D-line is improved
PULLMAN – Mkristo Bruce has never been one to keep quiet, but usually the words coming out of his mouth are at someone else’s expense.
Not this time, and not before this season.
Bruce led an inexperienced line of four new starters in 2004 with six-and-a-half sacks, but that’s nothing compared to what he feels needs to be done this year.
“I have to get 15 sacks this year or I’m no kind of man,” he said.
Fair enough, Mkristo, but there’s no way you’ll touch the sterling careers of D.D. Acholonu and Isaac Brown, Cougar defensive ends from 2000-03 who now sit 2-3 on the school’s career sack list, right?
“I’m going to beat Ike and D.D., all their records,” he said. “I called up Ike on the phone and said, ‘Ike, I’m 30 pounds more than you were here, bigger, maybe not faster, but stronger than you. I’m going to beat your sack record.’ “
Bruce’s words may draw a chuckle, but he knows that the defensive line which 12 months ago was considered a liability must now be a strength if Washington State is to go back to a bowl game this season.
Where last season no one had significant starting experience on the defensive line, this season all four players – Bruce, fellow end Adam Braidwood and tackles Aaron Johnson and Ropati Pitoitua – do have starts under their belts.
They’ve also bulked up across the board, and as a result they feel they’re much more prepared this time around. Johnson and Pitoitua alone added 50 pounds in the off-season, and Bruce is up about 15 more.
“You watch the way Mkristo Bruce is playing, the added weight and strength that he’s got, he’s able to do the things that we were working on a year ago,” defensive coordinator Robb Akey said. “And that really holds true for all of them. Because A.J. and Ropati didn’t have the strength they possess now.
“They know what is expected, they saw how (inexperience) hurt us a year ago. I’m seeing better reactions to what we’re trying to get fixed. It’s a hell of a lot more fun than breaking in new guys.”
In fact, the linemen seem to be willing to take on responsibility not only for their own play but also for the entire defense.
“We’re just mad that we let the quarterback pretty much sit back there and pick a receiver last year,” Bruce said. “And we made our DBs look real bad; they’re in a hole right now. Everybody thinks it was their fault but it was really our fault, and we know what to do to fix it.”
WSU’s stellar defenses of recent years have been predicated on pressuring the quarterback, and Bruce and Braidwood will share much of the responsibility for doing so again this season. Asked if they can be as good as some of the lines featuring Acholonu and Brown, Akey waffled somewhat.
“I don’t know about that,” he admitted. “We’ve got a chance to be a very good line. We’ve got to perform more consistently than we are right now. The jury’s still going to be out on that. They’ve got to play themselves into it.”
But make no mistake, Akey and the Cougars expect this front four to be much more than just new starters.
“It was growing pains,” Johnson said of 2004. “My first year playing college football, Ropati’s first year playing college football. That year was a good year of experience for us. I think it’s going to help us out this year a lot. … This is the heart and soul of the team, this defensive line.”