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Jacob Thorpe

Jacob Thorpe

Current Position: Sports columnist

Jacob Thorpe is a freelance sports columnist covering Washington State football.

All Stories

Sports

Pac-12 picks

PULLMAN – Well, it won’t be hard to figure out which TVs you should pay attention to this week. Half the Pac-12 games are expected to end in blowouts, two more should be field goal-close and one game is so screwy the oddsmakers haven’t set a line. Of course, this is the Pac-12, so if you simply favor the road teams, find out which officials went to middle school with which coaches’ spouses and figure out if it’s USC’s turn for a good week or bad week you should be good to go. Oregon and California play Friday night, everyone else plays Saturday. Picks are for bragging rights only.
Sports

WSU’s Mele brings bunker mindset to special teams

PULLMAN – After nearly three years of taking orders, Eric Mele is ready to give them again. Make a plan. Trust your course but be willing to change direction in a split second if your gut tells you and then do whatever you can to prove your instincts right. In football, it’s the only way to do special teams, and for Mele it’s the only way to do life.
Sports

WSU’s Mele brings bunker mindset to special teams

After nearly three years of taking orders, Eric Mele is ready to give them again. Make a plan. Trust your course but be willing to change direction in a split second if your gut tells you and then do whatever you can to prove your instincts right.
Sports

Conference power ranks

PULLMAN – Since the Pac-10 became 12 in 2011 and was separated into northern and southern divisions the conference’s best football has been played above the 40th parallel. The Pac-12 title has gone to Stanford or Oregon for five consecutive seasons, Oregon State had some good teams and the Washington Schools each appeared to be on the upswing.
Sports

Pac-12 football: Utah can’t settle on QB, while ASU’s Kelly in for red-hot Bercovici

PULLMAN – Two of the Pac-12 South’s best teams will likely employ dual quarterbacks this weekend and while Arizona State coach Todd Graham is happy to have the option of doing so, Utah’s Kyle Whittingham considers it a hindrance. Whittingham said that he will likely play both Travis Wilson and Kendall Thompson against USC this weekend, although the back-and-forth of the last two weeks “wasn’t by design” and that he’s “waiting for somebody to separate themselves and really take ownership of the position,” during Tuesday’s Pac-12 coaches teleconference.
Sports

Pac-12 Notes: Quarterback flak

Two of the Pac-12 South’s best teams will likely employ dual quarterbacks this weekend and while Arizona State coach Todd Graham is happy to have the option of doing so, Utah’s Kyle Whittingham considers it a hindrance.
Sports

Cougars needed time off

PULLMAN – Washington State football players addressed the media for the first time since the Stanford game on Monday and the consensus was that the players feel refreshed after a badly needed bye week. Because the Cougars depth isn’t yet to the level of teams that consistently win, they have had to rely on young players and haven’t had the luxury of substituting often despite an offensive system that – like many of WSU’s up-tempo opponents – goes through a lot of snaps each game.
Sports

Cougars feel refreshed after bye week

Washington State football players addressed the media for the first time since the Stanford game on Monday and the consensus was that the players feel refreshed after a badly needed bye week.
Sports

Cougars seek winning attitude to turn tide

PULLMAN – The Cougars may not be on pace to win as many games as last season, but they’ve had chances to win in many more. In all five of Washington State’s losses this season the Cougars (2-5, 1-3 Pac-12) have been within a touchdown of their opponent at some point in the fourth quarter. In losses to California and Oregon, controversial officiating decisions have played a role.