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What we're about
CougCenter is a website dedicated to covering all things Washington State University (although we'll throw in some national stuff as well). This won't be your typical fan site, flush with rip jobs; rather, we aim to bring – and encourage – the kind of smart, thoughtful analysis about Cougar athletics you won't find anywhere else.
Scout.com: Cougs Land Alabama 5A Back Of The Year
Meet DaMarcus James, a downhill runner from Alabama that just verballed to WSU. The article is a premium one, but hot diggity another commit!
That's 13 commits on the year. To learn more, check out our WSU Football Recruiting Central.
HOT COUGAR ACTION: Buy The Football Outsiders 2010 Almanac
by Jeff Nusser on Sep 2, 2010 10:16 AM PDT
in General Cougar Athletics
3 comments
I meant to pump this up earlier, but I just kept forgetting. But with actual games -- ACTUAL GAMES PEOPLE!!!! -- starting tonight, I wanted to make sure I threw this out there.
For the second year, Football Outsiders had written a football annual, and while I can't speak to the pro portion of it, I can tell you that the college portion is amazing. These guys are basically the football equivalent of Basketball Prospectus, which, if you've been with us for any length of time, you know we love. Even more cool is that one of the primary college authors is Bill Connelly from SB Nation's own Rock M Nation, and he so graciously sent us a PDF copy of the college section for our review. It's awesome.
If you want the cheapest, fastest way to become a smarter football fan, you can purchase a PDF copy directly from Football Outsiders -- all 600 pages worth. If you like books and don't mind spending a little more to get them, you can buy the book at your local bookstore for $21.95 plus tax. You also can order it here from Amazon, but then you'll have to wait a couple of days to be smarter.
And, lastly, if you want to become a smarter fan but don't want to spend any money, Football Outsiders is running a series this week on understanding their stuff. Check it out:
- FO Basics: Different Kinds of Stats
- FO Basics: Seven Years of FO Research
- FO Basics: Our College Stats
They'll wrap up Monday and Tuesday with "The importance (and limitations) of watching games on tape" and "Regression to the mean -- what it is and why it is so important when looking at football." Good stuff.
On to the links!
COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON BEGINS: MUST EXPRESS JOY IN RHYMES
by Craig Powers on Sep 2, 2010 8:23 AM PDT
in Miscellaneous Blog Stuff
3 comments
Hooray! Hooray!
The Season begins today.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Let's watch some Footbaw.
Summer's been long.
Loyalties gone wrong.
But teams must wait 'till twenty-eleven
For cash-money heaven.
Tired of previews.
Sick of all the breaking news.
Don't want to hear about "could."
Just want to see a safety lay the wood.
Hooray! Hooray!
The Season begins today.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Let's watch some Footbaw.
(Click the jump for more)
3 comments | 2 recs |
SB Nation Seattle: WSU And UW: Best/Worst Case Scenarios
There's no news at all today and I'm tired of waiting for the football season to start, so you get this.
In both cases for WSU, there's an obvious bright spot for the Cougs. Readers of this blog should know what it is.
AUDIO: Arizona State Preview With Pitchfork Nation
by Jeff Nusser on Sep 1, 2010 2:00 PM PDT
in The Pac-10
0 comments
Previous previews: UCLA, Cal, USC, Oregon, Oregon State
Next up in our series of short team previews is Arizona State, with Pitchfork Nation's Justin Karp. We talk about Dennis Erickson's recent lack of success, new quarterback Steven Threet, and what would constitute a successful season. Recorded Aug. 30, 2010.
If you're wondering why they're so short, we know a lot of people don't have a lot of time to listen to a ton of audio, so the interview portion of each of these previews is purposely being kept to "five good minutes," as they like to say on ESPN's Pardon The Interruption. In total, each episode is less than 10 minutes, and we'll have one or two a day for you through next week. (Although this one ran a little long.)
As usual, you can listen to the audio via the player below, or visit our podcast page for myriad ways to subscribe to all of our audio. (Our podcast page now has a mobile option for those of you reading this on your phone.) You can also find us in the iTunes directory under keyword "CougCenter," or simply click this link. The advantage of subscribing? Besides having the audio directly delivered to your player of choice, I often upload the audio to the podcast site before posting it here.
Also, if you own an Android phone (and I know many of you do), you have no reason not to download the Listen app and subscribe using this link. If you click on it from your mobile browser, you can complete the action with Listen. DO IT.
HOT COUGAR ACTION: SB Nation's Pac-10 Preview Arrives
by Jeff Nusser on Sep 1, 2010 10:54 AM PDT
in General Cougar Athletics
3 comments
Sorry for the lateness of this today. If I seem a little bit scarce in terms of writing the past few days, it's because between the starting up of school and putting together the SB Nation Pac-10 preview has soaked up a lot of my time.
But while the former is only just beginning, the latter project wrapped up today, with the preview hitting SBNation.com this morning. Take a few minutes (or 15) to read it -- it features capsules from writers at each of the Pac-10 sites. (Even Stanford!)
Pac-10 Football Preview: Where Anyone Can Win It! (Well, Almost Anyone) - SBNation.com
Truly, you can make a compelling case for at least half of the teams in the conference to end up on top. Heck, you can even make at least a marginal case for just about everybody else, too, save for Washington State. Oregon is still the favorite, but only barely, and the fact that USC can actually win the crown but not advance to the Rose Bowl only adds to the intrigue.
Also, in what has become an annual tradition that has generally proved to be prescient, Vince Grippi weighed in with some opinion on what we all can actually expect this year from this team. It's balanced and realistic, as usual. Take a few minutes to read that, too.
How will WSU do this year? - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Sept. 1, 2010
What type of season will Washington State have? If you are a Cougar football fan and expect all sugar and rainbows, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s going to be a tough year. Maybe not as tough as the past two but wins could be few and far between. Yet, in the spaces between the victories, there should be hope. This is a team that should compete in nearly every game, from the humid and heat-infused opener at Oklahoma State to the probably cold and snowy Apple Cup.
The rest of the links follow after the jump.
OPPONENT PREVIEW: Oklahoma State Cowboys
by Craig Powers on Sep 1, 2010 10:14 AM PDT
in WSU Cougar Football
14 comments
Head Coach: Mike Gundy (36-27 at OSU)
Record: 9-4 (2009)
Oklahoma State is coming off one of the most successful two-year stretches in school history, in which they combined for an 18-8 record. Head Coach Mike Gundy has recruited well, and built the program up from a 1-7 conference record in 2005 to top-ten and high expectations in 2009.
Those expectations are tempered in 2010, as Oklahoma State graduated a lot of talent, including new Seahawks Left Tackle Russell Okung. The Cowboys are young, as their 2-deep shows 15 freshman. Over at Cowboys Ride for Free (the OSU SBN blog) they forecast this team in the 7-8 win range. Football Outsiders' 2010 Almanac projects OSU at eight wins. Considering what the program looked like when Gundy took over, that is not too shabby for a "rebuilding" year.
OFFENSE: PPG: 28.4 YPP: 5.4 OFEI Rank: 61
Note: Our loyal readers know that CougCenter loves efficiency ratings, and FEI is another one of those produced by Football Outsiders (a wonderful, fantasic, amazing site). For an explanation of the ratings, go here. In case you were wondering, 2009 WSU sucked by those measurements too.
26 year-old junior Brandon Weeden takes over at quarterback, having only thrown 27 in-game passes in his career. Those 27 passes have been impressive, as he has connected on 16 of them for four touchdowns. Brandon went to straight to baseball after high school, and spent several years in the minor leagues before deciding to come to college and be a quarterback for a BCS school (I for one, would take either of those options in a heartbeat). Brandon may not be as mobile as his predecessor Zac Robinson, but he throws bullets and is fully expected to excel as the full-time starter.
Weeden should have a lot of young, but experienced targets. The best of which may be sophomore Justin Blackmon. He had an impressive freshman year, catching 20 balls for 260 yards and a couple touchdowns. He is the leading returning receiver in the 2-deep. Next to him as a slot receiver is fellow sophomore Tracy Moore. He could be a matchup nightmare, sitting at 6-1 and 230 pounds. It looks like Coach Gundy uses that position as a defacto tight end spot, as Moore's backup, Justin Horton, is also tipping the scales at 238 pounds.
Leading rusher Keith Toston and 1218 yards are gone from last season, but don't expect to see a talent dropoff in the backfield. Senior running back Kendall Hunter is listed as one of Football Outsiders' top 2011 NFL prospects on the team and he missed most of last season due to injury. In his last full season he put up an impressive stat line, carrying the ball 241 times for 1555 yards and 16 touchdowns. He has big-time playmaking ability, possessing a sub 4.4 40 time.
The offensive line has only one returning starter in Lane Taylor, but that does not mean they are inexperienced. Outside of Taylor, the rest of the line are juniors and all are above 300 pounds.
DEFENSE: PPGA: 21.7 YPPA: 4.7 DFEI Rank: 15
While the offense had a lot of the nationally-recognized star power in 2009, the defense played an even bigger role in Oklahoma State's nine wins. Six of the seven leading tacklers from that team are gone, including the entire starting linebacking corps.
Most of the returning starters can be found on the defensive line, including defensive end Ugo Chinasa. Chinasa was the team's leader in tackles for loss last season, posting 9.0. The starting tackles, Chris Donaldson and Shane Jarka, are both seniors and pushing 300 pounds. This unit helped limit opposing teams to just 3.00 yards per carry last season, so they should make it difficult for opposing teams to run between the tackles again.
Orie Lemon is the senior leader at middle linebacker. He missed last season due to injury, but was very impressive in 2008. Senior Justin Gent and junior James Thomas are on the oustide. Both have seen action as reserves, but this is their first chance at a starting role. CRFF has the scoop on Thomas.
On the Strongside, we’ll see 5-11, 209-pound junior James Thomas, a small but stout playmaker who works mostly on the more physical side of the field. You know, the strongside? A great special teamer, and more like a safety playing linebacker, last year he had 25 tackles with a broken up pass. With his speed he should do more as a pass rusher and be better when he’s dropped back in coverage.
In the secondary, senior cornerback Andrew McGee is the only returner who recorded an interception last season. There are big shoes to fill, as OSU was very solid in the passing game last year. Junior Markelle Martin saw lots of action last year, posting 46 tackles and 11 pass breakups. Junior FS Johnny Thomas (25 tackles, 1 pass breakup) and sophomore CB Brodrick Brown round out the unit.
The Cowboys are in trouble if...That new offensive line doesn't come together and the new back seven plays well below the level of 2009, allowing a couple of WSU's strengths (the defensive line and wide receivers) to have good days. There are a lot of new starting faces on this Cowboy squad, which means there are more than a few question marks. However, they do have a lot talent left over and most likely will be bowling again this season.
HEISMAN WATCH: Running Back Candidates Should Throw In The Towel
by Craig Powers on Aug 31, 2010 9:09 PM PDT
in WSU Cougar Football
15 comments
Year after year, the race for the Heisman Trophy almost always boils down to players at two different positions: running back and quarterback. 2010 will see no shortage of candidates in the former category and the Pac-10 boasts several of its own standouts in the backfield.
In the state of Oregon, there are two players getting preseason consideration: LaMichael James of Oregon and Jacquizz Rodgers of Oregon State. LaMichael burst on to the scene last year as a freshman and ran all over the conference, to the tune of 6.27 yards a carry in the Ducks' spread option attack. Rodgers was not too shabby himself, putting up a stellar 5.27 yards a carry.
Both of these guys are expected to have huge "Heisman-type" seasons, but their chances at the award really are at the mercy of the Washington State coaching staff. Will this finally be the year that Wazzu's most lethal weapon is properly utilized?
Reid Forrest has done nothing but dominate since arriving at WSU (or since arriving as an embryo in his mother's uterus). The preseason All Pac-10 pick has displayed a myriad of talents. From booming field-position (and basically game) altering punts, to having a "hand" in on nearly every single Washington State score, to playing an important role in the game-winning field goals of WSU's last two victories, Reid has been as important as any player in college football.
However, none of those accomplishments even compare to the mind-boggling rushing statistics he has compiled while wearing the Crimson and Gray.
Reid's rushing attack got off to a pretty slow start. The battle for his starting job as a freshman seemed to really take its toll. By the end of the season, Forrest was left with a meager 2.0 yards per attempt. With the weight of a position battle off his shoulders, his sophomore and junior seasons saw a great rise in effectiveness, as he posted a ridiculous TWENTY-EIGHT yards an attempt in 2008 and a still awesome 15.0 yards per carry in 2009.
Those numbers are literally impossible to argue with. Over his last two years, Reid Forrest is putting up an astonishing 21.5 YPC. No running back, not LaMichael James, Jacquizz Rodgers, Noel Devine, or even Mark Ingram, can compare to Reid's accomplishments (And lets not forget the historically bad offensive line Forrest has had to work with). He is the best player in the nation at not only one position, but TWO.
So the only question that's left is: Will Paul Wulff finally unleash the Reid Forrest show on the Pac-10? If he does, there is no doubt it will be magical. Just like any stat, those YPC numbers DO NOT LIE. The only logical explanation for his low carry numbers in past seasons is that Wulff was saving him for a year when the talent around Reid would allow his contributions to be truly game-changing.
This is that year sports fans. Be ready, the Forrest Fire is coming.
REID FORREST FOR HEISMAN
15 comments | 2 recs |
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