HOT COUGAR ACTION: Highlights From UCLA Vs. WSU

Sean Hawkins over at the WSU Football Blog has once again put together an awesome highlight montage of the weekend's game, and I wanted to pass it along to you for your viewing pleasure. Sean has his thoughts here; I'll offer some of my quick thoughts afterward, since this is literally the first I've seen of this game.

1. I feel even better about my post from last night. As I watched this, I was trying to put myself in the shoes of someone watching it live, and I could feel the excitement building within me. And I already knew how it turned out. Obviously, this montage spared me the backbreaking runs in the fourth quarter, but wow -- this was like the SMU game with about 100 times the excitement. I'm really, really encouraged right now. If you're still down, watch this. Please. And try to remember what the offense looked like a year ago. 
2. The offense is already ahead of where I hoped it would be by the end of the year. At this point, I really don't give a crap that it took Todd Sturdy and Paul Wulff three wasted games to change the philosophy. It's here now, and it is awesome.
3. My gosh, does Jeff Tuel look good. Obviously, this is only his best throws, but his mechanics are excellent, he's delivering tight spirals, putting the right amount of air under all of his throws ... the kid looks completely in control. That drive to end the first half is one of the more impressive things I've seen this year. Remember, folks: He's a true sophomore who just made his 10th start. He doesn't even have a full season of starts under his belt, and he's now running an offense that is completely different from what it was two weeks ago. I'm almost speechless ... and absolutely giddy with excitement.
4. Jared Karstetter just might be the most underrated receiver in the entire Pac-10. He suffers from White Guy Perception Syndrome -- take note of the commentator's comment that he's typically "even but not leavin'." Except that we've seen him "leave" plenty of times in the last two years. I don't know if he dropped one on Saturday, but I can't remember the last time the guy dropped a pass he got his hands on. He uses his body as well as anyone to shield defenders, and he's much more athletic than most are willing to give him credit for. In short, he's damn good. And it's about time people start to recognize.
5. The offensive line was good enough (with a little help from the running backs). Tuel had time to step up on most of these throws and deliver a good ball. Still not satisfied with the run blocking -- the few runs showed here featured either misdirection or a good individual effort from the RB -- but pass pro was good enough. Maybe it looked worse on some of the other plays. But it looked solid enough here.
6. Zack Williams should spend six hours a day practicing shotgun snaps with someone hitting him a millisecond afterward. 
7. I have much less of an issue with the goal line play calling than I thought I would. Tuel should have gotten in on second down. All he had to do was stretch. Then, he sort of outran his protection on that third down call, which was a little weird, but never had any time to develop. His backside protection whiffed, too. Again, not the playcaller's fault. Then, the fourth down call? It worked before. Maybe you can argue that the mistake was in going back to the well, but there's also something to be said for not getting cute in that situation. I'll give Sturdy a pass on that whole sequence, which I realize isn't going to be popular, because I think execution was the larger issue.

Keep the faith, guys (and gals). There's a lot here to love.

Before getting on to all of the links, I want to highlight a couple before the jump.

First, if you missed Vince Grippi's feature on LeAndre Daniels -- I did, because I was out of town when it hit the site on Saturday -- make sure you read it. It's a compelling story that's well written, which is always a great combination.

Second, Klay Thompson has been named to the Wooden Award watch list. Yay, basketball!

And, last, if you need a laugh, visit CGB.

On to the rest of the links.

WSU Football News