WSU Football | Coach Paul Wulff Anxious To Get Back On The Field

Head coach Paul Wulff found positives to take away from the loss to Oregon and get Washington State Cougar football moving forward once again. His brief Sunday evening session with media was loaded with things the Cougs could build on as they prepare for Homecoming Week and hosting Arizona State this coming Saturday in Pullman, Wash.

It would be easy to mope after being taken to school by one of the best college football teams in the nation...Make that back-to-back top teams in the nation.

Coach Wulff isn't building the Cougar football program on wishes and wants. He's developing a roster that is fundamentally sound both on and off the gridiron.

WSU players weren't disappointed by their poor performance Saturday night in Eugene.

They weren't just frustrated by the loss.

The Cougs are mad.

The Washington State football team is looking for redemption now. Not next month or next season. They are itching to strap it on and get back out there to compete with their next Pac-10 conference opponent, the Arizona State Sun Devils.

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"This is the first game of all our games that they felt like they didn’t respond and play well. Particularly in the environment. There was a certain level of being rattled out there. We didn’t respond to their speed, the tempo they came at us with on both sides of the ball. Even on special teams. We had some big plays on special teams that were called back because we got beat with some speed and we got caught holding and creating our own issues. I think everybody just felt pretty disappointed. We’ve got a big week in front of us to respond. I think we all want to get back on that field. We’ve got to redeem ourselves a little bit."

— WSU head coach Paul Wulff

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To put it another way, the Cougs have been thrown off their horse and are anxious to get back on and go for a ride.

If that sounds like so much hot air, consider the effort Washington State put out in the game Saturday night. Statistical comparisons with previous seasons don't tell the real story. 

This team doesn't quit. Everyone in the program remains dedicated to success. Such dedication may not be evident to some. Trust me, it won't be long before games like Saturday night are no more memorable than the poor grade you may have received on a math test your sophomore year of high school. 

Redshirt freshman Terrance Hayward and true freshman Carl Winston were two young players for Washington State who saw substantial playing time against the Ducks. Coach Wulff talked about both of them, part of the future for Cougar football.

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"You know, he did a good job. He’s physical. We need to remember with this kid he’s 17 years old and doesn’t turn 18 until November and he’s in his second year of college already. I think he’s grown an inch or two since he’s been here. He’s 6’1” and he’s going to be a good player. He’s getting better and better and growing up all the time and I’m very encouraged with his growth so far."  

— Coach Wulff on Terrance Hayward 

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Hayward and sophomore linebacker Louis Bland led WSU in tackles against the Ducks. They each had a total to nine. Hayward had six solo tackles and two tackles for a loss. And the young man isn't even old enough to vote!

Winston saw playing time in both the offensive backfield and returning kickoffs. Coach Wulff planned to redshirt Winston this year to provide him a chance to mature. With the loss of WSU's top running back and playmaker, James Montgomery, the potential Winston exhibited on the practice field changed Coach Wulff's mind.

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"For a first year freshman and playing his first live action, he showed some explosiveness. The ability to see some things. His vision was really good. I think Carl’s going to be a good player. He’s not as strong as he’s going to be. He’s going to get quicker and stronger as he keeps hitting the weight room over the years. I think he’s going to be a good player. He’s definitely got some instincts out there running the football. He can see things well."  

— Coach Wulff on Carl Winston

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Of course, Coach Wulff had comments about his offensive line that has been decimated by injuries prior to fall camp, during fall camp and carrying over into the season.

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"Here’s what I saw. I saw Kenny Alfred be Player of the Week third week in a row. He is playing at an extremely high level. The guy is an incredible student/athlete, football player and team leader. I saw two guys get their very first start and another guy in his second start. You know, they actually did do some good things. There were some young mistakes made in there with (Alex) Reitnouer and (Tyson) Pencer and Joe Eppele but what I did see was some athleticism. I saw some guys win on some things we haven’t seen in awhile which is impressive. It was very encouraging to see the young athleticism in there and do some things for our offensive front that we haven’t had done individually…blocking assignments whether it be pass or run. There were some very encouraging signs (for) the future…those guys, we need them to keep growing up this week so they can have a better week and keep moving forward. There were some very, very encouraging signs. We’re playing with some inexperience but they did some very good things and they made some mistakes that hurt us as well in blocking, particularly in the run game."  

— Coach Wulff on the play of the OL

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For WSU to have been successful Saturday night, the offensive line would have had to match the flawless play of the Oregon defense. They didn't. WSU isn't part of an exclusive club in that regard either. The Ducks have played outstanding football, as good as any college football team in the nation, for the past four weeks.

There's a natural comparison between the offensive style of play for both Oregon and WSU. Under Coach Chip Kelly, Oregon has been successful with a no-huddle offense. The Ducks executed their offensive approach to perfection Saturday night by varying the speed of play enough to keep the Cougs on their heels the entire game. That's the beauty of a well run no huddle offense.

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"We want to be able to have that type of tempo, but we have a little different philosophy on the types of plays and what we’re doing. We want to be able to have tempo like that. It takes a veteran team and mature program to be able to do that. We’re working our way toward that. It’s just not happening as fast as we want to but I can’t speed up time right now and that’s really what we need."  

— Coach Wulff on no-huddle offense

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The no-huddle offense dictates the entire flow of a football game when it's run properly. It can apply an encompassing effect on an opponent to take them out of the game.

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"That’s the point about their offense. They spread you out and you’ve got to be able to match their speed and you’ve got to be able to tackle well. When they have an advantage on you like that, they’re going to move the ball and score a lot of points on anybody. That’s the style of their offense. It’s kind of a different version of the run and shoot. They do it more from the ‘run first’ concept. They went up and down the field on Cal and they’re really starting to hit on all cylinders. They’re operating fast. They’re executing well. They’ve established a running game that’s helped their screen game and their pass game. They put it on Cal. They put it on us. You can see their growth from their first two games. They’re a tough team to face right now. I don’t know that there’s a team in the Pac-10 that has better overall team speed from top to bottom clearly than Oregon."  

— Coach Wulff on game tempo

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For Washington State players and coaches, this week might play in slow motion. Getting back out on the field turf of Martin Stadium and applying the lessons learned will be niggling away at the Cougs.

Remember the feeling when you crashed your bike countless times after the training wheels were taken off by your dad? The pain of falling hurt, but the feeling of freedom without those training wheels was something special.

Washington State football is working hard to become special once again.

Originally published in Lew Wright's column on Examiner.com