Leach less than thrilled with ‘last 30 yards’ of Washington State practice

PULLMAN – Washington State’s first workout under the Sunday Night Lights was a productive one. Until it wasn’t.

After a day off on Saturday, the Cougars returned to Rogers Field/Martin Stadium Sunday evening, playing under dark clouds and with temperatures that dipped into the low 60s.

There was good, there was bad and during the final 20 minutes of team period, there was a whole lot of ugly.

“We were really hot during the beginning of the team period, then we dropped some balls and I’m tired of guys dropping the ball,” head coach Mike Leach said. “Just because things are going your way doesn’t mean you let off, which I think we did. And then I thought defense was streaky, too. They’d get hot at various times – not as much as team – but at other stuff. Then they’d fade.”

Nearly every Cougar faded at some point, according to Leach, but the offense accounted for most of the slippage during the final stretch. Tavares Martin Jr. and Kyle Sweet both had drops in the end zone and Luke Falk gave Robert Taylor a gift, throwing a ball directly into the safety’s hands before gesturing “my bad” by tapping his chest twice.

Leach still handed the final verdict to the offense when James Williams cut inside on a handoff then bounced around the edge and into the end zone on the final play. Granted, it didn’t do much for the head man.

“Well, we had three drops and an interception so I can’t say there’s too many people I was happy with,” Leach said. “And then the other thing, I’d have to look at the offensive line, see who got burned there. And then even with that said, we’re cutting through the defense in too easy of a fashion, so I wasn’t too happy with them. So you’d have to sort out, that last 30 yards, I can’t think of anybody I was happy with.”

WSU will take a day off on Monday – the second in three days – before returning to the field at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Cougars then practice at 3:30 on Wednesday, 2:30 on Thursday and 3:30 on Friday. They’ll hold their second scrimmage at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Below are a few notes and highlights from Sunday’s session in Pullman:

It’s clear that junior Darrien Molton has one of the two corner spots locked up, but the other remains a seesaw battle, with senior Marcellus Pippins and sophomore Marcus Strong both in the running. Pippins was a 12-game starter last season, but Strong made up some ground in Lewiston last week when his teammate was limited and continues to work in with the first defensive unit.

Defensive end Nnamdi Oguayo is still limited, so Derek Moore is getting valuable reps in his place. It’s never how a team wants to develop depth but the Cougars should be better because of it.

Rush linebacker Dylan Hanser didn’t participate in full, giving Frankie Luvu and Chima Onyeukwu some more practice. Behind those two, Mason Vinyard got work with the second team.

Nothing new on the nickel front. Hunter Dale and Kirkland Parker are still the top choices, but neither has separated himself to this point.

Running back Gerard Wicks was limited, so James Williams, Jamal Morrow and Keith Harrington enjoyed a few more reps each.

WSU spent about 10 minutes drilling onside kicks. Erik Powell seems to have a knack for putting those where they need to be and he’ll have a capable hands team should the Cougars ever have to execute an onside kick this fall. The first group that Eric Mele rolled out included C.J. Dimry, Isaiah Johnson-Mack, Tavares Martin, Isaac Dotson, Jalen Thompson and Jamal Morrow. The second group included Dimry, Jamire Calvin, Dezmon Patmon, “Tay” Martin, Robert Taylor and Dillon Sherman.

During one-on-one, true freshman corner George Hicks deflected a pass intended for Johnson-Mack, then came down with the tipped ball on the second effort.

The offense, Johnson-Mack and Patmon especially, preyed on Hicks from there on out. Patmon won a 50/50 ball in the back corner of the end zone with Hicks covering, then ferociously tugged the ball away from the defender as Hicks tried to rip it out. Johnson-Mack made an impressive over the shoulder catch with one hand while Hicks trailed behind him. That went for a touchdown, as did Patmon’s final one-on-one encounter with the rookie. The 6-4 receiver wrapped both arms around Hicks’ chest to reach the ball, then grasped it with both hands and pulled it out of the corner’s reach.

Dotson showed good awareness on a botched snap to Tyler Hilinski, smothering the ball as it rolled into the backfield.

Two plays before that, nickel Justus Rogers pounced on a running back fumble.

Patmon made a strong catch over the middle during skeleton period and held onto the ball as Molton and Taylor flew into him from either side.

Freshman wideout “Tay” Martin came down with a pinpoint pass from Falk in the end zone, making a nice play over Thompson to secure the ball.

Falk, Leach on Rosen

The comments made by UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen in a recent Q&A with Bleacher Report have created one of the top story lines heading into the 2017 college football season.

During the interview, Rosen said that football and school “don’t go together.”

The Bruins’ junior standout also said: “Trying to do both is like trying to do two full-time jobs. There are guys who have no business being in school, but they’re here because this is the path to the NFL. There’s no other way. Then there’s the other side that says raise the SAT eligibility requirements. OK, raise the SAT requirement at Alabama and see what kind of team they have. You lose athletes and then the product on the field suffers.”

Leach hadn’t seen Rosen’s comments in their entirety, but commended the signal-caller for voicing his opinion.

“I didn’t see them, but regardless of what he said, he’s entitled to his opinion,” Leach said. “There needs to be more shared opinion in this country nowadays and right now everybody thinks you should only say something that everyone else agrees with.”

Falk said he hadn’t given much thought to the comments.

“Josh has his opinions and I think other people have theirs,” Falk said. “It’s probably a tough institution down there, but I’m just blessed to play here at Washington State and get my education paid for. I was paying for it my first two years, so I think I appreciate it a little more than guys that just come in on scholarship.”