Cougs Happy, Despite Themselves Scrimmage Miscues Viewed As Secondary To Benefits Of Spring Drills
The upstart quarterback threw four interceptions and the veteran placekicker muffed twice from inside 40 yards. Mike Price couldn’t have been happier.
“I think we got about as much as we could possibly get out of spring ball,” Washington State’s 10th-year football coach proclaimed Saturday, moments after his Cougars wrapped up spring practices with their annual Crimson and Gray scrimmage in Martin Stadium.
If anything, the scrimmage confirmed what Price and his staff already knew: The defending Pacific-10 Conference champs have speed on defense and size on offense, but they’re a long way from being ready for the Sept. 5 opener against Illinois.
With 16 starters to replace, inexperience is the most obvious concern.
That was particularly evident in the adventures of sophomore quarterback Paul Mencke, who was enjoying a brilliant spring until Saturday’s quadruple bogey. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder showed neither precision nor patience, repeatedly lofting passes in desperation.
Mencke completed 13 of 23 attempts for 158 yards and one touchdown in the Crimson’s 14-7 defeat. His last-minute, 42-yard strike to Nian Taylor prevented a shutout.
“He was off from the beginning,” Price said, “but you’re not going to break his spirit with a poor day at the office.”
The coach has a point. “I don’t want to say I’m happy I threw the interceptions,” Mencke gushed, “but you learn off of everything and that’s something that I know I won’t do next time.”
His Crimson counterpart, junior-college transfer Bryan Paul, completed 11 of 21 for 100 yards, no TDs and no interceptions. It was a positive step for Paul, who lacks a powerful arm and had been overshadowed by Mencke throughout the spring.
Paul didn’t seem overly excited by his effort. “Cool, had lots of fun,” the 6-2, 195-pounder out of West Los Angeles College said.
The quarterback job remains Steve Birnbaum’s to lose, Price said. Birnbuam - the man who held Ryan Leaf’s clipboard last year - sat out this spring while recuperating from off-season knee surgery, but he’s expected to be at full strength when fall camp begins in August.
“The quarterback position is a strength for us,” Price said.
That point seems debatable, but there’s no doubting WSU’s strength at linebacker. Raonall Smith, Tupo Tuupo, Brad Philley, Grady Emmerson, James Price and Steve Gleason are young and fast.
“I think you build a winning team through good defense and I think we’re going to have a good, solid defense,” Price said.
It all starts with sophomore free safety Lamont Thompson. The 6-1, 204-pounder picked off six passes in WSU’s final four games last year. He added two more Saturday.
The first was a leaping grab that resembled one of Thompson’s three interceptions in last year’s Apple Cup.
Of course, Thompson’s talent was a given. Price took more satisfaction in other areas.
“We’ve made some moves that are going to help this team,” he said, “like moving Jason White to wide receiver and Billy Newman to strong safety and Austin Matson to defensive end.”
Notes
Gary Holmes’s 30-yard fumble return stretched the Crimson’s lead to 14-0… . After spending much of the spring expounding on the merits of the two-back offense, the Cougars went almost exclusively with the one-back look Saturday… . Defensive lineman Takari Blash has emerged as a potential starter at tackle. The junior made several big plays in the scrimmage, showing more quickness than he has in the past. “Coaches tell me that I’ve got the talent to play, but I’ve got to have the work ethic,” Blash said. “I haven’t had the work ethic the last two years, but the last couple months I’ve been working hard, pushing myself.” … Placekicker Rian Lindell missed from 39 and 29 yards. He has struggled at this spring as WSU experiments with new long-snappers and holders.