This year, Washington State football seems less likely to totally collapse!

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1. A pirate looks at 3-9

It's cruel when a rebuilding team gets hit with loads of bad luck at once.

The job is hard enough already. Depth and confidence are fragile, and in the Pac-12, you've got nine conference games to deal with; the slate's full of middleweights and heavyweights, and you could use a few more featherweights.

That's how I led off Monday's Colorado preview. I could have saved every word for Washington State.

It is perhaps more orderly when the teams with the toughest road also deal with the worst luck. There are fewer surprises that way, fewer "what the hell is going on?" tests of the imagination.

It's also just mean. And for every bad break Colorado got last year, Wazzu was hit equally hard.

• Leading receiver Gabe Marks was forced to redshirt, in part because he got hurt.
• Quarterback Connor Halliday's career ended a few games early because of injury.
• The secondary was annihilated by injuries.
• The Cougars lost 3.5 points per game to turnovers luck in a season that saw three losses by a combined 11 points.

WSU never saw its intended first string on the field at the same time, and after the first half of the season saw bad breaks and frustrating losses, the Cougars fell apart in the second.

We make far more out of "momentum" than we should, especially in the offseason, when there is an eight- or nine-month break between games. It matters for The Narrative more than anything else. But then again, The Narrative, the buzz surrounding the program can impact recruiting, ticket sales, etc., and to the point that Uncle Mo matters, he left Pullman in 2014.

Mike Leach took over at Wazzu in 2012, inheriting from Paul Wulff a program that had hit rock bottom in 2008-09 and had begun to rebound a bit. Leach had the Cougars in a bowl in his second season; they went 6-7 but ranked a respectable 59th in F/+, a clear sign that things were headed in the right direction. But then they went 3-9 again and ranked just 77th. The offense was fine, but the defense self-destructed (in part because of a secondary made of youngsters and spare parts), and the special teams unit was as bad as can be.

Heading into his fourth year, Leach faces far more questions, but he's aggressively attempted to answer them. He's got a new defensive coordinator, a new plan for special teams, an exciting young quarterback, and one of the most experienced offensive lines in the country. It would be stunning if the Cougars didn't improve.

Now we'll see how much of a difference that makes in an unforgiving Pac-12, in which everybody is making good hires and there are fewer likely wins.

That Leach took this job was endearing; the offbeat coach headed to an offbeat locale about as far away from his Key West home as possible. When WSU head coach Mike Price left in 2002 following his second straight 10-win season and top-10 finish, the program lost luster like a sieve loses water. The Cougars won 10 games again in 2003, then averaged five wins per year from 2004-07, then won five games total from 2008-10. There is no short road back, especially in a conference that has so little dead weight.

Leach has laid groundwork and put his entertaining, lots-of-points-for-both-teams product on the field. But now he's got to respond to his first Pullman setback.

2014 Schedule & Results

Record: 3-9 | Adj. Record: 5-7 | Final F/+ Rk: 77
Date	Opponent	Opp. F/+ Rk	Score	W-L	Percentile Performance	Adj. Scoring Margin	Win Expectancy
28-Aug	Rutgers	81	38-41	L	45%	-2.7	35%
5-Sep	at Nevada	64	13-24	L	49%	-0.7	32%
13-Sep	Portland State	N/A	59-21	W	86%	25.8	100%
20-Sep	Oregon	3	31-38	L	69%	11.3	20%
27-Sep	at Utah	29	28-27	W	87%	25.8	92%
4-Oct	California	65	59-60	L	71%	13.1	80%
10-Oct	at Stanford	18	17-34	L	24%	-16.8	0%
25-Oct	Arizona	28	37-59	L	26%	-15.2	3%
1-Nov	USC	16	17-44	L	26%	-14.8	1%
8-Nov	at Oregon State	74	39-32	W	56%	3.5	56%
22-Nov	at Arizona State	27	31-52	L	29%	-12.8	1%
29-Nov	Washington	58	13-31	L	14%	-24.9	0%

Category	Offense	Rk	Defense	Rk
S&P+	32.5	39	33.0	95
Points Per Game	31.8	48	38.6	117

2. And then it went to hell on a stick

The Pac-12 in its current state shows us the power of increased money and strong hires. When your conference has a lot of both, your conference gets stronger. And while Wazzu could improve again in 2014, the Cougs play only one team projected worse than 45th after September 13. They'll have to improve just to stand still at six wins.

In last year's Wazzu preview, I noted the brutal schedule. And while it didn't end up quite as difficult as I thought -- after September 13, WSU faced three teams that finished 58th or worse -- the Cougs didn't end up as good as I thought.

For half a season, they were close. They suffered disappointing losses to Rutgers and Nevada, which almost immediately rendered bowl hopes mostly moot, but they stayed closer to national title finalist Oregon than they could have, and they went to Utah and knocked off a Utes team that had just thumped Michigan in Ann Arbor and was about to win at UCLA.

They were playing like a top-50 team, and it took the worst special teams game you'll ever see to lose at Cal: the Golden Bears returned two kicks for touchdowns, the Cougars missed a 19-yard field goal as time expired, and Cal won, 60-59.

Going by Win Expectancy, WSU had fared well enough to be 4-2. Instead, the record was 2-4. And then things fell apart.

• Average Percentile Performance (first 6 games): 68% (~top 40 | avg. score: WSU 38, Opp 35)
• Average Percentile Performance (last 6 games): 29% (~top 90 | avg. score: Opp 42, WSU 26)

The defense got worse, the offense lost its groove, and special teams didn't improve when Leach fired special teams coordinator Eric Russell. Halliday got hurt early against USC, and while freshman Luke Falk actually held his own (especially in a win over Oregon State), it was just a punctuation mark on a cruel season. Now begins the (attempted) rebound.

Offense

FIVE FACTORS -- OFFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	0.83	80	IsoPPP+	109.1	46
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	43.5%	51	Succ. Rt. +	105.1	50
FIELD POSITION	Def. Avg. FP	31.5	100	Def. FP+	101.0	53
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	4.5	64	Redzone S&P+	100.7	63
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	23.5		ACTUAL	25	+1.5

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	7	46	50	46
RUSHING	128	117	103	124
PASSING	1	40	39	46
Standard Downs		50	70	45
Passing Downs		41	38	57

Q1 Rk	70	1st Down Rk	34
Q2 Rk	53	2nd Down Rk	48
Q3 Rk	36	3rd Down Rk	40
Q4 Rk	14

3. Still gotta stay ahead of the chain gang

The name of the game in a Leach offense is distribution. It's not even, but ... it's pretty even. The five skill positions in WSU's offense -- the running back position and the four receivers (X, Y, Z, H) -- all touch the ball, and it's almost like an option offense in that you let the defense dictate where the ball goes.

If you're effective enough in both spreading the defense out and making it account for every weapon, it's going to start getting predictable, making mistakes, or both.

Including targets and carries, Wazzu running backs got 24 intended touches per game in 2014. The X receivers got 19, the Ys got 12, the Zs got 11, and the Hs got 10. And there were a few standouts: Vince Mayle (X) had a breakout campaign, seeing nearly 14 targets per game and averaging more than 9 yards per target. Isiah Myers averaged more than 8 per target from the Z, River Cracraft and Tyler Baker more than 7 per target from the Y.

Now to get more from the running backs. WSU RBs averaged just 3.9 yards per carry and 5.8 yards per target in 2014; while the catch rate was as good as you would hope for short passes (83 percent), the players who touched the ball didn't really get anywhere.

The best Leach offenses have backs that are both flexible and successful. In 2008, Baron Batch averaged 6.8 yards per carry and 10 yards per catch. In 2006, Shannon Woods averaged 6.1 and 7.6. But even as a tiny piece of the WSU offense, the run simply stunk. It's one thing to rarely do it; it's another to do it horribly.

WSU's offense was still relatively efficient -- 50th in Success Rate+, 38th on passing downs -- but the Cougars were far too inefficient on standard downs. Even in an offense like this, where virtually every down is a "passing down," you still have to stay on schedule.

Every lineman from last year's two-deep is back, including seven players who have combined for 93 career starts, and the top two backs (Jamal Morrow and Gerard Wicks) are back after frustrating freshman campaigns. Perhaps experience alone is enough to boost the rushing averages. WSU hopes so, anyway.

Quarterback

Note: players in bold below are 2015 returnees. Players in italics are questionable with injury/suspension.

Player	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Comp Rate	Sacks	Sack Rate	Yards/ Att.
Connor Halliday					354	526	3873	32	11	67.3%	19	3.5%	6.8
Luke Falk	6'4, 201	So.	2 stars (5.3)	NR	156	243	1859	13	7	64.2%	17	6.5%	6.7
Peyton Bender	6'0, 186	RSFr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8443
Tyler Hilinski	6'4, 200	Fr.	4 stars (5.8)	0.8608

4. More mistakes, more big plays

Luke Falk came to Pullman with the expectation that he would have a chance to start in 2016 as a redshirt sophomore, but Halliday's late-season injury bumped the timetable up. He had to come in early in an eventual blowout loss to USC -- "Alright, kid, the offense is all yours. Go out and throw 57 passes in your first real action." -- but he looked great in a win at Oregon State, completing 44 of 61 passes for 471 yards, five scores, and no picks.

Defenses began to catch up with him a bit -- he completed just 59 percent of his passes with six picks against ASU and Washington -- but all in all, it wasn't a miserable experience.

Now that Falk has gotten an offseason, we'll see what he can do. He made all the mistakes you would expect a thrust-into-the-spotlight freshman to make: his sack rate was higher than Halliday's (6.5 percent to 3.5), and his interception rate was higher (2.9 percent to 2.1). But he also got the ball downfield; after a couple of years of tamping down his Heroball instincts, Halliday was more measured and solid last year, completing 67 percent of his passes at 10.9 yards per completion. Falk: 64 percent, 11.9 per completion. If his supporting cast is up to the task, Falk could be, too.

Running Back

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Rushes	Yards	TD	Yards/ Carry	Hlt Yds/ Opp.	Opp. Rate	Fumbles	Fum. Lost
Jamal Morrow	RB	5'8, 189	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8314	87	351	0	4.0	3.4	33.3%	1	1
Gerard Wicks	RB	5'11, 219	So.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8209	62	234	4	3.8	3.6	32.3%	0	0
Theron West	RB					21	88	0	4.2	7.1	28.6%	0	0
Luke Falk	QB	6'4, 201	So.	2 stars (5.3)	NR	19	35	1	1.8	2.0	31.6%	4	2
Connor Halliday	QB					10	25	0	2.5	4.3	20.0%	4	1
Marcus Mason	RB					5	7	0	1.4	1.1	20.0%	0	0
Keith Harrington	WR	5'7, 180	RSFr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8509
James Williams	RB	5'11, 185	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8528

Receiving Corps

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Targets	Catches	Yards	Catch Rate	Target Rate	%SD	Yds/ Target	NEY	Real Yds/ Target	RYPR
Vince Mayle	WR-X					163	106	1483	65.0%	21.8%	65.6%	9.1	204	9.0	171.9
Gabe Marks (2013)	WR-Z	6'0, 190	Jr.	4 stars (5.9)	0.9287	118	74	820	62.7%	16.3%	67.8%	6.9	88	7.2	89.6
Isiah Myers	WR-Z					116	78	972	67.2%	15.5%	61.2%	8.4	37	8.3	112.6
River Cracraft	WR-Y	6'0,198	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8247	101	66	771	65.3%	13.5%	57.4%	7.6	-24	7.6	89.3
Jamal Morrow	RB	5'8, 187	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8314	69	61	460	88.4%	9.2%	72.5%	6.7	-239	6.6	53.3
Dom Williams	WR-X	6'2, 199	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8248	65	43	656	66.2%	8.7%	60.0%	10.1	139	10.2	76.0
Rickey Galvin	WR-H					59	37	400	62.7%	7.9%	62.7%	6.8	-49	6.6	46.3
Robert Lewis	WR-H	5'9, 167	So.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8691	56	41	370	73.2%	7.5%	67.9%	6.6	-114	6.8	42.9
Tyler Baker	WR-Y	5'10, 180	Sr.	2 stars (5.3)	NR	42	27	308	64.3%	5.6%	59.5%	7.3	-18	7.3	35.7
Gerard Wicks	RB	5'11, 211	So.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8209	24	16	76	66.7%	3.2%	66.7%	3.2	-116	3.1	8.8
Theron West	RB					20	17	119	85.0%	2.7%	85.0%	6.0	-77	6.5	13.8
Calvin Green	WR-Z	5'10, 173	So.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8524	20	13	68	65.0%	2.7%	90.0%	3.4	-89	5.2	7.9
Brett Bartolone (2013)	WR	5'10, 185	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	NR	18	10	53	55.6%	2.5%	70.6%	2.9	-78	3.1	5.8
Daniel Lilienthal	WR-X	6'2, 204	Sr.	NR	NR
John Thompson	WR-H	5'7, 194	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	NR
Zaire Andre	WR-Z	5'10, 157	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8553
Barry Ware	WR	6'2, 213	RSFr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8660
C.J. Dimry	WR	6'6, 210	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7819

5. Patchwork with potential

With Marks back, Wazzu is an interesting position: the Cougars lose their No. 1 and No. 2 receivers but return their No. 1 receiver.

Vince Mayle had an incredible senior season in Marks' absence, and the Wazzu passing game continued to be solid despite major shifts in roles. Marks and Kristoff Williams, 2013's No. 1 and No. 4 receivers, went from 190 combined targets to 3 thanks to injury, and Mayle, River Cracraft, and Isiah Myers went from 203 to 380.

Marks and Cracraft will lead the way, though Dom Williams is a name to watch. An all-or-nothing threat in 2013, he averaged 15.3 yards per catch with a 66 percent catch rate last year as Mayle's X backup. If a WSU player is to pull a Mayle, going from reserve to senior star, it will be Williams.

If this trio clicks with Falk, and another couple of weapons emerge -- sophomore Robert Lewis? senior Brett Bartolone? redshirt freshman Barry Ware? -- Wazzu's passing numbers could improve. They'll be good no matter what -- this is a Leach offense, after all -- but there is undeniable potential.

Offensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	83.7	2.44	2.88	31.2%	69.2%	23.2%	143.6	3.6%	6.9%
Rank	118	119	100	123	45	112	21	37	55

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Career Starts	Honors/Notes
Gunnar Eklund	LG	6'7, 308	Sr.	NR	NR	32
Joe Dahl	LT	6'4, 302	Sr.	NR	NR	25
Eduardo Middleton	RG	6'5, 315	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8395	12
Riley Sorenson	C	6'4, 320	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8472	10
Cole Madison	RT	6'5, 303	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8119	8
Jacob Seydel	RT	6'6, 287	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8067	4
Sam Flor	C	6'4, 308	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7894	2
Devonte McClain	LG	6'5, 314	Sr.	NR	NR	0
Moritz Christ	RG	6'5, 318	Sr.	NR	NR	0
Cody O'Connell	LG	6'8, 356	So.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8362	0
Carlos Freeman	C	6'3, 310	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8141	0
B.J. Salmonson	OL	6'4, 289	So.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7652	0
Brandon Evers	OL	6'6, 284	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.7916
Andre Dillard	LT	6'5, 266	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8159
Joseph Price	OL	6'6, 270	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8457
Noah Myers	OL	6'5, 300	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8375

Defense

FIVE FACTORS -- DEFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	0.98	120	IsoPPP+	91.0	96
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	43.2%	87	Succ. Rt. +	99.5	66
FIELD POSITION	Off. Avg. FP	26.9	123	Off. FP+	97.0	99
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	4.8	106	Redzone S&P+	94.2	88
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	14.9		ACTUAL	8.0	-6.9

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	99	80	61	96
RUSHING	40	76	72	80
PASSING	127	78	54	99
Standard Downs		95	73	106
Passing Downs		53	52	58

Q1 Rk	89	1st Down Rk	99
Q2 Rk	43	2nd Down Rk	110
Q3 Rk	119	3rd Down Rk	110
Q4 Rk	96

6. The D never had a chance

Former WSU coordinator Mike Breske really wanted to attack. The Cougars wanted to change games with havoc plays and turnovers, essentially breaking serve and creating those deadly TD-INT-TD combos that have turned so many games for Oregon and Baylor through the years. You can risk big plays when you know your offense is going to score 30-plus points.

An aggressive defense is a nice complement to a Leachian offense, but Breske went full "damn the torpedoes" when he didn't have the ship to do so.

The front four was actually solid; WSU ranked 25th in Adj. Line Yards and 22nd in stuff rate (run stops behind the line), and the sack rates were decent. And while we're in the mood for compliments, the Cougars' pass efficiency ranked a mediocre 54th in Passing Success Rate+.

But you have to be more efficient to make big plays worth the risk, and with an incredibly rearranged back eight, there were too many big plays.

WSU was forced to play about 12 defensive backs, and only two (corner Daquawn Brown and Taylor Taliulu) played in all 12 games. A combination of injuries and general shuffling gave WSU a new secondary every week, it seemed, and the results were predictable.

WSU fell from 57th in Def. S&P+ in 2013 to 95th, and Breske was fired. To replace him, Leach got a little creative, bringing in a young gun: former Missouri safeties coach Alex Grinch. Grinch is Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel's nephew, and while Tiger fans cried "NEPOTISM!" when he was hired in 2012, he made a quick impact as a recruiter and safeties man.

It appears Grinch will be going with an alignment similar to what Missouri had, a flexible one with lots of five-DB looks. If you've got an active line and lots of DBs, that can work, and ... damned if WSU doesn't have those things.

Defensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	112.5	2.85	2.77	39.7%	65.7%	22.7%	106.5	5.8%	8.2%
Rank	25	56	28	78	54	22	54	39	50

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Kache Palacio	RUSH	6'2, 235	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8307	12	45.0	6.6%	9.0	6.5	0	2	1	0
Xavier Cooper	DT					12	27.0	4.0%	9.5	5.0	0	1	0	0
Ivan McLennan	RUSH	6'4, 240	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8693	12	16.0	2.4%	5.5	4.5	0	0	1	0
Darryl Paulo	DE	6'2, 265	Sr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8382	12	13.5	2.0%	7.0	2.0	0	0	1	0
Destiny Vaeao	DT	6'4, 304	Sr.	3 stars (5.6)	NR	10	11.5	1.7%	3.5	2.0	0	1	0	0
Kalafitoni Pole	NT					11	9.5	1.4%	1.5	0.0	0	0	0	0
Daniel Ekuale	NT	6'3, 288	So.	2 stars (5.4)	NR	12	7.5	1.1%	3.0	1.0	0	0	0	0
Reggie Coates (Nevada)	DE	6'0, 237	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7000	4	4.5	0.6%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Robert Barber	NT	6'3, 312	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	NR	12	4.0	0.6%	1.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Ngalu Tapa	DT	6'2, 314	RSFr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8059
Hercules Mata'afa	DT	6'2, 243	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8075
Kingston Fernandez	DE	6'2, 254	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.8033
Jeremiah Mitchell	DE	6'4, 260	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8412
Thomas Toki	DT	6'1, 307	Fr.	4 stars (5.8)	0.9045
T.J. Fehoko	DE	6'1, 265	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8495
Hunter Mattox	DE	6'4, 260	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8442

7. Dare I say it, an exciting front

Though I'm sure he'll experiment, it appears Grinch will be working mostly with four down linemen. At first glance, Wazzu should have the size and speed to make that work.

Kache Palacio and Ivan McLennan should be fine as ends after combining for 11 sacks a year ago, and despite the loss of Xavier Cooper and Toni Pole, the Cougars have some options on the interior. Big Destiny Vaeao is solid, and sophomore Daniel Ekuale made some plays.

Moving from three down linemen to four can obviously create depth issues up front, but between the returnees, big redshirt freshman Ngalu Tapa, JUCO transfer Jeremiah Mitchell, and four-star freshman Thomas Toki, I don't see that as a concern.

Combining these playmakers with the pairing of Jeremiah Allison and Peyton Pelluer at linebacker (plus intriguing redshirt freshman Chanlder Leniu), it would appear this front could make quite a few plays without taking huge risks. And if that's the case, a freshly experienced secondary could be offered room to improve.

Linebackers

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Jeremiah Allison	WILL	6'2, 228	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8717	12	64.5	9.5%	8.5	3.5	0	0	0	0
Darryl Monroe	MIKE					12	54.5	8.0%	4.0	1.5	0	1	0	0
Cyrus Coen	SAM					11	50.5	7.4%	6.5	1.0	1	0	1	1
Peyton Pelluer	MIKE	6'0, 228	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8369	12	29.0	4.3%	5.5	1.0	0	0	0	0
Mitchell Peterson	SAM					10	18.5	2.7%	1.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Tana Pritchard	LB					11	17.5	2.6%	1.0	0.0	1	0	0	0
Paris Taylor	WILL	6'3, 216	Jr.	NR	0.7667	12	4.5	0.7%	1.5	1.0	0	0	0	0
Frankie Luvu	LB	6'2, 219	So.	2 stars (5.2)	0.8233	8	2.5	0.4%	0.0	0.0	0	0	2	0
Dylan Hanser	WILL	6'4, 214	So.	NR	0.7900
Chandler Leniu	MIKE	6'0, 255	RSFr.	4 stars (5.8)	0.8683
Greg Hoyd III	LB	6'1, 225	RSFr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8472
Aaron Porter	LB	6'3, 230	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8491

Secondary

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Daquawn Brown	CB					12	69.0	10.1%	6	0	0	11	0	0
Darius Lemora	NB	5'11, 192	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8141	11	56.5	8.3%	0.5	0	0	3	0	0
Taylor Taliulu	SS	5'11, 210	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8264	12	55.5	8.2%	0	0	0	4	2	0
Charleston White	CB	5'10, 180	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8082	10	32.0	4.7%	0	0	1	13	1	0
Sulaiman Hameed	SS	5'10, 193	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8345	6	15.5	2.3%	0	0	0	1	0	0
Pat Porter	CB	5'9, 174	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.7979	4	9.0	1.3%	0	0	0	2	0	0
Marcellus Pippins	CB	5'10, 170	So.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8426	3	7.5	1.1%	2	0	0	2	0	0
Parker Henry	NB	5'11, 201	Jr.	2 stars (5.2)	NR	10	7.0	1.0%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tracy Clark	CB					3	6.0	0.9%	0.5	0	0	0	0	0
Beau Glover	FS					5	4.5	0.7%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Teondray Caldwell	SS					2	3.5	0.5%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Colton Teglovic	NB	6'0, 189	Jr.	NR	NR	10	3.0	0.4%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Isaac Dotson	FS	6'1, 214	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8259	4	2.5	0.4%	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Bucannon	CB	6'0, 197	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8207
Willie Roach	FS	6'1, 206	Jr.	NR	NR
Shalom Luani	S	6'1, 200	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8892
Treshon Broughton	CB	6'1, 175	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8495
Kameron Powell	S	5'11, 195	Fr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8760
Hunter Dale	S	6'0, 190	Fr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8631
Darrien Molton	CB	5'10, 165	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8539
Deion Singleton	S	6'2, 190	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8612

8. Very good in 2016

Wazzu allowed 58 passes of 20-plus yards, and while part of that had to do with tempo (and the fact that opponents were passing more frequently than the national average), that also resulted from the backfield's deficiencies. With the intended starting four in the back almost never seeing the field at the same time, WSU ended up playing a lot more freshmen than intended.

Of the nine returnees who saw the field, six were freshmen and two were sophomores. That equation probably won't work out in your favor if you're Alabama, much less Wazzu.

But freshmen become sophomores, and sophomores become juniors. One can only expect so much improvement in one year, but by 2016, the WSU secondary could be fantastic. Corner Charleston White defensed 14 passes, most in the country for a freshman, and while he had his redshirt torn off in the 10th game, Marcellus Pippins still managed to defense a couple of passes and make a couple of plays behind the line. Between a motherlode of sophomores, a pair of well-touted JUCOs, and four three-star freshmen, Grinch should have more than enough to field a decent secondary in 2015 and a very good one down the line.

Wazzu's defense probably would have improved by quite a bit in 2015 even if Breske had stayed. If Grinch is able to bring extra energy and a better risk-taking balance, the Cougars could improve by even more.

Special Teams

Punter	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Punts	Avg	TB	FC	I20	FC/I20 Ratio
Jordan Dascalo			49	41.6	5	11	13	49.0%

Kicker	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Kickoffs	Avg	TB	OOB	TB%
Erik Powell	6'1, 178	So.	54	58.6	8	1	14.8%
Jordan Dascalo			13	58.7	3	0	23.1%

Place-Kicker	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	PAT	FG (0-39)	Pct	FG (40+)	Pct
Quentin Breshears	6'0, 183	Sr.	41-42	6-9	66.7%	3-3	100.0%
Erik Powell	6'1, 178	So.	6-6	2-4	50.0%	0-1	0.0%

Returner	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Returns	Avg.	TD
Jamal Morrow	KR	5'8, 187	So.	22	20.6	0
Vince Mayle	KR			9	19.7	0
Rickey Galvin	PR			19	7.8	0
River Cracraft	PR	6'0, 199	Jr.	4	4.3	0

Category	Rk
Special Teams F/+	127
Field Goal Efficiency	111
Punt Return Efficiency	126
Kick Return Efficiency	85
Punt Efficiency	126
Kickoff Efficiency	118
Opponents' Field Goal Efficiency	116

9. Redefining how bad a special teams unit can be

So the offense could hold steady or improve, and the defense will almost certainly improve. So ... what about special teams? Is there any hope there, or is it going to be bringing the Cougars down like an anchor once again?

Wazzu had a new punter, place-kicker, kickoffs guy, and punt returner in 2014, and as a result, the Cougars ranked 126th in punt efficiency, 111th in field goal efficiency, 118th in kickoff efficiency, and 126th in punt return efficiency. Special teams is a small-sample enterprise, and as such, it's hard to produce awful averages at everything, but WSU pulled it off. Only Appalachian State had a worse overall special teams unit last year.

Quentin Breshears made all three of his long field goals last year but missed three sub-40 yarders ... and that's the closest I can come to a compliment. Maybe new coordinator Eric Mele is able to generate structure.

2015 Schedule & Projection Factors

2015 Schedule
Date	Opponent	Proj. S&P+ Rk
5-Sep	Portland State	NR
12-Sep	at Rutgers	79
19-Sep	Wyoming	115
3-Oct	at California	51
10-Oct	at Oregon	4
17-Oct	Oregon State	70
24-Oct	at Arizona	34
31-Oct	Stanford	11
7-Nov	Arizona State	24
14-Nov	at UCLA	7
21-Nov	Colorado	75
27-Nov	at Washington	55

Five-Year F/+ Rk	-16.6% (92)
2- and 5-Year Recruiting Rk	55 / 62
2014 TO Margin / Adj. TO Margin*	-17 / -8.6
2014 TO Luck/Game	-3.5
Approx. Ret. Starters (Off. / Def.)	16 (8, 8)
2014 Second-order wins (difference)	4.2 (-1.2)

10. Plenty of winnable home games

WSU's 2015 will be defined by solid starts. That means two things:

1. Starting the season quickly. Wazzu plays seven teams projected lower than 50th; four visit Pullman, and four come up in the first four games. If you're looking for a path to six wins, it involves starting the season at least 3-1. WSU started last season playing decent ball, but the close-game breaks weren't friendly.
2. Starting halves more quickly. WSU ranked 70th in Q1 Off. S&P+ and 89th in Q1 Def. S&P+ and had a scoring margin of minus-52 in the opening quarter. The offense improved in each quarter, and the defense improved as a half elapsed, but horrific defense led to a minus-51 scoring margin in the third quarter. That WSU was plus-22 in Q2 and Q4 didn't really matter because of slow starts. That can't continue.

With a sophomore quarterback, sophomore running backs, exciting sophomore defensive backs, and a couple of high-upside youngsters at linebacker, Leach has plenty to build on even if there are growing pains in 2015.

But this fall is drastically important nonetheless. First of all, it will tell us what the Cougars' upside is. Second, both lines are loaded with seniors, meaning a) WSU could be a decent candidate for a big bounce back this fall, and b) these units will rebuild in 2016.

College football is more fun when a Leach team is doing crazy things, and that was only so much the case last year after the crushing loss to Cal. The potential for both fun and wins seems higher this time.