Another day of fall practice in the books

Fall camp practices are beginning to blend together and Wednesday's did little to stand out.

Quick notes:

• Jeremiah Laufasa continues to make a case for the player of fall camp. He had another strong practice and is not only going to play this year, but is now in a three-man race to start, according to Jim Mastro.
• Mastro compared Laufasa to former Nevada running back Vai Taua, who Mastro coached. Taua ran for 4,588 yards during his career at 6.5 yards per carry. That is high praise for Laufasa.
• Darryl Monroe limped off the field late in practice. We obviously won't get details, so we'll have to see how much he practices in the coming days.
• With Damante Horton resting an injury, freshman Daquawn Brown ran with the first team at cornerback. If Laufasa hasn't been the player of camp, Brown may be.

Quotable:

Jim Mastro on Laufasa this year compared to last, via Christian's blog post:

"Experience. Just being with us now, a year in the weight room, he was really raw as a running back last year. We've kind of got that out of him to where he's more refined now. Understands footwork, understands why he's got to get where. He's such a student of the game that it makes it easy because he picks stuff up so fast. In this offense as a running back you've got to be pretty smart. He's smart. So that's helping him right now."

Blurb of the day:

After team period, Leach gathered everyone together on the sideline and discussed the rules of overtime in college football. (Donovan McNabb was not present.) He did this last year, too, and afterward, the offense and defense played a handful of overtime periods against each other.

Somewhere McNabb is still surprised you can tie in the NFL.

Injury report:

Monroe limped off, Horton sat out, Rahmel Dockery wasn't in attendance. It was mostly backups missing time earlier, but significant injuries to Monroe or Horton would hurt.

Today's schedule:

The Cougars hit the field at 2:30 p.m. if you are so inclined to check it out.

Football links:

Washington State's Mike Leach: Gus Malzahn will get Auburn 'put together pretty good and pretty quickly' | al.com
Mike Leach isn't the type of coach to sugarcoat weaknesses on his football team.

Eklund grows into Cougar role | Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
PULLMAN – An offensive tackle trotted off to see a trainer, so it was left to the callow freshman walk-on to block Travis Long, the best player on the team.

Cougars concentrate on speed and timing | Sports | KLEW CBS 3 - News, Weather and Sports - Lewiston, ID
PULLMAN, WA - When any sports team starts winning together, they will often credit that to being on the same page, having good chemistry, and finding the proper rhythm or tempo.

Cougars Continue Preseason Camp With Red Zone Drills - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
Washington State football continued preseason camp with a two-hour practice in full pads in Rogers Field and in Martin Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

PULLMAN, Wash.: WSU seeks 1st winning season since 2003 | WSU Cougars | The Bellingham Herald
PULLMAN, WASH. — Washington State hasn't had a winning season in nine years, the longest streak of futility in team history.

WSU football position review: Quarterbacks - Spokesman.com - Aug. 14, 2013
PULLMAN – Connor Halliday isn’t shy about speaking his mind, so it’s noteworthy that the junior quarterback is mostly saying all of the things Washington State fans want to hear.

Women's basketball:

Cougars In Europe – Day 8 - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
The Washington State University women’s basketball team continued its 10-day foreign trip through Europe, traveling to Karlovy Vary to tour the Moser Glass Factory and face the Karlovy Vary basketball club.

Family of Ivana Kmetovska Meets Team in Europe - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
Family of freshman Ivana Kmetovska met the Washington State University women’s basketball team in Prague, Tuesday, Aug. 13 as the team returned from a victory over Hradec Králové.

Miscellaneous:

Not exactly WSU related, but it would be awesome if it happened.

Best case-worst case: Washington - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN
The Huskies and Cougars are tied 20-20 at halftime, but Washington State rolls to a 47-20 victory, as fans slip out of shiny new remodeled Husky Stadium midway through the fourth quarter. The last play of the game features Cougars safety Deone Bucannon returning Price's third interception 70 yards for a TD. Oregon beats Alabama for the national title. Washington State beats Texas in the Holiday Bowl. Sarkisian is hired by the Dallas Cowboys.