This Time, WSU Will Run Reverse

The objectives remain much the same as last year as Washington State prepares for this afternoon’s 3:30 opening of spring football drills at Martin Stadium.

But those objectives have swapped sides of the football.

This spring it will be the Cougars offense that has the luxury of taking proven veteran players and simply trying to make them better, while the defense faces the more demanding task of first finding some players.

“We’re just going to line up, play base defense and scrimmage a lot the first four days to find out who can play football,” said defensive coordinator Bill Doba, who must replace eight starters from last year’s defense that led the Cougars to an 8-4 record and 10-3 Alamo Bowl win over Baylor. “We’ve got to find guys who can take on blockers, get off blocks and go make some plays.”

The Cougars will have 15 practices to do just that before spring drills end with an evening scrimmage April 13. Workouts are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of each week - with the exception of spring break, which runs from Friday, March 17 through Sunday, March 26.

Players will be allowed to go home during the break, with practices scheduled to resume Tuesday, March 28.

A full-scale scrimmage has been set for Saturday, April 8, as part of Mom’s Weekend.

Last year Doba was able to work mainly on refinement during the spring.

“We could have survived last year without spring drills,” he said. “But this year every minute is important. We’ve got to reestablish that run-to-the-ball theory where everybody is running around, flying to the football and making big hits.

“We’ve got to go back to the fundamentals, because with a young team like this, that is going to establish its character.”

A top priority is finding a pair of defensive tackles to replace Chad Eaton and Don Sasa, and a defensive end to replace All-American DeWayne Patterson.

Doba thinks he has a player in interior lineman Leon Bender, a sophomore. But other leading candidates are difficult to identify.

There is some experience in the secondary, where senior Greg Burns, a two-year starter, returns after taking a redshirt season last fall to recover from major knee surgery. Also returning are sophomore Ray Jackson and junior Brian Walker, who split starts at one corner last fall.

Jackson might move to safety, Doba said. And junior Derek Henderson will get a look at the other safety spot early before undergoing surgery over spring break to repair a damaged shoulder.

Junior Chris Hayes returns at one outside linebacker spot, but the Cougars need someone to step up and replace middle linebacker Mark Fields, the Pac-10’s Defensive Player of the Year, and Ron Childs, a two-year starter at the other outside ‘backer position.

Seven starters, including sophomore quarterback Chad Davis, the most valuable offensive player in the Alamo Bowl, return on offense.

“We feel good about the experience we have coming back,” offensive coordinator John McDonell said. “We just need to become more productive.”

That could involve a few new wrinkles, including some two- back and two-tight-end formations. The Cougars ranked last in the Pac-10 in rushing last year and have to find a way to run the ball.

Three starters return on the offensive line, but two of those - sophomore Scott Sanderson and junior Marc McCloskey - have been suspended from the team indefinitely because of their involvement in a recent brawl on campus.

Backup tight end David Knuff and reserve offensive lineman Ryan McShane have also been suspended in connection with that incident.

That means several young but talented offensive linemen will get good looks this spring.

Adding to the offensive intrigue is the wealth of talent head coach Mike Price has assembled at quarterback.

Davis has the starting job going into spring drills, but redshirt freshmen Ryan Leaf and Miguel Meriwether are expected to get opportunities to show what they can do with Price’s spread passing game.