Monday, October 29, 2007

Not Cougar related, but definetly worth looking at!

Maybe the craziest college football play of all time. Little bit like the infamous Cal/Stanford play, but i think even more unreal.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Cougs over Bruins, 27-7

Here is a recap from the much needed 27-7 Cougar victory over the Bruins on Saturday.

I can't even begin to describe how nice it was to see such a sound victory over a highly ranked team. After the quick touchdown by UCLA, I braced myself for another sound thrashing. However, WSU defense did not relent after that point. Holding UCLA to that single touchdown is hopefully a sign of things to come in terms of our defensive play. And Tardy put up a Harrisonesque performance with 214 rushing yards and two touchdowns. These game stats and others can be found here.

Saturday was a beautiful day on the Palouse. After the Oregon loss, we needed a shot in the arm, and I think this was just the kind of performance to do so. Whatever Doba and company figured out for this win, they better remember it for the rest of the season. Pullman wants a bowl game.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

WSU vs. UCLA preview

THis game is huge for the Cougars, as they need to win to remain bowl eligible. While it is a very unlikely the Cougars will make it to a bowl, it is still something to strive for. The game is also huge for UCLA, who is currently tied with ASU for first in the Pac-10 with a 4-0 conference record. The Bruins, who are 5-2 overall, have been playing their best against good teams this year.

Against two of their poorest opponents, Notre Dame and Utah, the Bruins where upset. Utah was winless when they played the Bruins, and went on to rout them, 44-6. UCLA was ranked in the top 25 at the time of that lost. Notre Dame was 0-5 when they went into California and stunned the Bruins 20-6. Notre Dame has since lost its next two games, including a 38-0 defeat at the hands of USC.

These two losses should give the Cougars hope, as bad competition has given the Bruins the most trouble. And right now, the Cougars would definetly be classified as bad competition.

WSU is coming off a bye week, so the Cougs should be rested and healthy. They will need to play much better than against Oregon if they hope to have a chance. Defensively, WSU can not give up 40 points in the first half and hope to have a chance. Offensively, the Cougars offense needs to score more than 7 points a game. Really basic stuff to be truthful.

Maybe the week off taught the Cougs how to play football again. We can only hope. And if not, Basketball season starts November 9, at 6:30 pm against Eastern Washington University, at Beasley Coliseum.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Pac-10 bottom feeders

Check This Out

Those are the current Pac-10 standings. Frankly, they are absolutely embarassing. In Pac-10 play the Cougars are winless in four games, but thats not the most troubling thing. They have been outsocred 171-61 or an average game of 42.75 to 15.25. Yeah, they are losing by 27+ points a game. So to win the Cougars would need a whooping 4 more touchdowns per game. Thats insane to think about.

The Cougars do have some company in last place however. The University of Washington is also 0-4 in the Pac-10, and have been outsocred 170-109. This entire state should be embarassed by its college football teams right now. The Apple Cup could pit a 2-9, 0-8 in Pac-10 Wazzu team against a 2-9, 0-8 in Pac-10 UW team. Wow. That would be the least entertaining and most meaningless Apple Cup game of all time.

At least UW has the excuse that they might play the hardest schedule in the country this year. WSU does not have that luxury. The team is simply bad, and getting worse from week to week. This week's bye gave the team team to heal from injuries, but is that really going to do anything? It may be time to start letting younger guys play more to see what we can do. Build around a core of Christian Ivory, Jeshua Anderson, Andy Mattingly and others. Give Kevin Lipona a shot at QB, because Brink is stinking up the joint. Sure, he has all kinds of WSU passing records, but his win percentage in the Pac-10 is awful over his four years.

Changes need to happen. WSU should not be the worst team in the Pac-10.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Fun In Eugene!...Kind Of.....




I traveled eight hours to Eugene, Oregon this past weekend with seven of my closest friends with the expectation of a somewhat decent football game against the University Of Oregon on Saturday. A good game is not at all what I got.


First of all, the heckling wasn't even bad before the game as we donned our Cougar gear. It made me realize how brutal the heckling can be in Pullman if you are a fan of the visiting team. However, the heckling got bad at halftime when we left the game, since we were losing 40-0. People were making fun of us, and they had every right to. I had never been more embarrassed in my life.


After the game we went back to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter house at the University of Oregon, where we were staying, and changed out of our WSU clothes so that we could go walk around again. We went to several bars, including Taylors and Rennies, which are right on campus. The rest of the weekend was pretty fun, but not as fun as the weekends are in Pullman. All in all it was a pretty fun weekend with friends, but the game was unbelievably embarrassing. Hopefully they make some coaching staff changes pretty soon.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Embarassing.

Thats about the only word to describe how the Cougars played on Saturday. They trailed 40-0. At halftime. The final score was 53-7, but the Ducks could have easily scored more if they hadn't been playing their 5th stringers.
Espn Recap

The lone bright spot for the Cougars was Freshman Jeshua Anderson. He caught 4 passes for 127 yards, his first career 100 yard game. The running game, Quarterback, Defense and everyone else stunk the joint up. I don't know if the Cougars will win another game. 2-10 seems likely and that is acceptable.

Basketball practice started though, so at least we got something positive going on. Pre-season number 7 and an easy Non-Conference schedule. Cowgill, Weaver and crew give Cougar fans something to look forward to in the coming months.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

WSU vs. U of O Game



Couple of shots from gameday in Eugene... a day we should all probably forget.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

The End of Doba?

With the Cougars losing on Saturday to slip to 2-4, 0-3 in the Pac-10 we may be witnessing the end of an era. Well, is it still called an era when its year after year of losing? Anyways, the calls for Doba's head are getting louder and Athletic Director Jim Sterk may need to make a move. A group has formed on facebook about firing Bill Doba as well. Fire Bill Doba . Check it out if your not a Doba fan. And who is these days?

The question of who would replace him may be the biggest problem. Mike Price is a popular choice among the fans, but thats not gonna happen. After the way he parted and the scandal at Alabama, Sterk has made it clear he has no interest. WSU's remote location and small stadium make it hard to attract a top tier coach as well. The Cougars may be forced to pull a coach from a smaller school that is doing well(or better than the Cougs at least) or try and attract an NFL assistant.

WSU does not have the money to get a really big name like UW or USC could. We do have marketable assets however. A newly refurbished stadium will be completed in the coming years, and will help attract recruits. The Cougars need to find a coach who can lead the Cougars into a new era of excellence.

Heartbreaker

We needed that win. We are now 0-3 in the Pac-10. A win against a ranked team would have done a great deal for our shaken confidence. Instead, a pulled field goal attempt with seconds left on the clock left a hopeful crowd utterly silent. I hate to be such a pessimist, but I don't see us rallying back from that one. A solid defensive outing was somewhat encouraging to see, but when we couldn't convert it into a 'W,' it's a bit of a moot point. Of course, we could have used those four points that were robbed from us on a 2nd quarter touchdown drive that sadly ended with a field goal. Boy those Pac-10 refs are real pros aren't they? Scumbags.

Click here for a game recap from Fox Sports.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Homecoming Weekend?

Is anybody else nervous about the game against Arizona State on Saturday? It normally woudln't be an issue for me, but seeing how we have played so far this season I feel like a lot of people might experience a dismal end to the homecoming week. I personally am making up for the potential sad weekend by having as much fun as possible this homecoming week. Tonight is games night, time to represent!!

Coach poll

Other Cougar Athletics

Sorry that it took so long to get these up. What we call a football team has been taking up a lot of attention, with their abysmal defensive and mediocre offense how could it not though?

Womens Tennis
In late september the Cougar Women's tennis team hosted the Cougar Classic. WSU did very well in the tournament, sending multiple players into later rounds of the tournament. Ekaterina Burduli defeated Boise State's Bianca Jochimsen 6-0, 6-4 to capture the number 1 singles title. She has a preseason national rank of No. 113. Also, Freshman Marina Nicolas defeated Anna Gullickson of Portland on route to the No. 3 singles championship. Those were the only Cougar women to win singles championships.

Burduli also played in the All-American Championship on October, 2. Unfortunately she was defeated in the first round by Duke's Tory Zawacki 6-3, 6-0. The Cougars are next in action Oct. 6-8 at the USTA NTC Women's College Tennis Invitational, held at the USTA National Tennis Center in New York.

Women's Volleyball
The volleyball team began play in late August, and started very quickly. They won their first 6 matches, and 8 of their first 9. Unfortunately, their luck has turned as of late. The Cougar women dropped 4 straight matches heading into Pac-10 play, and then were defeated by Oregon State, Oregon and Washington to extend their losing streak to 7. This dropped their overall record to 9-9. This Thursday and Friday the Cougars will play against Arizona and Arizona State, and hopefully turn their luck around.

Women's Soccer
The women's soccer team has gotten off to a hot start. They are current 7-1-2, and have held a national top 25 ranking. The one loss was a heart breaking 1-0 loss on the road to UNLV. They Cougars have one more non-conference game, a second meeting with Idaho, before they begin Pac-10 play on Oct. 12 at Arizona. The game against Idaho is Friday Oct. 5 in Moscow at Guy Wicks Field. Their is no charge to attend this game.

Currently Buzz Magazine ranks the team 30th nationally and 8th in the West region. NSCAA national rankings mirror those of Buzz Magazine.

Men's Golf
The men's golf team began their season in mid September at the Cobb/Ferrell Mean Green Classic. As a team the Cougars took 5th place, with individuals Austin Hust and Kevin Tucker both tying for 14th place among individuals.

They also played in the Giustina Memorial Class on Spetember 17th and 18th. Against stiffer competition including Pac-10 schools Oregon and Oregon State, the Cougars took 6th place. Nick Grigsby was the top individual finisher, taking 8th place.

The final event which they played in was the Husky Invitational, which was shortened due to weather. The Cougars did not fair as well in this tournmanet, finishing in 13th place. hust was the top finisher once again, tying for 31st place.


That is just a quick recap of some of the sports which WSU is participating in. So go ahead and support all Cougars athletics, even though football is not doing well. Also, basketball practice starts in less than 2 weeks. At least we have one sport too look forward too.