Grip on Sports: It was a September to remember for the area’s college football fans
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Walk around any city or town in the Inland Northwest and you’ll realize there are a lot of old-timers out there. So here’s the question for those folks: Ever seen a better start to the college football season in the state of Washington? Read on.
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• There are a few states that immediately pop into one’s mind when thinking of college football. Texas. Alabama. Florida. California. Washington.
The last one, not so much. At least not so often. But right now, there are few states that can boast of Washington’s resume.
The Huskies lead the way, as they often do. The state’s flagship university is 5-0, ranked sixth in the Associated Press Poll and fifth in the coaches’ version. But it isn’t alone.
Washington State, coming off five home wins, including a 30-27 upset of fifth-ranked USC, is ranked 11th in both polls. That’s two of the top 11 from this state.
No other state can say that. Heck, only one other conference, the Big Ten, has more teams in the top 11.
But the season of celebration, September version, continues in the lower levels.
Eastern Washington won 52-31 last Saturday and dropped two spots in the FCS coaches’ poll. The Eagles are 3-2, but their two losses are to the Big 12’s Texas Tech, ranked 29th nationally, and North Dakota State, the second-ranked FCS team.
Central Washington is 5-0 and finished last month with a 62-0 win over Simon Frazier. The Wildcats were ranked 13th in last week’s Division II coaches’ poll.
Just up the road, Whitworth ran into its nemesis last week and fell short again, losing 38-9 to 13th-ranked Linfield. The Pirates, ranked 19th a week ago in the Division III coaches’ poll, are 3-1 en route to their usual 9-1 or 8-2 regular season.
So within a less than five-hour drive you can watch five college football teams that lost a combined three games in the first month of the season.
That’s pretty good. And, no matter how old you are, quite possibly the best you’ve ever seen in these parts.
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WSU: Celebrations can be costly. Friday night’s at Martin Stadium, after the 30-27 win over USC, was costly to Washington State and may be for a Trojan player. Theo Lawson delves into the Pac-12 fining the Cougars $25,000 for the students rushing the field before USC was able to retreat and into the report the Pullman police are investigating a possible assault by one of the Trojans as he was leaving. It’s a mess, that’s for sure. … Before we move on, Theo lets us know Friday night’s win earned two Cougars Pac-12 player of the week honors and another player committed to the Cougars. … This Saturday the Cougars travel to Eugene and Theo has his first look at Oregon. The Ducks will be without starting quarterback Justin Herbert, who broke his left collarbone against California. … All of our Cougar news can be found on the WSU football page. … The Times’ Stefanie Loh also looks back and ahead. … Oregon coach Willie Taggart updated his players’ status at his media event yesterday. That has to be a huge advantage for WSU, right? There is more than the just the starting quarterback out. … The win over USC was something a lot of folks saw coming a long time ago – and maybe shouldn’t have been on the schedule in such a way. … Former Washington State coach Mike Price is packing his bags and heading back to El Paso. He’ll be UTEP’s interim coach the remainder of the season.
Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Mike Leach’s Woodstock quote still has traction out there. … Oregon State is a huge underdog to USC, but the Beavers’ Jake Luton is getting healthier. … The schedule for next weekend is out and Washington found out it is playing another late-night game. That didn’t sit well with coach Chris Petersen, who went off a bit on the TV realities. … Oregon State was given an afternoon slot that weekend against Colorado. … This week the Buffalos are hosting Arizona and they may be without a key player. … Maybe the best game of the weekend, non-WSU edition, will be in Salt Lake City. No. 20 Utah will host Bryce Love and Stanford. The Utes may be still down their quarterback. … Though USC lost, the Trojans may have found another target for Sam Darnold. … Traditionalists may not have liked it, but UCLA wore all white against Colorado. And won. So those uniforms will be back. … Arizona is treating its most recent off-field incident differently. … The grades are in for Arizona State’s loss to Stanford. … California is down two of the Bears’ best players. … You know the money USC’s Tony Bland allegedly received for steering players a certain way? If it exists, it may be headed to his attorney.
Gonzaga: The Zags are in the market for a point guard. But yesterday, one of their main targets for next season, committed to Florida. Jim Meehan has the story.
EWU: This week’s opponent, UC Davis, is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Jim Allen delves into the Aggies’ 3-2 start. … Around the Big Sky, Weber State keeps climbing up the polls. … How did North Dakota end up 1-4? … Montana State could use a boost to the running attack.
Chiefs: In WHL action recently, Sunday night’s shutout marked the first time in 100 games the Portland Winterhawks had not scored a goal.
Golf: There is usually at least one golfer from the area playing on the PGA Tour. Jim Meehan checks in with all the locals playing professionally to see how they did in 2017 and what’s ahead for 2018.
Seahawks: If you don’t know what a Pyrrhic victory is, just look at the Hawks’ Sunday night win over Indianapolis. The number of injured players, from Chris Carson through Cliff Avril to Rees Odhiambo could make the win expensive indeed. … The Rams loom as the Hawks’ No. 1 rival in the West right now. That’s odd.
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• College football is really going strong around here, isn’t it? But don’t forget, college hoops have started as well. Heck, the tickets for postseason tournaments are available. What a time of year. Don’t even get me started about the changing colors on the trees. Or on the passing of Tom Petty. I’m keeping my feelings about that last one inside. Until later …