Cougars find easy passage through air

PULLMAN – Robb Akey won’t tell you that he’s happy about the way Washington State University’s third scrimmage of the spring went, but he will say that it might have been the best thing for the team.

The defensive coordinator, after watching his unit stonewall the offense on the previous two Saturdays, saw the Cougars defense yield four touchdowns in the Saturday morning rain at Martin Stadium, all by air.

“Our guys came out wound up and ready to play, and the offense was ready to play, too,” Akey said. “One thing is for certain: If one side of the ball dominates the entire spring, we’re probably going to have an issue during the season. If you’re having success on both sides of the ball, there are probably some good things taking place on both sides of the ball.”

That was clearly the case last year, when Akey’s defense had no answers for the Cougars offense in spring practices, and then in turn offered little resistance during the season.

Alex Brink tossed his first touchdown in the spring scrimmages, a 42-yard strike over the top of the defense to Jason Hill, and added a 3-yarder to Chris Jordan. Arkleon Hall also threw two short scoring passes to Tony Thompson.

“They moved the ball really well,” head coach Bill Doba said. “It was a good scrimmage – depending which side of the ball you were on, I guess. … We’re not there yet by a long shot, but we’ll get there.”

WSU has two more practices next week, followed by the Crimson and Gray game at noon Saturday. The final spring session will be more of a controlled scrimmage than a game.

Notes

Kicker Romeen Abdollmohammodi, brought in to provide Loren Langley some competition this spring, has been declared academically ineligible and won’t return to the team. … Doba said finding a long snapper, especially on punts, has become a priority with that position becoming an area of concern. … Safety Michael Willis, probably looking at more backup and special teams duty as a sophomore this fall, had a handful of big hits.