Daquawn Brown moving to safety?

Washington State's secondary remains a work in progress. The unit has looked promising at times, but the good has been mixed in with plenty of growing pains. Sulaiman Hameed made an impact at safety, but he's apparently dealing with an injury and was limited in practice. There isn't a ton of depth behind him and it turns out the replacement may not come from a backup. Starting corner Daquawn Brown got some run at safety on Monday, according to Jacob Thorpe of the Spokesman Review.

"We're just taking a look at Daquawn at safety," defensive coordinator Mike Breske said, via the Spokesman. "Giving him some reps there and that type of deal and trying to create some flexibility on the back end."

Experimenting in practice doesn't necessarily mean there will be a change. The Cougars are working on a short week, however, so they aren't likely to toss away some of the limited reps on something they aren't at least considering. The Cougars have more rising depth at corner than they do at safety. Maybe it's a matchup thing for Stanford, maybe it's a possible permanent change, maybe it's nothing. As we saw against Cal, the secondary needs everyone to play well in order to find success. There are too many one-on-one matchups to have a major liability on the field. If Hameed is healthy, the Cougars are probably better served with Brown at corner. If not, however, WSU may be in better shape calling on Pat Porter or Marcellus Pippins to take over a corner with Brown playing safety. We'll see what happens on Friday.

There was some good news on the injury front as Jacob reported Kristoff Williams ran with the first team. Williams missed the last four games. Getting him back would help shore up the rotation at the Z and the timing maybe much needed. Dom Williams was limited, according to Jacob, so Kristoff would likely see snaps at the X and Z if Dom can't go. At one point, maybe WSU will have both Williams healthy.

Press conferences:

Mike Leach

Toni Pole

Joe Dahl

Vince Mayle

Football:

Leach fires special teams coach Eric Russell - Spokesman.com - Oct. 6, 2014
Mike Leach didn’t wait until practice to make significant changes to Washington State’s special teams, dismissing coordinator Eric Russell two days after the Cougars gave up two kickoff returns for touchdowns and missed a potential winning 19-yard field goal in WSU’s 60-59 loss to California on Saturday.

2015 NFL Draft: Week Six Stock Report - CBSSports.com
Entering the year, Halliday received priority free agent grades from scouting services, but he's making scouts dig a little deeper with his productive 2014 season. The top NFL prospect on the Cougars' offense? That distinction belongs to RS senior WR Vince Mayle (6-3 | 219 | 4.52 | #1), who leads the team with 51 catches for 703 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Monday reset: A look around the Pac-12 entering Week 7 - ESPN
Most desperate team: Washington State Connor Halliday threw for an FBS-record 734 yards Saturday, yet the Cougars still found an unfathomable way to lose 60-59 at home to Cal. This time, the knockout punch came courtesy of a missed 19-yard field goal as time wound down. Yes, from the Washington State perspective, it would be impossible to write a more nauseating script. There's no way to sugarcoat it: Wazzu snatched defeat from the jaws of what would have been a much-celebrated victory on Saturday.

Washington State at Stanford - Spokesman.com - Oct. 7, 2014

The Cougars lost last week despite arguably the best passing performance in college football history when Connor Halliday set an FBS record with 734 passing yards while throwing for six touchdowns and no interceptions.

"It's impossible to stop" WSU offense confident heading to Stanford | KREM.com Spokane

Well, a tough pill to swallow last week losing to Cal 60-59 in a shootout at home, but it's time to get back on the practice field because it's a shortened week and a stout defense in Stanford is waiting for them. The Cardinal might boast the best defense in the PAC-12, but Mike Leach and that offense isn't afraid of anybody.

Cougars Head To No. 25 Stanford For Friday Night Tilt - Washington State University Official Athletic Site

Washington State (204, 1-2 Pac-12) heads to the Bay area for a Friday night matchup at No. 25 Stanford (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12). Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Kristoff Williams returns to practice - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Oct. 6, 2014

The Cougars wrapped up practice at about 10:45 p.m. today, a combination of Sunday's late practice time and Tuesday's practice length as team tries to get as much good work in as possible before Friday's game. After practice we spoke with defensive coordinator Mike Breske, who talked about the defense's struggles in the second half on Saturday and what he expects from Stanford.

Volleyball:

Cougars Head To No. 25 Stanford For Friday Night Tilt - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
Washington State (204, 1-2 Pac-12) heads to the Bay area for a Friday night matchup at No. 25 Stanford (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12). Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN.