Doba names kick returners

PULLMAN — When asked Tuesday morning on a conference call who his kick returners would be this season, Washington State head coach Bill Doba rattled off a list of six players — and two more when naming his punt returners.

But by the end of Tuesday afternoon’s practice, Doba was ready to clear up the picture.

The second-year head coach will go with two players in their first year at WSU, cornerback Tyron Brackenridge and running back Jerome Harrison. Both are junior college transfers, so they have at least some experience returning kicks on a level beyond high school football, a plus in Doba’s mind.

The other options were true freshman Michael Bumpus, junior college transfer Greg Prator, junior Tramaine Murray and starting running back Chris Bruhn.

“Those two guys will start the ball game,” Doba said, also quashing any possibility of a kick-return rotation. “They go unless they’re hurt or they drop the ball, fumble or something.”

As expected throughout camp, wideout Marty Martin will return punts, with Bumpus serving as his backup.

Harrison and Brackenridge have been two of the more impressive athletes in camp, and both have secured supporting roles on offense and defense.

Brackenridge still has some issues with a hip flexor and a hamstring problem, but neither injury is expected to force him to miss the New Mexico game on Friday night.

Harrison said he’s happy that he can contribute right from the opening kickoff.

“You have to start somewhere, so I don’t mind starting right there if that’s what it takes,” he said. “You can do a lot of things off kickoff returns. You can make a name for yourself, like Dante Hall, Deion (Sanders), guys like that.”

Siderius or Langley?

Doba is still waiting to officially name a starting kicker in the competition between junior Graham Siderius and freshman Loren Langley. First the coach said he might wait until players are boarding the buses heading for the airport to make a decision, and on Tuesday he said he might wait until pre-game warmups to choose.

But he has confirmed on multiple occasions this week that Langley holds a slight edge. Either way, Doba knows he’ll feel the loss of All-American Drew Dunning, who graduated after last season.

“We’re going to kick again (today), but it looks like Loren Langley is the guy that kicks the short field goals, maybe, and the extra points. He’s accurate and he’s been consistent,” Doba said. “We’re going to miss Drew Dunning. A year ago, we get down to the 20, we felt like we had three points. And so we were a little bit more conservative in the red zone. And this year, I don’t have that confidence yet in these two young men. Hopefully by the time we get to conference (play), we will have it.”

QB shuffle

In a bizarre confluence of events, New Mexico and Washington State have completed a de facto quarterback swap this week.

Tali Ena, who started his collegiate career as a Cougar, transferred to the Lobos after the 2001 season — he played in four games under center as Jason Gesser’s backup — and is now the backup signal caller in Albuquerque.

Ena had a chance to win the starting job in camp, but couldn’t do so. Still, Lobos head coach Rocky Long said he plans to insert Ena for at least a series in the second quarter, possibly more if unproven starter Kole McKarney struggles.

“We haven’t decided where exactly in the second quarter he’ll play yet,” Long said. “And then a decision will be made at halftime. If our starting quarterback is playing well, you might not see Tali the rest of the game. If our starting quarterback is not playing well, you might see more of Tali in the second half.

“I’m sure that he’s excited (about playing the Cougars). But he’s been gone quite a while now — I don’t think there’s any extra incentive.”

Meanwhile, WSU is on the verge of bringing former New Mexico quarterback Travis Elisara into the fold as a walk-on. With third-string quarterback Mike Reilly leaving the team on Monday, the Cougars had just three quarterbacks left and needed another to run the scout team. Elisara — whose father, Matt, played defensive tackle for the Cougars from 1979-81 — was a scout team player for the Lobos and transferred to WSU without designs on playing football this season.

But the opening created by Reilly’s departure gave the team reason to invite Elisara as a walk-on for the rest of the season, alleviating freshman Gary Rogers of scout-team duties.

Elisara, who went to Ferris High School, is expected to join the team next week after a physical and paperwork is completed.

Notes

Former Cougars quarterback Ryan Leaf made an appearance at practice on Tuesday, spending most the session chatting with coaches and staff members. Leaf is working to complete his degree at WSU. … Prator missed another practice session because of a hamstring injury, and is still listed as day to day.