Rivalry Goes Beyond Up Close And Personal

Brandon Moore and Steve Gleason are two football players competing for one linebacking job. It’s nothing personal, however.

“We have a great relationship,” said Moore, the probable starter alongside James Darling and Johnny Nansen when Washington State visits Colorado in less than two weeks. “We share rooms together. We’re always talking - if it’s not about football, just life in general.”

Gleason, a redshirt freshman from Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, understands why Moore has the edge.

“He’s a junior, so he’s paid his dues,” said Gleason, also a left fielder on the WSU baseball team. “If we were the exact same, I’d expect for him to start. He played great last year at the Apple Cup and he’s good.”

After not playing football his freshman year, Moore came to the Cougars and redshirted as a sophomore two years ago - in time to witness the 1994 defense that set the standard at WSU. Moore backed up undisputed starter Chris Hayes last season, seeing limited action until the final game, when he broke through with seven tackles and an interception during a 33-30 loss at Washington.

“Brandon Moore’s had a little more experience and he’s the guy that’s got the job right now, but Gleason just keeps making plays and just keeps looking better and better,” defensive coordinator Bill Doba said. “Of course, Brandon Moore looks good, too. It’s a nice problem to have.”

Mindful of what helped make the ‘94 defense special, Moore challenged his senior teammates after a recent practice, imploring them to take greater leadership roles.

“What I meant by that was, as a freshman, you come in, like in the ‘94 year, say you were playing cornerback, you look to a guy like Torey Hunter to know how to play that position and dominate at that position,” Moore explained. “You come in at defensive tackle, you look at Don Sasa to dominate that position.

“The leaders on our team - the seniors - the freshmen are going to look to them for how to dominate that position. Sometimes we haven’t had good practices, and I was just saying we need some leadership on the team and need to step it up.”

Gleason, meanwhile, has been challenged by the responsibilities inherent in playing two sports. Last spring was especially draining for Gleason and strong safety Duane Stewart, another WSU outfielder.

One weekend stands out in particular.

“We played a game Friday night for baseball. Saturday morning, we got up, had a football scrimmage, then we had a doubleheader that afternoon for baseball,” Gleason recalled. “In between there, me and Duane ran to Burger King with our baseball uniforms on, and then got over to the first game of the doubleheader by about the third inning. And the next day, we had a baseball game that afternoon. I remember that one vividly.”

Receivers emerge

Junior-college transfer Kevin McKenzie was the undisputed star of spring practices, becoming the favorite target of backup quarterback Steve Birnbaum while starter Ryan Leaf healed from shoulder surgery.

With a healthy Leaf doing most of the throwing this fall, senior Chad Carpenter seemed to be catching most of the passes - until Saturday’s scrimmage, when McKenzie made four catches and again became a focal point.

“I guess we noticed in practice that he was throwing to Carpenter all the time,” McKenzie said. “Hopefully, he’ll see that everybody else is running good patterns also and utilize everybody on offense. I mean, I enjoyed it out here today.”

Shawn McWashington has tightened his grip on the starting flanker position, consistently making difficult catches. The junior from Seattle said his experience as a high school quarterback has played a major role in his ability to learn from receivers coach Mike Levenseller.

“Just my knowledge of the offenses and the defenses,”McWashington said. “I mean, I learned the playbook faster than coach Levenseller said he’d seen anybody learn the playbook. With that out of the way, the whole learning process went from that into coverages.”

Junior Chris Jackson, who entered camp as the third-string split end, caught five passes for 71 yards Saturday, including two receptions while playing with the firstteam offense.

“Chris Jackson’s having a darn good camp,” head coach Mike Price said. “He’s played all three position and he’s going to be a valuable resource to us.”

Sophomore Nian Taylor also showed promise, catching five passes for 62 yards.

“Taylor looked strong,” Price said. “He’s not a complete player (yet) - he’s kind of a yearling out there - but he’s got good, strong hands and he can go up and catch the ball as good as guys we’ve had around here.”

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