A Grip on Sports: Celebrations, upsets and revelry dominated college football Saturday – and every Saturday
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Sunday. The Seahawks don’t play until Monday. We can concentrate on college football. We do.
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• A few random thoughts from a full day of watching games …
• Some of us can remember the Palouse Posse. And the dark days of the Paul Wulff era. Both were in the back of our head while we watched the Washington State defense frustrate Wisconsin in Madison yesterday. And make no mistake about it, it was the defense that keyed the 17-14 victory.
We thought of the Wulff era because of one thing that has always stuck with me. How slow the defense was in that time frame. Bill Doba was a great defensive coach but by the time he left Pullman, his favorite side of the ball was a shell of itself. Size was an issue, sure, but worse, the Cougars were a step slower at every position than they needed to be.
Unlike Doba’s defense during Mike Price’s incredible early 21st Century run. Or the aforementioned Posse. Back then, though the Cougars were always undersized, they could run with anyone. Up front, at linebacker and in the defensive backfield. It was a WSU staple. Then it disappeared.
It’s back.
As is the effort needed to make a fast, undersized group compete. This Cougar defense flies around. Can run with most receivers, especially those at a fun-first school like Wisconsin. Brian Ward’s group – even upfront – is as fast as any we’ve seen WSU produce.
Does it mean they are invincible? No. They have to stay healthy. They have to continue to stay disciplined, something they did for the most part against the Badgers. And Ward has to trust them enough to play more man-to-man coverage, especially against teams that can’t outrun them.
If the Cougars continue to play as they did yesterday, someone is going to have to coin a catchy nickname for this group. They are that good.
• The Cougars’ win should have been the talk of the national media Saturday. Going into Madison and upsetting the No. 19 team in the country deserved the recognition. But it wasn’t.
Appalachian State took care of that. So did Marshall. Their upsets of No. 6 Texas A&M and Notre Dame pushed the Cougars to the back burner.
• Pac-12 commissioner George Klivakoff probably appreciates the win, though. Big time. One of his “after-thoughts” in this latest round of conference realignment just handed an “L” to a Big Ten favorite.
The conference needs such wins. It got just the one Saturday, though, as Arizona State couldn’t handle Oklahoma State and Arizona failed against Mississippi State. Couple those losses with Colorado’s blowout at Air Force and the Coug win plus Oregon State’s gutsy last-second – literally – win at Fresno State doesn’t balance out. It’s close, but nope.
Just think, however, how bad it would have been without the two Northwest ag schools coming through.
• We root for Mike Leach. And we know why. It has nothing to do with his personality. We’ve always felt that was overblown in some ways, understated in others. The public part we ignore. The private part, his condescending attitude toward everyone he believes is not as smart as him – and that’s most everyone – bothers us no end.
And yet we are still in his corner. Mainly because of what he did for this corner of the nation.
He came to Washington State at one of the worst times in the school’s football history. And rebuilt the program. There is no upset in Wisconsin yesterday if not for the foundation Leach put together in Pullman. A foundation that took a person with a strong will and vision to create.
Every Cougar fan should be in Leach’s corner. Last night he returned to the Pac-12 by bringing an SEC team into the West. That’s rare. And his Bulldogs ran roughshod over Arizona, making former WSU quarterback Jayden de Laura look less-than-ordinary in the process.
We were in for all of it.
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WSU: Lucky Colton Clark. He was able to receive the full Jump Around Experience and still write about a Washington State victory. We didn’t get that latter part. He has his game story, a pregame story about Jake Dickert returning home to Wisconsin, a story on the in-game loss of Derrick Langford Jr. and the difference makers. … There is also a story about the Dickert family from Madison. … We have our TV Take, the folks in the office put together this recap with highlights and there is a photo gallery. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, Jon Wilner has his usual Saturday thoughts in the Mercury News. … There was one conference game, with No. 10 USC traveling to Stanford. The Cardinal played the gracious host, handing Alex Grinch’s defense the ball four times as the Trojans rolled, 41-28. … Washington hosted Portland State and did what it was supposed to do, win big. The Huskies posted a 52-6 victory before a sparse crowd. … There is more below, but Oregon bounced back from the embarrassment of Atlanta with a 70-14 rout of Eastern Washington. The Ducks scored on almost every possession in Eugene. … As we said above, Oregon State made the gutsy decision to go for the win on the game’s last play and it paid off. The Beavers picked up a 35-32 win at Fresno State. … UCLA played its backups, sometimes by choice, other times due to injury, in a 45-7 rout of Alabama State at the Rose Bowl. … California struggled but was able to go to 2-0 by holding off visiting UNLV 20-14. … Arizona State didn’t have enough offensively to stay with No. 11 Oklahoma State, losing 34-17 in Stillwater. … Utah’s loss to Florida spurred the Utes’ 73-7 blowout of visiting Southern Utah. At least that’s how we see it. … Colorado changed quarterbacks but the Buffs continued to struggle, losing big at Air Force. … Too many mistakes killed Arizona’s chances against visiting Mississippi State.
Gonzaga: Everyone on the West Coast is wooing guard Zoom Diallo, from Tacoma’s Curtis High. The Zags joined the fray yesterday, offering the 2024 prospect. Theo Lawson has more in this story.
EWU: Yes, we have a lot more to pass along from Eugene, courtesy of Dan Thompson. He has a game story as well as the one highlight, Jeff Carpenter catching a touchdown pass in his home state. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana handed visiting South Dakota a 24-7 defeat. … Montana State was even better against Morehead State, winning 63-13. … Cal Poly edged San Diego 28-27. … Northern Arizona went to Sam Houston State and came home with a 10-3 victory. … Wyoming pounded visiting Northern Colorado 33-10. … San Diego State did the same to Idaho State, 38-7. … UC Davis failed on a two-point conversion and lost at South Dakota State 24-22. … Weber State pounded in-state rival Utah State 35-7. … Portland State struggled in Seattle.
Idaho: The Vandals put another scare in another Power 5 school. They traveled to Indiana, dealt with a rain storm and the Hoosiers early, led by 10 before finally wearing down in the second half and falling 35-22.
Whitworth: It wasn’t homecoming for the Pirates – that comes next month – but one key player made it his personal one. John Blanchette explains who and what the quarterback did in the Whits’ 33-7 victory over Eastern Oregon in the Pine Bowl. … James Snook has a photo gallery from Saturday’s game.
Preps: Dave Nichols did what he does, putting together a column based on Friday night’s football games. … Keenan Gray covered Saturday’s Highlander Invitational.
Indians: Spokane picked up a win in the season’s penultimate game as the Indians defeated Tri-City 7-4 in Pasco. Dave Nichols has the story.
Mariners: George Kirby won the battle of the young pitching stars and the M’s picked up a game in the wild-card race. Seattle won 3-1 and it would have been a shutout if not for an inopportune error. … Julio Rodriguez is not stealing bases as often. There is a reason for that.
Seahawks: The Hawks’ rebuilding year begins Monday, though the players don’t think so. They expect to win. … Richard Sherman always did. He’s been hanging around the Hawks and helping them prepare for Russell Wilson. … Speaking of Wilson, was the trade just a football decision? … Tyler Ott is out Monday and may need surgery.
Sounders: Raul Ruidiaz scored twice and Seattle picked up a must-have 3-0 win over visiting Austin. The Sounders are only four points out of a playoff spot, though they still have to vault two teams.
Storm: What did Sue Bird mean to Seattle basketball? Everything. Others see it that way too.
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• That’s it. Have a great Sunday. Enjoy the RedZone. We’ll be back tomorrow but we won’t be here Tuesday. Taking the day off to hit the road. Vacation and all that. Until later …