sports grips • Well, how is it? Maybe Washington State is really good. Maybe the last few minutes a week ago were actually an anomaly rather than a defining moment. In front of the homecoming crowd, it certainly looks that way.
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• 1997 Cougars Or at least many of them who could make it were in Pullman to be celebrated on Saturday. Walking the field in the first half and hearing the cheers of the Martin Stadium crowd again.
One of them to step onto the turf was Bill Dova, arguably the best defensive coordinator the Cougars have ever had (alongside Mike Zimmer). While many remember Doba as the head coach behind Mike Price, those in the know remember him as the architect of the best defense the WSU has put together during the modern football era.
Defense based on speed. toughness. great tackle. energy. You know, what the Cougar defense showed again against the Bears.
If the offense only holds Darnball…
where did you hear that? Paging Chad Davis. Regardless, Washington State overthrew his Bear team despite two ill-advised Cam Ward throws that cost at least 6 points and at most 14 points. under questionable circumstances.
This is not Pop’s California team. You know, what Doba’s defenses were breaking down. The Bears are better coached, have a stronger defense, have a little chip on their shoulders, and feature a capable quarterback. There’s the star of freshman running back Jadon Ott.
None of it mattered, especially after halftime.
The second half, which started with a 75-yard scoring drive, took all 69 seconds and showed what Washington State was all about. hit it. What is Washington State?
This is a defensive team that needs to really hum their offense or stay out of the way. If any of these occur, take note.
California revamped its offensive line a week ago, handing the ball to Ott and watching him rush through Arizona for a Pac-12 freshman-record 274 yards. Against Cougars? 71 yards on 16 carries. After his two runs of over 70 yards against the Wildcats, he scored his 18 long at Pullman.
Cal didn’t turn the ball over. The Bears took Ward his second pick. They tackled well, put pressure on Ward and jumped around. Still, they didn’t play after halftime.
Something special is happening at Palouse. And next Saturday, a special occasion awaits in Los Angeles. USC is undefeated. Top 10 entry. With Heisman candidate as quarterback, he has high offensive power. Former WSU assistant coordinates opportunistic defenses. And it seems ripe to take.
Watch out for balls. The screams and cries that might echo here in the Colosseum’s tunnels could take on shades of crimson and grey. At the end.
• We hate mistakes. Most of all, we hate mistakes. And we recently made a fuss. It was quite a brain fart. We didn’t even realize we had achieved it until a warning reader emailed us yesterday.
Throughout the season, we’ve denounced how ridiculous baseball’s playoff structure is. How the bottom wildcard team will play against the winner of the division with the worst record. And that’s how it seemed, because the division winners with the worst records were often not as good or accomplished as the wild card teams.
If the wildcard contender didn’t get the top spot and didn’t include a home game, they could have purposely lost and finished in 3rd place. American For most of his league season, that logic seemed correct, but Cleveland got on the heater and got away with the AL Central. The Guardians and Blue Jays wake up this morning with the same record.
But in the National League, the current top wildcard team, the Mets, looks tougher than central champions St. Louis, so we stand by that claim.
This leads me to my most recent mistake (I stalled as much as I could). I mixed up matchups recently. For some reason I incorrectly listed who the 2nd place and his 3rd place wildcard team would be playing against.
we feel terrible about it. We know you count on us. no excuses Don’t blame fatigue, editors, or $%&#@ computers. none of that. All we have is an apology. And deep hatred for our mistakes.
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WSUs: SR unveiled its own Palouse Posse yesterday, with Colton Clarke handling the game story, Leonard Bell covering the standout difference maker, pre-match injury reporting, Theo Lawson covering the 1997 team reunion, Jacob Thorpe did his column. … Group veteran photographer Tyler Chomsland has a photo report. … The people in the office were responsible for the recap with the highlights. … There was a TV take highlighting what we saw from the living room. He has two pleasant surprises. There are no major issues with refereeing, and Lincoln Kennedy is a big improvement from last season. … We also accept interviews from the California side. … At Pac-12 and elsewhere in college football, Jon Wilner writes his usual Saturday night column. … Oregon didn’t let the Stanford upset bother them again this season. …Did he have a USC hangover in Oregon?Or is Utah much better than the Beaver?With his 42-16 record in the Utes, his one position is quarterback. , was clear to be at least much better. … Arizona handled Colorado with relative ease and he won 43-20 in Tucson. But buffs have solace. For the first time this year, they stayed within 25 points of his opponent. Back on the drawing board for the Wildcats?… It was probably the last time Arizona State visited the Coliseum, and the Sun Devils proved no match for his USC, at least in a conference game. The Trojans he won 42-25. …Washington ahead after his 40-32 loss at UCLA on Friday?…In basketball news, his sophomore in Colorado is taking a new approach.
Gonzaga: Rui Hachimura is from Japan. we all know that. What we all may not know is what it really means to him.
EWUs: There’s one college football game left this weekend. It is located in Florida and features the East. Dan Thompson previews this morning’s game, which was delayed by the hurricane with kick-off at 9am. … Elsewhere in Big Sky, Cal Poly plans to build a new football facility named after its most famous alumni, John Madden. However, his alma mater has struggled, with Sacramento State losing to him 49-21. … Montana in the second half he pulled away from UC Davis to take a 41-24 win. …Montana played a true road game and almost came home losing. However, the Grizz couldn’t beat Idaho State as he beat them 28-20. … Portland State won the Northern Arizona visit where he won 35-27.
Idaho: The Vandals rode to the right-hand side of quarterback Jevani McCoy in a 55-35 homecoming victory over Northern Colorado on Saturday. More importantly, they improved to 2-0 on the Big Sky play. Peter Harriman has a story. …The Bears were not happy.
Whitworth: After struggling to score in the previous game, the Pirates vented their offensive frustration with Portland’s Lewis & Clark. They won the opening game of the Northwest League he won 66-28.
Preparation: Before moving on to what happened on Saturday, we should link to the game Dave Nichols covered on Friday night. I tried it yesterday morning and couldn’t find it on the SR website. Dave tells the story of Meade’s 21-17 victory over Central his Valley. … I can also show you a picture of Colin Mulvaney. … Dave reviews the entire soccer schedule for Friday. …and he featured visiting Rogers in his 42-7 GSL win at Shadle Park on Saturday afternoon. … He also has a roundup of all the other Saturday competitions.
Chief: Spokane returned home on a high note after opening the WHL season with two wins in Victoria. But as Dan Thompson puts it, the Chiefs were no match for Kamloops, losing 4-2.
Mariners: (at least) two hangovers, so what? M rode to his Castillo right-hander in his 5–1 win over Oakland, wildcarding his race to keep pace with Toronto. …M is ready to write a new chapter. … Brian O’Keefe had his first major league hit.
Seahawks: The Hawks kick off at 10 this week, so turn on the TV when you’re done reading this. Here’s what you should look for.
Kraken: Oh new mascot. … another shutout in preseason? Yes, please.
Sounder: No playoffs scheduled, but Christian Roldan has something to play for today when Sporting KC comes to Seattle.
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• As I said earlier, we hate mistakes. There was another one in today’s TV take (already fixed). However, this was not entirely our fault. Autocorrect got us. But I should have seen it before sending. oh well. until later…
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