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More on Oregon’s win over WSU


COUGARS

A little more than 24 hours after the loss to Oregon, Paul Wulff got on the phone for a conference call. Read on for what he had to say.
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• We put together a follow for tomorrow's S-R, and you can read it here. ... We opened up the call asking about the play of the special teams, mainly because it seemed to slip through the cracks Saturday night. Wulff pointed out the positives, the kickoff coverage, and did talk about the negatives, the 67-yard punt return, the bad snap on the extra point and the inability of WSU to break a decent kickoff return. ... On the extra point, Wulff said the snap was low and behind Reid Forrest and when he took off, the two receivers who were supposed to get out couldn't. As for the kickoff returns, he believes the blocking is there but the returns need to be "more dynamic." Along those lines he said they might try Aire Justin as a kickoff returner if he's willing to accept the challenge. ... Asked about the problems up front offensively, he gave a lot of credit to the Oregon defense, but added Wade Jacobson and David Gonzales are still learning to deal with Pac-10 football. ... Asked about injured players, he said Micah Hannam (concussion) may be back this week, Chima Nwachukwu is still iffy, Mike Ledgerwood will be given enough time to heal fully, and the status of backup defensive linemen Steven Hoffart (mono) and Casey Hamlett (chest) is still up in the air. ... Now that WSU is halfway through its schedule, it's looking more likely that Toni Pole won't play, as long as the defensive line doesn't lose anyone else – by the way, Kevin Kooyman and Travis Long played all of Oregon's 67 snaps, a low number for the Ducks and a tribute as well to WSU's offense, which kept them off the field. ... Receiver Kristoff Williams had an MRI and it revealed his toe is still injured so he will "definitely" redshirt. ... As for the defense and if there might be more changes, Wulff said they are still learning some of the capabilities of the younger players. There could be more movement, he said, in the secondary and there has to be some way to give Myron Beck mores rest at the Sam linebacker. As for C.J. Mizell and Sekope Kaufusi, they earned praise for their play, especially considering the circumstances. ... Finally, Wulff was asked about not wearing the headsets and how he likes it. He feels it allows him more contact with the players, which is good. With both coordinators on the field, he has no trouble communicating with them and, if needed, there is a headset available nearby.

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• That's all for now. We'll be back in the morning as usual. Until then ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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