Blog matters: WSU football in Seattle, Paul Petrino on UI football’s spring expectations, EWU football chat wrap
A sampling from the past week of entries in The Spokesman-Review blog SportsLink at www.spokesman.com/sportslink/
Cougars
Washington State has played a Pac-12 opponent in Seattle the past three seasons with pretty paltry results. The Cougars, hosting some stiff competition, went 0-3 in their home games away from Pullman, losing to Oregon State, No. 2 Oregon and No. 5 Stanford by an average score of 50 to 22.
On Monday, Bill Moos announced that the Cougars will no longer host conference foes in Seattle, keeping all Pac-12 home games home, in Pullman.
• Receiver Gabe Marks has been limited this spring with a groin injury and has only participated in a few receiving drills. Yesterday, Marks indicated on Twitter that he had undergone surgery.
Jacob Thorpe
Vandals
Asked about where the Idaho Vandals are relative to his expectations for the spring, football coach Paul Petrino had this to say on Wednesday evening: “You know what? I think we’re ahead of them. I think we’ve had a better spring than I hoped to (have). I’m happy. We’ve done better than I thought we would at this point. And so, it’s been good. It’s been real good.”
Josh Wright
Eagles
From Jim Allen’s online chat Thursday on Sportslink:
Q: From what I hear both backup quarterbacks are pretty good, any chance either of them pushes VA (Vernon Adams) a little?
Jim: There is no way Jordan West or Conner Richardson pushes Adams, even a little. VA is a rare gem, IMO, but West, a RS sophomore, is making a good impression so far – nice reads, knows the offense, good scrambling ability. Richardson is a year younger, and reminds me a bit of Adams in 2012: good arm strength but leaves the pocket too soon.
Q: Mario Brown has sure been impressive in practices and scrimmage. Has he put on weight this offseason? Another pleasant surprise is the walk-on RB from CdA. How did he not get offers?
Jim: This is a hard one to read. Most of the RBs are being held out for minor injuries. Brown is a very good back, at this point No. 2 on the depth chart behind (Quincy) Forte, rushing for 482 yards and 4 TDs last year. (Reece) Mahaffy looks very good in spring drills, but that’s all I know about him.
Q: Have you seen any indications of changes in offensive schemes or would (coach Beau) Baldwin be keeping that quiet until game day? I am hoping to see more quick pitches and maybe even the wildcat to take advantage of speed at running back.
Jim: That’s a question for the fall, and even then Baldwin isn’t going to advertise any chances. I can almost guarantee that you won’t see a wildcat – Adams is the perfect run-pass threat by himself.