Cougar update
What’s hot
The defense
With two starters back from 2003, there was a lot of doubt as to how good the Cougars would be on this side of the ball. Although they haven’t matched the pressure they’ve put on quarterbacks in years past, defense has kept the Cougars in every game this year. Still, even without a dominant pass rush, the WSU pass defense has been strong all year. In four games, WSU has given up three passing touchdown and its success in the secondary has been a big reason why opponents are converting just 29.4 percent of their third-down attempts this season.
Kyle Basler
The Cougars’ punter entered this season with high expectations after claiming the Holiday Bowl’s defensive player of the game award last season. He hasn’t disappointed, booming a school-record 87-yarder against Arizona a week ago and averaging 47.5 yards a punt on the season. Basler has once again shown off an uncanny ability to stop punts deep in opponent territory, giving the defense a leg up many times before it takes the field.
Jason Hill
The sophomore wideout has been a bright spot on a receiving corps that has struggled this season. Hill has six touchdowns in the last three games and has become a go-to guy for quarterback Josh Swogger, something the signal-caller needed desperately. Hill doesn’t have a ton of catches (15), but that number is sure to go up as he and Swogger continue to work in concert. His 419 receiving yards this season — that’s 27.9 a catch — is more than three times the total output of any other Cougars wide receiver.
What’s not
The running game
Things started to look up for WSU in the early going against Arizona, but for the most par in 2004, it’s been through the air or bust on offense. If you throw out the Cougars’ one solid performance on the ground against an overmatched Idaho squad, no Cougar has run for 50 yards in a game this season. WSU has run for 412 yards on the year, which doesn’t sound so bad until taking into account that those yards have come on 158 carries, good for 2.6 yards per carry. The struggles have been in part because of inconsistency on the offensive line, where WSU is still shuffling personnel in an attempt to find the right combination. But the Cougars have also been looking for a running back to make big plays, using Allen Thompson and Jerome Harrison more and more in addition to Chris Bruhn.
The kicking game
It’s still too early to offer a final thumbs up or thumbs down for 2004, but the early returns have been iffy. Things got off to a shaky start when holder Mike Reilly left the team days before the season opener. Backup quarterback Alex Brink has stepped in and done admirably, but true freshman kicker Loren Langley is 2 for 5 on field-goal attempts. Langley has been perfect on 12 extra points, which is certainly more than can be said for some teams in college football this season. WSU hasn’t given any indication that it’s overly concerned about the kicking game, but you can bet the coaching staff would love to feel a little more confident about putting points on the board every time the team gets into the red zone.
1. Can WSU hang onto the ball?
Cougars pass-catchers have dropped 13 passes in four games, and that includes a drop-free effort against Idaho. Also, WSU fumbled five times against Arizona last week. Head coach Bill Doba has been trying to give positive reinforcement to his skill-position players on offense, but it’s no secret that the Cougars must improve here if they are to win down the stretch against top-quality Pac-10 teams.
2. Home-field advantage
Through four games, the Cougars have played once in Martin Stadium, and that game was technically a road contest against the Vandals. Four teams — Oregon, Stanford, USC and Washington — will make the trek to Pullman, and WSU’s ability to protect the home turf could end up determining its bowl-game fate. It won’t hurt that Cougars fans have gobbled up nearly every ticket available for the home games, making it that much tougher on the visitors.
3. Presence in the pocket
WSU decided to shake up the quarterback situation against Colorado, a decision that seemed to spark some controversy. Now, however, the Cougars have settled on Josh Swogger, who began the season as the team’s anointed starter, and put Alex Brink back in a backup role. Swogger has shown signs of great potential but has also had a tendency throw incompletions in bunches. If the sophomore continues to mature — and if he gets more help from those around him — WSU could expect big things from the quarterback in October and November. An interception-free game against Arizona that also included a last-minute, game-winning touchdown toss is an encouraging sign.