Harrison to carry Cougars
PULLMAN — The No. 1 on Jerome Harrison’s jersey has taken on a lot more significance this spring as the Cougars take the practice field.
Not only is Harrison, a rising senior who burst through last season to take the starting role mid-year, now the definitive top running back on the Cougar depth chart, he’s also the only one on it.
“Once he got acclimated to what was going on, he really came into his own and we’re just going to build off of that,” running backs coach Kelly Skipper said. “He finished the season off really strong. He put up some good numbers.”
While there was never a doubt that Harrison would be the team’s starter this season after his stretch run last season, which included a school-record 42 carries for 247 yards, few could have guessed at the end of 2004 that Harrison would be so lonely in the backfield.
But Allen Thompson, a backup last season, left the team before his senior year because of a recurring shoulder problem. And Kevin McCall, the No. 2 back following Thompson’s departure, is suspended pending the resolution of a third-degree rape charge.
McCall has an arraignment scheduled in Whitman County Friday, and his family has hired Pullman attorney Timothy Esser. Esser said Wednesday that McCall will plead not guilty and ask for as early a trial date as possible to expedite the proceedings.
Head coach Bill Doba said he saw no scenario where McCall would rejoin the team before the end of spring practices, which extend into mid-April.
“It’s in the hands of the courts,” Doba said. “We’ll wait and make our decision afterwards. I really feel bad for both parties. It’s an unfortunate incident.”
With Thompson and McCall not on the field, Harrison is joined at running back by Brandon Asuega-Stark and Jed Collins, both fullbacks for at least part of last season but with just one career carry between them. Washington State has four additional walk-ons with no playing experience practicing at running back this spring.
Collins started on defense last season as a true freshman, and Asuega-Stark added 15-20 pounds in the off-season in preparation for fullback duties this year.
The bottom line: Harrison has to be the man for WSU.
“It makes you want to work hard,” said Harrison, who ended up with 900 yards on 174 carries in 2004. “I’ll just line up and play. I’ll let my playing talk for me.”
Doba said he’s not concerned about the lack of depth, noting that WSU currently has two running backs signed and preparing to join the team in the fall. And he also said there’s no plan to limit Harrison’s activity in the spring to protect him from injury.
“We haven’t talked about being any more careful with him than before,” Doba said. “He stayed pretty healthy. Part of the reason is, he’s a great athlete. You don’t get hurt if you don’t get hit. He’s got the ability to make that little move. You think of all the games, even last year, and you never saw him really get lit up. It’s always a glancing blow, and that’s part of being a good athlete and part of the longevity of any good running back.”
Two new Cougs
WSU has signed a pair of additional players to national letters of intent. Cornerback Nehemiah Mundy and wide receiver Greg Walker were both once high school teammates of current wide receiver Michael Bumpus, and are slated to join the Cougars this fall.
Mundy graduated from Culver City (Calif.) High School in 2004 and Walker is a senior at Los Angeles’ University High this year. Their signings mean that WSU could be over their scholarship limit unless incoming players decide to delay enrollment voluntarily or do not qualify academically.
Before last season, eight of WSU’s 28 signed players failed to join the team because of academic shortcomings.