Let's begin today's notes with a comment on the significance of 11/11. Annually Americans pause and give thanks for the many sacrifices made on our behalf by our military forces. It may be simple, but it isn't said often enough. May I extend a heartfelt "Thanks!" for your service.
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We're just a couple of days away from a crucial game for Cougar football. WSU travels to Eugene with its focus on winning just one game this week. There are a number of stories to weed through leading up to a game that looks to determine who wins the Pac-12 North. That's right. Win the only game Wazzu is playing this week and they will be in the driver's seat to play for a Pac-12 Championship.
https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/WSUs-Jake-Dickert-a-defensive-guy-but-says-top-Coug-in-recent-weeks-is-on-offense-174993181/
https://www.nbcrightnow.com/sports/washington_state_university/line-of-scrimmage-a-big-point-of-emphasis-for-washington-state-against-no-3-oregon/article_9dcaf716-407b-5375-89e0-2314544babf9.html
https://www.nbcrightnow.com/sports/washington_state_university/washington-state-offensive-line-beginning-to-play-up-to-preseason-expectations/article_f39188ae-7771-566c-89bc-c485079cfe64.html#tncms-source=article-nav-next -
The Washington State Men's and Women's Cross Country teams are headed to the capital of California this Friday, November 12th, to compete at the 2021 NCAA West Regionals, hosted by Sacramento State. The 2021 NCAA West Regional will take place this Friday at the Haggin Oaks Golf Course. The women's 6,000m race is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. PT and the men's 10,000m race will begin at 11 a.m. PT.
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COUGARS HEAD TO THE BAY AREA FOR TWO MATCHES
JEHLAROVA EARNS THIRD PAC-12 DEFENSIVE Player Of The Week
Washington State Volleyball heads to the Bay Area to take on Cal and Stanford this weekend. The Cougs look to keep pace at the top of the Pac-12, currently in third, two games out of first. The Cougs are coming off of two victories at home last weekend. Magda Jehlarova led the charge with a phenomenal performance over Arizona and Arizona State. Jehlarova turned in one of the best-ever individual performances in the Cougs win over Arizona State. The junior had 9 blocks and 21 kills on just 25 attempts, marking an unprecedented hit percentage of .840. The Cougs take on the Cal Golden Bears Thursday at 7 p.m. Fans can catch the match here. Then on Saturday, November 13th the Cougs will take on the Stanford Cardinal at 8 p.m. -
Until WSU AD Pat Chun makes a decision, we're going to be treated to a torrent of talk about who will be the next head coach of Wazzu football. Here's a couple of stories packed with expert analysis.
https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/Jake-Dickert-Forget-interim-makes-clear-hes-WSU-footballs-interviewing-head-coach-175013834/
https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1525555/who-next-wsu-coach-candidates-both-sidelines/ -
Just one game into the season for WSU women's hoops, some folks believe it's time to talk NCAA tournament. Granted, the team played very well in their opener, but it does seem a bit premature to offer such commentary. It's out there and it caught our attention so who knows? Maybe it is something you're curious about as well.
https://www.cougcenter.com/2021/11/9/22773502/wsu-cougars-womens-basketball-ncaa-tournament-kamie-ethridge -
In what has quietly become a tradition in Pullman, WSU soccer is about to make another run at a national championship. Their quest begins this week as the Cougs host Montana State this coming Saturday at 5pm PST on the lower soccer field. Cougar Nation is rooting for their team to earn the College Cup for the first time in school history. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. A huge part of the recent success of Cougar soccer is grounded in recruiting talented student-athletes. Jeff Nusser put together some informative comments on this year's class.
https://www.cougcenter.com/2021/11/11/22776991/with-ncaa-tournament-on-deck-wsu-soccer-reloads
Go Cougs!!!
- It seems fitting to put together a list of coaches who branch off of the Mike Leach coaching tree. Perspective on his football genius can easily be determined by a cursory glance:
Dave Aranda/Baylor head coach – Graduate assistant coach under Leach from 2000-02 at Texas Tech
Neal Brown/West Virginia head coach – Played under Leach in 1998 when Leach was offensive coordinator at Kentucky
Sonny Cumbie/Louisiana Tech head coach – Played under Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-03 and later served as a graduate assistant coach under Leach
Sonny Dykes/TCU head coach – Coached wide receivers and later was the co-offensive coordinator at Texas Tech under Leach from 2000-06
Josh Heupel/Tennessee head coach – Played under Leach at Oklahoma in 1999 when Leach was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners
Dana Holgorsen/Houston head coach – Coached alongside Leach as assistants at Valdosta State from 1993-95, then served as a wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator under Leach from ...
- The news of former WSU Coach Mike Leach passing at the young age of 61 is very, very sad. I had the pleasure of writing about the Cougs when Leach was at the helm. To say that he was a unique person doesn't begin to describe the multi-faceted dimension of the man.
In terms of coaching football, Leach led his teams in a way that had most other coaches scratching their heads. His offensive creativity gave a multitude of defensive coordinators ulcers. To say that his techniques for molding student-athletes into football players were unusual would be accurate. Making guys run sprints in a sand pit named "Leach Beach" is a prime example. Crazy as that sounds, his players had fewer ankle injuries over the course of the season than any team in football. Only Mike Leach could get players to hit the beach. And if you look at the coaching tree that branches out from Leach, you'd find a myriad of men who owe him for their start in the profession.
When you examine the way Leach represented the schools ...
- Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so Wazzu's loss yesterday to UNLV by a score of 74-70 was just that, a loss. However, there were plenty of reasons to applaud both the performance and the progress the Cougs are making over the past few games. Let's get the bad observation out of the way. WSU turned the ball over a ridiculous 22 times. No one is going to beat many teams with such wreckless play, especially against a team that posted a 9-0 record going into the contest. Some of those errors might be attributed to Coach Kyle Smith going with a different lineup almost every game because of player injuries. Facts are facts and when there isn't a steady lineup, players struggle to play team ball. On the bright side, Wazzu shot a respectable 54.2% from the field, coupled with a very nice 56.5% from behind the arc. On defense, WSU held UNLV to just 30.4% from behind the arc and 50.9% overall. The Cougs outrebounded the Rebels by a margin of 33-20. Despite being down by ...
