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Speaking to reporters yesterday, special teams coach Matt Brock identified who the likely starters will be for Saturday. He said if the Cougars played tomorrow that Blake Mazza would be handling placekicking duties, Jack Crane would be kicking off, and Oscar Draguicevich has the slight edge at punter. He did emphasize that the competition would continue through the week.
Mazza and Crane (along with Ryan Henderson) have been duking it out all spring and the fall camp to be WSU’s kicker and looks like Brock is going to split the difference. Crane handled nine kickoffs last year for departing senior Erik Powell averaging around 60 yards per boot. Crane is a redshirt Sophomore out of Skyline High School in Sammamish. He was a first team All-State kicker as a senior before he was asked to walk on at WSU.
Mazza is a sophomore transfer from Arkansas who was considered the 12th best placekicker in the country coming out of high school in Plano, TX. He once kicked a 65 yard field goal at Chris Sailor’s highly regarded kicking camps. He did not attempt a field goal for the Razorbacks as a freshman.
Draguicevich is a preferred walk-on junior out of Temple JC. He originally signed with UTEP before shifting gears and coming to the Palouse. He averaged 42.4 yards per punt last year at Temple and is the son of a former MLS player of the same name.
Hopefully these three can live up to their promise as special teams is a major question mark for WSU this year.
Football
Washington State football chat transcript for Oct. 29 | The Spokesman-Review
The Spokesman-Review's Washington State beat writer Theo Lawson chats about Washington State Cougars football.
Brock undecided but leaning towards Mazza, Crane, Draguicevich
Brock knows who kickers, punter would be if season opened today
Washington State football: Seen & Heard on Planet Coug
Betting line moving toward Wyoming