WSU seniors play for final time at Martin Stadium

PULLMAN – When Taylor Taliulu first arrived in Pullman he wasn’t a published musician whose raps played for a sold-out stadium every couple weeks. He’d never directed a documentary miniseries about himself and his friends, nor had he designed duds for his own clothing label.

Few probably thought when he arrived that Taliulu would start 16 home games in Martin Stadium over four seasons.

While the various skills and interests Taliulu picked up in college will stay with him for the rest of his life, when he starts a game in front of WSU’s home crowd for the 17th time, on Saturday against Colorado, it will be his last time.

“I’m so blessed to be here and so thankful for this opportunity,” Taliulu said. “Walking out for the last time is going to be … I know it’s going to hit me. It’s kind of been hitting me these last couple games, riding on the bus, just everything. I just have a couple Tuesday practices left. When you think about all you’ve done and all the time you’ve put in, it’s going to be sad.”

The 16 seniors who will be honored before kickoff have played an undeniably critical role in turning the program at WSU (7-3, 5-2 Pac-12) from a moribund one when Mike Leach arrived into the Pac-12 heavyweight the Cougars have proven to be in 2015.

Four true seniors – Jeremiah Allison, Kache Palacio, Destiny Vaeao and Taliulu – will be the first members of Leach’s first recruiting class to make it through the program. They, along with six true juniors, believe in Leach and accepted scholarships to play for his fledgling program.

The 12 redshirt seniors include Darryl Paulo, Dom Williams and Moritz Christ, the last three remaining members of Paul Wulff’s final recruiting class as WSU’s head coach. They stayed while others left, with Paulo and Williams becoming starters on a team that can win more games this season than Wulff won in four.

And although the seniors will keep playing and practicing until after the bowl game, which could be in January, the Cougars will take a moment to honor the upcoming end to 16 college football careers.

“I’m excited about their contributions; I think their contributions will resonate for decades to come,” Leach said. “They don’t just deserve a plaque, they deserve more than a plaque and that’s as good a time as any, but I plan to see them for another month and a half.”

And even longer than that. The stands all season have been rife with former WSU football players, and though the seniors will soon transition to a new part of their lives, they will always be impacted by the four or five years they spent playing college football.

“The seniors are a part of your program for decades to come,” Leach said. “There’s no real closure to Senior Night. It’s unfortunate that they don’t get to play again, but they’ll be a part of the Cougar program forever. So I guess I don’t really see it as an end.”