Washington State preseason notes (Oct. 30): Mead’s Lucas Bacon now carrying the torch for Spokane walk-ons

More than a year after Armani Marsh managed to steal his coaches’ attention, another walk-on from Spokane has turned heads with his play at preseason camp.

Lucas Bacon, a redshirt sophomore wide receiver and Mead High School product, has drawn praise from first-year WSU coach Nick Rolovich and more than one teammate since the Cougars returned to the practice field earlier this month.

Partially due to the spillover from the Mike Leach era, WSU is well-stocked at wide receiver, even with a rash of graduations, transfers and potential opt-outs. The Cougars still return the likes of Travell Harris, Renard Bell, Jamire Calvin and Calvin Jackson Jr., but it’s conceivable that Bacon could still appear on the team’s depth chart next week and add a unique dimension to Rolovich’s run-and-shoot offense this season.

“Bake has done a great job, just coming in, learning a new system and fitting in where he needs to be,” Harris said. “He’s a big body type of guy, so he helps out a lot and like I said, he just came in and doing a great job of doing his job and he has that extra effect in this offense.”

Bacon’s size may not match up to that of Dezmon Patmon, Isaiah Johnson-Mack or some of the other physically imposing receivers who’ve come through Pullman, but at 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, he’ll be one of the bigger bodies in the position room this fall, especially next to fellow outside receivers Jackson Jr. and Calvin, who both stand at 5-foot-10.

“Bacon’s another big body, Bacon’s had a pretty consistent camp, too,” Rolovich said. “… He’s talented, he’s got a lot of skill set for a receiver. I think he knows who he is, I think he’s got a lot of personality to his routes. He’s proven to be dependable in understanding the offense, seeing where he’s supposed to be. I think he’s done a good job.”

Earlier in camp, Rolovich named Bacon and another receiver, Mitchell Quinn, as two players that were worthy of scholarships. It’s not feasible for the program now, but it may only be a matter of time before Bacon is able to tell his parents they no longer need to write his tuition checks.

“I’d love to reward them with scholarships,” Rolovich said, “but we don’t have anything available right now.”

Bacon was one of six receivers with a reception in the team’s most recent scrimmage, reeling an 11-yard pass last Saturday at Martin Stadium. A two-sport standout at Mead, he set a school record with 117 career catches was second with 18 touchdown catches and third with 1,430 receiving yards. In addition to his football accolades, Bacon was second team All-GSL in track and field, specializing in the 4x100.

If Bacon needs any encouragement, he should look toward Marsh, the most recent walk-on from Spokane to land a scholarship at WSU. The Gonzaga Prep product was steady during preseason camp last fall and officially ditched his walk-on label nearly two weeks before the Cougars’ first game. Since then, the Marsh has emerged as an unquestioned leader of WSU’s defense and played in all 13 games for the Cougars last season, making three starts. He’s projected to start for WSU at the nickel defensive back position and was recently selected to the Cougars’ 17-man leadership council.

Votes of confidence

Only four Cougars were chosen as captains, but Rolovich indicated Thursday on his Coaches Radio Show that more than a dozen others were worthy of the honor. One of the players that received a handful, but not enough to make the captain’s quarter, was defensive back Daniel Isom.

The former junior college transfer played a key role in WSU’s secondary last season before his dismissal from the team by coach Mike Leach for an unspecified violation of team rules. Rolovich invited Isom back onto the team at some point after he was hired and the St. Louis native seems to have made a strong impression on his teammates.

“I made sure to tell him, you got a bunch of votes,” Rolovich said. “Whether that was your ultimate goal or not, but you can really have a positive impact on this team.”

In total, 36 different Cougars received captain votes.

Signs of progress

Rolovich has seen improvement from his offense since the team named a starting quarterback internally earlier in the week. Having more familiarity under center could be something helping the offense, but the coach seems to think his decision to name a starter has upped the play of the team’s other two signal-callers.

“Today, it was a perfectly good example,” Rolovich said. “I thought it was a horrible start and we were able to address it … really the majority of practice was much improved, but I think we’ve gotten a lot better but not necessarily because one guy’s getting more reps.”

I think the guys who maybe aren’t getting the same amount of reps are taking that personal and I think they’re playing better, too. So I think it elevated the whole room and in turn will help the offense get better.”

The team won’t be holding another scrimmage on Saturday, but Rolovich said they’ll be on the field the next two days. The Cougars will presumably practice on Monday as well, before taking Election Day off.