Despite conditions, WSU practices well
COUGARS
All of sudden it turned cold in Pullman. Not Arctic cold, but, oh, maybe Bozeman cold. With a slight breeze. And an occasional shower. Just the kind of day to have a poor practice. Well, that didn't happen. Washington State went through a crisp, intense, sharp workout Wednesday. Read on.
••••••••••
• Hey, you might be thinking, why didn't he mention Jeff Tuel on the front? Because today was similar to yesterday. Tuel suited up, took snaps in drill, took a few more in team drills and tried to shake the rust off. It's still not certain he'll be cleared to compete Saturday, but he's getting a handle on the offensive game plan just in case. ... As for practice today, it was surprisingly crisp, sort of like the temperature. The defense did a good job of staying in its gaps (that was my point of emphasis to watch at practice because of our story for tomorrow's paper) and the offense seemed to be executing well despite the wet conditions. Coach Paul Wulff said this group does a good job of getting locked in for practice and it shows. ... Offensive tackle Dan Spitz returned to practice today and it was a good thing he did. Starting right tackle Wade Jacobson's back was acting up again and he watched practice in sweats. This was a problem for Jacobson last season as well, so he and the training staff have experience in dealing with it. Wulff said after practice he will know more after the next couple days. ... Center Andrew Roxas' ankle is getting better and he took a few more snaps with the ones, trading off more often with Matt Goetz at the spot. As of now, Goetz is still the starter. ... Don't have much more to offer tonight, but we'll finish with this. The quarterbacks and receivers match up with the defensive backs in one goal line drill pretty often, with the receiver running a one-on-one route against a defender. It's a tough drill for the defensive back to win, because there is no pressure on the quarterback. But on one snap, Tracy Clark did a great job of locking down Marquess Wilson, driving the receiver into the left sideline. As the throw came in, with Clark in between Wilson and the incoming pass, Wilson slipped his right hand in front, sort of like a basketball player defending a post pass, tipped the ball in the air, back over Clark's head and, while Clark was spinning trying to find the ball, hauled it in. It was so impressive as to draw how-did-he-do-that laughter. ... The WSU basketball team received a big commitment Wednesday. Literally. Richard Peters, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound forward from Westwind Prep in Phoenix, committed to the Cougars according to Adam Zagoria's blog. His Westwind teammate, Demarquise Johnson, is also on the Cougars radar. He's a three-star shooting guard.
•••
• That's all for this evening. We'll be back in the morning. Until then ...