Monday morning from WSU
COUGARS
It's your typical Monday morning in cyberspace (and I learned this weekend where that term came from, which is cool; life should be a continuing education class each day) with some folks looking back at Saturday and others already looking ahead. We have some links and notes, along with an apology, on the next page, so read on.
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• Washington State: Yesterday, when I was somewhere over Colorado or Utah or East Bumsweatshirt, I promised to post after Paul Wulff's press conference. After Paul Wulff's press conference I wrote my story (which you can read here), had some soup for dinner – hey, it was cold last night, especially after the 97-degree days in Texas – and, at about 6:30, fell asleep. Yep, just like Grandpa on the Simpsons. Except I didn't drive my car into the school gym beforehand. Or post. So here is the apology. Sorry. ... And what did Wulff say? We covered most of it in our story but there were a couple other things. ... I asked him about James Montgomery's arrest and he explained it, saying the Pullman Police let Wulff know about the outstanding warrant and the circumstances, that Montgomery needed to come in and take care of an old ticket. So Montgomery did, was booked and released. Because of the circumstances – it was something, according to Wulff that fell through the cracks because Montgomery had moved, thought it was taken care of but was informed by mail at his old address it wasn't – Wulff felt it didn't warrant a suspension. ... There were no apparent injuries, though Eric Oertel, playing in his first college game, tweaked his hamstring. Other than that, nothing, including no cramping despite the heat. Wulff went out of his way to praise the training staff, Bill Drake, Brian Oelke, doctor Ed Tingstad and the rest, for all they did prior to the game and during it. Wulff thought SMU had three or four kids have to be given IVs while WSU had none. Wulff also expects Vhima Nwachukwu (neck), Chantz Staden (knee) and Bernard Wolfgramm (shoulder) back this week. ... I also asked Wulff about Eastern's big win over archrival Montana and he said he would be calling EWU coach Beau Baldwin – a former assistant – after the media call was through. I wondered if the red turf was the difference. Wulff said that, and a 6-foot-1, 200-pound running back who runs a 4.3 40 (Taiwan Jones). ... I asked about the play of Tyson Pencer, who, when he first came in at left guard, was a roadgrader in the running game. Wulff said Pencer played well until he got tired, then started to get higher on his blocks. He believes Pencer will be a real asset when he gets in better shape. ... He also said he had a postgame chat with June Jones concerning rebuilding a program. Jones, Wulff related, told him it was a lot easier doing it in Conference USA than the Pac-10. ... And that was about it. ... On to the rest of the WSU links. ... There was this evaluation on CougCenter. And that's about it. Other than to say USC, ranked 20th this week, is a 24-point favorite on the early line. There was a 21-point difference last season in LA and, whether the Cougars are improved or not – and you folks have been debating that here for days now – it's sure hard to believe the Trojans are as good. So it seems a tad high. We'll see how it plays out.
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• Around the Pac-10: ESPN.com's Ted Miller had a busy Sunday, posting a summary of Saturday's play (yes, he feels the conference had a decent day), his power rankings (WSU is still 10th) and what was learned from the weekend. ... Bud Withers has some thoughts on the weekend just past. ... Chris Dufresne has some thoughts on late games. ... Washington: There is a familiar feeling around the Huskies this week. ... Oregon State: The Beavers put in a few wrinkles for Boise State to worry about. ... They will have a lot of big-time schools around the nation rooting for them this week. ... Oregon: Conference play starts this week after a non-conference filled with two creampuffs. .... But the Ducks did play Tennessee in Knoxville, so that's the DVD ASU will watch. ... Cal: The Bears played Friday, and not too well, so there is nothing today. ... Stanford: Grading the Cardinal's play (what I saw, an A+). ... Stanford spread the ball-carrying duties around. ... USC: The big question around the Trojans this week is, after Allen Bradford's big game against Minnesota, who will start at tailback? ... UCLA: One Texas-based ranked team is in the rear-view mirror. Another looms ahead. ... Arizona State: The Sun Devils learned a lot in the one-point loss at Wisconsin. Block better on PATs would be one lesson, I believe. ... Arizona: The Wildcats special teams probably were the difference in the win over Iowa. OK, not probably. They were the difference.
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• That's all for this morning. We'll be back after practice tonight in Pullman, unless I fall asleep in a chair somewhere. Until then ...
