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Sunday wasn't a good day for Cougar baseball (9-14, 1-8 Pac-12) as they were swept out of Palo Alto by the No. 18 Stanford Cardinal (12-8, 4-5 Pac-12). Wazzu's third and final loss of the series was by a score of 8-3.
This one got away from the Cougs in the fifth inning when the combination of sloppy fielding and timely Cardinal hitting pushed all eight of Stanford's runs across the plate. Before the final out of the game was recorded, WSU would commit five errors. That's not the stuff winning baseball is made from.
Cougar bats accounted for just five hits, so actually they were timely, just not very frequent.
WSU heads to Provo, Utah for a Tuesday afternoon matchup at BYU.
https://wsucougars.com/news/2022/3/27/baseball-cougars-drop-series-finale-at-no-18-stanford.aspx -
It would seem that one thing already coming out of Cougar football spring camp is the moniker for the new offense. Cougar Nation will well remember Coach Mike Leach bringing his unique Air Raid offense to the Palouse. One of the local radio guys tried to refer to it at Coug Air. Not only did that phrase never catch on, but the guy was also summarily dismissed. Perhaps Coach Leach wasn't pleased with the announcer's creativity.
The new offense brought to Pullman to replace the Run and Shoot is a version of the Air Raid. However, it has one significant difference in that Coach Eric Morris, the new offensive coordinator, deploys a tight end in his typical formation to enhance the running game possibilities. Since that is quite a difference from a typical Air Raid, why not give it a different label. The one being used by Colton Clark of the Spokesman/Review is Coug Raid. It doesn't really flow off the tongue smoothly, but it's different. Where it's similar is at the quarterback position. To quote head Coach Jake Dickert, it's a “quarterback-driven offense,” where the starter calls out the play after reading the defense. He looks for potential openings in the defensive formation and uses those opportunities to pass the football. At least two receivers will run routes as decoys to attract the attention of defenders.
So we'll see if Coug Raid lasts. One thing this time around with the name change of Leach's Air Raid, Colton Clark will get the boot only if his boss at the S/R is pressured by WSU. Given that Coach Dickert doesn't seem to have an ego the size of Mike Leach, Clark's job is probably safe.
Cam Ward played for offensive coordinator Eric Morris at The Incarnate Word before transferring to Wazzu. Ward was considered to be one of the top three quarterbacks who went into the transfer portal looking for a new home. When Coch Morris was hired by Dickert, hours later Ward had an offer on the table valued at around $300,000 in NLI money along with a scholarship. Shortly after announcing the offer to Ward, projected starting WSU quarterback Jayden da Laura placed his name in the transfer portal. Da Laura went from planting Ol' Crimson in the middle of the field at Husky Stadium after winning the Apple Cup in grand style to dodging jumping cactus in Tucson at the University of Arizona.
Back to the present and Wazzu spring ball. Ward has been gaining glowing reports from the media about his performance during practice. Apparently, he is more comfortable with the new offense than many of his teammates. Ward has more size, 6'2" 223lbs., than da Laura and throws all variety of passes with accuracy. Of note, Ward is very comfortable throwing sidearm to avoid rushing defenders looking to deflect his throws. His ability to improvise, a key component of Coug Raid, has impressed onlookers.
Aside from Ward, the other component of this edition of Cougar football is the depth at the defensive line. Reports are that every player taking a rep on the D-line has shown flashes of brilliance. Those rave reviews must be taken with a grain of salt because there have not been full contact practices yet.
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 ...
