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WSU faces a hot, bothered USC team

Posted by Vince Grippi

Sept. 26, 2009 6:58 a.m. • 14 comments

COUGARS

It’s hot here. Real hot. With a dry wind. No wonder the hills look like the bottom of the Weber after the steaks are done. And the Trojans are hot. Real hot. With a bad taste in their mouths. No wonder the Cougars are a 45-point underdog. Read on.

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• Washington State: Another dry day. We have our advance and our game day stuff (all of it’s here). And freelancer Howie Stalwick has a preview and some notes. Other than that, you’ll have to wait until you get to the USC section. There’s more there. Some other notes … Backup quarterback Kevin Lopina will not play today. His calf injury hasn’t healed enough for him to suit up. That means true freshman Jeff Tuel is the backup, with, I think, Dan Wagner, next on the depth chart. … Expect Logwone Mitz to play. He was at practice Thursday, though not suited up, and was talking to enough players to let me know his fever was gone. … Other than Kevin Kooyman, the defensive side of the ball is pretty healthy, minus the two safeties (LeAndre Daniels and Tyree Toomer) that are out for the year. Expect to see a rotation of defensive linemen to combat the heat and the size of the USC line. … Tonight’s game marks the beginning of a schedule-devouring road stretch. Next week, the Cougars travel to Autzen to face Oregon. After that, they have homecoming against Arizona State, get a bye, then play three consecutive road games: at Cal, Notre Dame in San Antonio and at Arizona. One game between now and mid-November in Martin. … Tonight’s captains will be Dwight Tardy and Xavier Hicks.

• Around the Pac-10: Surprisingly, kind of blah here as well. San Jose’s Jon Wilner has a few notes and that’s about it. … Washington: The word of the day around the Huskies: letdown. They Dawgs swear there won’t be one today at Stanford. So, just how will they respond? … Oregon State: The Beavers need to start the Pac-10 season right this year. … Oregon: Finally, the Ducks get a true chance to put the season-opening debacle at Boise State in the rear-view mirror. … Cal: The Bears’ Mike Mohamed, who is emerging as a dominant linebacker, hails from Brawley, one of California’s most out-of-the-way places – and I know from personal experience. … Stanford: Last year the Cardinal knocked Jake Locker out. This year, they’re just trying to knock him down. … USC: With a conference game on the slate tonight, we thought we would pass along just about every story on the Trojans we could find. They all have the same main theme, though. USC has issues. Here’s a bunch of notes, a look at USC’s defense, a reason to watch tonight’s game, the Trojans’ biggest question mark and some of the most interesting letters you’ll ever read. Talk about spoiled. …UCLA: The Bruins don’t play today. But we do have this feature on running back Christian Ramirez. … Arizona State: The Sun Devils have one of their best nonconference road tests ever at Georgia today. … Arizona: With conference play starting in Corvallis, the Wildcats pin their hopes on Nick Foles.

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• That’s it for this morning. We’ll be back before the game with our usual thoughts. Until then …

14 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

rufus on September 26 at 7:36 a.m.
tony bruno radio show ( last night ) said take the points and the cougars ( the line is 45.5 pts,, ) we can only hope… the second season from hell continues. L Mitz will not play due to being sick ?? the cougar flag was on espen’s gameday ( they are at haapy valley for the penn state game) - this is a very “cool” tradition
cougfan2000 on September 26 at 9:15 a.m.
I really hope I get to see Jeff Tuel today we need to see if he can get us more production at the QB spot. I dont think Marshall is going to get it done.
flutieflakes on September 26 at 9:19 a.m.
Something tells me 45.5 isn’t going to be enough. USC could put 70 up today.
Lone_Stars_Ghost on September 26 at 10:11 a.m.
Have some faith, I think we are a better team than last year. The USC game last year was the most disgusting game I have ever watched, the Cougs played like crap and seemed to not even care. This year’s team is different, maybe not too good but I really don’t see a 69-0 happening tonight. It will be interesting to see how they’ve grown from last year.
mikewsu on September 26 at 10:42 a.m.
Tuel time!

I don’t see a 69-0 this year.. lets hope for 45-14 .. back to the scores of the Doba days vs USC.
cougfan2000 on September 26 at 11:01 a.m.
I agree Mike I think if Marshall does not do anything (in my opinion he will not.) I want to see Tuel in there I have seen he can make plays with his legs(something Marshal cannot) and he has a much stronger arm.

Go Cougs
garlandcoug on September 26 at 11:38 a.m.
Neither Coug Q-back will have enough receivers and running backs to make plays. I think that the Cougs are better than last year even with injuries, but I am afraid that we will not have a good showing today.
dickkenn on September 26 at 12:32 p.m.
This game will be closer then the betting line, a lot closer. Also not high scoring either. The coug’s score some points on offense, the defense mounts some pressure on the qb, plus a sack or two,the secondary picks off a couple of errant passes.On any given saturday,the coug’s can relax have some fun and win one. GO COUGS
kaddy on September 26 at 12:46 p.m.
It all depends on whether Marshall gets some time to throw. If he doesn’t, we will have to rely on the run, which they will key on, and we’re doomed.

I’m hoping for a competitive game, to the end. We have so many injuries that we have to be realistic, however.
Elmo on September 26 at 2:41 p.m.
I believe it’s ok to be optimistic about your team, but honestly say they can win any Saturday? That it unrealistic. Especially against USC. The Cougars cannot compete with the Pac 10 and they have to take Smu to overtime. And for God Sake they rush the field against Smu, haha that is funny.
cougfan2000 on September 26 at 3:12 p.m.
Elmo,

Way to kick us while we are down right now, jerk, It won’t be like this forever we will get better since we are playing tons of frosh and sophs,and we have to enjoy the wins we get right now, sorry that being proud when your team wins is funny, But only losers with no life post stupid comments on sombody elses board.

Go Cougs
tom_floyd on September 26 at 4:41 p.m.
Hey, Vince… your thoughts on Oregon upsetting Cal?
rufus on September 26 at 4:48 p.m.
the abc tv announcers for the cal/oregon games said that a ‘parental warning” should be given for the upcoming wsu/usc game - no kids
gocougs05 on September 26 at 5:41 p.m.
Rufus, I saw that too. I was thinking at least an “R,” but not the NC-17 that was last year’s game. Nobody thought UW could beat USC either, and granted it was kind of the perfect storm for UW to pull the upset, stranger things have happened. Of course, if it is 28-0 after one and half quarters I also wouldn’t be shocked. Bummed, but not shocked. I’ll be rooting and watching either way. I liked Wulff’s comments about shooting the horse earlier this week. GO COUGS!!!