WSU offense shines in first preseason scrimmage

Three more weeks.

Three more weeks and Martin Stadium will feature a real football game. The Cougs played a football game of sorts last night: the team's first scrimmage of preseason camp.

Now, don't read too much into this first scrimmage. Mike Leach admitted it was ones vs. twos for either the entire night or most of it. That might be why Luke Falk threw five touchdowns on 13 for 18 passing. Tyler Hilinski connected on 19 of 21 attempts for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

The Cougar receivers combined for ten (!) touchdowns, with Tavares Martin Jr. leading the way with three.

James Williams had the only two touchdowns on the ground, but Jamal Morrow (2) and Keith Harrington (1) each picked up receiving TDs. Williams' TDs were from 24 and 50 yards.

Again, it's the first scrimmage with a mismatched lineup, so I'm keeping my reaction tepid. But it's still good to see, for instance, the receivers do some good things. That was a position group that had a few unknowns heading into this season.

(Although no stats for Jamire Calvin? Hmmmmm.)

Redshirt senior linebacker Nate DeRider had a "sack," but that wasn't his biggest accomplishment of the day:

Awwwwwww.

The Cougs have the day off today and are back at it tomorrow evening.

Stats

Video

Links

Football

Washington State’s offense hits on all cylinders during first scrimmage | The Spokesman-Review
Luke Falk and his stable of rangy wideouts hummed from start to finish, James Williams made a few long, winding runs to the end zone and throughout a 90-play exhibition at Martin Stadium on Friday night Washington State’s top offensive unit gave fans a glimpse of just how potent it has the chance to be this fall.

WSU football: 3 reasons for hope, 3 reasons for doubt | The Spokesman-Review
The SR gives three reasons to be optimistic and three reasons to be pessimistic heading into the season. Spoiler: one reason is on both lists.

PodcastOne: Washington State Head Coach Mike Leach
Mike Leach joined Pardon My Take and talked about a lot of things. Decent interview, but I was a little underwhelmed given the hype Barstool gave this interview on Twitter all week. The interview begins at the 25:30 mark.

Could Mike Leach be the next coach at Ole Miss? CBS Sports says don't rule it out
"Dodd writes that an unnamed source in the Mississippi region believes Leach would be a good fit in Oxford." Pffffffffft.

Cougar walk-on DeRider awarded surprise scholarship | The Spokesman-Review
Cool moment for the redshirt senior.

Predicting WSU’s defensive depth chart after a week of fall camp | The Seattle Times
This is one writer's defensive depth chart prediction as of right now. Depth in the secondary seems concerning, does it not?

Volleyball

Grueling Pac-12 Schedule Awaits Washington State Women in 2017
The Washington State Cougars have announced their schedule for the 2017 NCAA season. Last year, they finished T-5th in the Pac-12, sporting a 22-12 record-

Old YouTube Clip(s) of the Week

In honor of Steve Gleason receiving the university's highest alumni award, I thought I'd share two videos featuring Steve......and Pearl Jam.

These have probably been shared before, but I thought sharing them again was rather timely.

This first one needs no words or analysis. But grab your hankies.

This next one is from the Pearl Jam concert in Spokane on Nov. 30, 2013. As the video above showed, Gleason is a huge Pearl Jam fan. I was lucky enough to see the band in Spokane and the single greatest moment of that show was what we're about to see.

Eddie Vedder and the band are beginning one of their encores. Vedder introduces Gleason and his wife and mentions that Gleason created the setlist (a terrific set, if I may say so).

The crowd gives Gleason a huge ovation. And then.....well just watch.

#NoWhiteFlags