyman, Andy Mattingly, Chima Nwachukwu, Louis Bland -- and Anderson is one of them. I understand doing this to guys in certain circumstances, but this is just silly. When the offense takes the field against Stanford, Anderson will be on it.

*Unless that hamstring injury from track season is lingering and a bigger problem than we know. Then all bets are off. But there's no notation of an injury with Anderson on the depth chart.
Kevin Lopina and Marshall Lobbestael are listed as "or" starters on the actual two-deep, according to Grippi. (I can't find the actual two-deep anywhere on the WSU site.) It's not hugely surprising, but it's good to see that we hopefully will have a legitimate quarterback competition on our hands this year. My money's still on Lobbestael, but I think he's got to go out and take it from Lopina, who has a pretty big edge in experience from last year and spring drills.
Anyone else get little butterflies in their stomach when they see Mattingly listed at linebacker again?
Man, we are scary thin at cornerback. I'd be fairly shocked if Nwachukwu doesn't end up playing there again at some point this year. Those guys are really going to need the defensive line to be a lot better, because they're not going to be able to cover anyone for more than about three seconds.
Interesting that Eric Block is listed as a second-stringer behind Nwachukwu at free safety. He's really struggled with injuries his first two years on campus, but he was considered a good get out of Bellevue High School when the Cougs signed him. Remember, Jim Harbaugh was after him hard, too. The best case scenario for our secondary just might be a healthy Block that allows Nwachukwu to move back to corner.
Holy crap do we have a lot of talented linebackers. Here's to hoping one of them can be an adequate replacement for Greg Trent.
Our backup right defensive end (Casey Hamlett, 6-2/239) transferred from Western Washington University after the Vikings cut their program last year. Again, I am not making this up. My guess is that his name will be replaced with the name "Travis Long" by the end of camp.

Here are some other miscellaneous football links to keep you busy today, since the best way to beat the heat if you're in Seattle is to sit at a computer in a hot house:

Kooyman has posted his final diary for Cougfan.com, featuring this little nugget: "I can realistically see our team making it to a bowl game." Ah, the optimism of July.
Alfred also has his fourth diary for Cougfan.com. Honestly, his have been fun to read. I know there is editing that goes into these things, but he genuinely seems like an interesting, articulate guy.
Jim Sterk and Wulff will once again be participating in those riveting Cougar Chats. Woooo.
Single game tickets go on sale on Saturday. Don't everyone log on at once -- we wouldn't want to crash the server clamoring for SMU tickets.
The 2008 WSU football team was ranked the second worst of the decade by esteemed Pac-10 writer Jon Wilner. Guess who's worst? :-)
We'll finish off with a couple of "for-the-record" items. First, the felony burglary charges were dropped against Tyree Toomer and LeAndre Daniels. As we suspected, this seems like a misunderstanding that was blown out of proportion by an overzealous criminal justice system. It's old news, but we wanted to make sure we note it. Toomer especially is going to be counted on to contribute. Also, Romeo Pellum took some shots at the coaching staff on his way out of town. Whatever.

THE AFTERNOON PAPER: Discipline issues still at the fore with football

Nuss — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:21:16 -0000

I haven't put together a links post in a couple of days, and I've got a ton of stuff built up in the SB Nation Clipper queue today.

Let's lead off with football for once, since, you know ... it's almost football season.

Created by OnePlusYou

Now if we could, you know, actually talk about football when it comes to the football team.

Howie Stalwick at Cougfan.com checks in with Jim Sterk to find out just what the esteemed AD thinks about the job his football coach is doing in the wake of even more transgressions with the law on the part of his players.

"I think Paul has made significant progress and the team has as far as what they’re doing -- their attitude, how they’re conducting themselves," Sterk said. ... "There’s been a couple screw-ups. I don’t want to minimize it. But they’ve been a heck of a lot better than in my previous nine years."

Wait a minute. Nine years? I was under the impression the players running afoul of the law or the university was a relatively new phenomenon. Perhaps there was more going on behind the scenes than we knew. Which is why it shouldn't be surprising that Ted Miller tells his general Pac-10 readers that it's unlikely that Sterk goes in a different direction at the end of the year, even if the Cougs suffer another abysmal season:

So let's say the Cougars win one, two or three games and end up in the conference basement. Does that mean fans should start calling for Wulff's head?

No.

It's impossible to judge a coach on two seasons. And Sterk, who strikes me as a measured decision-maker, knows that and isn't going to panic. Wulff inherited a program that had lost its direction. Or, to be more direct: He inherited a program devoid of talent and leadership.

At the very least, the changes Wulff has instituted are resulting in some good rhetoric around the program. In his Cougfan.com diary, Kenny Alfred dedicates the first portion to talking about the "covenants" the players developed to hold each other accountable.

These four covenants are things that the entire team is unifying with and working to fully attain on a day-to-day basis. And in all honesty, with these four concepts now firmly in place, things have gotten leaps and bounds better both on and off the field than they were before. As new players who are incredibly eager to learn and accept the system that we’re putting in place arrive, we will only become a stronger and better football team.

Then, in his CF.C diary, Kevin Kooyman talks about the difference in strength training since Wulff and strength coach Daren Lovat have made.

It's all well and good, but we heard a lot of talk before last year about the culture change that Wulff was bringing, and it didn't really show up on the field. When I was in high school, we had similar off-field measures to ensure our success in the coming seasons. We went 0-8, and won exactly three games in my entire high school career. We'll see just how much of a change has been made under Wulff when things start to go south this year.