Cougars Must Keep Their Qb Gesser Upright
Spring football at Washington State should not pass without some sort of the-good-news-is-they’re-still-undefeated zinger, except that references these days to the Cougars’ unsightly won-lost records in virtually every sport are deemed gratuitous piling on. Apparently, sensitive principals and partisans alike feel a repeat of history can be avoided simply by tearing the pages out of the textbook.
Of course, there is an obvious - not easy, but obvious - alternative to getting kicked when one is down.
It’s called getting up.
Playing well is, after all, the best revenge.
This is what the Cougars have been toiling at for three weeks and will attempt to confirm in the usual unofficial way on Saturday in the annual Crimson and Gray game in Pullman. Teams for the intrasquad scrimmage were divvied up on Wednesday, which puts an end to the speculation that the Cougs would go this entire week without somebody getting drafted.
Someplace out there where sincerity butts heads with spin is the notion - not unanimous, but loud - that better times have arrived for the Cougs. Not much of a leap, there, since things could hardly get worse.
That giddy business in Hawaii last December got the ball rolling, along with an intriguing young quarterback - a position at which the intrigue has been mostly limited lately to the question of “punt, or pick?”
One fundamental mission remains: Keeping the kid upright.
“That’s the main thing you have to stress to your line any year,” said offensive coordinator John McDonell, who also tutors the line. “It’s all about the quarterback - no matter whether he’s young, old, fast or slow.
“He’s your lifeblood. He’s who you’re out there fighting for.”
So it wasn’t encouraging to stop by any Cougars practice this spring and see the offensive line routinely getting thumped. Even if we take it on faith that the defensive line is vastly improved, there isn’t so much as an honorable mention all-conference player returning on that unit.
Whatever strides the Cougars have made at other positions, without a dramatic reformation in offensive line play this fall, hope is not going to harden into happy reality. It all starts up front, coaches love to say - and, alas, that’s where Wazzu’s shortcomings have started the past two years.
Not that this has ever been O-Line U.
Argue this one all night if you wish, but the hardest position to recruit, retain and ripen over the years at Wazzu has been the offensive line. Since 1990, the Cougars have had exactly one All-Pac-10 blocker, and two taken in the NFL draft. That’s exactly as many draft picks as Eastern Washington has developed on its line over the same period - and exactly as many quarterbacks as the Cougs have had drafted in the first round.
Four WSU linemen from the ‘90s - Scott Sanderson, Jason McEndoo and free agents Robbie Tobeck and Cory Withrow - have seen any time at all in the NFL. By comparison, 13 Washington Huskies have; 10 of them were All-Pac-10.
The well-chronicled attrition which chewed up the last two senior classes certainly took its toll on the offensive line, and it wasn’t a good sign when a promising get-after-it type like Jason Hughes got gone instead over the winter.
What is a good sign is who stayed.
Much iron remains to be pumped, protein to be consumed, up-downs to be survived and games to be won before it’s so, but the young players the Cougars have stockpiled on the line are the best they’ve had in a decade. All they have to do is develop as well as the most overlooked line the Cougars have ever had, the one of three seasons back.
And that’s the rub. At this point, they are decidedly undeveloped.
Deon Burnett can step in as a freshman running back and have an impact. Derrick Roche can get thrown in as a freshman at tackle and mostly feel the impact.
“That happened last year against Louisiana (Lafayette),” remembered Roche, a still somewhat lanky sophomore-to-be out of Kent. “I didn’t know a damn thing I was doing. Me and the guard had never played together at those positions.
“But the same thing happened in high school, though it’s apples and oranges. We were god-awful my sophomore year and a bunch of young players played, but we just got better and better. We’ve got a long ways to go, myself included, because experience counts for a lot.”
No Cougars proved that quite like the Fat Five of ‘97, which featured a couple of one-time walk-ons - and 24 years, collectively, in the program.
“Not the most impressive guys walking out of the tunnel,” admitted McDonell, “but nothing fazed them. Nothing rattled them. But that was after being in the system so long, and with each other.”
This year’s unit has some experience in twins Reed and Ryan Raymond, who have yet to prove they can stay whole. Center Erik Larson, another former walk-on, is also a senior, but has never been a regular. And largely that’s why there’s so much anticipation about the kids.
Josh Parrish, who came to the Cougs from Chewelah as a tight end, has remarkable natural strength and a nasty demeanor. Billy Knotts, a freshman from Vancouver, has added 40 pounds since the first day of school.
“I see some things in them,” said McDonell, “that remind me of Scott Sanderson at this early stage.”
Others - Roche in particular - also have a chance to make a name for themselves.
“The main thing I see is I don’t see anybody taking plays off,” said Parrish. “We might get beat, but it’s just going to make you go even harder the next play.
“Everyone out here can take care of their own.”
The thing is, they have to take care of their quarterback, too.