2010 Washington State Cougars Football Preview

2009 Results: 1-11, No Bowl

Head Coach: Paul Wulff (3rd year, 3-22 @ WSU, 56-62 Overall)

Home Venue: Martin Stadium (35,117)

The last two seasons have been absolutely miserable in Pullman, as head coach Paul Wulffs’s rebuilding process has produced only one Pac Ten win. How bad were things? Wazzou was outgained last year by an average of 260 yards per game in conference play! The Pac Ten has evolved into one of the country’s most competitive leagues from top to bottom, yet it seems more and more like the Cougars have been left behind. WSU’s major injury woes also haven’t helped their cause as nearly half the roster was out at one point last fall! Can a healthier and more experienced Washington State team pull out of the Pac Ten basement this year?

OFFENSE

The Cougars were by far the worst offense in the Pac Ten last season as they finished dead last in every major category, lowlighted by a paltry 12 points per game scoring average. Part of this clearly was the result of injury woes: Wazzou had their backup punter playing quarterback at one point! But the simple truth is that Washington State had by far the least talented offense in the conference. Can a season of better health and improved depth result in a much better offensive campaign in 2010?

The best news about this season’s edition of Cougars is at quarterback, where sophomore Jeff Tuel (789 yards, 6 TDs, 5 INT) earned the starting position thanks to a strong spring. He was also the team’s top signal caller before being injured last fall and a full season under center should bring some badly needed stability to this offense. Expect a significantly stronger passing game with Tuel in charge.

The receivers will be the primary beneficiary of a stable quarterback situation. Junior Jared Karstetter (38 catches, 540 yards, 6 TDs) was by far the most productive receiver last fall but sophomore Gino Simone (36 catches, 330 yards, 1 TD) also showed some promise as a true frosh. With seniors Jeffrey Solomon (25 catches, 298 yards, 1 TD) and Daniel Blackledge (23 catches, 212 yards, 1 TD) rounding out the group, I’m confident that Tuel will be able to distribute the ball around with ease.

The only problem with all of these happy passing vibes is that Tuel will be ‘protected’ by a line that finished 119th in the NCAA last fall in sacks allowed: WSU quarterbacks were brought down an incredible 53 times! Shoddy line play was certainly a primary culprit for their QB injury woes and fixing this group is the primary concern. However, the O-Line was also banged up and they will benefit from better health, especially the return of junior center Andrew Roxas, who missed the 2009 season. Expect much better line play (it can’t get much worse) but this is still the worst front in the conference.

Balance is also going to be an issue as WSU had an abysmal running game last season and their projected top runner, senior James Montgomery, missed spring practice. It looks like the Cougs are going to struggle again on the ground and that means that opposing defenses are going to pull their ears back on the pass rush with great frequency. With a shoddy O-Line and the lack of a running game, Tuel is going to struggle to put up points this fall. Expect Washington State to once more finish dead last in the conference in scoring.

DEFENSE

As bad as the offense was in ‘09, the defense might have actually been worse. WSU allowed an average of 38 points per game last season and finished last among BCS Conference teams with 13 sacks. Opponents racked up an unfathomable average of 512 yards of total offense per game, making this one of the most ineffective units in the country. Can WSU somehow field a respectable defense this fall?

There are certainly some encouraging signs, beginning with a much-improved D-Line. The Cougars were absolutely devastated by injuries in 2009 as they were forced to start seven different linemen over the course of the year. However, as many as ten players could see the field this fall, led by sophomore defensive end Travis Long (47 tackles, 2 sacks), who put up an excellent campaign as a true freshman. While this is still one of the weakest fronts in the league, they’ll be so much closer to the pack after two consecutive awful seasons.

The linebackers should also be a decent group for Wazzou this year. Junior Alex Hoffman-Ellis (84 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) was the team’s top tackler in 2009 and he is an excellent player to build around. There is also very good depth on hand as senior Myron Beck (41 tackles, 1 sack, 2 INT) and juniors Louis Bland (41 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) and Mike Ledgerwood (51 tackles) played extensively last year. With a good group of underclassmen to back them up, I expect a much better season from the WSU ‘backers.

After the positive news up front, the harsh reality remains that the pass defense was downright terrible last year and has to be better for Washington State to have a chance to be competitive. From that unit, senior safety Chima Nwachukwu (57 tackles, 1 INT) will be starting for the 3rd consecutive season and he will be relied upon for steady play and strong leadership. Beyond him, there are six other defensive backs that started during last season’s injury-riddled campaign and that added experience should be a harbinger for an improved season. This isn’t an exceptionally talented group but there is more experience across the board and the possibility of a much improved pass rush from the front line should definitely produce a better showing.

Overall, there should definitely be higher expectations for this defense in 2010. The front seven appears to have good depth and I definitely think that they’ll play better against the run. On top of that, there should be a much better pass rush from the defensive line and young Long could be a breakout star in his second season. That should help a middling group of defensive backs put together an improved showing through the air. But the biggest reason that I think that Washington State will be significantly better in all aspects is their overall health. This team had no chance last year with a myriad of injuries devastating every level of the defense and a full season of health should push the Cougars back towards the rest of the conference.

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SCHEDULE

Wazzou has a pretty tough schedule this season. There are six road games, including non-conference visits to Oklahoma State and SMU. In conference, the Cougars also have to travel to UCLA, Stanford, Arizona State and Oregon State, so the good news is that they have five home Pac Ten games. However, the season begins with eleven consecutive games before two full weeks off to prepare for the Apple Cup against archrival Washington. This will be a tough run for WSU.

OUTLOOK

After two seasons of being completely blown out of the water by their Pac Ten foes, the Washington State Cougars will no longer be an easy pushover. First of all, this team was bombed by injuries last season and really didn’t have a chance to compete with an ever-changing lineup. Furthermore, the emergence of quarterback Jeff Tuel should finally give Wazzou a signal caller capable of running a decent offense and I’m confident that he’ll guide the Cougars to a lot more points.

Meanwhile, the defense should also be significantly better with their full roster available to play. A school like WSU that doesn’t consistently bring in elite recruits simply doesn’t have the depth to overcome the vast number of injuries that hit this group last year. However, those injuries meant that a lot of players endured a trial by fire and that experience left the Cougars with a lot more viable contributors this fall.

Unfortunately, Wazzou was so far behind the rest of the conference last season that they’re still clearly the least talented team in the conference, even with a fully healthy roster. While I don’t expect the Cougars to lose games by an average of 26 points like they did in 2009, they still have a long way to go to before they can legitimately hope climb out of the basement in the exceptionally deep Pac Ten. This will be another double digit loss season in Pullman and a bowl is out of the question. The Washington State Cougars are my pick to finish last in the Pac Ten Conference in 2010.

PREDICTED RESULT: 1-11 (0-9 Pac Ten)