Sneak Peek For Moms
WSU spring football
The mother of all Washington State spring football crowds turned out for the annual Mom’s Weekend scrimmage Saturday morning, giving the Cougars another chance to revel in their Pacific-10 Conference championship.
The head coach would have nothing of it.
“My goal is to draw this kind of crowd next year,” Mike Price quipped, moments after the team ended the 2-hour session with the ambitious chant of “January 1.”
Several hundred fans lined the grass practice field and another 150 watched from the balcony and rooftop of the nearby library, providing a decidedly un-spring-like atmosphere to the first of WSU’s two major scrimmages.
On the field, sophomore quarterback Paul Mencke continued to distinguish himself as perhaps the biggest surprise of the spring, completing 11 of 15 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Junior-college transfer Bryan Paul completed 8 of 14 for 73 yards.
Junior Steve Birnbaum was held out as a precaution, although his right knee is recovering ahead of schedule.
Birnbaum participated in passing drills last week and was able to run wind sprints with the rest of the team. He should be near 100 percent when fall camp begins in August, trainers said.
Until then, the job might be Mencke’s to lose.
“Mencke continues to shine,” Price said, “and Bryan Paul did better today.”
Receiver Nian Taylor and running back DeJuan Gilmore are the only experienced skill-position players, making it easy to see why Price has so far elected to keep things simple.
The two-back offense has become a mainstay, with Gilmore and Jeremy Thielbahr getting most of the carries. That may change when three additional receivers arrive in the fall.
Gilmore carried nine times for 23 yards Saturday. Thielbahr carried four times for 29 yards, including an 18-yard TD run on his final carry.
Taylor caught four passes for 50 yards, including a 29-yarder from Mencke. Adam Davis and Jason White also caught four passes apiece.
Defensively, strong safety Earl Riley made one big hit after another, showing the instincts that made him an all-conference linebacker in high school. Riley spent two seasons playing cornerback in junior college before redshirting at WSU last season.
The 6-foot-1, 217-pounder makes most of the calls on defense.
“It’s a learning process,” Riley said. “They threw a lot at me. It’s fun, but kind of stressful.”
Riley’s emergence has been crucial because WSU lacks depth at safety. Torry Hollimon, who started three games at strong safety last season, is out indefinitely with a knee injury, leaving Riley and free safety Lamont Thompson as the only front-line safeties.
To that end, coaches moved freshman Billy Newman from running back to strong safety earlier in the week. Newman even spent a few plays at free safety in the scrimmage, allowing Thompson to get some work at cornerback.
The front seven remains unsettled, largely because defensive coordinator Bill Doba has six young linebackers to choose from. That was evident Saturday as Doba experimented with several combinations.
Of the six, freshmen Tupo Tuupo and Raonall Smith are the most physically gifted. Tuupo had a fumble recovery and Smith deflected a pass.
Junior Grady Emmerson may be having the best spring of any linebacker, taking advantage of extra playing time in the absence of returning starter Steve Gleason, who splits time with the baseball team. Sophomores James Price and Brad Philley also figure to get on the field this fall.
“It’s exciting,” Doba said. “We’ve got some really talented, fast linebackers. Raonall Smith and Tupo Tuupo, they’re in that Mark Fields league. They’re not doing everything right yet - they need to tackle more - but they’ve got the talent.”
The defensive front was among WSU’s deepest units last season. Things have changed with the departure of Leon Bender, Dorian Boose and Shane Doyle.
Gary Holmes, Rob Meier and Taeao Salausa are prominent returnees, but freshmen Ing Aleaga and Joey Hollenbeck figure to get a look when they arrive in the fall.
INJURY UPDATE Long-snapper Erik Larson had shoulder surgery Thursday and is expected to return in time for fall camp… . Backup running back Adam Hawkins will miss the remainder of spring drills after suffering a concussion last week… . Strong safety Torry Hollimon has sought a second opinion on his injured left knee. Hollimon, who had been battling Earl Riley for a starting job, probably has a torn meniscus, trainer Mark Smaha said… . Starting corner Dee Moronkola missed the scrimmage with a sore hamstring. … Sophomore offensive lineman Reed Raymond was held out because of a sprained right ankle… . Tight end Brendan Marshall and running back Jason Clayton are being held out with hamstring injuries… . Sam Baurichter completed 2 of 5 passes for 37 yards and an interception. The 6-6, 204-pound freshman missed the first two weeks of camp while focusing on academics.