WSU Football | Young Cougs Expect To Win

Coach Paul Wulff met briefly with the media before heading out to practice Thursday afternoon. And as usual, he was candid in his remarks about Washington State Cougar football.

Today will be the third practice session for WSU in their preparation for Arizona State. Coach Dennis Erickson and his team are hungry for a conference win and redemption on the heels of a couple of tough losses.

In their loss to Oregon State in Tempe last weekend, the Sun Devils bore little resemblance to the team most expected to see going into the season.

Playing outside the Pac-10, ASU racked up a lot of points against Idaho State and Louisiana-Monroe in route to winning their first two games of the year.

Since then, their offense has marched up and down the field without scoring touchdowns. The result from a misfiring aerial attack has been a couple of losses.

Should the Sun Devils continue to stagger on the gridiron this coming Saturday, it might not be possible to turn things around going through Pac-10 play.

But if Coach Erickson and his team buy into the word of college football experts, they should have no worries this week. ASU is a three touchdown favorite to win on the road.

A three touchdown underdog on your home turf to a team that comes into Pullman having lost their last two games is more than just a snub.

Then again, Coach Wulff and the Cougs are more than accustomed to be considered the Rodney Dangerfield of the Pac-10.

Here's what Coach Wulff thought about the game plan ASU will bring to Pullman:

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“They want to prevent the big play. The games they’ve lost they’ve given up a few big plays. They haven’t scored a lot on offense (in their two losses) so big plays have really stood out for them... This is a team that tries to throw the ball all the time so I think that’s affected their sack totals. But they’ve got a very stout defensive line and linebacking corps. They’re probably stronger than USC is, in terms of defending the run and in terms of physical presence along the line and their inside linebackers.”

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Arizona State has the best defense in the conference, yielding just 232 yards of offense per game. They rank third in the nation defensively. In terms of strength, that explains why ASU is a heavy favorite over the Cougs. Washington State has yet to get their offense moving the football and scoring touchdowns.

However, and it seems as though you can always come up with a 'however', both teams took a step backward last week.

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“We’ve got a big challenge on our hands. They’re (ASU) a good football team that went to Georgia and darn near beat Georgia. They didn’t play a great game last week. I think both teams will play better than they did the previous week. Whoever plays the best on Saturday is going to end up winning the game. It’s pretty simple.”

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Coach Wulff may not have been offering a profound insight with his prediction, but that isn't what he's ever been about. His goal continues to be working to get his football players on solid ground and prepared as best as possible. The significant challenge he's taken on started from a rather weak position. If you scan the names on the Cougar roster, there are roughly 115. Two-thirds of those names are first or second year student/athletes.

As young as WSU is, in terms of the time players have been in college, they are not bothered by critics or experts who suggest they won't notch another win this season.

Some of the bravado that can be associated with youth was on display earlier this week when true freshman starting quarterback Jeff Tuel made it clear that both his teammates and him expect to win the football game Saturday. It followed that Coach Wulff was asked if Tuel's remarks were simply a reflection of youth and exuberance:

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“I think that it’s a combination of both maybe. We have some young guys that are highly competitive and have high expectations. That’s a wonderful sign to be honest. We believe that’s where we’re headed with higher expectations for ourselves.”

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Moving from his starter at quarterback to the situation at ASU, Coach Wulff was asked if he knew much about the backup for senior Danny Sullivan, freshman Brock Osweiler. Sun Devil fans have begun calling for the demotion of Sullivan as the quickest way to get back to scoring massive numbers of touchdowns and winning football games.

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“He hasn’t played a lot. Obviously Brock Osweiler is a big kid (6’8” and 237). He’s going to become a good player. We knew of him in Montana in high school and then he went to Gonzaga to play basketball. Then he changed his mind to be a football player. I think he’s got a pretty bright future. He’s big and he can see over all the tall linemen. He’s got a nice arm and he’s got a chance to be a good player.”

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Whether it's Sullivan or Osweiler, the Cougs will have their work cut out for them to stifle the spread offense and passing attack favored by Coach Erickson.

For WSU to be effective on defense, it's imperative they put pressure on the Sun Devil quarterback. Coach Wulff talked a little bit about who is expected to line up with their hands down on the defensive front.

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“Probably Anthony Laurenzi (will start) at defensive tackle because Bernard (Wolfgramm) is now out. Toby (Turpin) will start…Then (Dan) Spitz will play a lot in there as well. He’ll rotate in there with Turpin and Laurenzi. And then Jesse Feagin and Casey Hamlett will rotate in there at defensive end with Travis Long.”

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Staying with the defensive line, Coach Wulff took time to talk about Feagin at DE.

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“Jesse (Feagin) has worked hard to put himself in good academic standing. He wasn’t academically eligible a year ago, but he’s done a nice job progressing as a student and on the football field. Again, our philosophy coming in here (WSU) is a lot different than what was going on, particularly in training methods. We hired Coach Lovat, the new strength coach a year ago at this time. Jesse was one of those guys who hadn’t done a lot of the squats and platform work. He’s made some improvements from his physical (presence) with the one winter and summer to work with Coach Lovat. He’s continued to improve his conditioning level. He’s stronger than he was a year ago at this time. He’s done some good things. He’s showed flashes but we need him to be a little more consistent and play at a high level with intensity. He’s showed some good things.”

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With two more days of preparation before the 2009 Homecoming game Saturday afternoon at 2pm, Washington State looks to return to moving the football program forward and registering their first Pac-10 win on the year.

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Injury Update

• Coach Paul Wulff is doubtful that Alex Hoffman-Ellis will be ready to go for the ASU game. Louis Bland, who normally rotates with Hoffman-Ellis, will be the likely starter in the middle at linebacker.
• Brian Danaher will return this week, though Coach Wulff wasn't sure how much playing time he'll get. Wulff said, "He’s just coming off a concussion and seems to be doing OK. We’re a little leary. We don’t want to line him up and take every snap in this ball game because, I think he’s better, but he has had a little bit of a history with concussions. We want to be safe. He will probably play, but how that unfolds we’re not sure yet. Ideally we can get out of this game without redinging his head and then we get the bye week. Then again back at Cal he truly has an opportunity to be back at 100%.”

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