Our long regional nightmare is over … the Seahawks are back
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The Seahawks game at St. Louis kicks off at 10 a.m. That is all. Read on.
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• I’m sure a handful of you have been looking forward to the NFL season beginning. For whatever reason. Maybe it’s because you enjoy the vagaries of fantasy football. Maybe it’s because you feel you have way too much free time on Sundays. Or maybe it’s because you like to root for a team that actually wins once in a while. I don’t know. But whatever the reason, your long wait is over. The NFL has returned. And the Hawks are playing in their city of horrors. St. Louis hasn’t been all that kind to Seattle over the years and last season was no exception. The Hawks outplayed the hosts in every way but one – special teams. And yet they still lost. The same outcome might be in store for the Hawks today but the scenario should be different. If Seattle’s special teams are missing in action again or, heck, even if they are fooled a bit once more, then heads should roll. More than likely just the head of the Kam Chancellor bobble-head you have in the basement, but still, heads should roll. No, today’s game is expected to be decided up front on both sides. How will the offensive lines hold up? That’s the big question. Of course, nearly every football game at every level is decided up front, but no matter. Today we’re focusing on Drew Nowak, Garry Gilliam, et al when the Hawks have the ball and Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett and their buddies when they don’t. It should be fun.
• Talk about fun. And hazardous to your hair. Then you are talking about yesterday’s Cougar game. The fun part was supplied by the offense – and, to a certain degree, the defense. The hair-pulling frustration was supplied, once again, by the special teams that were, cliché alert, anything but special (insert your own sarcastic rim shot here). A win on the last drive? You don’t see that every day. Heck, you haven’t seen it with the Cougars since I was covering the team. I know, that long ago. And the defense forcing three turnovers? You haven’t seen that since the New Mexico Bowl at the end of the 2013 season. I’m guessing you don’t remember it, considering how that game ended. But I’m sure you remember all the troubles the Cougars had the past year or so – or is it a decade or so? – when they’ve had to kick or punt the ball to the opposition. Those troubles are hanging around again, what with Janarion Grant’s 100-yard kickoff return and his 55-yard punt return that seem to decide the game. But didn’t. Nope, Luke Falk, River Cracraft and the offense drove the length of the field and scored with just seconds left to give WSU a 37-34 victory and wash away some of the sour taste from last week. Some of it anyway.
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• WSU: The Cougars win was its first in the Eastern time zone since 1996, when Ryan Leaf led WSU past Temple 38-34. Hmm. Anyhow, Jacob Thorpe observed this year’s on-field version of Leaf, Falk, throw for 478 yards and four touchdowns before writing his game story. Jacob also had a notebook in this morning’s paper as well as a bunch of other items including the statistics and the scoring. On the blog there are interviews with Mike Leach, Falk, Peyton Pelluer (who forced one of the three turnovers, a key late fumble) and Gabe Marks as well as the game notes from WSU. There is also a morning post with links. ... ESPN.com’s Pac-12 blog has a short summary of the game. ... Jacob has some New Jersey links. We add a couple more. The Rutgers folks are still trying to figure out what happened on the final drive. ... Talks between the Pac-12 and DirectTV fell apart this week. Is this Larry Scott's Waterloo? ... Oregon went into East Lansing and lost a tough one to Michigan State. Reading all the commentary, it seems Vernon Adams is no Marcus Mariota and his failure on one throw cost the Ducks the game. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure only one play wasn't the difference.
• EWU: The Eagles are 0-2 and the sky is falling. Well, no. but they are 0-2 after a disappointing 38-35 loss at Northern Iowa. Cooper Kupp, quite possibly the best offensive weapon in the FCS, did not play after halftime due to a hip pointer. ... Portland State leads the Big Sky standings after going into Pocatello and defeating Idaho State 34-14. ... Southern Utah played well last week. Not this week.
• Idaho: The Vandals allowed Dezmon Epps to suit up last night but he didn’t play against USC. Smart - and needed - move. Anyway, his play wouldn’t have made a difference. The Trojans routed UI 59-9 behind Cody Kessler’s career-high 410 passing yards.
• Whitworth: The Pirates opened the 2015 season with a 47-11 victory over the Poets of Whittier. Tom Clouse was at the Pine Bowl and has this game story.
• Chiefs: Spokane scored five times in the third period and rallied for a 5-3 exhibition victory over Red Deer.
• Preps: It was nice warm fall day yesterday, just perfect for a cross country meet. Greg Lee was at the Tracy Walters Invitational and has this story. ... We also can pass along a roundup of Friday night football games that didn’t make the Saturday paper.
• Seahawks: Love this headline. No, Chancellor won’t be in St. Louis today. Will his absence be important? ... The Hawks will rely on some contributions from rookies today. ... They may not play as big a role as the two rookie starters the Rams have on their offensive line, which has to match up against one of the NFL’s best front sevens. Of course, the Hawk offensive line has questions as well. ... The 2013 draft was awful for most everyone.
• Mariners: You know, this Mariner team would have been fun to watch all summer. By that, I mean it’s too bad the M’s didn’t play this well all year. They won again yesterday, 7-2 over Colorado. ... Finding a catcher won’t be easy for the M’s if Mike Zunino can’t get his offensive act together. ... Robinson Cano is not 100 percent, but he's playing anyway. ... Mark Trumbo is on a roll.
• Sounders: Would you trade a point on the road for three injuries? I’m not sure anyone would, but the Sounders may have yesterday. They got the point all right, thanks to a late Obafemi Martins goal and a 1-1 draw against San Jose. But the severity of the injuries is unknown. ... Real Salt Lake picked up three points on the road.
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• I’m contemplating missing part of the Seahawks game today. I know, sacrilege. But the weather is so nice and the trails so uncrowded, I’m thinking of taking a long morning stroll through Dishman Hills. If I do, I’ll set the DVR. I promise. Until later ...
