Holder, backup QB Reilly leaves Cougs, will transfer

PULLMAN — Third-string quarterback Mike Reilly left the Washington State football team Monday morning for personal reasons.

Reilly was also the team’s primary holder on field goals and extra points, causing the Cougars to turn to backup quarterback and backup holder Alex Brink to take over. Punter Kyle Basler becomes the backup holder.

Head coach Bill Doba said Reilly would transfer to another school at the conclusion of the fall semester, which just began last week.

While Reilly, a walk-on redshirt freshman, will be missed more immediately as a holder, his departure opens a temporary quarterbacking conundrum.

Coupled with the departure of Chris Hurd, who transferred over the summer to Mike Price and UTEP, the Cougars have just three quarterbacks left, and the third is a true freshman in Gary Rogers. Before Reilly’s departure, Rogers wasn’t on the travel squad and the Cougar coaching staff had no intentions of him getting near the playing field in his first year.

For now, Rogers will continue his duties as scout-team quarterback.

“Gary will travel,” Doba confirmed. “So red-alert. We’re going to try and redshirt him, but if two guys get hurt, he’s playing. So we have to get him some repetitions (in practice).”

Brink, a redshirt freshman, has taken a few snaps as a holder in practice alongside Reilly this fall, and Brink said he hopes the transition will be a smooth one.

“There’s a lot of responsibility to it, and I just have to take it seriously and do the best that I can,” Brink said. “(Mike’s) doing good; it was a tough decision for him. And in that regard, it’s a tough decision for all of us.”

Reilly’s departure was not a total surprise to the Cougar coaching staff, and they suggested that they were ready for the possibility and its potential repercussions.

“Stuff like that happens,” QB coach Timm Rosenbach said. “Nothing like this is ever unexpected, so you just have to roll with the punches.”

NOTES

Junior college transfer Greg Prator missed Monday’s practice with a strained hamstring. The wide receiver is still expected to be able to play on Friday. … Just as middle linebacker Will Derting and outside linebacker Pat Bennett were able to get back into action, backup Andrew Fernandez, a redshirt freshman, sprained the AC joint in his right shoulder near the end of Monday’s practice. … Right tackle Sam Lightbody also missed Monday’s practice, because of a scheduling conflict with a class.