Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pac-12 notes: Freshmen making an impact all around conference

The Spokesman-Review
PULLMAN – The players suiting up for Washington State have just a little more stubble on their cheeks this year. While the Cougars are still a somewhat young team, starting 10 underclassmen, WSU has only played five true freshmen so far this season. For perspective, last year the Cougars played four true freshmen in the secondary alone, and nine first-year players total. With so many players in line to redshirt, WSU is actually bucking a recent trend among Pac-12 teams to let kids suit up as soon as they hit campus. No. 6 USC played 13 true freshmen in its season-opener against Arkansas State. Washington and California each threw eight true freshmen into the fire to open the season, and the Huskies added two more in their second game. Some of those freshmen have taken very prominent roles, such as Jake Browning, Josh Rosen and Seth Collins, who are the starting quarterbacks at UW, UCLA and Oregon State, respectively. Cal receiver Kanawai Noa is already one of quarterback Jared Goff’s favorite targets and UCLA’s Soso Jamobo and USC’s Ronald Jones II are already some of the most productive running backs in Los Angeles. Leach says that in his opinion his recruiting classes have gotten better each year he’s been at WSU, which is why freshmen are beating out sophomores, as is the case of true freshman Darrien Molton, took sophomore cornerback Marcellus Pippins’ starting spot. This last week, Pippins played more than redshirt sophomore Charleston White, completing the leapfrog analogy. Another freshman who has quickly risen up the WSU depth chart is Logan Tago, whose strength and athleticism have dictated he play immediately at linebacker, despite freshman mistakes such as two personal fouls at Rutgers (one of which appeared to have actually been committed by Destiny Vaeao). “(Tago is) extremely talented and he’s a prime example of a guy that never played college football until a week and a half ago,” Leach said. “He’s a real talented guy so the more precise he plays, the better he’ll be.”
Blind snapper takes field
When Pete Carroll was the head coach at USC he frequently invited Jake Olson, a blind fan of the team, to practices and games, making the young fan an honorary Trojan. Now Olson is a freshman at USC and, even better, he’s a member of the football team. Olson, a long-snapper, practiced with the Trojans for the first time Monday morning. He played the position in high school and is expected to play in a game for the Trojans, eventually. “I wanted Jake to have the experience of being a normal college football player. He snapped the ball well,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He’s still non-contact with us. He’s no different than if we just got a true freshman running back and he had his first practice today.”
Update on Utah victims
Although questions still abound surrounding the shooting of two Utes football players at a party last weekend, the Utah football community can rest easy knowing that the players will recover. Freshman running back Marcel Brooks-Brown was released from the hospital yesterday. Sophomore tight end Lo Falameka will need more time to recover. “The young man that got out yesterday, it’s just a matter of everything healing up, maybe a couple weeks,” coach Kyle Whittingham said. “It’s a little more unknown about the second player. But we’re told he most likely won’t be able to participate the rest of the season.” There are three suspects in the shooting who reportedly were not invited to the party and were asked to leave.
WSU’s Powell tabbed
The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has named WSU kicker Erik Powell one of its Lou Groza Stars of the Week. Powell played a key role in WSU’s 37-34 win at Rutgers on Saturday, connecting on all three of his field-goal attempts, hitting from 37, 46 and 47 yards. Each week the commission designates three kickers “Stars of the Week” based on their performances. Minnesota’s Ryan Santoso and Western Kentucky’s Garrett Schwettman were also honored.