HOT COUGAR ACTION: Cougars In The NFL

The NFL season kicks off tonight and 13 former Cougars made opening week rosters. This seems like as good as time as any to take a look at how they are faring in the NFL.

Hamza Abdullah, Arizona Cardinals

Abdullah begins his seventh season in the NFL as the backup free safety in Arizona. He appeared in six games for Arizona last year mostly on special teams.

Husain Abdullah, Minnesota Vikings

The younger Abdullah brother begins his fourth season in Minnesota and second as the starting free safety for the Vikings. Abdullah finished fourth in tackles for Minnesota last season.

Eric Frampton, Minnesota Vikings

Frampton joins Abdullah in the Minnesota secondary. He has been a key special teams player for Minnesota and will start the season as the third string strong safety. 

Erik Coleman, Detroit Lions

After starting his career with the Jets, then moving to the Falcons, Coleman will begin his ninth NFL season as the backup strong safety in Detroit.

Jerome Harrison, Detroit Lions

Joining Coleman in Detroit is the Ghost. Harrison started 2010 in Cleveland and was later traded to Philadelphia. He will serve as the number two running back behind injury prone Jahvid Best. 

Jason Hanson, Detroit Lions

Hanson begins his 20th, yes 20th season as the Detroit Lions kicker. Hanson missed half of the 2010 season with injury, so it's good to see him back. 

Jed Collins, New Orleans

The return of Jedzilla! Collins bounced around a few practice squads since leaving WSU and this is the first time he's made the opening day roster. Sean Payton and Drew Brees have said very good things about Collins during training camp. Great to see him finally get a shot.

Zack Williams, Carolina Panthers

Williams tore his ACL during training camp and ended up on injured reserve. [Insert low snap joke here].

Rian Lindell, Buffalo Bills

Lindell begins his 12th NFL season. The Bills inexplicably released Reid Forrest, denying the world of an all Cougars special teams unit. Screw you Buffalo. 

Ropati Pitoitua, New York Jets

Pitoitua has battled injuries throughout his career, but enters this season as a backup defensive end. He also remains the largest athlete I ever saw on campus. 

Jason Hill, Jacksonville Jaguars

Hill's career in San Francisco was up and down. He landed in Mike Singletary's dog house and the 49ers finally released him last year. He landed in Jacksonville where, finally given an opportunity, he played well. Hill parlayed that success into a starting role this season. 

Marcus Trufant, Seattle Seahawks

Trufant is now the longest tenured Seahawk, entering his 9th season with the team. Trufant is also an awesome dude, he once signed and mailed a jersey to a friend of mine after said friend has his signed Trufant jersey stolen from his Pullman apartment over break.

Brandon Gibson, St. Louis Rams

Gibson landed in St. Louis after a trade from Philadelphia and at times has been an afterthought among the 9000 receivers the Rams have. That has changed this season as Gibson has reportedly been extremely impressive during training camp and solidified his spot as the Rams top receiver. Gibson is entering his third season and has the opportunity to take a major step forward in his career. 

WSU football

Scout.com: COUGAR FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
PULLMAN – Long before he regained the starting quarterback job at Washington State, Marshall Lobbestael was a well-established leader on the Cougars, a team-first player who had earned the respect of his teammates.

Hot and not in the Pac-12 - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN
Hey! Guess who's NOT in the "not" category!

Weather Vegas-lite at WSU - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Sept. 7, 2011

The temperature is rising as we move toward Saturday, with the high that day expected to be in the low 90s. Wonder how the guys from UNLV, where the temperature is expected to hit 102 degrees tomorrow, will adjust to the cool weather? We have more from practice, so read on.

A different Lobbestael has been here before - Spokesman.com - Sept. 7, 2011

PULLMAN – Marshall Lobbestael has been in this position before. But not really. This week, the 22-year-old right-hander with the tightly cropped red hair will start at quarterback for Washington State.

Washington State Cougars Official Athletic Site

The Cougars worked out for just over two hours in full pads on a hot and muggy Rogers Field Wednesday...it was another day of implementing the game plan for UNLV..

WSU's progress under Wulff is evident | WSU Cougars - The News Tribune

PULLMAN – Paul Wulff feels Bobby Hauck’s pain. Of course, that doesn’t mean Wulff is not eager to add to Hauck’s suffering.

 The latest on Pac-12 expansion

Pac-12 expansion: The case for the Oklahoma schools | College Hotline
I don’t how it will end, but of this I am close to certain: If the Oklahoma schools officially apply for membership to the Pac-12 … and there are many steps between here and there, let’s not forget … then they’ll be admitted into the conference regardless of what Texas does. In other words: The Pac-12 is willing to become the Pac-14 without knowing when it would become the Pac-16 — or knowing the ID of the 15th and 16th teams.

Texas and the Pac-12: It’s not really about The Longhorn Network | College Hotline
I’ve talked to two sources in the past 36 hours who have a keen understanding of the realignment puzzle in general and the University of Texas culture in particular … and neither believes UT will join the Pac-12. Ever.

Quick! Read this before someone throws a tantrum and demands we remove it immediately 

BREAKING: Under Pressure from BruinsNation, Pac-12 Removes Online/TV Ad Offensive to UCLA - Bruins Nation
File this one under you have got to be freaking kidding me: "Under pressure from UCLA alums at BruinsNation, Pac-12 removes offensive content to Bruins (Trojan planting his sword on the UCLA logo at the Rose Bowl) from it's online and TV commercial." (Punctuation error left in for funsies.)

WSU Athletics video of the day

Cougar Football: Pre-Practice Interviews (9/7/11) (via WSUCougarAthletics)