Scout team gets turn in spotlight
PULLMAN — Most of their days are spent pretending to be someone else, taking the brunt of the blows from Washington State’s best players.
But this morning, the Cougar scout teamers get a chance to be themselves and shine.
Taking advantage of the bye week, WSU will give many of its players atop the depth chart a chance to rest up while the backups scrimmage in their one chance to have all eyes on them.
“You don’t play football to be a (tackling) dummy all the time, and this is their chance to hit somebody and tackle — and to have fun,” head coach Bill Doba said. “That’s the main purpose of it.”
Many of the players filling out WSU’s scout team are true freshmen who are in their redshirt year. For them, today’s scrimmage is the first time in their collegiate careers when they will be the focus.
“All the young guys are pretty excited about it,” said Gary Rogers, a freshman quarterback. “I’ve gotten in a little bit with some of the first teams when Josh (Swogger) was not practicing, but it should be fun. Those are the guys in my class.”
Some of the younger players will also look at today’s practice as a chance to make the beginnings of a case for playing time down the road. While it’s unlikely that most of the players will be taking the field on a future Saturday in 2004, many of those participating will be the ones WSU counts on in 2005 and beyond.
“A lot of people go through this, they got a redshirt freshman year, gain some weight, then be right there when they come back. That’s who I am,” said linebacker Alex Hamill, a freshman from Lake City in Coeur d’Alene. “You want to make the best impression possible for future years. You bust your butt on the scout team, make an impression and try to get that scout team player of the week every week.”
Doba said the Cougars had planned on introducing Oregon to the team today, but will wait until Monday to do so, since the bye week provides an extra day of practice next week.
So the day will belong to the backups, and at least one Cougar who has moved on from his scout team days is happy they’ll get a day in the sun.
“I know they’re excited for it,” said Swogger, who returned to the practice field on Friday after taking a day off to help his injured right knee heal. “It was really the highlight of the season, because it’s the only time you get to have full contact.”
Game time changed back
WSU withdrew its announcement that the start time for the Oregon game one week from today will be moved to 7 p.m. The game will still be played at 2 p.m., and will not — as announced Thursday — be televised on Fox Sports Northwest.
Apparently, a final decision had not been made when WSU first announced the time change. Senior Associate A.D. John Johnson said in a statement that returning the game to a 2 p.m. start should be beneficial to fans traveling to Pullman for the game.
“Certainly from our ticket-holder’s point of view, an afternoon game will be less disruptive than moving the game to an evening kickoff,” Johnson said. “Secondly, in talks yesterday with Pacific-10 Conference officials, we believe there is still a chance at least one of WSU’s remaining football games could be selected for national viewing in the evening.”