Hoops 4-0

The WSU Basketball team hasn't really had a challenge this year and that continued Tuesday night with a 67-41 win over Canisius. It was a first round game in the Legends Classic Tournament and now the Cougs head to New Jersey to face undefeated, and very athletic Mississippi State. This will be the first big test for WSU this year. Should be a good game.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008437174_webcoug25.html

Lots of quotes on the game and a bit of talk about Freshman PG Michael Hartun, who has been suspened by Tony Bennett for three games. The reason for the suspension is still unknown.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8788#more

Lots of football notes regarding Apple Cup, the Lesuma brothers returning to Hawaii this week and some scheduling notes regarding next year. The Cougs are still searching for one more game next season.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/389411_coug26.html

And in case you missed it. Say goodbye to ESPN's Bottom 10. The Cougs are no longer on the list. UW has the honor as the worst team in the land.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=bottom100813

And a video from the Apple Cup by the Seattle Times, which I got interviewed for. That is me, a few drinks deep towards the end of the video.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1509319618?bctid=3027097001

No Words Needed

I am extremely tired and hungover from a great weekend in Pullman. Be back tomorrow with lots of updates on Apple Cup and Hoops.

Basketball Cruises To 2-0

The Cougs won the game, but a sloppy first half is probably what stood out to Coach Tony Bennett last night. Here are some basketball updates.

Andy Katz of ESPN is starting to take notice of the Cougs once again. He had this to say on his updates today. "Washington State's defense has been phenomenal so far. The Cougars went on a 28-0 run to start the game against Mississippi Valley State last weekend and won 76-25. Washington State then held Fairleigh Dickinson to 33 points in the 22-point win Tuesday night."

From the Seattle PI. A very good read. A Q&A session with Freshman DeAngelo Casto and Klay Thompson.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cbasketball/388575_wsufrosh20.html

Future Coach Taylor Rochestie is interviewed about the performance of the Freshman so far.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cbasketball/388621_wsumen20.html

Apple Cup Updates

Same article, different author. An article from the Seattle PI talking about two bad teams matching up. The game just needs to get here.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/thiel/388443_thiel19.html

The man who has to win this game for WSU is Brandon Gibson. It is the senior's last game at Martin Stadium. He had this to say, "I'm going to leave with a win and leave the fans happy," He needs at least ten touches in this game. Put him in at kick return and punt return. We need a spark from somewhere.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/388581_coug20.html

An article from the News Tribune on the youth of both teams playing Saturday. Also how the new faces feel about playing in their first rivalry game.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/542601.html

A front page article from ESPN.com's College FB section. Ted Miller writes about how this game still matters to the players and the fans.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=rivalryweek/applecup

Bulletin Board Material

UW Linebacker, Donald Butler may have provided a little bit of bulletin board material in a Jim Moore article today. "That's just comedy," Butler said of Wulff's remarks. "It's Wazzu, we always beat Wazzu. That's just him trying to put a statement out there for his players and the people in Pullman to say he's going to fight us. I appreciate that." Interesting comments for a guy that has beat WSU once. Hopefully it can get the team a bit fired up for Saturday.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/388248_moore18.html

The Tacoma News Tribune has an article about how no one may be more saddened to see Willingham leave UW than Cougar fans. He has a 1-2 record against WSU. Both losses were at Husky Stadium.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/541144.html

Some notes on Jake Locker not playing and how Ronnie Fouch ranks last in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/541156.html

10 ways to get through Saturday's Apple Cup.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081118/SPORTS/711189821#10.ways.to.survive.Saturdays.Crapple.Cup

Cougar injury notes. The offense is almost at full strength, good news.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8726#more

Apple Cup Notes & Harrison Goes Big

From the Seattle Times, Vegas has decided the Cougs are the worse team of the two, and UW thinks they can still find motivation for the game.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2008399147_uwfb17.html

For the WSU side of things, Wulff doesn't seem concerned that his team won't be fired up and it appears Kevin Lopina might play after suffering a mild concussion last week.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008399378_coug17.html

Howie Stalwick of the Seattle PI breaks down the WSU coaching staff a bit, offering six positive and six negative things they have done this year. Finding six positives is kind of a stretch, but he does it.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/388260_coug18.html

Jim Moore chimes in on the state of the WSU and UW football teams. All while throwing in some zingers at UW.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/388115_moore17.html

Tacoma News Tribune and how someone has to win this game. Despite the records I think this is going to be a very entertaining game. Both defenses are terrible so there should be some points scored.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/540082.html

Vince Grippi takes a more detailed look at the game.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8723#more

Some Basketball notes, WSU begins the Legend Classic Tourney tomorrow against Fairleigh Dickinson in Pullman.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cbasketball/388235_wsumen18.html

And Finally, Jerome Harrison turned in the play of the game running for a 72 yard TD for the Browns in a win over Buffalo. Harrison finished with 3 carries for 80 yards. He needs to touch the ball more, he has been making plays all season.

Gibson Breaks Record

Congrats to Brandon Gibson who has broken the WSU record for receiving yards on Saturday. If we are going to beat UW on Saturday, Gibson needs to have game like he did last year. It will be fun to watch Gibson make plays in the NFL next season and beyond.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/388049_cougbok16.html

And with that it is officially Apple Cup week. While WSU and UW are having horrible seasons, bragging rights are still on the line. I've heard there is even a small chance of snow for Saturday. Should be a fun week.

Some AC notes from Vince Grippi. Looks like Chantz Staden is going to be missing the game. Hopefully Chris Ivory has a chance to play this week. His hamstring is causing him problems once again.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8716#more

Howie Stalwick of the Tacoma News Tribune also has some notes.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/539376.html

Huge Win For Cougs

In the first game of the season the Cougs definitely impressed scoring the first 28 points of the game. It was pretty much over from that point on. The final score ended up being 71-26. Wow. Very good news for a young team that is probably still finding its groove. Aron Baynes led the Cougs with 14 points in 14 minutes played. Klay Thompson led all of the Freshman with 8 points. While the opponent, Mississippi Valley State, isn't exactly a solid team, the way the Cougs won in their first game should have fans pretty excited. Great to see a W and Cougars on the same line.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/sports/story.asp?ID=268827&page=all

Weekend Picks

There is a block of one and two loss (conference) teams sitting atop the Pac-10 standings right now. It is going to be a big day as many of these teams face off and try to cement their place for a Rose Bowl or Holiday Bowl bid. No game may be bigger than OSU's game vrs Cal. If the Beavs win the rest of their games they will find themselves in the Rose Bowl because they have the tie breaker over USC.

In other games today Slick Rick makes his return to UW while the Cougs face a struggling a ASU team. I would hate to be a Stanford football player today. USC is looking for revenge from last year's upset and they are trying to earn style points to get back in the national championship game.

Last Week: 5-0
Season Total: 48-13

California at Oregon State: Oregon State seems like they always win games when they have to. They are talking Rose Bowl in Corvallis and there is a good chance they might find themselves there if they win today. California is still struggling to move the ball and seems ready to start their free fall to a .500 record. Leading to more questions about Tedord in Berkeley.
Pick: Oregon State

Arizona at Oregon: Both teams are already bowl eligible and this game could be the deciding factor of who gets to the Holiday Bowl. Arizona is coming off a beat down of WSU but their defense did give up 28 points in the game. Now they face OU at Autzen which is always tough. I don't think this one will really be close. Expect a big day for the Ducks. Pick: Oregon

USC at Stanford: As stated above, bad day to be a Stanford player or fan. However, Stanford has had a season they can be proud of so far. Won't matter today though. Pick: USC big.

UCLA at UW: Slick Rick back in Seattle. UW alum are gonna drop the Zima's and finish the cheese a little earlier so they can get over to the stadium and boo their old coach. I bet most wish they still had him around. Pick: UCLA

WSU at Arizona State: With ASU struggling so bad, some have said this is a good opportunity for WSU to sneak in a win. I don't think that is going to happen but my main concern is to keep everyone healthy for next week's Apple Cup. Lopina needs to have a good game and find some kind of passing groove. His 10 picks and 0 TD's so far this year are not very impressive. I think the Cougs will be in this game for a quarter, maybe two, but ASU still has playmakers especially at QB so they will pull away eventually. If the Cougs can put up 28 and hold ASU to less than 40, I think that will be a small victory for this team. Just stay healthy for next week. Pick: ASU

Make Some Money

Another week, more money made last Saturday. Someone could be making some big money off of this. $10.00 parlayed over 3 games. Lines from Sportsbook.com. $10.00 bet to win $60.00.

Last Week: +$60.00
Season Total: +$253.00

BYU -4 at Air Force Pick: BYU to cover.

USC at Stanford Over/Under 48.5 Pick: The Over.

Boston College at Florida State -6 Pick: Florida State to cover.

From DL To OL

The Tacoma News Tribune has a story on OL B.J. Guerra who was recruited to WSU as a DL but made the switch in Spring Ball. Just a few months later he finds himself starting, and holding his own on the O-line. “I think B.J. has tremendous upside,” Wulff said. “His future is extremely bright. He has a lot of gifts. We need him to be a special player in our program for the next three years. There are enough components there for that to happen.”

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/535121.html

Dennis Erickson is saying he owes ASU fans a good game this weekend. Saturday is ASU's homecoming.

Bennett Inks Four

Today was the Letter of Intent today for the 09 Basketball class. The Cougs received four commits today including another Australian, PF Brock Motum. The other players include SG Anthony Brown from Spokane, PF David Chadwick from North Carolina and PG Xavier Thames out of California. Thames is the most highly touted out of the bunch and is rumored to be capable of running the point in the Pac already. I will be checking in on the recruits as the season goes on.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008383279_wsurecruits12.html

Want to know more about Xavier Thames? Well he has his own website which includes video highlights. Here it is.

http://www.xavierthames.net/index.shtml

From the Seattle PI. While the Cougs season hasn't been any good, neither has the seasons of their last three opponents, ASU, UW and Hawaii. The Cougs are very capable of winning two of these games.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/387473_coug12.html

Some notes on Toby Turpin taking over the starting DT role and also some news on the running back situation. All three RB's should be able to play some on Saturday. That is good news looking forward to Apple Cup.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008379928_coug12.html

An article from Vince Grippi on Wulff taking on his former coach, Dennis Erickson this weekend.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8682#more

One last thing, Kyle Weaver recorded his first points as a NBA player tonight against the Orlando Magic. Congrats to him.

Finally

Basketball is here, not officially because the Cougs played an exhibition game, but it is still basketball.

Seattle Times has their preview of the Cougar Hoops Team. If you think the veteran players are cocky after a Sweet 16 appearance last year, think again. "I've never spent this much time in the gym before," Rochestie said. "I've always been a gym rat, but it's kind of a new mentality. Girlfriend's upset, I'm never at the house. But when I look around and see Daven Harmeling and Aron Baynes and Caleb Forrest, we see it in each other's eyes. This is our last chance together. It seems like whenever we were walking out of the gym all spring and summer, we were saying, 'Let's come back in two hours.' And then [again] two hours from then.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008375639_coug11.html

And here is the recap from last night's dominating win over LC State, a NAIA school. While this does not tell much because the lack of competition, getting the players on the court together and competing against someone besides each other is huge. Also it is good to see the Freshman hitting shots and getting involved with the offense.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008375822_wsumen11.html

Vince Grippi has a good recap of the game with lots of quotes from Coach Bennett. He seems pretty happy with the performance of his young team.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8670#more

Checking In With D-Low

Not sure where Derrick Low is these days? He is playing professionally in Australia for the Sydney Spirit. He is featured this week in a feature called "Spirit Talking." He discusses Hawaii, his ancestors, Australia and the car he has been issued. It is a good read. By the way, Thomas Abercrombie also plays in this league for the New Zealand Breakers.

http://www.sydneyspirit.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=76585

Link to Abercrombie.

http://www.nzbreakers.co.nz/default.aspx?s=playerprofile&id=926&team=breakers

Coleman Shines For Falcons

Not a huge day for professional Cougars but here is what a couple of them did on Sunday.

Falcon's Safety, Erik Coleman had a INT, 6 tackles and a Forced Fumble in a win over the Saints.

Jaguar's DT, Rob Meier had a sack and 4 tackles in a win over the Lions.

Be sure to catch Jason Hill on Monday Night Football tomorrow against the Cardinals.

Start Preparing For UW

This season has been a huge disappointment for the Cougs and I think the only thing that can give fans and probably the team a ounce of hope for the offseason is to beat winless UW in the Apple Cup. Even if they lose the week after to Hawaii, beating UW will at least keep some interest there until next season. A loss to the winless Huskies could really hurt the morale of the fans, players and even recruits within the state. While Wulff has said winning hasn't been the main goal this year, it has got to be the goal for this one game.

With Apple Cup being 12 days away, Wulff might as well start preparing the team now for the game on November 22nd. A solid running attack is very possible against UW as they haven't been able to stop anyone this year. And we all know that Brandon Gibson is prone to making huge plays against the Huskies. The confidence just needs to be there from the players, the coaches and the fans. I have been very skeptical of Wulff this season but this game can make a lot of people like myself start to believe in him. Pullman should already be buzzing with the hoops team playing Friday night. Hopefully a win from the basketball team will carry over to the gridiron on Saturday.

Weekend Picks

Kind of busy today so just going to put the picks up without much explanation. Is it basketball season yet?

Last Week: 3-1
Season Total: 43-13

Stanford at Oregon: Stanford is coming off a huge win against WSU but Oregon shouldn't lose this one at home. Pick: Oregon

Oregon State at UCLA: Can the Beavs sneak up into the top 2 of the Pac and earn a Holiday Day berth? If Riley could learn how to start a season his teams would be contenders every year.
Pick: Beavs

No.21 Cal at No. 7 USC: Trojan fans are not happy with their place in the BCS right now. I feel bad for Cal because USC is going to make a statement today. Pick: USC

Arizona State at UW: Two teams who have hit rock bottom this season. Can Willingham get a victory this year? If he does it will have to be today or against WSU. ASU will finally end their six game losing streak today. Pick: ASU

Arizona at WSU: Pick: Will the Cougs manage to score a point today? Probably not. Pick: Arizona big.

Make Some Money

I missed winning again last week by .5 of a point. Damn Pete Caroll and not running up scores! Anyways back at it this week. $10.00 parlayed with 3 games. Lines from Sportsbook.com

Last Week: - $10.00
Season Total: + $193.00

Florida -24 at Vanderbilt Pick: Florida to cover

Clemson at Florida State -3.5 Pick: Florida State to cover

Arizona at WSU Over/Under 57 Pick: The Over....probably just Arizona's score.

Moore Talks With Sterk

Jim Moore conducted an interview with AD Jim Sterk to get his take on the state of the WSU football team and I found one quote to be particularly interesting. From the article, "If Sterk has any issues with Wulff, they're minor. At Wulff's postgame news conferences, he occasionally gets down on the players. "Probably more than you would want, but it's uglier than all of us wanted, too," Sterk said. "He needs to be sensitive to that. He doesn't realize what's being printed out there. But he's not that way with the kids. He just challenges them to get better." So somebody is noticing that besides myself.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/386420_moore05.html

Lots of notes from Howie Stalwick of the Seattle PI.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/386412_coug05.html

Notes from the Seattle Times.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008351772_coug05.html

Wullf says nobody is quitting. From the Tacoma News Tribune.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/529077.html

And just when you thought things couldn't get worse, Ryan Leaf is back in the news. He is taking a absence from his job at West Texas A&M.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3684240

Cougs Need Focus

Not sure if many people care at this point but here are some links regarding the Football team.

From the Seattle Times, Wullf talks about the lack of focus his players are having before games. This could have nothing to do with coaching could it? If you asked him I know which answer you would get.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008343166_coug03.html

From the Seattle PI, did you know the Cougs haven't scored a point since October 11th? Yikes.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/386141_coug03.html

Almost Here

With the football team being the joke of the Pac-10 and most of Division 1 Football, WSU fans will put all of their attention to Taylor Rochestie and the WSU Basketball team in the coming weeks. This is going to be an interesting season for Coach Tony Bennett and the Cougs as they look to their most impressive class of Freshman in school history to maintain the success of the program. Here is my breakdown of this year's Senior Class. I will follow up on the younger guys as the season draws closer.

No man will be counted on more than Rochestie this year as the floor general and a senior leader. He will now be asked to score instead of just handle the ball on the court. With limited depth at the PG position he will also have to log more minutes than in year's past. Rochestie just needs to maintain what he did last year. Clutch shooting, getting to the basket, drawing fouls and not turning the ball over. If he can score more and create on offense it may lead to an even bigger year for Aron Baynes who is said to have lost over twenty pounds heading into the season.

The lost weight should improve Bayne's quickness on the defensive side of the ball and also allow him to log more minutes. It should also improve his rebounding because he only averaged six last year which needs to be improved upon this season. Having DeAngelo Casto will be huge for Baynes because a super athletic weak side defender will now have his back in the post. Baynes excelled when Ivory Clark was by his side and he appears to have that once again with Casto.

Besides Rochestie and Baynes, Caleb Forrest, Daven Harmeling and Nikola Koprivika round out the seniors this season. With Forrest you know what you are going to get. High motor aggressive play on both sides of the ball, excellent mid range shooting, and good rebounding. He can defend a SG or a PF so his play will be key in times when Casto is either in foul trouble or getting tore up by a high caliber player.

Harmeling struggled last year and needs to improve his flow within the offense. He is a spot three point shooter but needs to show the ability to create a shot or teams are simply going to leave him open when he is not red hot from behind the arc. On defense Harmeling can guard the 3-4 positions fairly well. At 6'8" he is tall and long and is a mis-match for shorter SF's and slower PF's.

Koprivica needs to improve his offensive game as well this year. He was dreadful on offense last season shooting I don't even want to look it up from the 3 point line. However, he is said to be fully recovered from his knee injury two seasons ago, so his speed and quickness should be better. The Cougs desperately need his slashing style to draw fouls and create open shots for others. If Nik can contribute 10-12 points a game with 4 assists and 4 boards, we should consider the season a success for him.

Make Some Money

Start paying attention, the winnings are over $200.00 this season. Looking to make it sixty more this week. As always, 3 games parlayed with 10 bucks. $10.00 to win $60.00. Lines from sportsbook,com.

Last Week: +$60.00
Season Total: +$203.00

Washington at USC Over/Under 56.5 Pick: The Over

Nebraska at Oklahoma -21 Pick: OU to cover.

Florida State at Georgia Tech Over/Under 42 Pick: The Over

Weekend Picks

Oregon at Cal headlines a kind of down week in the Pac-10 today. With two horrible teams, WSU and UW, two bad teams, UCLA and Arizona State, this hasn't been all that exciting of a season for the Pac-10 so far. Maybe things will start to shake up today.

Last Week: 4-0
Season Total: 40-12

No. 24 Oregon at California: This game may decide who has the annual end of season collapse that has haunted both teams in previous seasons. Oregon, despite all their QB injuries has held it together this season. Cal can't decide who they should play at QB because of lackluster performances from Kevin Riley and Nate Longshore. Expect this game to be close but Oregon's speed to take over in the 4th. Pick: Oregon

Arizona State at Oregon State: I have said it before and I will say it again. What the heck happened to the Sun Devils? They are not a good team right now despite hopes of a Rose Bowl this year. Losers of 5 in a row expect a 6th against the Beavs. Pick: Oregon State

Washington at No. 5 USC: With the firing/resigning of Ty Willy, will UW come out and play inspired football the rest of the season? They might but it won't matter at all today. USC still has hopes of getting in the national title game. They will cruise through this one and start preparing for Cal next week. Pick: USC

WSU at Stanford: It has gotten so bad for Cougar fans we are just hoping we can cover a 30 point spread against Stanford. That is horrible. Good thing we can't watch this disaster on TV. Pick: Stanford

Notes From All Over

The Everett Herald had a descent piece on QB, Marshall Lobbestael and how he has begun his road to recovery. If all goes well he will be battling for a starting QB spot next season with Kevin Lopina.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081030/SPORTS/710309839/1093/SPORTS06

Vince Grippi kind of covers everything Cougs with a quick note on Taylor Rochestie's injury, the offensive and defensive lineman, and how WSU should be worried about Stanford's rushing attack.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8599#more

Also, the Pac-10 Hoop predictions are out from Pac-10 media day. Here are the results of the official media poll with first-place votes and total points:

1, UCLA (37), 379.
2, Arizona State (1), 325.
3, USC, 292.
4, Arizona, 241.
5, Washington, 217.
6, Washington State, 188.
7, Oregon, 147.
8, Cal, 143.
9, Stanford, 115.
10, Oregon State, 40.

I'm not sure with all the turmoil going on at Arizona that they will finish 4th this year. However, the Pac-10 is down, so after UCLA, spots 2-7 may be up for grabs. Arizona State needs to prove they can win a big game while USC is trying to prove that they were more than O.J. Mayo last season. Anything but a top five finish for UW would be a huge disappointment considering the returning players they have. Should be another exciting season of Pac-10 Basketball.

Back tomorrow with Make Some Money, which is close to $200.00 after another win last week and the Weekend Picks. Happy Halloween.

My Pre-Season Hoops Prediction

Here is my prediction on how the season will go.

We play twelve non conference games. I'm gonna say we go 10-2 with losses to Gonzaga and at LSU. The Tigers should be descent this year and I think they will give us a tough game on the road. The Baylor game early in the season may be rough but I think we win it at home. If we end up playing Pitt instead of Texas Tech in NJ I think we might go 9-3.

So heading into Pac-10 play we have to go 10-8 or 11-7 to make a bid for the NCAA tourney.

January 3 Washington Win
January 8 California Win
January 10 Stanford Win
January 15 at Oregon State Win
January 17 at Oregon Loss
January 22 UCLA Loss
January 24 USC Win
January 29 at Arizona State Loss
January 31 at Arizona Loss
February 5 at Stanford Win
February 7 at California Win
February 12 Oregon Win
February 14 Oregon State Win
February 19 at USC Loss
February 21 at UCLA Loss
February 26 Arizona Win
February 28 Arizona State Loss
March 8 at Washington Loss

So this is a predicted record of 10-8 in the Pac-10. That would put us at 20-10 or 19-11 heading into the Pac-10 Tourney. I think the key swing games are at Oregon, at Arizona, at UW and home games against UW, USC and Arizona. If we can go 4-2 or 3-3 in these games our chances at a tourney birth are fairly descent. That five game stretch to close out the season is probably going to be huge in determining post-season play. Anyways excited for the season.

Weaver NBA Debut

While it didn't last for very long and didn't really fill up the box score, Kyle Weaver made his official NBA debut Thursday night in a loss to the Bucks. He played two minutes and recorded one assist. The OKC Thunder may only win 15 games this year so as the season goes on, Weaver may see more and more PT. It is kind of surprising that he is one of the active players on the roster to start the year.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3466

Graise A Goner

According to Vince Grippi's article in the Spokesman Review, Senior Mike Graise has been dismissed from the Cougar football team. A violation of team rules and missing practice seems to be the reason why. While Graise was not a main player on the defense he did have experience that helped a already thin defensive line.

There is also a lot more info in the article about J.T. Levenseller, who is dominating Cougar news this week.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8593#more

From the San Francisco Chronicle, another article about a highly favored team not taking the Cougars lightly. This is a pretty big game for Stanford. I expect them to come out pretty fired up in this one.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/29/SPBI13PHSN.DTL

Also, Cougar Hoops is only 16 days away. It can't get here soon enough.

Little Levy To Play

When J.T. Levenseller signed on with the WSU Football team, many thought it was just a big thank you to his father for his service to Cougar Football. Now he is going to be on the field against Stanford in his first ever college football experience. The Pullman native had this to say, "It's always what I wanted to do (play for WSU)," Levenseller said. "It's finally here. It's kind of surreal right now."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/385431_coug29.html

Same story from The News Tribune.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/updates/story/521214.html

Weekend Picks

Cougar nation can rest this weekened knowing that they won't have to watch a 60 point beat down of our team. There is lots of good football on today. Be sure to check out OK State vrs Texas, Penn State vrs Ohio State and Tennessee trying to upset Alabama. The winner of the Penn State vrs Ohio State game may unfortunately be headed to the National Championship game in January as they don't really play anyone else this season. The newest BCS rankings had USC at 10, ranked 5 spots behind a team they drilled, Ohio State. Doesn't make much sense to me. Anyways here are the Pac-10 picks this week.

Last Week: 2-2
Season Total: 36-12

UCLA at California: UCLA is coming off a big win against Stanford last week while Cal may have started their annual second half slide in a loss to Arizona. The Bruins seem to be coming together a bit as a team but they are one of those teams who will play at the level of their opponent. The level that Cal is at, at this point in the season in unknown. Last week had to scare Golden Bear fans. They are still having major QB problems and cannot move the ball through the air. This is a big game for them as they play Oregon and USC the next two weeks. I expect this one to be a sloppy, low scoring game but Cal will pull this one out at home. Pick: California

Oregon at Arizona State: The Ducks can make themselves officially bowl eligible against a struggling Arizona State team this week. OU fans have to think back to the disaster that was the Boise State game and if they had won that game, they would probably be sitting in the top 12 of the national rankings with one loss. On the other hand, has any team fallen harder than ASU this year? They have lost four in a row after expecting the Rose Bowl or Holiday Bowl to be handed to them. Oregon is getting healthier while ASU still has Rudy Carpenter and RB Keegan Herring injured. The grass of Sun Devil Stadium will slow the Ducks down a bit but they should pull this one out rather easily. Pick: Oregon

No. 5 USC at Arizona: The Wildcats are thinking upset as the 5th ranked Trojans come into town after a practice game against WSU last week. Arizona looked sharp on both sides of the ball in a win over Cal last Saturday, but this is USC. The Trojans can not be happy about their 10the place ranking in the BCS polls this week. Historically, Arizona has played well against USC and I expect this one to be close for about three quarters. USC's second and third running backs will take this game over in the fourth quarter. Pick: USC

Notre Dame at Washington: Besides Boise State, these are the two other teams I hate most in college football. Hopefully it ends in a 0-0 tie. Since that is impossible, expect a Notre Dame win so they can get closer to a BCS bowl, only to be blown out by a team who actually plays in a conference. Pick: Notre Dame

Make Some Money

So I guaranteed a victory with the money making last week and I got it. As we head into the later part of the season the betting is getting a bit easier. So start paying attention, I am well over 100 dollars in winnings for the year. As always, 3 games parlayed with $10.00. Lines from Sportsbook.com. $10.00 to win $60.00.

Last Week: + $60.00
Season Total: + $143.00

Virgina Tech at Florida State Over/Under 42.5 Pick: The Over.

Notre Dame -10 at Washington Pick: Notre Dame to cover.

Alabama -5 at Tennessee Pick: Alabama to cover.

Cougs Land Standout

Rejecting offers from Arizona, Boise State, Oregon and Oregon State, Bellevue's star Safety Jamal Atofau has chosen WSU to play football at in college. From the article, "I let him know that I'm behind him 100 percent, and that I want to try to be a part of something real big the next few years," said the 5-foot-10, 185-pound nephew of former Cougars legend Jack Thompson and cousin of current Cougar Tony Thompson. He appears to be a very solid pickup and a guy who could compete for a starting spot right away. His only knack right now is his 2.1 GPA so he needs to get that up and qualify be June.

It is evident that while there is problems with the X's and O's on the field, this staff has done a pretty respectable job recruiting so far. As the season goes hopefully they can keep it all together because these kids are still going to be recruiting until they officially sign that letter of intent to WSU.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/preps/384796_fbbok24.html

Cougs vrs Skyline?

Jim Moore has an article about how the Cougs would fare against a high powered high school football team such as Skyline. It is a fairly funny article to lighten the mood of Cougar nation right now.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/384551_moore23.html

The Daily Evergreen has an article about how the new freshman are shaping up for the WSU hoops team. From the looks of it, Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto are going to see significant playing time this year.

http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/26650

Not Much To Say

The Cougs pretty much made it clear on Saturday that they are the worst BCS football team in America. They are the first BCS team to ever give up 60 points, 4 times in a season. And we still have 5 games to play. Once again there was no improvement shown on Saturday and it was clear from the get go that the coaching staff abandoned the idea of being competitive by passing the ball only 9 times. The Cougs never crossed the 50 yard line in the game.

This is going to be a very slow week for news because of the Cougs being so bad, it being a bye week and Paul Wulff has closed off all practices from the media. I feel bad for the sports writers who have to cover this team daily because it is hard enough just updating a blog every day. Thankfully basketball is getting started very soon.

From the Seattle Times, it sounds like the locker room is pretty divided right now. It will be interesting to hear after the season if players are upset with the way Wulff and his staff are running things in Pullman. If players start to transfer there is going to be some questions raised. But in hard times there is always going to be some tension between teammates, hopefully they can pull it together in these next two weeks.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008286388_coug20.html

The Seattle PI also has some quotes on how the Cougs need to find a team identity this week.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/384051_coug20.html

Weekend Picks

The Pac-10 standings look a little weird heading into Week 8 of the season. Cal, Oregon, Stanford and USC top out the list, while Arizona State sits at 7th with a 2-4 record. There are no real big games in the Pac-10 this week but it will be interesting to see if OSU can finally get a win on the road at Washington and also if Arizona can bounce back after a loss against Cal.

Last Week: 3-1
Season Total: 34-10

Stanford at UCLA: Stanford has kind of quietly settled into 3rd place in the Pac-10 right now. They don't do anything exceptionally well but they have found a way to win four games this year. This game is pivotal for their bowl chances. With a win this week and a win next week against WSU, Stanford can really start to turn their program around. UCLA put up a good effort last week at Oregon, but despite what Slick Rick says, their 2-4 record has got to be getting to them. I expect a close game but for Stanford to continue their surprising season. Pick: Stanford

No.25 California at Arizona: Arizona suffered a gut wrenching loss last week against Stanford. If they are the good team that they seem to be they should bounce back and play well this week. Cal sits at 4-1 and has got themselves ranked and sitting atop the Pac-10 standings. Will they begin their annual second half of the season collapse this week? The Golden Bears haven't played a road game in over a month so expect them to be a little shaky at the beginning of this one. I want to pick Arizona in the upset but I can't see Mike Stoops winning a big game like this. Pick: California

Oregon State at Washington: With the one man show Jake Locker on the sidelines, UW has all of the sudden had to run an actual offense and it is killing them. Ronnie Fouch is a descent passer but the young receivers and backs is hurting UW because teams no longer have to worry about Locker running. Oregon State who has not won a road game this year is coming off a drubbing of WSU and looking to have a winning record for the first time this season. Jacquizz Rodgers should be able to have a big day and build on his 718 yard, 8 TD season. Pick: Oregon State

No.6 USC at WSU: What can you say about this one? A national title contender against the worst team in D-1 Football. I think this is the week the scoring streak ends. I hope I am wrong but I don't see how the Cougs could score on USC's second team defense. Hopefully nobody gets hurt. Pick: USC, big.

Make Some Money

Last week didn't go so great as I only picked one out of the three games correctly. This weekend I am guaranteeing victory, and will make some more money. Three games parlayed with $10.00. Lines from Sportsbook.com. $10.00 to win $60.00.

Last Week: -$10.00
Season Total: + $73.00

Miami -3 at Duke Pick: Miami to cover.

USC at Washington State Over/Under 57 Pick: The Over

Michigan at Penn State Over/Under 47.5 Pick: The Over

Slow Times

Not much news these days regarding the football team, but hey, basketball gets going tomorrow at 5. So that is something positive.

WSU may be missing 5 offensive starters on Saturday while USC will be missing RB Joe McKnight, who had this to say. "If we were playing somebody else I'd probably go," Yes, that is how far WSU has fallen.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/383670_coug17.html

Random notes from Vince Grippi and what some players are planning to do during next week's bye week.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8518#more

So tomorrow I will have more news, as Fridays usually have lots of articles out there and the weekend bets and picks up. Until then, Go Cougs!

Bumpus Cut, Lopina Will Start

Michael Bumpus has been cut by the Seattle Seahawks, making room for rookie running back Justin Forsett of Cal. Bump can still be picked up for the practice squad if another team doesn't pick him up.

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/seahawks/index.html#33216

Lots of notes from Vince Grippi's blog today including Kevin Lopina quotes, an inury update and notes from around the conference. One intersting part discussed a bit of a flare up regarding Paul Wulff and Jim Moore. Scroll to the bottom for that one.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8502#more

From ESPN's Bottom 10. The Cougs are now officially the worst D-1 football team in America. Sweet.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=bottom10087

From Ted Miller's blog, a piece about the supposed, "running up the score" OSU did on the Cougs.

I am so sick of Cougar fans and now even players complaining about this. When the games are over before halftime what do you expect other teams to do? The TD pass that people are complaining about was thrown by a guy who has hardly played this year to a walk on wide receiver. Our starting defense was still in there, it is their job to stop somebody. It is embarasing as a Cougar to have to read about this crap in the papers. Perhaps Romeo Pellum should be worrying about the 60 plus points his defense has given up three times this year. Bad players on bad teams make excuses to shed some of the light on someone else, so I guess this is expected. Pretty soon we are going to have a full fledged war on our hand between fans, players and coaches. And to think Paul Wulff has only been at the helm for 10 months...

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-3-94/Did-Oregon-State-run-up-the-score-vs--Washington-State-.html

Basketball Getting Started, Finally

Well it is finally time we can start talking about Cougar Basketball. Fresh off a first ever Sweet 16 the Cougs are looking to continue the magic with a young but very talented team. Practice will start this Friday at 5 PM and there will be all kinds of fresh, young faces on the floor. WSU has never seen Freshman like this in the Basketball program. Many expect Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto to see extended playing time this season. Meanwhile, Taylor Rochestie, Aron Baynes, Daven Harmeling and Nikola Koprivica will help the youngins transition to Bennett Ball.

Vince Grippi has his first article regarding hoops this season. You have to love this quote, "It's exciting when someone who has way more talent that you is looking up to you and listening to what you're saying," Rochestie said, laughing. "The freshman class, as talented as they are, they kind of blew us away with how eager they were to learn and to be a part of something bigger than themselves."

Can't wait until Hoops gets going.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8494#more

White Flag

I didn't update yesterday because after the Seahawk game I just didn't want to think about football for awhile. I think it is about time we all shut the door on this football season. The Cougars are getting beat by 50 points week in and week out. Our 3rd string QB goes down for the season, leaving us with walk-on Dan Wagner possibly starting against USC this week. The players seem to have quit already and our coaches seem lost and over their head in the Pac-10.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks are 1-4, look like hell and have injuries all over the field. It is just a god awful time to be a Seattle sports fan right now. At least Cougar basketball is right around the corner right? Anyways here is some updates.

ESPN's link to the Lobbster injury. Any chance he is going to transfer? I think it is a legitimate question right now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3641620

From the Seattle Times, Lobbestael's injury, Wulff sticking to a plan (what plan?) and more injury news. It appears Chris Ivory and Devin Frischknecht will miss Saturday's game. Once again no accountability for the coaches in Wulff's quotes.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008259627_coug13.html

From the Seattle PI, the Cougars on pace to be the worst Pac-10 team of all time.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/383004_coug13.html

Last week I linked up the Jim Moore article about him taking his family down to the OSU game. Well this article is about the trip back up to Seattle after WSU get smashed by the Beavers.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/382991_moore13.html

And lastly, this has nothing to do with WSU football but if you have some time to waste at work, check out College Football Tour Guy on Youtube or SI.com. He has toured all over the country to tailgates, interviewing drunks before football games. He has done every Pac-10 school except WSU actually. A good time waster if you are bored....Here is the Florida episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzpmotHaUQA&feature=user

GameDay Links

Seattle Times preview discusses how WSU plans to stop Jacquizz Rodgers.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008254176_coug11.html

Seattle PI's preview talks about the blowout loss to OSU in front of 15,000 fans at rain soaked Martin Stadium last year. Also, how Brandon Gibson says he needs to step his game up.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/382781_coug11.html

From The Oregonian, can the Cougs pull the upset?

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbeaversbeat/2008/10/wazzu_coach_says_slithery_quiz.html

Also from The Oregonian, Mike Riley knows exactly what Paul Wulff is going through right now.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbeaversbeat/2008/10/osus_riley_can_empathize_with.html

From Espn.com, the final injury report for the Pac-10. Looks like WSU will be without Dwight Tardy and Chris Ivory at RB while OSU may be without Sammie Stroughter who has a hip injury.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-3-61/Final-Pac-10-injury-report.html

Weekend Picks

Last weekend seemed to prove that the Pac-10 is a three team race between USC, Cal and Arizona. Meanwhile the rest of the teams are trying to work their way up to that sixth win and become bowl eligible. Unfortunately for fans in Washington, we are just hoping for our teams to win 1 Pac-10 game.

Last Week: 4-1
Season Total: 31-9

Arizona State at No.8 USC: ASU has really taken a fall this year and now that Rudy Carpenter is not playing this one won't even be close. Danny Sullivan will take over signal calling duties against a Trojan defense who is going to blitz all day long. USC will be busy watching the scoreboard and rooting for Texas, OK State and Florida to win and get themselves back into the top 5. Expect a big day from the USC running game as QB Mark Sanchez is a little banged up too. Pick: USC

Arizona at Stanford: Arizona sits at 4-1 and is the talk of the Pac-10 right now. The surprising thing is they still haven't really played a good team and somehow lost to New Mexico. This could easily be a trap game for the Wildcats as games with Cal and USC are coming. However, Stanford as good as they have looked at times just hasn't played that well against teams that are better than them. Willie Tuitama and his 13 TD passes will make the difference in this one. After this one Arizona will be one game away from being bowl eligible. Hard to believe isn't it?
Pick: Arizona

UCLA at Oregon: A down year for both teams but OU is still fighting for a bowl game. After getting spanked by USC last Saturday the Ducks should be fired up for this one at home. Slick Rick and Mike Belloti don't really like each other, so if OU has the chance I imagine they will run up the score. UCLA could only manage 28 points at home against the WSU defense, so expect them to score somewhere in the 0-13 range against Oregon. Pick: Oregon

WSU at Oregon State: I will probably be hearing Jacquizz Rogers in my sleep tonight as he torches WSU for 200 rushing yards. Once again I am looking for improved play from Ocho Rojo and the offensive line. They have to give the RS Freshman some time to throw. I will also be looking for some shakeups in the offensive play calling. We have to start using our TE's and spread the defense out a little bit. Overall though I expect a similar game to last week but with a little bigger score. Beavs 44 Cougs 17.

Make Some Money Week 7

Last weekend was another big winner, $62.00. Now that the teams are starting to shape up the betting is getting a little easier. This week is a huge one for college football and we will go for two wins in a row and hopefully earn some big bucks. As always, 3 games parlayed with $10.00. Lines from Sprortsbook.com. $10.00 to win $60.00.

Last Week: +$62.00
Season Total: +$83.00

No.5 Texas vrs No.1 Oklahoma -7 Pick: Oklahoma to cover.

No. 17 Oklahoma State at No.3 Missouri -14 Pick: Ok State with the points.

No.4 LSU at No.11 Florida -6 Pick: LSU with the points.

Scoring Streak In Jeopardy

Unless you are a poster on Cougfan.com you may not know that WSU has the second longest consecutive game scoring streak in the nation. We trail only Michigan in this stat. The Cougs haven't been shut out since September 19th, 1984 against Ohio State. This year's team may be at risk to end this feat, especially with USC looming in two Saturday's.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081009/SPORTS/710099909/1093/SPORTS06

Ted Miller of ESPN.com has some quick hits about the struggles with the football team.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-3-56/Washington-State-looking-for-a-bright-spot.html

A pretty good story on WSU's star Brandon Gibson from The Oregonian. He has been a bright spot in an otherwise dark season.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/pac10/2008/10/wsu_receiver_takes_the_hard_ro.html

With some good news, Alex Brink has signed with the Houston Texans practice squad. Congrats to him.

http://www.battleredblog.com/

More Roberts News

Peter Roberts has dominated the news once again today as he has gone from fraternity brother to Scout team QB. He now has the job of being Lyle Moevao, the OSU QB and preparing the WSU defense for Saturday.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/1043/story/502465.html

Similar story from the Seattle Times. Looks like Chris Ivory is going to miss the OSU game as well.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008238526_coug08.html

From ESPN's Bottom 10, the Cougs roll in at #3 this week behind UW at #2. The Robb Akey coached Vandals show up at #4 on the list.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=bottom10086

And lastly, Jim Moore has an article about having to make the trip to OSU and watch perhaps the worst Cougar team of all time.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/382380_moore09.html

Phase 3 Is A Go

The 40 million dollar upgrade to Martin Stadium is expected to start in January of 09 and will feature luxuries never seen before in Pullman. 16-20 luxury suites, 31 to 35 loge boxes and 1200 club seats will fill out Martin Stadium, hopefully making it a serviceable Pac-10 venue.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/382041_coug07.html

Another story about the upgrades and a quick look at Oregon State.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/501466.html

And a story from Cougfan.com on the new scout team QB, Peter Roberts from Woodinville. He sure is getting his couple days of fame before he has to start taking a beating on a daily basis.

http://washingtonstate.scout.com/2/798745.html

More notes on Peter Roberts from the Spokesman Review.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8451#more

That is all for now. Tomorrow evening I will break down the Beavs and discuss the key points that could lead to a Cougar victory.

New Week, Same Story

With the Cougars being 1-5 and not being competitive in any game against a D1 opponent, it is hard to find articles that are anything but negative these days. You have to take the hard times with the good times though. So here are a few articles.

An article from the Seattle PI regarding the struggles of the WSU offense. They managed just 177 yards and 3 points in Saturday's loss.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/381899_coug06.html

Percy Allen of the Seattle Times chimes in on the QB tryouts and how the Cougars will continue to huddle up on the offensive side of the ball.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008231167_coug06.html

From the Oregonian, OSU knows all too well what it is like during tough times. Will they be looking past WSU while being favored by 30 points? From the article, "When I mentioned to coach Riley that it must make him nervous to be an overwhelming favorite in a conference game, he nodded. "It's the Pac-10,'' said Riley, "and you simply cannot take ANYTHING for granted.''

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbeaversbeat/2008/10/does_being_favored_by_30_point.html

That Kind Of Season

The Cougs looked improved on Saturday night, but it was still not enough to be competitive late in the game. The defense managed to only give up 28 points but they got no help from the offense who only scored a field goal in the game. There were moments when the offense looked good but they couldn't put it all together for a whole drive. I think Chris Ivory being hurt really killed the WSU running game last night. There seems to be two running plays for Dwight Tardy, off tackle and the sweep which has not worked all year long. He is simply not fast enough to get around the outside. Ivory adds a different element with his bruising style of play.

Overall the Cougar defense looked better, but that could have something to do with UCLA's horrible offense. Hopefully it will give them a bit of confidence heading into the OSU game next weekend. The offense still needs a lot of work. We don't seem to be taking any shots whatsoever. Very conservative play calling which may have something to do with our O-line's inability to block. However, we need to spread defenses out a bit and get our WR's and TE's some space to work with. Baby steps I guess...

Weekend Picks

Well I took a shot last week and picked UW to beat Stanford but they let me down. I guess that is a good thing for us Coug fans considering they are still winless and their QB is down with a broken thumb. This should be a week where the Pac-10 standings start to take shape from top to botton. USC and OU may be battling for the top spot while WSU and UCLA may be battling for the the bottom spot. The rest of the Pac is kind of up for grabs right now.

Last Week: 3-2
Season Total: 27-8

Stanford at Notre Dame: Stanford is continuing to look better and better as the weeks go on. This game is critical to them as far as bowl chances go. If they can beat Notre Dame they will have 4 wins with games still to play against UCLA, WSU and Arizona. The Cardinal should be able to win two of those and make themselves bowl eligible. Meanwhile, Notre Dame is sitting at 3-1 and looking to rebound after last year's disaster. I have watched a couple of their games so far and I have not been impressed at all by the Irish or their Big-10 opponents. Jimmy Clausen is very inconsistent throwing the ball and they don't have much of a running game. I think Stanford will want this win more. Pick: Stanford

Arizona State at California: Both of these teams had high expectations this season, but after bad losses they have both fallen out of the rankings. A win for either of these teams could get them back into the Top-25 next week. Jahvid Best and his 7.1 yards per carry are out due to injury so Cal will turn to Shane Vereen, who is actually averaging 8 yards per carry himself. Not too bad of trade off. ASU is coming off a two game losing streak and is facing a pivotal three game stretch at Cal, at USC and then home against Oregon. The Sun Devil's lack of a running game will hurt them in this one and probably kill their confidence for the season. Pick: California

Washington at Arizona: Arizona is going bowling this year. UW is 0'fer and their god of a player has a broken thumb. Expect Arizona to be fired up for this one as they can make a statement that they are a challenger in the Pac-10 this year. Pick: Arizona

No. 23 Oregon at No. 9 USC: I feel bad for the Ducks. Their QB situation didn't really effect them against a terrible WSU team, but it will kill them against a fired up USC team. USC hasn't lost back to back games since 2001 I believe. Don't expect it to happen this year either. Duck fans better hope they don't have another QB get hurt in this one. Pick: USC, big.

WSU at UCLA: Ocho Rojo will make his first road start in the Rose Bowl Saturday. UCLA has been bi-polar this year. They beat Tennessee, got crushed by BYU and then looked improved in a loss against Fresno State. The Bruins offense has been terrible. They haven't had a 100 yard rusher in a game all season. Good thing for them, WSU can't stop anything resembling a run. Khalil Bell and Derrick Coleman are both expecting to go off on Saturday. I think the Cougars will looked a bit improved in this one but I don't see them winning. Let's just hope we are within 4 touchdowns when this one is over. Pick: UCLA

Make Some Money Week 6

Last week didn't go quite as planned. The only game I got right was Alabama vrs Georgia. However, I am still up on the year so we will give it another shot this week. As always, 3 games parlayed with $10.00. Lines are from Sportsbook.com. $10.00 to win $62.00.

Last Week: -$10.00
Season Total: +$21.00

Penn State -13.5 at Purdue Pick: Penn State to cover.

Uconn at North Carolina -7.5 Pick: North Carolina to cover.

Florida State at Miami Over/Under 42 Pick: The Over

Weekend Pick

Since Oregon State plays on Thursday night again I wanted to get the first pick out of the way. The rest will be up later tonight or tomorrow.

Oregon State at No.15 Utah: Well the Beavs did it again. They shocked the world while easily taking it to USC last Thursday. This week they play an undefeated Utah team who is slowly creeping up the rankings. Utah is led by QB Brian Johnson who has completed nearly 70% of his passes this year for 1129 yards and 8 TD's. Can Oregon State pull the upset again? I don't see it happening. Utah desperately needs this game to continue moving up the rankings and the Beavs will have trouble getting up two weeks in a row. The MWC continues its dominance over the Pac-10. Pick: Utah

Mid-Week Links

From the Everett Herald. Are the Cougs the worst of the worst?

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081001/SPORTS/710019741/1093/SPORTS06

From the Seattle Times. Despite Alfonso Jackson's quotes last week, Paul Wulff said the team did not come out flat. "I don't think we were flat," Wulff said. "That's not accurate. They were ready and emotionally into it. I wouldn't use that as an excuse — it's just not the case." There is also more information about the nutrition crisis in Pullman.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008217718_coug01.html

And one more thing from the Seattle Times article. Wulff has announced to WSU students that he is holding open tryouts for a scout team QB. Yes you read that correctly.

The News Tribune writeup on the Cougars defensive woes. Seems to be a hot topic these days.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/496399.html

Basketball Is Almost Here

So I have been looking for good news regarding WSU Football, but there is none out there right now. The Cougs are simply that bad. Paul Wulff has even gone on to blame the players calorie intake and conditioning as a result for the poor play. I don't know about others but as I have stated on here before, I am getting very tired of Paul Wulff throwing his players under the bus while not holding himself or his staff accountable for anything. I have not seen one quote this year that says, "we as a staff need to improve" or "us coaches need to look at the tape and look at some of our play calls and schemes" or "us coaches are on a learning curve too." We are constantly being bombarded with how the depth is bad, the last staff left everything in shambles, these players lack talent, they lack any type of work ethic and now their calorie intake is bad.

Well Coach you came to WSU in December. So let's say you got the players on your eating and conditioning program in January. That gave you eight months until August to get these players where you felt they should be physically. Eight months is a pretty long time for young athletes who are already in good condition, to get into even better shape. It also gave you eight months to get them going into your offensive and defensive systems. We look completely lost on both sides of the ball. We sure as hell don't run a spread offense, and I'm not even sure what our defensive philosophy is except that players are switching positions every week.

I am not looking for WSU to go to a bowl game this year. I predicted a 4-9 record actually. But this team has fallen so far from last year that I think a lot of people are starting to wonder if Paul Wulff was the right man for this job. He and his staff lacked major college coaching experience and it is showing in a bad way right now. All that I am asking for, and I think a lot of the posters of Cougfan are asking is for is some accountability for our coaching staff. It Wulff continues to thrash his players week after week he will lose not only their faith, but the faith of Cougar fans as well.

Bottom 10

Hate to post this again but the Cougs maintained their spot on the ESPN's Bottom 10, featuring the worst teams in college football. The Cougs are at #6 followed by UW at #7. Should be an exciting Apple Cup!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=bottom10085

Also from the LA Times, UCLA has heard the word. WSU can't stop the run and Khalil Bell is ready to go off.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-uclafyi1-2008oct01,0,4702372.story

Bad Days For Defense

From the Seattle Times regarding the WSU defense. The article says, "As horrendous as the Cougars have been defending the run — they're 118th nationally of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, at 269 yards allowed a game — their plight in has been worsened by both the defense's lack of forced turnovers and the offense's facility for committing them."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008211929_coug29.html

From the Seattle PI. Looking ahead to UCLA, they are doing about as poorly as the Cougs. "Just like the Cougars, the Bruins are struggling on both sides of the ball. UCLA has been outscored 136-41 in losing three straight since shocking Tennessee 27-24 in the season opener."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/380984_coug29.html

From the LA Times, some notes on UCLA and how they are trying to avoid being overconfident against WSU. As of now, UCLA is about a 19 point favorite over the Cougs.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-ucla30-2008sep30,0,5301342.story

And finally, I don't usually bring up anything UW on here except for the Weekly Picks but Husky verbal commit, Deandre Coleman has backed out of his commitment to UW. Coleman is a 6-6 290 pound DT out of Garfield. He is regarded as one of the top, if not the top recruits in the state. I bring this up because this is what Wulff and staff have to prevent from happening. They have got a pretty solid class so far and need to maintain confidence in the program to these players. UW is in a different situation with their coach likely getting fired this season but players backing out could happen to the Cougs. Maybe we should offer Coleman, he would be granted a starting position his first day on campus most likely. Word on the street is that he probably won't qualify though, so we shall see.

Moore Chimes In

I feel bad for Jim Moore who had to stick this one out in the press box. He didn't have the option of leaving like most of the crowd Saturday. Anyways he has an article about how bad things have gotten for the Cougs.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/380918_moore28.html

Same stuff from John Blanchette of The Spokesman Review. An interesting quote from the article, "I don't believe it's a lack of talent," said safety Alfonso Jackson, defiantly. "I trust everybody in that locker room." That's the kind of attitude I want to hear.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=16910

Crushed

I'm not going to put up a bunch of game reports because we all know the game went horribly. When you get down 14-0 before the band finds their seats you aren't going to win ball games. Just a few things I want to point out.

WSU has been outscored 213-47 in games against D1 opponents.

Oregon only needed to throw the ball 16 times. Of those 16, 9 were completed for 161 yards and 2 TD's.

OU used 8 rushers and gained 346 yards and 7 rushing TD's on the day. 7 rushing TD's. We have less than 7 Total TD's against D1 opponents on the season.

Another thing I want to point out is that I am tired of Wulff saying this team has no talent. Those comments are getting very tiresome. Yeah we lost some contributors. But did we lose enough guys to be getting outscored 213-47 against teams that matter? 8 of our top ten tacklers are back this year. Our 4 LB's accounted for 16.5 sacks last season. All of those guys are back and their play, besides Trent has dropped off significantly. Throw in an experienced secondary, an all american WR, a TE who was solid last year, two RB's who contributed a lot last year and is their really no talent? How are the players supposed to get better if all they hear about is how bad they are? I want to see Wulff start holding himself and his staff accountable as well.

GameDay Links

Seattle Times on Lobbestael and his first start as well as quotes from his parents, who like their son, are pretty nervous today.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008208087_coug27.html

Seattle PI's preview of the game with a predicted score of 44-17 Oregon.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/380856_coug27.html

The News Tribune on how the Cougs and Ducks are both pretty banged up right now.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/493395.html

From Eugene's The Register Guard, OU will be looking at TE Devin Frischknecht to carry the Cougar offense.

http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/story.csp?cid=131039&sid=109&fid=41

Also from the Register Guard, a preview of the game with a nice quote from Mike Belloti on WSU. “It’s always a tough place to play,” Bellotti said. “It’s a tough trip, it’s a tough stadium, it’s a tough walk to the locker room. And Washington State plays inspired football. They take the Pac-10 Northwest rivalry very seriously and compete their tails off. I believe this will be a very tough, physical, emotional football game, for everybody.”

http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/story.csp?cid=131195&sid=109&fid=41

That is all for now. Go Cougs!

Weekend Picks

Well this week has already gotten off to a rough start with Oregon State upsetting #1 ranked USC this evening. The Pac-10 is wide open now and everyone is going to be giving their best shot to get things on track. With USC's loss is Arizona possibly moving into a top 3 Pac-10 spot? Both Arizona schools have a bye this week.

Last Week: 4-1
Season Total: 23-7

No. 25 Fresno State at UCLA: Fresno State is playing pretty well this year. They have beaten Rutgers and Toledo while losing to Wisconsin by 3 points. UCLA is really struggling right now. Their offense can not move the ball consistently and they have been outscored 90-10 in their last two games. Wow. Fresno State wins this one as the Pac-10 continues to struggle. Pick: FSU

Colorado State at California: Cal should look to rebound after their loss to Maryland two weeks ago. Colorado State doesn't really have a passing attack or much of a rushing attack. Jahvid Best will carry Cal in this one. Pick: Cal

Stanford at Washington: This is a huge game for both schools. Stanford is trying to prove they belong and UW is trying to prove they don't suck too bad. Stanford only has 1 TD pass this year! While UW's secondary is bad, the Cardinal offense may make them look pretty good Saturday night. I hate to do this but, Pick: UW

Oregon at WSU: Last week was a good and bad week for the Cougs. The good, we won. The bad, it was against Portland State and we lost two QB's to neck and back injuries. Time for Ocho Rojo to step in and begin his 4 year campaign as the Wazzu QB. Meanwhile, Oregon is having all sorts of problems with their QB injuries. I believe they are down to their 5th guy. However, OU still has a solid O line, a solid D line, and a very good secondary. I expect them to run it down our throats all day long. Unless an adjustment is made from the odd, defensive end and D-tackle line up wide and two linebackers stand in the middle of the line defense, this one could get ugly early. Hopefully Lobbestael has a good game though. Pick: Oregon

Make Some Money Week 5

Well I finally got one. Thanks to the big payout we are now up on the year. Here is three more games to bet on this week. As always, 3 games parlayed with $10.00. Lines from Sportsbook.com. $10.00 to win $64.42.

Last Week: Win $61.00
Season Total: + $31.00

Mississippi at Florida -22 Pick: Florida to cover.

Purdue at Notre Dame -1 Pick: Purdue with the point.

Alabama at Georgia -6.5 Pick: Alabama with the points.

Weekend Picks Game 1

I am not going to post the Make Some Money, which by the way was victorious last week and the weekend picks until later tonight or tomorrow but I just want to go on the record and pick USC to win at OSU tonight.

Bumps Loving Life As A Seahawk

I don't think anyone would have predicted that Michael Bumpus would have two NFL starts and a TD catch under his belt 3 games into the 2008 NFL season. But he does and he is making a solid impression on his Seahawk teammates and himself. From the article, "I'm just grateful," Bumpus said on Sunday, clutching the ball he caught a couple hours earlier for his first career touchdown reception. "It's been like a fairytale. From an undrafted free agent to getting to play in the second and third games, I couldn't ask for more. This is the happiest I've been since I graduated from high school."

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080925/SPORTS/709259832/1004

Ducks Still Reeling

The past two weeks have been pretty rough for the Ducks of Oregon. First, they needed two missed FG's to beat a mediocre Purdue team in OT. A Boilermaker team who was not supposed to be able to handle the speed and athleticism of OU. Then last week they go out and lose to a Boise State team who had never beaten a Pac-10 team on the road. Add to the fact that Redshirt Freshman QB Kellen Moore made his first road start in duanted Autzen Stadium and threw for 386 yards plus 3 TD's and they have more QB injuries than us, you got a million questions in Eugene. The good thing for the Cougs? OU seems to be looking at the past with questions instead of the future with how they will improve.

http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/story.csp?cid=130949&sid=109&fid=41

Former Cougar great Rueben Mayes will be honored at halftime of the game on Saturday. Since last year he has moved to the Eugene area and has adopted the Ducks as his second favorite team. Here is a pretty interesting article about his life, career and the move to the Eugene area.

http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/story.csp?cid=130920&sid=109&fid=41

Lobbestael Dominating News

In a season gone sour, the buzz this week around Marshall Labbestael has seemed to temporarily revive Cougar nation. The Reshirt Freshman will be making his first start Saturday and WSU fans are already beginning to wonder if he will be the man for the next four years.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008198925_coug24.html

Meet Marshall Lobbestael from The Spokesman Review which includes quotes from former QB Alex Brink, who knows plenty about starting as a Freshman. Brink said, "The biggest thing is there are a lot of emotions that come into it when it's your first start or it’s a big game or anything like that, those are the things you have to guard against."

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8351#more

Stripling Out For Year

LB Jason Stripling will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. A unfortunate turn of events for a team that is losing key players fast. DE Kevin Kooyman is also in a walking boot with a sprained ankle. These injuries could be huge come Saturday when facing Oregon's spread running attack.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8344#more

Ocho Rojo Pac-10 Player Of The Week

Marshall Lobbestael has won the Pac-10 Player of the week for his 2 TD performance last Saturday. A big honor for him in his first significant playing time of the year.

http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/092208aah.html

Updates On QB's

Sounds like Gary Rogers is out of the hospital and will begin his recovery for the next few months. Meanwhile, Kevin Lopina's status is still a bit unknown so I would expect "Ocho Rojo" as his teammates are now calling him, to start against OU on Saturday. If you aren't familiar with Marshall Lobbestael he was the 4A State Player of the Year for The Seattle Times and the Assoicated Press in 2006. He led Oak Harbor High School to their first ever 4A state title while throwing for 34 TD's and nearly 3000 yards.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080922/SPORTS/709229863#Oak.Harbor.grad.may.start.at.QB.for.Cougars

Similar story with more quotes from Seattle Times.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008194532_coug22.html

Huge Day For NFL Cougs

Seahawks WR Michael Bumpus had 2 catches for 29 yards and a TD in a 37-13 win over the Rams.

Buffalo Kicker Rian Lindell hit a game winning 38 yard field goal to beat Oakland 24-23. The Bills are now 3-0.

Falcons SS Eric Coleman had a team leading 10 tackles, an INT and a forced fumble in a 38-14 win over KC.

Cleveland RB Jerome Harrison recorded his first TD on a 19 yard reception in a loss to Baltimore.

Saints DB Jason David had two tackles and a fumble recovery in a loss to Denver.

Victory But With Big Cost

The Cougs finally got their much needed first win in an impressive 48-9 route of Portland State last night. The victory seems bittersweet however, after watching Gary Rogers get taken off the field in an ambulance mid way through the third quarter. Cougfan.com is reporting that the injury is a Cervical Spine Fracture which will not require surgery. That is good news considering the severity of the injury. His recovery will take 3-4 months. The bad news is that Gary Roger's Cougar career and maybe his football career are over. Too bad for a guy who waited four years for his shot to have it all end on a late hit penalty.

With Kevin Lopina already injured earlier in the game, WSU had to look to third string Redshirt Freshman QB, Marshall Lobbestael. Lobbestael led the Cougar offense with two TD passes on 9 of 12 passing for 149 yards. The Lobbster looked comfortable and poised in the pocket, going through his reads and finding the open receiver. That is something seldom seen with the other two QB's this year. Lobbestael's life just took on a whole new direction as it looks likely he will be the starter for the next couple games and maybe the rest of the season. Here are the game recaps from all the papers.

Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008193026_coug21.html

The News Tribune
http://www.thenewstribune.com/1043/story/488099.html

Tri-City Herald
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1017/story/323445.html

GameDay Links

A story on how Wulff is changing the nutrition habits of his players From the Seattle Times.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/budwithers/2008191501_withers20.html

Also from the Seattle Times, Coug fans are a little anxious about PSU. Something not experienced in Pullman for a long time.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008191313_coug20.html

Preview of the game from the Seattle PI. They Pick WSU to win 34-24.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/379824_coug20.html

Portland State confident they will move the ball against the nation's worst defense.

http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2008/09/countdown_to_vikings_kickoff_c.html

A link to The Daily Evergreen's Sports Page. They have a couple descent stories on Reid Forrest, Greg Trent and the Cougs looking for their first win.

http://www.dailyevergreen.com/sports

Two LB's May Be Out Saturday

From the Seattle Times, Kendrick Dunn and Cory Evans are questionable for tomorrow's game against PSU. Dunn may have lost his starting spot to newly named LB, Myron Beck anyways. It should be interesting to see how Beck and Hallston Higgins, who is making his first start as well handle coverage against pass happy PSU.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008189184_coug19.html

Ryan Divish of The News Tribune has a column on Wulff trying to avoid what he did last year, upset a team from a higher division.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/486640.html

Weekend Picks

Last week was a rough one for the Pac-10. With that said, my solid record took a bit of a hit. This is a new week and the games seem a little easier with USC, OSU, UW and Cal having bye weeks. Anyways here we go.

Last Week: 7-3
Season Total: 19-5

Arizona at UCLA: This is an interesting match up. After the first week everyone thought UCLA was going to be a solid team this year. Then they go out and get dominated by BYU 59-0. Arizona started their season by smoking Idaho 70-0, winning their second game against Toledo and then losing at home to New Mexico. So which team will be down more? UCLA's offense is just awful, and Arizona seems to be able to move the ball alright so I am going with them. Pick: Arizona

Boise State at No. 17 Oregon: Oregon squeaked one by Purdue last week in a game that they should not have won. Boise State hasn't played anyone worth watching this year and will go into Autzen with a Redshirt Freshman QB, Kellen Moore making his first road start. Throw in the small little fact that BSU has NEVER won in a Pac-10 stadium, yet they think they are on a bigtime level. Pick: Oregon, big.

No. 3 Georgia at Arizona State: This game was hyped as the second biggest game of the year behind OSU vrs USC, before ASU lost last weekend to UNLV in OT. This week Georgia brings in Knowshon Moreno who has already impressed this year with 7 rushing TD's and Matthew Stafford who is starting to show he can be the QB everyone thought he was. I want to pick ASU just for the sake of the Pac-10 but the Sun Devils never show up for big games. Pick: Georgia

San Jose State at Stanford: If Stanford is really on the right path like they seem to be on, they should beat San Jose State easily. The Cardinal faithful seem to be growing a little tired of Tavita Pritchard and his inconsistency. That shouldn't be enough to stop them this week. Pick: Stanford

Portland State at Washington State: Well this is it for the Cougs. This looks like the only game WSU might win this year. Portland State throws the ball a lot. The Cougar secondary hasn't really been tested this year because teams have been able to gain 8 yards per carry running up the middle. Based on talent, although Paul Wulff says we don't have any, this game shouldn't even be close. If for some reason WSU loses or the game is even close, Paul Wulff may have fans with pitchforks chasing him out of town. Anyways I think WSU wins this one by 20 at least. Pick: WSU

Make Some Money Week 4

OK, so who knew that Georgia would only score 14 points against a struggling South Carolina team. Anyways if you have followed my bets you would be $30.00 poorer. It only takes one week to make a big gain though. Here are the picks. $10.00 parlayed on 3 games to win $61.26. Lines from Sportsbook.com

Last Week: -$10.00
Season Total: -$30.00

Baylor at Uconn -13 Pick: Baylor with the points.

LSU -2.5 at Auburn Pick: LSU to cover.

Notre Dame at Michigan State -8.5 Pick: MSU to cover.

Xavier Hicks Ready To Start

Not much in news this week but Vince Grippi has some notes about Xavier Hicks being back from suspension and starting at Safety.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/sportslink/archive/?postID=8301#more

Cougar Notes And A Potato Gun?

Howie Stalwick has notes from all over tonight regarding the WSU defense setting records in bad ways, Portland State, and Coach Wulff's salary. The most interesting thing that I read from the article is, "The Whitman County Prosecutor's Office continues to investigate charges filed against WSU kicker Wade Penner and ex-Cougars lineman Andy Roof. Penner allegedly shot a makeshift "potato gun" that caused minor injuries to a woman boating on the Snake River during the summer." A potato gun? Haha.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/379400_coug17.html

WSU The Worst Team In BCS?

Ted Miller of ESPN gave a little bit of praise to the WSU secondary yesterday, stating that they were second in the Pac-10 in pass defense. Well today, he comments that WSU has a good pass defense because everyone just runs on us as we rank dead last in the USA in rush defense. Yep, dead last at 330 yards per game, 8 yards per carry and 5 rushings TD's per game! Horrible. The worst part of all this is we haven't faced that great of competition yet. This is going to be a long season.

Also, the State of Washington is so bad at football right now that ESPN has just combined WSU and UW as the 3rd worst teams in the country. Makes sense I guess, Apple Cup should be fun.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-2-119/Worst-BCS-team--Washington-State-is-struggling.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=bottom10083

WSU Secondary Holding Their Own

Ted Miller of ESPN noted on his Pac-10 blog today that WSU ranks second in the Pac in pass defense at 145 yards per game and has only allowed 2 TD passes this season. If we can work on stopping the run, especially up the middle we may be able to stay in some games longer than 2 quarters.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-2-114/-Official--Pac-10-notes.html

Portland State

This is probably going to a semi-slow week for news considering we are playing a D-2 opponent next week. I thought I would link up this game story from Portland State's game last Saturday to familiarize myself and others with some of their players and what they are all about. It sounds like they throw a ton. QB Drew Hubel threw 51 passes, completing 29 and racking up 337 yards.

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122142108577989600

Position Changes Galore

Looks like Coach Wulff is shifting some players around for this Saturday's game against Portland State. Alfonso Jackson will be back to his original position of Safety and Xavier Hicks will be starting at SS after serving his 3 game suspension. Former Safety Myron Beck has been moved to weak side linebacker, where it is obvious more speed is needed. Also on the offensive line, Vaughn Lesuma will be moved to guard and will battle with B.J. Guerra for a starting spot. Lesuma's old tackle spot is now being fought for by Steven Ayers and Joey Eppele. To top it all off, it sounds like Kevin Lopina will line up at QB once again if he is healthy.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2008180046_coug15.html

Same story, couple different notes from the Seattle PI.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cougars/379139_coug15.html

Ouch Times 3

Downright embarrassing is all I have to say. I am going to watch the rest of the games today and am headed to the Seahawks game tomorrow. I will update tomorrow evening. Check out Cougfan, the Wulff debate has begun, and deservedly so I think.