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WR
Devard Darling |
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2002
Statistics
|
Coach:
Bill Doba
0-0,
1st year |
2002
Record: 10-3
|
|
NEVADA |
WON
31-7 |
IDAHO |
WON
49-14 |
at
Ohio State |
LOST
7-25 |
MONTANA
STATE |
WON
45-28 |
at
California |
WON
48-38 |
SOUTHERN
CAL |
WON
30-27 (OT) |
at
Stanford |
WON
36-11 |
at
Arizona |
WON
21-13 |
ARIZONA
STATE |
WON
44-22 |
OREGON |
WON
32-21 |
WASHINGTON |
LOST
26-29 (3OT) |
at
UCLA |
WON
48-27 |
ROSE
BOWL
|
Oklahoma |
LOST
14-34 |
|
2002 Final Rankings
AP-10, Coaches-10, BCS-6
|
2003
Outlook
|
Washington
State had back-to-back 10-win seasons and
have put themselves in the upper echelon
of the Pac-10 over the last five years.
However, the artist who created this masterpiece
is gone and it is always a step back for
any program after that big a loss.
Wazzu's
schedule doesn't make it any easier on them.
They have to travel to Notre Dame and Colorado
in consecutive games, and take on Oregon
and Washington on the road in conference
play.
The
key is going to be Kegel and the receivers
- a wait-and-see proposition, but with a
positive outlook . Someone else besides
Darling has to step up at receiver so as
to keep Darling (and Bienemann) free for
other utilization(s). Look for a more involved
running attack to establish Kegel and keep
him healthy and effective. The defense will
be even better this season and the special
teams will hold its own.
We
don't see Wazzu repeating their success
of the last two years, but they will be
any where from an eight-to-10 win team and
will make a late-holiday bowl. Their PAC-Ten
finish will depend on the early offensive
developments and how well they translate
in late-season conference play. This team
could surprise or disappoint you.
Projected
2003 record: 7-5
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|
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SPRING
MVP
WR Devard Darling
|
OFFENSIVE
MVP
QB Matt Kegel
|
DEFENSIVE
MVP
CB Jason David
|
TOP
NEWCOMER
DE Mkristo Bruce
|
|
|
|
WASHINGTON
STATE
*POWER RATINGS
|
Offense
|
Defense
|
QB
- 3.5 |
DL
- 4 |
RB
- 3.5 |
LB
- 3.5 |
WR
- 3.5 |
DB
- 3 |
OL
- 4 |
.. |
|
RETURNING
LEADERS
|
Passing:
Matt Kegel, 40-27-1, 211 yds., 1 TD
Rushing: Jermaine Green, 150 att.,
829 yds., 9 TD's
Receiving: Devard Darling, 54 rec.,
800 yds., 11 TD's
Scoring: Drew Dunning, 22-33 FG,
47-49 PAT, 113 pts.
Punting: Kyle Basler, 50 punts, 41.1
avg.
Kicking: Drew Dunning, 22-33 FG,
47-49 PAT, 113 pts.
Tackles: Erik Coleman, 86 tot., 58
solo
Sacks: Isaac Brown, 8 sacks
Interceptions: Jason David, 7 for
101 yds.
Kickoff returns: Sammy Moore, 11
ret., 25.6 avg.
Punt returns: Sammy Moore, 2 ret.,
7.0 avg.
|
|
|
FS
Erik Coleman |
|
|
|
WASHINGTON
STATE |
|
|
OFFENSE
- 5
|
----RETURNING
STARTERS----
|
DEFENSE
- 6
|
|
KEY
LOSSES
|
OFFENSE:
Jason Gesser-QB, John Tippins-RB, Mike Bush-WR,
Jerome Riley-SB, Collin Henderson-WR, Phil
Locker-OG, Tyler Hunt-C, Derrick Roche-OG |
DEFENSE:
Fred
Shavies-DE, Mawuli Davis-MLB, Marcus Trufant-CB,
Rien Long-DT (NFL) |
|
|
|
2003
OFFENSE
|
written
by Tim Chapman
Despite
the loss of Head Coach Mike Price, Wazzu maintains
their offensive coordinator, Mike Levenseller.
In his two years there, he has brought forth an
offense that has been tops in the Pac-10 and in
the country. There won't be much drop-off this
season. Senior QB Matt Kegel takes over for the
departed Jason Gesser, and does so with an air
of confidence many won't suspect. Kegel vied for
playing time the last few years and former coach
Price felt he was too valuable to keep on the
sidelines. He possesses a strong arm and more
mobility than Gesser had. He will be the fire
and leader that gets this offense going.
Strongly
utilized in the Cougs' wide-spread, three receiver
set has been/will be junior WR Devard Darling.
Darling brings great hands and separating speed
that make him a deep danger on the outside. Kegel
will be looking to get Darling the ball as much
as possible, and Levenseller knows defenses will
key on that. That being said, this will be the
year that soph TE Troy Bienemann breaks out. He
had a stellar freshman season, displaying marvelous
hands and deceptive speed for a TE. With Wazzu
spreading the field by putting receivers beyond
the numbers on the outside, it leaves a vast area
for Bienemann to match-up against (in most cases)
a slower LB. Rounding out the receiving corps
will be seniors Sammy Moore (30.4 yds/rec) and
Scott Lunde.
Even
though they don't use them much, the RBs in Pullman
are good ones. A sort of "thunder and lightning"
tandem has been formed in the Palouse as seniors
Jermaine Green and Jonathan Smith fill the roles
respectively. Green comes back as the leading
rusher (829 yds, 5.5 yds/rush), and Smith is a
darter with great speed and quickness. Again,
with the Cougars' spread, these guys will have
great impact (as both runners and receivers --
YAC) knowing the opposing linebacking units will
be easily exploited unless they can keep pace
with WSU's complexities.
The
nation's 17th ranked offense (16th in passing,
13th in scoring, in 2002) will again excel. But
there are a few possible weak links. The offensive
line was certainly tried last year. The injury
bug hit them throughout the season, and they had
to shuffle the lineup accordingly. They do return
three starters from the Rose Bowl in junior OT
Calvin Armstrong, senior OG Billy Knotts, and
soph OT Riley Fitt-Chappell. What this group needs
to develop is cohesion and protection. Jason Gesser
was sacked 30 times last year, and, in the Rose
Bowl, he was constantly hit by the quick Oklahoma
defense. That won't happen to Kegel this season,
but his mobility can only bail out the OL so often.
Their 3.9 yds/rush average needs to be the biggest
focus. This new QB will need the run badly so
he can hone his ability early for the big conference
games to come. He is now "the man" after
waiting behind Gesser for three years Kegel didn't
perform as well as Cougar faithful had hoped he
would (when thrown into action in the Apple Cup
with Gesser down.) The team rests on him and he
is full aware of it. Expect Levenseller to utilize
his speed by throwing in more option-oriented
plays and roll-outs that allow him to get to the
outside and suck in a defense, exposing the middle
and deep parts of the field for his receivers
to find.
|
|
OT
Calvin Armstrong
|
WASHINGTON
STATE 2003 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters in bold
|
OFFENSE
|
QB |
Matt
Kegel-Sr |
Chris
Hurd-So |
RB |
Jermaine
Green-Sr |
Jonathan
Smith-Sr |
WR |
Sammy
Moore-Sr |
Trandon
Harvey-So |
WR |
Devard
Darling-Jr |
Chris
Jordan-Fr |
SB |
Scott
Lunde-Sr |
Jevon
Miller-So |
TE |
Troy
Bienemann-So |
Adam
West-So |
OT |
Calvin
Armstrong-Jr |
Patrick
Afif-Jr |
OG |
Josh
Parrish-Sr |
Norvell
Holmes-So |
C |
Nick
Mihlhauser-So |
Mike
Shelford-Sr |
OG |
Billy
Knotts-Sr |
Riley
Fitt-Chappell-So |
OT |
Sam
Lightbody-Jr |
Charles
Harris-Fr |
K |
Drew
Dunning-Sr |
Graham
Siderius-So |
|
|
2003
DEFENSE
|
written
by Tim Chapman
Washington
State proved to be a dominant force against the
run a year ago, ranking eight nationally (87 yds/game
and 2.5 yds/carry!) They bring back seven starters
from that defense (assuming the NCAA grants an
extra year of eligibility for safety Virgil Williams)
and the defensive-minded Doba is now in charge.
Look for great things from this unit.
Up
front, these guys are argueably the best overall
unit in the conference (and possibly the nation).
Senior DE Isaac Brown returns (8 sacks, 9 TFL,
2 recovered fumbles). He brings a quick pass rush,
can fly to the football, and is a sure tackler.
Coming back with him is senior DT Jeremey Williams
(5 sacks, 12 TFL), a run-stopper at heart. Another
valuable member of that stellar defense (despite
not starting) was senior DE D.D Acholonu (6 sacks,
10 TFL). Acholonu plays a "quick-end",
whose job purely is to rush the passer and get
into the backfield. As if this front isn't enough,
they also have senior DT Tai Tupai and soph DE
Adam Braidwood. Braidwood is a prospect the coaches
covet. They (and we) expect this young man to
virtually erase all of Rien Long's records by
the time he leaves.
'Nuff
said. This is a defense that is quick, and loves
to hit you. Their strongest asset this year will
be their tenacity, aggressiveness, speed, and
obvious experience. It was very tough to get things
going on this defense early last year, a problem
not to be seen in 2003.
Probably
the biggest concern will be the pass defense.
The Cougars were 104th in the country against
the pass last season, allowing nearly 255 yards
per game. That simply can't happen this year.
The good news is that they return solid starters
in the secondary. Senior Erik Coleman is a hard
hitters. However, they tend to give up the big
play and have not been consistent enough. They
are great in run support, but as far as coverage
goes, they need some work. The same goes with
Jason David, their returning starting cornerback.
The bad news (aside from the statistics) is the
void All-American CB Marcus Trufant's departure
leaves.
This
group will be called upon to crowd the line in
run situations, but where work needs to be done
is adjusting to play-action and coverage in multiple
receiver schemes. Eight (or more) in the box will
cause man-to-man match-ups - and (in 2002) adjustments
worked for the most part. Where they ran into
problems was when they faced smart, veteran QBs
like Carson Palmer, Craig Krenzel, Kyle Boller,
etc. They only face two teams this season who
are breaking in new QBs (barring injuries), so
they will definitely need to watch who they test.
The
linebacking corps will be regrouping with the
departure of MLB and anchor Maluwi Davis. The
main focus of this crew will be to keep the run-stopping
strong as they learn to gel. Concerns in their
pass-coverage should be belayed by speedy soph
SLB Will Derting (3.5 sacks, 3 INTs, 3 passes
broken-up) and his keen instincts reacting to
fakes and/or misdirection plays. But their chemistry
as a group is not known, so this will be an area
further detailed in our later updates.
The
other big concern for this defense will be the
adjustment(s) to new coordinator Robb Akey. Being
that Doba is defensive-minded, Akey will probably
use the same scheme as Doba has run the past few
years. However, the most important intangible
will be to control the disciplinary problems that
occurred amongst the defense.
|
|
K
Drew Dunning
|
WASHINGTON
STATE 2003 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters in bold
|
DEFENSE
|
DE |
Isaac
Brown-Sr |
Mkristo
Bruce-Fr |
DT |
Jeremey
Williams-Sr |
Josh
Shavies-Sr |
DT |
Tai
Tupai-Sr |
Steve
Cook-Jr |
DE |
D.D.
Acholonu-Sr |
Adam
Braidwood-So |
SLB |
Will
Derting-So |
Ira
Davis-Sr |
MLB |
Don
Jackson-Sr |
Brian
Hall-Fr |
WLB |
Al
Genatone-Sr |
Pat
Bennett-So |
CB |
Karl
Paymah-Jr |
Alex
Teems-So |
CB |
Jason
David-Sr |
Don
Turner-Fr |
SS |
Virgil
Willliams-Sr |
Hamza
Abdullah-Jr |
FS |
Erik
Coleman-Sr |
Jeremy
Bohannon-Jr |
P |
Kyle
Basler-So |
Graham
Siderius-So |
|
|
|
2003
SPECIAL TEAMS
|
Rest
easy Cougar fans, your special teams units return in
tact. In fact, they return both kickers and both kick
return men- but don't get too complacent. Senior PK
Drew Dunning connected on 22 field goals last year.
The concerning part is that he attempted 33 of them
(9-13 in 30-39 yd range). He had two kicks blocked and
missed two extra points. Kick protection will be something
that the Cougs need to fix. In the Pac-10, you need
to take all the points you can get. Soph punter Kyle
Basler (41.1 yds/punt) is a mainstay -- he has a booming
leg and showed accuracy last year as well. Jonathan
Smith and Sammy Moore are two exciting players returning
kicks. Punt returners will be chosen in spring practice,
with many capable to earn this spot.
|
|
Get ready to hear the name Chris Jordan-
a lot. The redshirt freshman WR has been
a steady cog in the passing game and the
talents of this young man will begin to
spill this season. Alongside him (with good
performance) this spring has been WR Jevon
Miller. Classified as one of the most versatile
players on this team, Miller might find
most of his time on special teams early,
but could shimmy up the depth chart with
continuing success
For those who think
the Cougars will be a one-dimensional team,
think again. Jermaine Greene has turned
out some fine spring rigmarole, giving this
stout Cougar defense some toil. He (and
Smith) will give Wazzu a healthy change
of pace this season
I'll say it again-
Troy Bienemann will have a breakout year.
He is a clutch receiver who, I think, will
lead the Cougars in scoring (aside from
Duning), as Kegel will look to him inside
the red zone any and every chance he has.
Redshirt freshman DE Mkristo Bruce tore
it up along the front this spring and will
be pushing for valuable game time. A former
QB, Bruce brings an athletic body to a 6'6",
235lb frame, along with a great deal of
intelligence and enthusiasm. Sophomore LB
Aaron Wagner arrives in the fall after finishing
a Mormon mission, and will look to contribute
honest minutes to this Cougar defense
Backup FS Jeremy Bohannon has impressed
me with his speed in the secondary and DC
Rob Akey has been utilizing him on safety
blitzes both up the middle and off the corner
Freshman Brian Hall has done an admirable
job filling in for injured MLB Don Jackson.
The extra spring reps will certainly prepare
him for game action this fall. Scott Davis
was another who left a mark at LB, giving
the Cougs bountiful depth here. These two
will be names that should paint honors lists
in a couple years
The NCAA did eventually
grant SS a sixth year of eligibility, which
makes the secondary the strongest unit on
the defense.
Sophomore Graham Siderius has shown a strong
leg this spring. He will give the Cougars
a sturdy launch on kickoffs as well as a
reliable backup on punts and placements.
Sammy Moore and Chris Jordan have taken
the punt return duties. Doba says Moore
has done a great job returning punts and
is one of the more exciting players he has
seen. Punter Kyle Basler might be the best
in the Pac 10.
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