[Vision2020] WSU Football Commentary

[Wayne Price]

For what it's worth, I too know nothing about coaching football, and  
I'm willing to do it for much less than $50,000.00 A MONTH!

I'm glad they have direct deposit over at WSU, because the coaches  
couldn't look a bank teller in the eyes when they cash their checks  
every  month!










On Oct 11, 2009, at 1:04 PM, Art Deco wrote:

>
>
> October 11, 2009 in Sports
>
> Cougars need Akey
>
> / The Spokesman-Review
>
> As a longtime Cougars fan, I felt it was time for my first  
> assessment of the way things are going.
>
> WSU blew it when it let Robb Akey get away. Look what he has done  
> with Idaho football in two years, and then look at what Paul Wulff  
> has done to WSU in his two years. Idaho, second in conference;  
> Cougars, 10th.
>
> Paul, the eternal optimist, still doesn’t have the “no-huddle”  
> offense off the ground. Robb Akey uses it for the first time against  
> Colorado State and comes from down 20-7 to beat the Rams 24-20.
>
> Wulff should be coaching volleyball and get rid of those “rose- 
> colored” glasses he whips out every Monday to tell us “there were  
> positives in the game; something to build on.”
>
> If you can’t dig out of a hole, you aren’t going to build anything.  
> WSU is too tall for Paul.
>
> Safety tip: If you want to keep Cougars out of your yard, just put  
> up goal posts instead of a fence. Problem solved. (Go, Wulff –  
> anywhere.)
>
> Ed Hollow
>
> Spokane
>
>
>
>
>
>
> October 11, 2009 in Sports
>
> On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being . . .
>
> John Blanchette
>
> PULLMAN – They launched what they call the “10/10/10 Initiative”  
> this week at Washington State University.
>
> It’s the school’s mission to increase its athletic foundation  
> membership to 10,000 by Oct. 10, 2010. That’s actually 10/10/10/10,  
> but who’s counting?
>
> Meanwhile, the football program continues with its own 10/10/10  
> initiative.
>
> First-and-10, second-and-10, third-and-10…
>
> Yes, the latest Cougar defeat – 27-14 to Arizona State, in front of  
> the smallest homecoming crowd at Martin Stadium in 18 years – looked  
> more respect- able, but really wasn’t any such thing. So the jokes  
> come easy.
>
> And they should. For letting the program lapse into such a state is  
> a shame on the school’s leadership both past and current, and cream  
> pies to the kisser are more than in order. And while the new  
> football regime is working overtime on the restoration and coach  
> Paul Wulff is unwavering in his vision for the long term, it is just  
> as true that since the athletic department isn’t offering refunds,  
> there is a responsibility to the current customers to put a  
> reasonable facsimile of college football on display.
>
> But when do you finally acknowledge that it can’t be done – not  
> right now?
>
> Spot an opponent a 10-0 lead after 10 plays, cede a receiver 10  
> acres of cushion, have viewers/listeners flipping the dial after 10  
> minutes …
>
> There was some wishful sentiment out in Cougworld that this had the  
> makings of a happy homecoming, based mostly on ASU’s desultory  
> effort against Oregon State last week and the struggles of  
> quarterback Danny Sullivan. And though the defense is considerably  
> better, it had managed just three sacks through four games – so  
> maybe WSU freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel might get out of duck-and- 
> cover mode.
>
> Then came kickoff, and the day’s biggest shocker: the Cougs forced  
> six turnovers.
>
> And still had no chance.
>
> Because while there are a few promising young faces out there, what  
> little experience and depth the Cougars had in their two lines are  
> simply gone. And what’s left is low-hanging fruit for the pickers in  
> the Pac-10.
>
> No one wants to hear this. Injuries are an “excuse,” because every  
> team has them. Inexperience is an “alibi,” because everyone’s on  
> scholarship.
>
> Kids? Heck, just coach ‘em up.
>
> See No. 10 get sacked 10 times, take losses on 10 running plays,  
> punt 10 times…
>
> But eventually the evidence is too overwhelming, just as WSU’s  
> personnel travails have become. On Saturday, 14 players who have  
> either started or were expected to were unavailable; two more,  
> Daniel Simmons and Brian Danaher, joined the list for the next game.
>
> In the meantime, eight freshmen were in the starting lineup, five  
> between the two lines. Eight more saw action. This doesn’t even  
> include the day’s big-play find, receiver Johnny Forzani, a junior  
> in eligibility but as football green as the average high school  
> sophomore.
>
> Arizona State started one freshman.
>
> The results were frightful. Tuel and his relief, Marshall  
> Lobbestael, were sacked 12 times, probably a school record if  
> records were kept on most flies de-winged. Through their first four  
> possessions, the Cougars surrendered four sacks, were penalized four  
> times, intercepted twice and had four minus rushing plays. On the  
> day, 39 Cougar snaps went for zero or negative yardage.
>
> “The kids played hard,” said Wulff, “but we played young and not  
> very aggressive.”
>
> Lack of aggression can be a sign of youthful uncertainty – or of  
> mixed signals. It didn’t help late in the first half, for instance,  
> when the Cougs were ordered into a passive defense after stopping  
> the Sun Devils the previous four possessions. A 7-0 deficit – can  
> you imagine Wazzu being down only a touchdown at halftime? – quickly  
> became 13-0.
>
> “They were in prevent the whole time and we were able to hit the  
> ball inside to our slots,” said ASU coach Dennis Erickson, “and kind  
> of move it down in there without having to throw it deep.”
>
> Suffer 10 losses, go 10 years without a bowl game, hope to have  
> 10,000 fans still in the stands after halftime …
>
> Just how overwhelming this is to the 16 freshmen and other rookies  
> seeing time is impossible to gauge, for it involves not just  
> experience but disadvantages in strength and speed and, yes,  
> ability. And yet Forzani, who teamed with Tuel on the 99-yard  
> touchdown pass (“I’ve been doing so many things wrong it felt good  
> that they gave me a chance to do something right”), insists the kids  
> are “fully capable.”
>
> “We have to be,” he said. “We have no choice. And if we’re not, we  
> have to learn.”
>
> The lessons, they’re coming by 10s.
>
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