Here's the headline from WSU teasing their coverage of the Crimson and Gray game played Saturday in Pullman, "Crimson Rallies for Late Score in Victory Over Gray". Now if that doesn't get your juices flowing, who knows what will!
In case you didn't watch the final scrimmage of Cougar football, the game was played in a quirky scoring system. The Crimson squad was offense the entire way and was awarded points the way fans are accustomed to. The Gray squad played defense the entire way and earned points for causing a punt, causing a three and out, and most significantly causing a turnover. Every defensive turnover was worth seven points.
It was clear that the players were far most interested in the scoring system than the fans were. Players were both competitive and emotional about who had more points up on the scoreboard. For this guy's part, the scoring was probably the least interesting aspect of the scrimmage.
Here are some of my takeaways from the final scrimmage:
#1 - I don't recall a WSU head coach with the demeanor of Jake Dickert since the days of Mike Price. Dickert was on the field behind the quarterback the entire game. He was bantering with his players at a genuine level. Heck, he was even bantering with the officials and had them smiling more than once. There were conference refs calling the game and they were in midseason form, missing holding calls, face mask calls, and illegal blocks downfield along with other assorted infractions.
#2 - Wazzu does not have an heir apparent to replace the duo of Max Borghi and Deone McIntosh at running back. Nakia Watson, the transfer from Wisconsin, is touted to be the starter. Watson had one carry for five yards. What? Freshman Djouvensky Schlenbaker took the bulk of the carries gaining 34 yards on 11 carries. The most impressive running back was another freshman, Kannon Katzer, who showed quickness while picking up 53 yards on just four carries.
#3 - Cam Ward is as good as his billing. Ward still has some rough edges to smooth out when it comes to making quick decisions. The new quarterback completed 21 of his 30 passes for 246 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. When he does find a receiver, the ball is delivered accurately and with plenty of zip. In watching guys battle for the backup position, none stood out. Emmet Brown looks like a fan favorite because of his diminutive stature. Don't think he'd measure 6' tall standing on a chair. However, the kid has a really good arm and appears to understand the offense pretty well. Xavier Ward doesn't look much better than he did in the Crimson and Gray game last year. Then there were the other two guys who were definitely intriguing. Chris Irving was 9 for 12 with two touchdowns with no interceptions. He looked very sharp and reminds one of Victor Gablalis who played well in the bowl game last season replacing Wazzu's starting QB who now is playing for Arizona. Then there's the final contestant for the backup slot, Luke Holcomb. First off, when was the last time you saw a quarterback wearing the number 98? Seems that was all the Cougs had left when he walked onto campus last fall. Next, when was the last time Wazzu had a quarterback who stands 6' 5"? I believe the answer to that question is Ryan Leaf, who was on the sideline providing reporting for the Pac-12 announcers. As an aside, making my point about Dickert's demeanor, the Wazzu coach asked Leaf to put his mike down and come into the game to throw a pass. That's right, the sideline reporter went into the game for one play. However, when Leaf short-armed a pass short into the flat targeting the inside receiver, Dickert knew Leaf could do better than that. So with no warmups and wearing street clothes, Leaf ran a second play and completed the same route. When was the last time you saw a WSU coach do something like that? Answer: Mike Price. Back to assessing Holcomb. The kid looked extremely comfortable in the pocket and seemed to understand the offense. He finished 13 of 18 for 144 yards and two touchdowns, including a gem in the back of the endzone. All of the guys competing for the backup spot need a lot of work. The one who stood out above the rest was Holcomb.
#4 - The front six for the Wazzu defense are in very competent hands. Granted, the defense gave up nearly 800-yards of offense on the day, but you could see the potential of the front end of the Cougar D. It's the secondary that is concerning. If you just look at the stat sheet, the secondary collected four interceptions. That's pretty darn good. However, two of those were created by receivers with stone hands deflecting a good pass into a defender's hands. Guys were out of position, caught with their eyes in the backfield, and missing tackles all scrimmage. It's one thing to focus on turnovers and quite another to defend first, then go after the football. That said, the main purpose of a scrimmage is to develop players. Coaches will have plenty of quality tape to review and coach up their guys before the fall campaign begins.
#5 - It was very disappointing to see only about 3,000 to 4,000 students at the scrimmage. With the weather providing a beautiful spring day, it's hard to believe there was something better to do in Pullman than watch the Cougs workout on the field. Keep in mind, it was snowing last week so why pass up a chance to work on your tan whilst taking in some Cougar football?
https://wsucougars.com/news/2022/4/23/football-crimson-rallies-for-late-score-in-victory-over-gray.aspx

Turning to Cougar baseball, the series with No. 10 Oregon down in Eugene is level at one game each. The rubber game will be played Sunday afternoon.
Cougar bats have continued to make noise in both games. Wazzu had a seven-run lead in the game Friday night but lost it in the final two innings when the bullpen couldn't maintain a lead eventually losing 8-7. They wasted an outstanding pitching performance turned in by Cole McMillan who struck out ten in 6 2/3 innings of work. The bullpen gave up five runs in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings, then surrendered a walk-off single in the tenth to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The game Saturday was almost a carbon copy of the night before where Wazzu jumped out to a 6-1 lead and had to hang on for a 10-8 conference win. The Cougs punished Duck pitching with four home runs as part of a 14-hit attack. This time around the WSU bullpen had just enough to win the game.

Here's an update on the possibility of Kirk Schultz leaving Pullman for the job as commissioner of the Big 12. As per Cougfan.com, "WSU President Kirk Schulz ‘has absolutely no interest in the Big 12 Commissioner job."