Cougars not lacking confidence

If the rest of WSU's roster has the same attitude as Darryl Monroe and the other players who met the media on Monday, I wouldn't expect the "hound dog expressions" to crop up anytime soon. Monroe talks like he expects WSU to shut out every opponent and win the National Championship, and he seems to believe it.

We'll start with his press conference, which was something. Is USC going to run the ball? Well they might TRY to, but probably not successfully. How is Daquawn Brown, WSU's freshman corner, going to fare against Marqise Lee? "I expect him to put on a show for you guys. I expect frustration on Marqise Lee's part. He's going to be in his face the whole game and he's not going to stop." Well, OK then!

Monroe wasn't the only player brimming with confidence. Connor Halliday had some interesting things to say as well. Here is the portion of his press conference WSU Athletics made available.

And here is the portion they cut out. In it, Halliday says some players on WSU's 2010 team, the last Cougar team to face USC, "wouldn't have started for a good high school football team. We actually have some guys who can play at this level now." That is about as candid as it gets.

SWX Right Now-Sports for Spokane, CdA, Tri-Cities, WA

Compared to the first two Justin Sagote and Elliott Bosch seem like they have low self esteem. Here is Sagote's press conference.

And here is Bosch.

Oh yeah, Mike Leach also met the media.

All told that adds up to an hour of press conference goodness. That should lead to some productive Tuesday mornings.

Football:

Talking WSU on SWX - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Sept. 2, 2013
On Mondays throughout the football season, I'll make a brief appearance on SWX's nightly sports show with producer/all-around good dude Neil Stover. We filmed the first of our interviews today at Martin Stadium, and you can watch it below.

WSU shows confidence in the run game - Spokesman.com - Sept. 3, 2013
PULLMAN – If one play from Saturday’s loss to Auburn were to be put forth to stand alone as evidence of Washington State’s offensive improvement, it probably wouldn’t be any of Connor Halliday’s 35 completions, nor any of WSU’s three touchdowns.

WSU freshman Daquawn Brown expected to get playing time at cornerback | Cougar Football | The Seattle Times
It appears Daquawn Brown might be playing a lot more at cornerback for Washington State. His teammates don’t think Brown will be intimidated.

Mr. Contrarian weighs in on the opening weekend of Pac-12 football | Pac-12 Confidential | Seattle Times
Washington State The Cougars gave their supporters some hope with a 31-24 loss at Auburn in oppressive heat and humidity. Mr. Contrarian has some reservations, though.

Quick look at Week 2 Pac-12 games - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN
Washington State (0-1) at No. 24 USC (1-0) 10:30 p.m. FoxSports 1: The first Pac-12 game of the season! USC leads the series 58-8-4, but the teams haven't played since a 50-16 USC win in 2010. The big question is how things will stack up at quarterback for the Trojans, who will start and how much both Cody Kessler and Max Wittek will play. Connor Halliday is the Cougars quarterback, and he passed for 344 yards at Auburn, but he also threw three costly interceptions. Now back in Pac-12 play, he will be facing a much more physical, athletic and talented defense than Auburn this week. He can't afford similar mistakes, or coach Mike Leach might give Austin Apodaca a look.

After Auburn, Los Angeles doesn’t faze Cougars - Spokesman.com - Sept. 2, 2013

There should no longer be any question about Washington State’s belief in itself on the football field. Not after the Cougars’ reaction to a close loss to Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium, one of frustration and lamentation that they lost a game they actually had business winning.

Cougars Travel To Face USC in Early Pac-12 Tilt - Washington State University Official Athletic Site

Washington State University (0-1, 0-0 Pac-12) hits the road for the second straight weekend, heading to Los Angeles to open Pac-12 Conference play against the University of Southern California (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on FOX Sports 1.

Pac-12 football: Weekend wrap | College Hotline

Best loss of the week I: Washington State 24, Auburn 31. No, Auburn’s not very good. Yes, it could have been much worse.