Optimism reigns in Pullman
PULLMAN – Veterans yukking it up and newcomers looking nervous, especially when trying to sing their way through the fight song before a room full of hooting teammates.
Hallmarks of the first day of camp, and just a couple of signs that football is back at Washington State.
The Cougars took the field at 9 a.m. Sunday for their first official practice of the fall, and the countdown can now begin – 24 days until kickoff against Idaho.
“I couldn’t even sleep last night. I was up all night thinking about today,” defensive end Mkristo Bruce said at the end of the first session of the 2005 season, a light workout with just helmets and no pads. “We cheated ourselves last year, so the whole summer I was like, ‘I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait.’ “
The Cougars enter this season a good deal more confident than they were last year with more returning starters and, presumably, more of a handle on what’s to come after a 5-6 season in 2004.
The best sign of that? Try the word of head coach, Bill Doba. Asked if this squad is a bowl team, Doba’s answer was as simple as can be.
“Yes.”
Still, Doba admitted that the first day of camp is more about pointing newcomers in the right direction than it is about fine-tuning a game plan. But optimism has its time, and at WSU that time was Sunday.
“Everybody looks a little quick. The legs are fresh,” Doba said. “You just kind of want to ease into it. We’ve got a long time before we get into it.
“Did you see them running those sprints afterward? Some of those kids, they’ve really worked hard this summer.”
Said quarterback Josh Swogger: “It’s scary to think of how good we can be and how good the potential is here. We’ve got Troy (Bienemann) and Cody (Boyd), if they stay healthy, Jason Hill, (Michael) Bumpus, Chris Jordan, Trandon Harvey, Jerome Harrison. …”
The Cougars won’t start two-a-day practices until Friday and won’t be in full pads until Thursday, so until then the focus remains mostly on the freshmen and junior college recruits, some of whom may be expected to step in right away. Last season the Cougars lacked experience, but were able to relish having decent depth at most positions. This year, the opposite appears to be true, with 17 starters back on offense and defense, but little behind them at some key positions.
“We need depth, especially at linebacker and corner,” Doba said. “We want to take a darn good look at those (new) guys early and see if we can get them ready to go.”
The Cougars could be aided by a soft non-conference schedule that begins at home against Idaho, goes on the road to Nevada then moves to Seattle for a date with I-AA Grambling State. The games are also scheduled for different days of the week, giving WSU seven days between each non-conference matchup.
Most every prognosticator in the country gives the Cougars three wins in those three games. And while Doba attempted to guard his confidence, even he couldn’t help letting some more good cheer slip through. After all, that’s what the first day is all about.
“Thursday, Friday, Saturday – that gives us a little extra time,” he said. “You can’t take too much (for granted), because then you’ll get your butt kicked. You can’t look past those people. I mean, if we’re any good, we should be able to win those games.”