Monday morning from WSU, Part 7
COUGARS
We tweeted the news last night (@vinceg55) about Jeff Tuel's injury and status for this week's game with Oregon – it's not good – but we have some more news on the link, so read on.
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• Washington State: Paul Wulff talked last night about his disappointment with the outcome of the Oregon State game and almost all of what he had to say found its way into our follow story that ran in the S-R this morning. Other than what we put in there, about the only other subject covered was his feelings about the play of the offensive line – there were four sacks – most notably newest starter Dan Spitz. The Beavers attacked Spitz, who was a defensive lineman until this year, with a fury and much of the pressure came off the right side edge. With Wade Jacobson headed to back surgery and probably out the rest of the season even without it, Spitz is one of the few options WSU has at the spot. Wulff mentioned JC transfer Rico Forbes, but said the goal all along has been to redshirt Forbes – "he needs it," Wulff said as does the long-term health of the program – so that probably isn't an option. One option the Cougars do have is to start Andrew Roxas at center (he's healthy again), move Matt Goetz to right guard and slide John Fullington to right tackle. But that is almost a game of musical chairs, something coaches are loathe to do. So the best option, Wulff said, is to keep working with Spitz, who should improve week-by-week. ... Elsewhere around Cougar country, freelancer Howie Stalwick has this follow in the Kitsap Sun and two WSU supporters, Jim Moore (on his blog) and Jeff Nusser (on CougCenter) have their thoughts on Saturday's game and Wulff's future.
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• Around the Pac-12: ESPN.com's Ted Miller has his Pac-12 rankings, with only Colorado (or, WSU, circa 2010) the only team keeping the Cougars from the cellar. ... He also updates the conference's title race. ... Bud Withers examines the conference in the national title race. ... Chris Dusfresne of the LA Times looks back at the weekend around the nation. ... Washington: Is it crossroads time for the Huskies? ... Oregon State: The film of the WSU game got two thumbs up from Mike Riley, but the officiating didn't. ... Oregon: The Ducks' backup quarterback ran the offense well. ... California: Nothing here. ... Stanford: The Cardinal moving up the national championship ladder a rung at a time. Andrew Luck sits atop the Heisman's Little Giant right now. ... Colorado: The Buffs start a lot of seniors, they use a large group of freshmen, but their junior and sophomore classes are pretty thin. Uh oh. ... Utah: The Utes are in a slide, greased by offensive ineptitude. ... USC: The Trojans moved back into the national spotlight with the Notre Dame win, but now comes a tougher test: Stanford. Matt Barkley will be at the controls, and should be next year as well one columnist writes. ... UCLA: The Bruins won't have many receivers to call on this week thanks to the suspensions. ... Arizona State: A bye. ... Arizona: A Thursday night game.
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• That's all for now. The Cougars practice late tonight and we'll be there. Until then ...
