Thursday Night Football
From Pullman -- There was a shakeup along the offensive line for much of Thursday's practice, with Matt Goetz taking over the right guard position and John Fullington sliding over to right tackle. Rico Forbes -- who has been the starter at right tackle but struggled against Stanford last Saturday -- worked with the second unit. After practice offensive line coach Clay McGuire admitted that "it's a good possiblity" this is the unit we'll see this weekend.
The Cougars had a light practice session on Thursday followed by Thursday Night Football. This weekly scrimmage is for the younger, scout-team guys who may not make the trip to Berkeley with the team, as well as special team players and guys that could use a few more reps. Follow the link for some highlights from the session, as well as some thoughts from McGuire:
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- Freshman quarterback Tyler Bruggman led the first series, which was highlighted by his 50-yard bomb to Robert Lewis. The first-year signal caller finished 6-of-7 for 79 yards.
- That drive was capped off a three-yard touchdown run for running back Theron West.
- Linebacker Feddie Davey was all over the field for the defense, and had a pair of hits that could be heard from our perch at the top of the stands.
- Davey also dropped wide receiver Tyler Baker for a three-yard loss.
- Freshman QB Luke Falk threw a beautiful pass to the corner of the end zone that was dropped by fellow freshman John Thompson.
Offensive Line Coach Clay McGuire:
(Shuffling along the offensive line?) Yeah just trying to work on some different combinations and things like that but it's pretty much the same as it has been the whole time.
(Is that helpful for building depth?) Yeah, it's more of a depth thing. So guys can be multi-dimensional in there, one can play the other and stuff like that.
(Could the starters on the line change at this point in the season?) It could happen at any time. Shoot, last year we were shuffling all the way until the last game. That's just the hand we were dealt. It just depends, jobs are open every day. Guys can have things click for them in the sixth game of the season and come out and compete to be a starter as opposed to a backup.
(Could we see Goetz at RG and Fullington at RT on Saturday?) Yeah there's a good possibility.
(How did the offense look in the scrimmage?) The young guys? They're getting better. They made some progress, they just need to continue to improve. I think we've got a good group of young guys that are building a foundation for the future.
(And Bruggman?) I've been pretty impressed with him during this whole Thursday Night Football. All the intangibles you hear about with kids, he has them. He works extremely hard throughout the week and tries to get every possible rep he can. If he's not getting the reps he's trying to get them mentally and he comes out here and shows it. He throws the ball well. Rarely is it his fault, it's usually some other thing happened. I'm excited to see what he can do as he continues to grow.
