A GRIP ON SPORTS • What is behind the Cougars’ remarkable turnaround this year? We have a thought or two. Read on.

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• Mike Leach was listed with 17 other coaches yesterday as a semifinalist – 18 semifinalists? – for a college coach of the year award. Well deserved. Luke Falk is making inroads among the national media in the major awards. Well deserved. Alex Grinch’s name is be bandied about for jobs that usual require a stronger resume than one year as a defensive coordinator would seem to justify. Well deserved. But we are going to look elsewhere for our nominee as the most valuable Cougar in this 7-3 – thus far – WSU season. We cast our vote for another newcomer on the defensive side of the football: junior safety Shalom Luani. And we believe we can make a pretty compelling case. If we don’t only use statistics. The transfer from San Francisco City College leads the Cougars in just one defensive category: interceptions. He’s only third in tackles and has just a trio of tackles for loss, one of WSU’s calling cards this season. But if you delve deeper into the numbers, you see the strong safety is unmatched in solo tackles. You know, the crucial ones for a secondary player, when no one else is around and a tackle has to be made to either prevent a big play or end one short of the end zone. He has 53 of those, more than 20 more than anyone else in the secondary. All from a guy who didn’t step foot on campus until preseason practice began. Luani isn’t what you would call a football veteran – Jacob Thorpe highlighted his background in this feature earlier in the season – but he’s become one the past couple months, if that’s possible. When I asked former Cougar quarterback – and unofficial WSU football spokesman – Jason Gesser about Luani yesterday while I was filling in on 700 ESPN’s Patchin, Lukens and Osso show, Gesser couldn’t stop himself. He went on and on about Luani’s attributes. (Just so you know, I was already formulating this column in my head and wanted to see if someone who knew something about football agreed with my premise. He did.) But there is one that seems more important to the Cougar defense than any other: speed. Though we aren’t using that term in the way it is most often perceived. Luani is fast, especially considering he’s 6-foot and 201 pounds. But he’s not blazing fast. He just plays that way. “He’s always going to go 100 miles per hour,” Gesser said and he’s right. Playing fast and being fast aren’t always the same thing. The former is more important defensively and an attribute the Cougars have lacked for, I don’t know, almost 10 years. At least since Bill Doba was ushered out the door. WSU has been a step slow defensively for that long. They aren’t anymore. Maybe it’s better athletes. Maybe it’s Grinch’s scheme. Or maybe it’s because Luani is leading by example. The guy is a missile. He doesn’t take time to evaluate – OK, that’s wrong; he does, he just does it quickly – he just goes. He wasn’t doing that in the first couple weeks, as Gesser freely admits, but that was the lack of summer acclimation rearing its ugly head. As Luani has become more comfortable – read, faster – so has the defense. It’s a group that still makes mistakes and gives up big plays too often for Leach’s liking, but it’s not because the group is too slow. If anything they sometimes play too fast and get out of position. Still, that’s so much better than the alternative. As Gesser pointed out, Luani started to settle in about three or four weeks into the season. And his, as Gesser called it, “relentless pursuit of the ball carrier” has become the norm for all 11 guys. Luani’s example has made a huge difference, as Gesser sees it, in the Cougars’ defensive strategy, mindset and productivity. Which, in turn, has made a huge difference in WSU’s record. ... Wait, we have one last thing. If you look up the definition of Luani’s first name, it’s a Hebrew word that means, among other things, completeness and prosperity. A perfect description of just what his presence has brought to Washington State.

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• WSU: The Cougars host Colorado tonight in the late Pac-12 game – yes, 7:45 p.m. is what I would consider a “late” start time – but there is more to the evening than just that. It’s also Senior Night, with WSU saying goodbye to a group of 16 players that includes the final vestiges of Paul Wulff’s coaching tenure. Jacob Thorpe has more in this advance. He also has his keys to the game, a piece on Samoans at WSU, a short story on Leach’s coaching honor and his morning post with links. ... Jacob also covered the basketball game last night, an 85-67 decision over visiting Idaho State. He has a game story, a transcript of Ernie Kent’s comments and the final stats. ... The WSU women also won yesterday, albeit a long way from home. ... ESPN.com’s Pac-12 blog has its weekly mailbag. 

• Gonzaga: The Bulldogs return to McCarthey today, hosting Mount St. Mary’s. Jim Meehan has the advance. ... Jim also has a short piece on the Zags’ newest recruit, another foreign import, though this one comes from Japan. ... BYU needed a win badly, so they scheduled one.

• EWU: It’s do-or-the-season-is-over time for the Eagles as they host Portland State this afternoon. Even a win doesn’t guarantee a postseason berth but the opposite certainly means the season is finished. Jim Allen has an advance of the key game.

• Idaho: The Vandals are in Alabama for the third time this season. But this is their toughest test, the Tigers of Auburn.

• Whitworth: Speaking of tough tests, the Pirates will test themselves against about the best the NCAA Division III has to offer today. It’s a rematch at No. 2 Linfield in the first round of the playoffs. Jim Meehan has the advance. ... The basketball team defeated Caltech last night at the Fieldhouse.

• Chiefs: Spokane used a fast start to hand Swift Current a 4-1 loss at the Arena last night. ... Portland handled Tri-City 5-2. ... Everett lost on the road once again.

• Preps: The lack of power at Gonzaga Prep kept the football slate a bit lighter than expected last night, but Northwest Christian did get a late field goal to advance in a game at West Valley. ... The G-Prep girls lost in the 4A soccer semifinals while the St. George’s boys advanced to the final in the 1B/2B ranks.

• Seahawks: There is a lot wrong with the Hawks right now. At least the six things identified here. If Seattle can get them worked out, maybe they can make a stretch run we’ll be talking about for a while. ... Paul Richardson won’t play this week but Pete Carroll expects Marshawn Lynch to face the 49ers again. He’s had success against them. ... We can pass along more about Earl Thomas as well as newest receiver Kevin Smith.

• Mariners: The M’s made a minor trade yesterday and finished up the roster adjustments in advance of the Rule 5 draft. The big news: Danny Hultzen, once a member of the Big Three pitching prospects, was designated for assignment. The M’s expect to keep him, however, as he battles through an injury again.

• Sounders: Obafemi Martins was named the team’s most valuable player for a second consecutive season.

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• It’s going to be a long day. More than likely, I won’t hit the sack until after 3 a.m. tomorrow morning. Which means Sunday’s post could be awful late – or really early. Until later ...

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