Cougs scrimmage for a bit on Day 14
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- Washington State held its 14th practice of camp in Martin Stadium on Thursday. The reason? A scrimmage of about 36 or so plays, complete with officials and some pumped-in crowd music. Read on for some details.
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The Cougars kept it brief, practicing for a little under two hours before hustling off to a team meeting. But before that, they got in some live work with the first and second-team offense and defense. ... The first-team offense had the ball first, moving the ball well enough to pick up three first-downs before stalling out and settling for a 34-yard field goal by Andrew Furney. ... That series included what was probably the biggest hit of camp so far, as safety Deone Bucannon hammered Gino Simone on a pass over the middle before Simone could get his head around. Simone lay on the turf for a while, then was helped off the field while clutching his lower back. He did not return. ... The first-team defense forced a three-and-out on the second possession, then the offense had a series in which it couldn't get out of its own way. It started with an incompletion that was wiped out due to offsetting personal foul penalties. Then left tackle John Fullington jumped early and drew a false start penalty, which resulted in a series of up-downs for him. Then Jeff Tuel was "sacked" by Ioane Gauta for a 9-yard loss, and the scrimmage stopped so the entire offense could get their share of up-downs, too. ... Once the ball was re-spotted at the 30-yard line, though, the offense had its revenge. Tuel connected with freshman receiver Gabe Marks on a pass over the middle, and Marks did the rest of the work -- which included an impressive juke-and-weave all the way down the left sideline past three defenders -- for a 70-yard touchdown. ... Tuel completed 7-of-12 passes for 124 yards and
... The second-team units took over after that, with Connor Halliday highlighting that portion by throwing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Bennett Bontemps. But Halliday also threw an interception to Cyrus Coen on the last play of the scrimmage. Halliday finished the day 6-of-10 for 66 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
... The first-team offense and defenses had a few changes. For one, linebacker Eric Oertel didn't suit up or participate in practice, so Coen took over for him at the SAM spot. And freshman safety Taylor Taliulu continues to rep with the starting defensive unit, lending even more credence to the idea that he could see the field plenty this season. ... Dan Spitz played some at right tackle, as Jake Rodgers slid to right guard, Wade Jacobson slid to left guard and Matt Goetz ran with the second-team. ... Freshmen Jeremiah Allison and Kache Palacio received some reps with the second-team, with Palacio playing the buck spot. At one point, the second-team defense rolled out a linebacker corps that included Justin Sagote and Tyrone Duckett on the edges, and Logan Myes and Jared Byers up the middle. ... Along with Oertel, WR Isiah Myers and CB Brandon Golden watched practice without pads. DL Toni Pole and DL Xavier Cooper attended practice but did not participate. Cooper was seen running near full-speed on Rogers Field before the scrimmage. LB Darren Markle didn't participate, either, and DT Chas Sampson was absent yet again.
Here are the scrimmage stats, as compiled by WSU's media information staff:
Scoring
Andrew Furney 34-yard field goal
Gabe Marks from Jeff Tuel – 70-yard touchdown
Bennett Bontemps from Connor Halliday – 30-yard touchdown
Rushing
Theron West 2-9
Teondray Caldwell 1-10
Leon Brooks 1-7
Carl Winston 1-0
Passing
Jeff Tuel 7-12-124, TD
Connor Halliday 6-10-66, TD, INT
Receiving
Rickey Galvin 4-45
Brett Bartolone 2-16
Drew Loftus 2-12
Gabe Marks 1-70, TD
Bennett Bontemps 1-30, TD
Andrei Lintz 1-6
Marquess Wilson 1-5
Dominique Williams 1-4
Gino Simone 1-2
Field Goals
Andrew Furney 34-good
Interceptions
Cyrus Coen (Halliday)
Sacks
Travis Long, Steven Hoffart/Ioane Gauta, Darryl Monroe
All for now.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple