Trent tosses troubles for second chance
PULLMAN – Thrown into the fold as a true freshman when a freak injury took out Will Derting, Greg Trent just wasn’t ready last season.
Unsure of his assignments on many plays and trying to handle Pacific-10 Conference offenses less than a year after playing high school football in Texas, Trent was thrust into the middle of a losing streak.
With as many close losses as Washington State University suffered, many openly wondered if losing Derting was the difference in WSU’s 4-7 season.
“He was upset last year,” outside linebacker Scott Davis said of Trent. “He felt a lot of the losses were because of him stepping in.”
Whatever the case, the Cougars have to hope that Trent will be a reason why they start winning games this season. Only a sophomore, Trent hasn’t been given the responsibilities that many middle linebackers have – especially with seniors on either side of him in Davis and Steve Dildine.
“Next year it’s going to be his turn,” linebackers coach Leon Burtnett said. “But he doesn’t have to take over right now.
“They talk, he makes calls. But I don’t ask him to do a lot of that. I’d be stupid to do that. You don’t want to overload him. He’s a football player. Put him in position to make plays.”
As a football player, Trent has shown plenty of talent despite a relatively unimposing 5-foot-10 frame.
From his first day of training camp, it became obvious that Trent had the speed and athleticism to play linebacker in the Pac-10. When the Cougars first donned pads last August, it was just as obvious that the freshman had a knack for delivering big hits.
Since then, the challenge has been largely mental, getting Trent to go to the right place at the right time.
“I’ve learned how to read stuff faster,” he said. “It’s still a challenge. Every day’s a challenge. I’ve just got to get better.”
As a freshman, Trent recorded double-digit tackles in three games, including 13 against Oregon, a squad that lost just one regular-season game.
Still, Burtnett indicated that Trent sometimes still plays like his athleticism isn’t good enough, causing him to jump the gun when it’s completely unnecessary. Pass coverage was Trent’s biggest bugaboo in 2005 and continues to be the part of his game that needs the most polish.
“That’s still his weakest area, there’s no doubt about that,” Burtnett said. “He wants to run so quick. If he’d just slow down, read the play then go, he’s all right.”
While he has the seniors to help him along the way, if things go well for Trent he might find himself depending on them less and less as the season goes along.
“Me and Steve, we were like his angels out there, because we were always trying to tell him what to do on each play, what his keys were and who to guard,” Davis said. “He talks more in the middle (this year), he communicates. He knows what he’s doing.”