Cougs’ O-line remains in flux
PULLMAN — At the outset of fall training camp, Washington State head coach Bill Doba said his top priority was to find a starting left guard in the first days of camp so the team could develop some continuity.
Almost three weeks later, the Cougars are still searching.
WSU’s offensive line has been hit hard by injuries this fall, and while none have been major enough to prevent starters from playing on Sept. 3 in New Mexico, they have made it difficult to figure out who those starters will be.
“The pieces have to interchange anyway, and adversity is part of life. There’s no excuses,” said offensive line coach George Yarno, in the second year of his second coaching stint with the Cougars. “We’re working and getting better. Do we have continuity right now? Not as much as I’d like. But we do know how the pieces are going to fit together if we have injuries, and that’s a good thing.”
Originally, Riley Fitt-Chappell was expected to hold down the right guard spot, with senior Patrick Afif and a host of others competing for time on the left side.
But junior Norvell Holmes, who started one game in 2002 then missed last season with a back injury, has had an impressive camp and claimed the position on the right side. That leaves Afif and Fitt-Chappell, who has missed time with a concussion, on the left. Yarno said he expects the two to split time about 50-50 for now, though Afif is also battling knee problems that required offseason surgery and continue to hamper the senior.
One place the Cougars don’t expect any such lineup shuffles is on the outside, where fifth-year seniors and returning starters Calvin Armstrong and Sam Lightbody are mainstays. Armstrong checks in a 6-foot-8 and Lightbody at 6-foot-9, so it’s not unreasonable to expect they will provide the Cougars with stable bookends and give quarterback Josh Swogger time to find receivers.
Still, Armstrong said he, Lightbody and the rest of the line have work left to do.
“Mentally, we’re probably where we need to be. Physically, we just need to keep working on techniques, things like that,” Armstrong said. “But the thing that hurt us last year a lot was mental mistakes — not blocking the right person — and at least so far this year we’re going to the right people. Now we just have to work on the physical part of actually blocking them.”
Center Nick Mihlhauser returns as well, making the offensive line — even with the guard shuffle — the most experienced part of this young Cougar team.
“Intelligence and toughness, that’s what I look for in every game,” Yarno said. “I’ve got some experienced players and some guys who were backups who played quite a bit. So, yes, we have a lot of experience. We just need to come together as a unit, which I think will come as we get to play New Mexico.”
That toughness is something that Yarno has tried to bring to his linemen. In practices and scrimmages, his is one of the easiest voices to pick out on an almost daily basis.
And according to Armstrong, that aggressive approach has started to rub off.
“He’s an intense guy and that’s just how he coaches,” Armstrong said. “We all respect that and admire it at times. It’s actually kind of funny — on the field he yells a lot but he’s not like that in meetings.
“We see things before they happen this year where last year we just react to things as they happen. A year under his system just has us way more comfortable.”
Notes
In a surprise move, Doba gave the Cougars the day off on Sunday, and with classes starting today, the team will enjoy two straight days without practice. … The Cougars return to the field at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, with practices expected to consist of more individual work and less contact as the New Mexico game approaches.