WSU Football: What They're Saying after the Cal Game

Before moving on to look at the next football game coming up for the Washington State Cougars, let me take you back to the tunnel to the visitors locker room at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, CA.

WSU coaches and players met with media after the game in a rather fitting place.

Due to construction taking place on the California Golden Bears home field, the only space available other than the team locker room was the tunnel leading there from the stadium floor.

Waiting for Coach Paul Wulff and others to share their thoughts and respond to questions following a tough loss for the Cougs, it crossed my mind that the Washington State football team may have been wondering if there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hard work by the entire squad wasn't enough to secure a victory over a very good Cal team.

Being a glass-half-full kind of guy, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter for Coach Wulff and the Cougs. There are others who believe that light is an oncoming train.

Listening to members of a team that played hard Saturday, it's easy to believe in the direction of Cougar football.

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“I thought we had some kids grow a little bit today. I saw some guys do some good things. I think we had some individuals grow. I think we all grew a little bit. Still, it’s not good enough. We had some execution things, penalties, red zone-we should have got some more points when we were down there. There’s a ton of room for improvement yet. We’ve got to be hungry to improve because we left a lot of things out there today.” —WSU Coach Todd Sturdy

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“It’s really frustrating. We’ve got good kids and (they’re) working really hard. When people get hurt and you’re trying to build a program it makes that much tougher. The kid’s effort was good in practice and we’re learning. We’re a young football team. We’ve all got to respond better. And that’s everybody from the players to the coaches. The thing we’ve got to do is (continue) working hard. We’ve got to keep grinding. We know we’re young and people are getting tired of hearing that, but it’s the truth." —WSU Coach Chris Ball

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Cal is a big play team and they made their quota of big plays Saturday. However, the Cougs are starting to show some signs of becoming a big play team as well.

Last week quarterback Jeff Tuel connected with wide receiver Johnny Forzani for a 99-yard touchdown. Those two hooked up again Saturday, this time for a 68-yard score. Four minutes later Tuel hit wide receiver Gino Simone for a scoring strike from 19-yards out.

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“I was able to step up in the pocket and deliver a few times. I have faith in my ‘O’ line, I trust what they’re doing and I feel pretty good about (them)." —WSU quarterback Jeff Tuel

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Some would have you believe that football is becoming a complex game. Don't count Gino Simone in those numbers. Here's what he had to say about his touchdown catch.

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“It seemed that it would work. It was just a little corner post. Jeff stepped up in the pocket. The line did a good job. He just threw it and all I had to do is catch it.” —Gino Simone

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Does it get any simpler than that? Perhaps.

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“It’s just a deep post play. I usually run it in practice. I basically just run fast, break to the post and Jeff throws it as far as he can. (The play) was a good call, it was a good call." —Johnny Forzani on his 68-yard TD

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When Tuel has time to deliver the football, he does so with the accuracy of a seasoned player. The return of BJ Guerra and Zach Williams to the offensive line made a difference in the overall performance of the offense.

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“It was real nice to line up and see three pretty big dang guys next to each other in front of me." —Jeff Tuel

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"It felt great out there. (My knee) felt like it did before I got injured. I love football and I missed those guys sitting out the five weeks that I did. It felt great to be out there with them playing." —WSU offensive lineman BJ Guerra

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BJ Guerra got his chance to get back out on the playing field on WSU's third offensive series. Once he was in, there was no taking him back out. After the third offensive possession by the Cougs, they settled in to play some good football putting up 17 points in the first half. Guerra attributed the better play to, "fire in the middle and chemistry." Expect to see more of that the rest of this season.

Sophomore linebacker Mike Ledgerwood made his first start, filling in for another sophomore who was injured, Louis Bland. When asked about the game this is what he had to say.

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"It felt really good. I tried to treat it like I’ve been playing so it wouldn’t mess with my mind and just go with the team.” —Mike Ledgerwood

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When it comes to the win/loss results of Cougar football this season, the team isn't where they need to be. Yet. Some of the players were candid about where they believe this team is going.

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“Losing sucks. Losing…it’s not good to be around. It’s tough. We played a lot better (against Cal) than we did against Arizona State. We moved the ball. No turnovers. No interceptions. Like our coaches said, we’re heading in the right direction. We can win. We can win games." —Johnny Forzani

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“It’s easy to see we’re on our way. We all know the goal and we’re working toward it. It’s just taking time and we need everyone to be patient." —Gino Simone

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“Learn from it all. We should have amped it up a little more (in the fourth quarter). We’ll take that into the next game.” —Mike Ledgerwood

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"We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and keep working. We’re going to get it fixed. One of these days I hope we look back and laugh at it and say, 'Man, do you remember that…?' We’ve got good young players in the program and we’re going to get this thing done." —Coach Chris Bal

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

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