Spring Practice Report: Day 8
From Pullman -- There was no "scrimmage" but Washington State's football practice on Saturday had live tackling, fights, guests, a potential position switch and a lot of moms.
Our practice report is after the jump.
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Let's get the most newsworthy item out of the way early. Sebastian LaRue, a former 4-star WR who transferred after redshirting his freshman season at Texas A&M was in a defensive jersey today and after practice Mike Leach said that they are considering having him switch to cornerback.
LaRue has struggled with drops occasionally this spring but has shown plenty of athleticism, particularly in the return game, so having him bolster the thin cornerback depth makes some sense. We were unable to talk talk to LaRue on Saturday, but we should be able to on Tuesday to get his thoughts on the switch.
It's Mom's Weekend at WSU and that means a lot of parents are on campus. The furthest traveling parents we know made the trip were Tyler Bruggman's who came all the way from Arizona. Also taking in practice was former WSU safety Ron Hawkins with his son, Travis, a freshman at Central Valley high school. Based on Travis' size and handshake I'd say the recruiting websites would do well to start paying attention to the Bears next season.
The practice itself was a somewhat sloppy affair and there were two pretty big skirmishes.
It was Luke Falk's day in the backup quarterback competition and he struggled a bit in 7-on-7, completing just 11 of 20 passes. Starting quarterback Connor Halliday went 14 of 19 in the drill.
Of more consequence was the scrimmage, which saw Halliday go 10 of 17 with two touchdowns, including a 13-yard score from Theron West after a short pass. He also had a 30-yard pass to Mayle who took a big shot from Beau Glover, who continued his solid play from Thursday's practice.
Bruggman went 5 of 10 with a touchdown to Drew Loftus, who would have had a touchdown on the previous play but dropped the ball after taking a big hit from Darius Lemora in the end zone. Falk completed 5 of 7 passes in the live session.
Kicker Erick Powell had a low field goal blocked by Xavier Cooper, but recovered to hit from 41 and then 49 yards out. The 49-yard kick looked like it would have been good from 59. Wes Concepcion took one field goal as well, from 43 yards and missed to the left.