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Sports >  WSU football

Washington State mailbag: How does quarterback mobility factor into Nick Rolovich’s run-and-shoot offense?

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 8, 2020

As we deliver the mailbag to you this morning, the equipment staff at Washington State is polishing helmets, pumping air in footballs and making last-second accommodations as the Cougars prepare to open preseason camp in Pullman.

Sports >  WSU football

‘Why not us?’: Nine months after his hire, Nick Rolovich will (finally) take the field at Washington State

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 7, 2020

On more than one occasion since he was hired at Washington State, Nick Rolovich has stated his admiration for the coaches who built the foundation, shaped the culture and stimulated the passion for the football program he inherited in January.

Sports >  WSU football

Transcript: Washington State’s Nick Rolovich talks 9 a.m. kickoffs, QBs, media poll in preseason webinar

UPDATED: Sun., Oct. 11, 2020

During a virtual Pac-12 Conference media event Wednesday, first-year Washington State coach Nick Rolovich discussed the impending season, including his thoughts on potential 9 a.m. kickoffs, the Cougars' quarterback competition, coaching amid unusual circumstances and WSU's place in the preseason media poll.

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Sports >  WSU football

Media picks Washington State to finish last in Pac-12 North for first time since 2013

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 7, 2020

Washington State will have plenty of opportunities to fill up its bulletin board before it plays the first official game under new coach Nick Rolovich.

Sports >  NCAA

Analysis: Ranking the games on Washington State’s new schedule, from least to most winnable

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 5, 2020

For a team that’s yet to hold a true practice more than eight months into coach Nick Rolovich’s tenure at the school, Washington State football’s fortunes are still fairly hard – no, nearly impossible – to predict this fall.

Sports >  NCAA

Oddsmakers anticipate two-win season for Washington State

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 5, 2020

Two days after the Pac-12’s big schedule announcement, oddsmakers have already started handicapping the truncated, seven-game conference-only season slated to start in approximately one month.

Sports >  NCAA

Local NFL roundup: Gardner Minshew throws for 351 yards, 2 TDs in loss to Cincinnati

UPDATED: Sun., Oct. 4, 2020

Jacksonville's losing skid reached three games Sunday, but it wasn't for lack of production from the quarterback position.

Sports >  NCAA

New Washington State schedule features back-to-back Friday games against UW, USC

UPDATED: Sat., Oct. 3, 2020

The Apple Cup won’t be the final game of Washington State’s season for the first time since 2008, but the intrastate rivalry still will maintain some sense of familiarity during the most unusual of years.

Sports >  NCAA

Washington State mailbag: Addressing the future of the running back position in a post-Max Borghi world

Fri., Oct. 2, 2020

In a previous story, not long after the NCAA announced athletes wouldn’t have to forfeit a year of eligibility even if they compete this fall, I (jokingly) floated the concept of Max Borghi returning to Pullman as a fifth-year senior in 2022 to shattering every rushing, receiving and scoring record at Washington State.

Sports >  High school sports

Thirty-two years after Mark Rypien learned he’d make debut as NFL starter, nephew Brett received a similar call

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 1, 2020

It was a Monday night, Sept. 19, 1988 to be exact, when the landline phone at Mark Rypien’s home in Washington D.C. began to ring.

Sports >  NFL

Spokane’s Brett Rypien will make first career NFL start Thursday against Jets

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 29, 2020

Brett Rypien received good news three weeks ago when he learned the Denver Broncos would be retaining him as a member of the practice squad.

Sports >  NCAA

Local NFL roundup: Cooper Kupp hits paydirt in 100-yard game, but Rams can’t finish comeback

UPDATED: Sun., Sept. 27, 2020

The Los Angeles Rams came up short, despite Cooper Kupp's best efforts.

Sports >  WSU football

Washington State AD talks Pac-12 schedule, Quidel testing, gameday logistics

UPDATED: Sat., Sept. 26, 2020

Call it a return to normalcy.

Sports >  WSU football

Five notable things Washington State’s Nick Rolovich said in wake of Pac-12’s decision to restart season

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 24, 2020

Less than two hours after presidents and chancellors in the Pac-12 Conference voted to resume a seven-game football season, starting the weekend of Nov. 6-7, first-year Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich took a seat with radio broadcaster Matt Chazanow at Zeppoz Casino in Pullman on the coaches talk show to discus the day’s news and answer other questions about the Cougars program.

Sports >  WSU football

Play on: Washington State, others in Pac-12 will open seven-game season in early November

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 24, 2020

Jaylen Watson’s tweet mirrored what every one of his Washington State teammates must have felt before they hit the sheets Wednesday night.

Sports >  WSU football

Pac-12’s fate will be determined Thursday at CEO meeting

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 23, 2020

Almost every sign points to some type of Pac-12 football taking place in 2020, but the conference’s CEO group, consisting of university presidents and chancellors, is expected to discuss the finer points of what a shortened fall season would look during a meeting on Thursday.

Sports >  NCAA basketball

Texas State basketball coach resigns after accusations from ex-Washington State guard Jaylen Shead

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 22, 2020

Three months after former Washington State guard Jaylen Shead accused Danny Kaspar of making racially insensitive comments to Shead and other members of Texas State’s basketball team, the Bobcats coach resigned from his post, the school announced Tuesday.

Sports >  NCAA

Ex-Washington State forward Jeff Pollard signs with Argentinian club

UPDATED: Mon., Sept. 21, 2020

Jeff Pollard knew he was unlikely to play basketball after college in the NBA, but the Washington State forward still hoped to pursue a career in pro basketball .

Sports >  NCAA

Local NFL roundup: Gardner Minshew goes for 3 TDs, 339 yards in loss to Tennessee

UPDATED: Sun., Sept. 20, 2020

Gardner Minshew’s magic ran out in the final moment of an otherwise superb game against Tennessee that saw the former Washington State and Jacksonville Jaguars starter throw for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns for the first time in his career.

Sports >  WSU football

Report: Pac-12 targeting Halloween start for 2020 football season

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 17, 2020

When the week began, the concept of a late-starting Pac-12 football season still appeared to be a long shot, even though the conference’s recent partnership with American testing manufacturer Quidel Corp.was considered a major breakthrough.

Sports >  WSU football

Washington State mailbag: On the ramp-up to the (potential) Pac-12 season and recent Cougar transfers

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 17, 2020

In what could be one of the last non-football season editions of the WSU mailbag, I break down how the Cougars and other teams would "ramp up" to the potential 2020 fall season, and examine why six WSU players have entered the transfer portal in just over a month's time.  

Sports >  WSU football

Pac-12 nears return after health officials in California, Oregon green-light contact practice

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 16, 2020

The only thing standing between the Pac-12 Conference and the resumption of a fall football season had been clearance from public health officials in California and Oregon, whose guidelines have prevented teams from initiating contact practice, let alone holding full-on college football games.

Sports >  NCAA

Adryan Lara, three-star QB in class of 2022, commits to Washington State

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 15, 2020

The next time Washington State gets a commitment from the quarterback position, there’s a chance he’ll come from the 2023 recruiting class.

Sports >  WSU football

Even as new partnership provides ‘ray of sunshine,’ Washington State grapples with dark realities of pandemic

UPDATED: Sat., Sept. 12, 2020

During a Zoom call with reporters Friday, Pat Chun described the Pac-12's new partnership with Quidel Corporation as "a ray of sunshine." By the end of the month, Washington State and other schools in the league will be able to to test their athletes daily – something that's been considered a breakthrough in the race to get college sports back.

Sports >  WSU football

Washington State announces 53 new positive student-athlete COVID-19 cases

UPDATED: Sat., Sept. 12, 2020

Student-athletes at Washington State haven’t been spared from the recent surge of COVID-19 cases on the Pullman campus.