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<H5 style="PADDING-TOP: 5px" class=details>October 11, 2009 in Sports</H5></DIV>
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<H2>Cougars need Akey</H2>
<DIV class="details nested grid-8"><SPAN>/ The Spokesman-Review </SPAN></DIV>
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<P>As a longtime Cougars fan, I felt it was time for my first assessment of the
way things are going.</P>
<P>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 <EM
class=i>to</EM> WSU in his two years. Idaho, second in conference;
Cougars, 10th. </P>
<P>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. </P>
<P>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.” </P>
<P>If you can’t dig out of a hole, you aren’t going to build anything. WSU is
too tall for Paul. </P>
<P>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.)</P>
<P><EM class=b>Ed Hollow</EM> </P>
<P><EM class=i>Spokane</EM> </P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV>
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<H5 style="PADDING-TOP: 5px" class=details>October 11, 2009 in Sports</H5></DIV>
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<H2>On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being . . .</H2>
<DIV class="details nested grid-8"><SPAN><A
href="http://www.spokesman.com/staff/john-blanchette/">John Blanchette</A>
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<P>PULLMAN – They launched what they call the “10/10/10 Initiative” this week at
Washington State University.</P>
<P>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?</P>
<P>Meanwhile, the football program continues with its own
10/10/10 initiative.</P>
<P><EM class=i>First-and-10, second-and-10, third-and-10…</EM> </P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>But when do you finally acknowledge that it can’t be done – not
right now?</P>
<P><EM class=i>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 …</EM> </P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>Then came kickoff, and the day’s biggest shocker: the Cougs forced
six turnovers.</P>
<P>And still had no chance.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>No one wants to hear this. Injuries are an “excuse,” because every team has
them. Inexperience is an “alibi,” because everyone’s on scholarship.</P>
<P>Kids? Heck, just coach ‘em up.</P>
<P><EM class=i>See No. 10 get sacked 10 times, take losses on 10 running plays,
punt 10 times…</EM> </P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>Arizona State started one freshman.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>“The kids played hard,” said Wulff, “but we played young and not
very aggressive.”</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>“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.”</P>
<P><EM class=i>Suffer 10 losses, go 10 years without a bowl game, hope to have
10,000 fans still in the stands after halftime …</EM> </P>
<P>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.”</P>
<P>“We have to be,” he said. “We have no choice. And if we’re not, we have
to learn.”</P>
<P>The lessons, they’re coming
by 10s.</P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>