Karstetter grabs his chance
Came the news Thursday that Washington State is down to something in the neighborhood of 73 football players on scholarship, a dozen less than the maximum allowed – attrition that is only one reason the Cougars are a popular pick to finish last in the Pacific-10 Conference.
On the other hand, if new coach Paul Wulff can shed about 10 more, the Cougs could be eligible to contend for the national title in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Hey, it’s still early enough to look on the bright side.
OK, OK, there actually is a bright side – that with every strain, setback and unused scholly, there is an equal opportunity if somebody comes forward to avail himself of it.
Turns out Jared Karstetter is somebody.
If the depth chart issued earlier this week holds, Karstetter – who last suited up for the senior prom at Ferris High School – will start at wide receiver when the Cougars open the 2008 season in Seattle against Oklahoma State, a prospect he calls “a dream come true,” though it has not triggered a case of “Who, me?”
“Maybe running out of the tunnel it will hit me harder,” he said.
Could be. The roar of 50,000 Cougs might wake up some of the butterflies that dozed through those old Albi Stadium games in front of a few hundred people.
But any number of things have revealed themselves to the Cougars’ coaching staff in fall camp, among them that Karstetter isn’t going to faint from stage fright. Not that they anticipated having that theory tested quite so soon.
Receiver was supposed something of a security blanket. The Cougars returned an All-Pac-10 player (Brandon Gibson), the NCAA hurdles champ (Jeshua Anderson) and another similarly promising sophomore (Daniel Blackledge), plus junior Michael Willis, whose athletic gifts have been heralded since his signing four years ago but who only now seems to have found his place. But Anderson, after a nonstop year of football and track, was diagnosed with a hernia early in camp and Blackledge has been slowed by a knee injury – and practice goes on, so somebody has to take the reps.
“You come in with the mentality of just competing and getting better,” Karstetter said, “and let the chips fall where they do.”
Karstetter is tall (6-foot-4) and sturdy (195 pounds), and fast enough to have taken Gibson and some of his other teammates by surprise. The 104 receptions he made during his Ferris days put him second on the Greater Spokane League’s all-time list. But what put him in the mix at Wazzu and kept him there was a determination to get better not just each day, but each play.
“He’s deceivingly wise for his age,” said Wulff, “and a great competitor, and that allows him to be productive in camp. He’s going to go into his first game and I’m sure he’s going to make mistakes, but when he gets a chance to make a play he’s probably going to make it.”
This may be more of a fingers-crossed sentiment as he tracks down the rest of his travel roster.
There are 10 freshmen on Wulff’s first-game two-deep, not an unprecedented number but enough to trigger some apprehension. Four of those have not had a redshirt year. That was the case for last year’s opener, too; in 2005, eight true freshmen were on the two-deep for the first game against Idaho.
But since Y2K, only four true freshmen before Karstetter have started an opener – cornerback Chima Nwachukwu (2007), defensive tackles A’i Ahmu (2005) and Ropati Pitoatua (2004) and tight end Troy Bienemann (2002).
“Right now, we’re low on scholarships,” Wulff said with his usual frankness. “Our depth is not where we want it – and you want experience in your depth, not just bodies. You need those guys to produce and help you on the field.”
Karstetter certainly has a history of producing – he was a central member of Ferris’ back-to-back undefeated State 4A champions in basketball, too. But among his more endearing qualities is knowing how much he doesn’t know and what he needed to unlearn.
“That’s why the practice repetitions have been such a help – they allow you to work out the bad habits you picked up in high school,” he said.
Such as?
“Oh, I always played way too high, my pad level. It’s a lot more physical. You know, the list goes on forever if you ask Coach (Mike) Levenseller.”
If there’s anything that’s accelerated Karstetter’s development in his short time on campus has been the bond he’s forged with Gibson, who has been both example and his strongest endorser.
“Brandon’s a great player, but he’s also a great teammate,” Karstetter said. “He’s worked with me and we ran around and I’ve tried to watch him. Any time you can sit in the film room and watch an All-American, it can’t hurt because you know he’s doing it right. You try and replicate what he’s doing and if you can get anywhere close, you know you’re doing well.”
The record shows that Brandon Gibson started five games as a true freshman, but not his first. So Jared Karstetter, apparently, is doing pretty well, indeed.