I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to write that headline. Washington State quasi-kicked off the 2008 season when they opened fall camp this morning. I tried to take as many notes as I could, but I'm sure I'll ramble plenty.

It's a much different atmosphere on the Palouse this year compared to last. The energy level seems like it's bursting through the roof...there's a lot of noise and players are bouncing all over the place. Corey Evans confirmed the fact that the new coaching staff has added excitement, "You can hear coach (Chris) Ball and coach (Jody) Sears over anyone else on the field...the intensity is there." Sears seemed like the loudest to me..."Run to the ball!" is the common scream. The moral here (since I'm already rambling) is that there is some life (the guys are pumped for the season) in Pullman and I think the coaching staff is a big part of that.

As for the offense...it looks like the same crazy motion-filled beast it was in the spring. The Cougars didn't run one play where there wasn't at least one guy moving before the snap. Paul Wulff and the players agreed that everyone is doing well on picking up the new offense (Wulff and Gary Rogers credited everyone's hard work this summer). When asked at Seahawks camp what he thought about the Cougs, Michael Bumpus said he was jealous that he can't play in the new offense. When I told Brandon Gibson what Bumpus said...Gibson laughed and said he should be jealous: "It's not going to be a regular gun type of offense like we've run in the past...it's very explosive." I know it was only the first day, but they seemed to be clicking pretty well.

Rogers has already caught the eye of some scouts (there were guys from the Falcons and Seahawks at camp). He looked pretty good (a little inconsistent with his throws, but better than the other quarterbacks). He especially impressed the scouts (and myself) when he drilled Gibson in stride with a beautiful pass during a seven-on seven drill. Plus, I know I've mentioned this before, Rogers is more mobile than you'd think (he's 6'7")...he runs pretty well.

Speaking of running...Dwight Tardy practiced today. He had knee surgery in November and looked like he was moving pretty well. He's not %100 just yet and Wulff said they'll figure it out "day-by-day" how much he'll practice. "He had a good day today even though he is a little sore," Wulff said. "Hopefully there are no glitches along the way for him." There isn't a lot of depth at running back, so any glitches would hurt the team (even though Wulff's offense is more of an air attack than ground game).

There aren't too many injuries to report. Punter Reid Forrest is on crutches and has a boot on his left foot. Wade Penner, listed as a kicker on the roster, was handling most of the punting duties that I saw. Andy Roof was also not at practice...the coaches are still determining his status (it sounds like they're waiting for the university to decide if he is welcome back at school or not).

I just took a look at my notes and hit on everything that I wanted to...except the wide receivers. Gibson looked as good as always, but there were some other impressive catches today from others. Anthony Houston and Benny Ward both looked sharp and were running with the starters. Oh...and Jeshua Anderson was there too (dude is FAST!). Gibson complimented the sophomore saying that he's quickly picking up on the new offense.

Sorry there is no real order to this...it's just a bunch of my thoughts on the first day of practice (I guess that's what a blog is...just someone's thoughts...other bloggers are probably more organized).

I'll be back in Pullman several times before the season starts and I'll have a report every time I'm there. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for other random blogs about the Cougs.

Talk to you soon!

P.S. If you didn't have a chance to read the latest article about Paul Wulff in The Seattle Times...you should read it! A lot of people know about Wulff's past, but this article went deeper than any other I've seen.

1 Comments

SelahCoug said:

Nice write up. Thanks for the info. It is interesting that there are scouts out already.

August 6, 2008 11:54 AM

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