National Rankings

Here is a link to national college football rankings from MSN/Fox Sports. The site lists rankings from 1 to 119. Washington State is ranked at a dismal #50. I was somewhat surprsied by this, but I suppose I shouldn't be this early on in the season. With quarterback Alex Brink's remarkable performance last weekend however, WSU should be moving steadily up the list. We may not be able to trounce USC or UCLA, but hopefully we'll steal games from teams like Arizona State and Oregon and sprint towards a long overdue showing at a bowl game.

WSU vs Wisconsin recap

Well, the Cougars did not have the season opening game we all hoped for. The Cougars stayed close with Wisconsin for a quarter, but in the end did not have the firepower on offense to keep up with Badgers. The final score was Wisconsin 42-WSU 21. On offense, their were a few bright spots for the Cougars.

Quarterback Alex Brink started strong, and had a pretty good game. He was 17 for 27 passing for 171 yards and a touchdown. He also had a career best 27 yard scramble. Running backs Christian Ivory and Dwight Tardy combined for over 100 yards and 2 td's, but were not verye ffective in the second half. Much of this was due to the Cougars trailing and being forced to pass.
Wide Reciever Brandon Gibson led the Cougars with 6 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. It was a good start for the junior who is expected to be a breakout star for the Cougars this year, filling the void left by Jason Hill.

Defensively, the Cougars did a good containing the Badgers high powered running game. P.J Hill was held to 84 yards rushing, but did score 2 rushing touchdowns. Unfortunately the Badgers passing attack was able to move the ball with ease throughout most of the game. Quarterback Tyler Donovan had a huge game, throwing for 284 yards and 3 touchdowns. His number 1 target was Luke Swan, who had career highs in catches with 8, recieving yards with 170 and touchdowns, with 2.

Play(s) of the Game: On the first drive of the game the Cougars were forced to punt. Darryl Blunt had his kick blocked, but was able to pick it up on one hop and rush for an 11 yard gain and a first down. The next play Alex Brink connected on a deep pass to Brandon Gibson, setting up the Cougars first score.

Players of the Game: Wisconsin WR Luke Swan and WSU RB Dwight Tardy

For more info about the game, check out these links
Espn
AP

Next week: WSU vs. San Diego State in Seattle

Is Basketball the New Football?

Will basketball ever overtake football as the premiere sport at WSU?

The Cougars basketball team went 24-6 last season before going to the NCAA tournament. Most importantly for Pullman, we were 13-2 at home. Basketball season was a beautiful time to be a Coug last year. Cougar fans needed some good roundball to wash the bitter taste out of their mouths left by last year's football season.

Football fans thought a bowl game appearance was in the bag last season, but no such luck. The problem is, the Cougs are already showing signs of last year's lackluster 6-6 performance.

They were blown out of the water the first game by Auburn last year. This year against Wisconsin was no different. I know these are highly nationally ranked teams, but WSU is a football school and Pullman is a football town. We need to be able to stand up against these types of ball clubs. Cougar fans can't take another .500 season.

What they are primed for however is more basketball. Coach Tony Bennett will undoubtedly be hungry after his amazing season and praise that flooded in from around the country. He surely does not want the '06-'07 season remembered as a fluke and will be looking to take his team to tournament back to back.

Of course Derrick Low (13.7 ppg last season) and Kyle Weaver (11.2 ppg last season) will be back as seniors, arguably the best backcourt in the Pac-10. They've tasted what it's like to win and to have the fans behind them now. There's no way they will give that up their last year at WSU.

So will football fall to the wayside? No, we love our Cougar football and always will. The great thing is, we now have a basketball program that in short order has brought together a school who has had little to cheer about during the fall.


(Statistics used in this article were found here)

Cougar Season Opener Vs. Wisconsin

The Cougars kick off the 2007 season Saturday, Sept 1 against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Cougars come into the game as heavy underdogs to the Badgers, who are ranked 7th in both the AP and USA Today polls. The Cougars are coming off a disappointing end to last season, as they ended with 3 consecutive defeats, including ending the season with an embarrassing loss to the University of Washington in the Apple Cup. The motivation from this loss should help the Cougars come out fired up, and give the badgers a run for their money.

On offense, the Cougars return 7 starters including 2nd team all Pac-10 Quarterback Alex Brink. Brink can throw the ball to an array of wide receivers, including potential superstar Brandon Gibson, Michael Bumpus, Charles Dillon and others. However, they did lose Jason Hill who is now on the San Francisco 49er's The trouble may be the offense line, which last year did a poor job protecting Brink. This line was also unable to open many running lanes for the back, as the leading rusher was Dwight Tardy with only 667 yards and 4 touchdowns. The year before Jerome Harrison had led the team, and was among the national leaders with 1900 yards and 16 td's. They will need Tardy to put up Harrison like numbers to compete against Wisconsin and the rest of their tough 2007 schedule. Kicker is another position of problem, as Loren Langley made less than 55% of his field goal attempts last year. Although he is returning for his senior year, he has been replaced by Romeen Abdollmohammadi, who the Cougars hope can be a more effective weapon.

The Cougar defense was not exactly solid last year, and lost many key players. Defensive stars Mkristo Brice and Eric Frampton both graduated and moved onto the NFL. This year's defensive will need to be much better if they hope to be competitive. Wisconsin is starting a new quarterback this year, and getting pressure on him will be key to the Cougars pulling off a huge upset.

Wisconsin is coming off a very successful season, which included 9 consecutive wins to end the season. They defeated Arkansas in a bowl game to conclude the year. Their offense was led by running back P.J Hill and quarterback John Stocco(graduated). Tyler Donovan will replace him, and his play should dictate much of the game. If the cougars can contain Hill and make Donovan beat them, this will give them an actual chance to win.

My prediction is the Cougars will put up a valiant fight and keep the game close at halftime. However, Wisconsin's running game will eventually wear out the Cougar Defense, and this will be the difference in the game.
Wisconsin 38-WSU 24

Links to other previews
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/preview?gameId=272440275&confId=9
http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/gamecenter/preview/NCAAF_20070901_WAST@WI
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/preview?gid=200709010036

2007 Cougar Football Schedule

Here is the 2007 football schedule for the Cougars.

Key home games include the home opener against Idaho on September 15th, Pac-10 opener against Arizona State on October 6th, and a key game against 14 ranked UCLA on October 27.

The Cougars kick off their season this Saturday against the #7 Wisconsin Badgers, in Madison, Wisc. The Cougars are heavy underdogs, and will be looking to pull a huge upset. Last season the Cougars started their season on the road against highly ranked Auburn, but were defeated handily 40-14. Let's hope this season is different and the Cougs can start it off with a bang.