A GRIP ON SPORTS • In one week, the Washington State Cougars will hold their spring football game in Spokane. So where do they stand going into it? Read on.

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• To be honest, I'm not sure anyone is sure, if that makes sense. But convoluted is good when talking about the 2015 Cougars. Why? Well the offense looks loaded, as loaded as anytime in Mike Leach's tenure – except at one key position. See, the offensive line has a multitude of starts under its belt, the receivers have talent and the running backs experience. But the one position that is questionable is the most important one, quarterback. While I would make book Luke Falk is going to be better than fine, last year's end-of-the-season tryout wasn't so spectacular as to alleviate all doubt. Falk was solid in the win over Oregon State. Other than that, his four-game stint – three of them starts – was just OK (seven touchdowns and seven interceptions outside the OSU game). No matter how good the Cougars are elsewhere offensively, it is the quarterback who makes Mike Leach's system work. And not just with his arm, though that is important. Leach gives his signal-caller freedom to be just that, a signal-caller. Falk has to make the right checks if the Cougars are going to move the ball consistently. The guess here is he will, but until he does it week after week, it's just a guess. And then there is the other side of the ball. Last night on the blog, Jacob Thorpe took a stab at the Cougars' two-deep. Two things stuck out defensively: The new scheme is going to put more speed on the field and WSU is counting on newcomers to supply a lot of that speed. New defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is going to play a nickel package as the base defense. Good idea in the pass-happy Pac-12 (except maybe against Stanford and Oregon State). Up front, the Cougars have the returnees to make it work. On the back end, though, they are going to need help from junior college transfers and freshmen, some of which aren't in school yet. Jacob feels two JC defensive backs, Treshon Broughton and Shalom Luani, will probably start, and a freshman, Sean Harper, will challenge for time. The negative with that? They haven't been on campus yet, learning their way around WSU and learning their way around the defense. With that being the case, expect some bumpy rides early on. But this is Washington State football, so why would you expect anything different?

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• WSU: Besides the two-deep blog post, Jacob doesn't have anything for me to pass along. However, there were two stories on the CBSSports.com website yesterday with Cougar connections. One is positive, with Jason La Canfora basically stating he believes Connor Halliday will be the fourth quarterback chosen in the NFL draft. The other is bit more problematic, with Leach chosen by Tom Fornelli as the No. 1 overpaid coach in college football.

• Gonzaga: Przemek Karnowski made it official yesterday. He's staying at Gonzaga for his senior season. Zag faithful breathe again. Jim Meehan, as he always does, has the story.

• EWU: There is a new defensive scheme being introduced in Cheney as well. The guys most affected? That would be the linebackers, the subject of Jim Allen's position preview today.

• Idaho: Sean Kramer has a blog post on Friday's practice in Moscow.

• Chiefs: Portland won 2-1 last night to go up 3-1 in the WHL playoff series with Everett.

• Preps: It was a busy Friday around the GSL, with Chris Derrick covering Shadle Park's softball win over Mead, Steve Christilaw Mt. Spokane's baseball win over the Panthers and Steve putting together a tennis notebook.

• Mariners: The starting pitching has been suspect early in the season, but it wasn't Friday night. J.A. Happ kept the Rangers down throughout his seven innings of work. The problem last night in a 3-1 home loss to Texas was the offense, specifically the hitting with runners on base. The M's grounded into double plays in three consecutive innings, killing any chance of an early momentum-building rally. ... Tyler Olson is getting more accustomed to his new surroundings. ... Fernando Rodney has the right attitude for a closer. ... The M's need to put together a good game and do it quickly. How about tonight?

• Sounders: The Sounders are in Colorado tonight to face the Rapids in what's expected to be a battle of midfields. ... The Colorado defense has been tough to penetrate this season, with four shutouts in five matches.

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• It's Saturday. (You can't see, but I'm doing a little dance.) Until later ...

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