Sunday, October 2, 2011

It's a much brighter crimson now

There's no give up in the Washington State Cougars.  And regardless of what people think, this is a testament to head coach Paul Wulff.  After getting drilled by Arizona State 42-0 on the road last year and then losing to Cal 20-13 at home, Wulff's team came back and dominated a solid Oregon State team on the road the next week winning 34-14.  They could have thrown the towel in on the season and quit,  and let's be serious, what more did they have to play for after getting thrashed by the Sun Devils and dropping to 1-8?

I think it says a lot about Wulff and how his players are responding.

Yesterday in Boulder, the Colorado Buffaloes learned that if they are going to compete in the Pac 12 conference they are going to have to play all 60 minutes.  I thought for sure the Cougs were done when they went down 10 points and were having a hard time stopping the Buffs.  The defense has to improve drastically or it's going to be another long season for the crimson and gray.

I just hope Wulff's players saw how emotional he was after the game Saturday.  Wulff has been criticized for his lack of emotion.  It means that much to him and he needs wins badly or he will join many others in the unemployment line.  Yesterday's win was a pivotal one, and if you think the Oregon State game last year was a turning point in this program, you might think again. 

Yesterday's win was a huge one.

It's no secret WSU doesn't have the talent that some of the other big schools in the conference do, but they still possess some big play potential at some of the key positions.  The quarterback position is solid not to mention the big play potential at wide receiver.  My Hermiston Cougar buddy Mike Snyder said it best in the third quarter when he said, "Wilson will be the hero."  He sure was and if he continues to make the big plays this could be a long year for some of the opposing defensive secondaries.  Even I could have hauled in that pass late in the game.  You could build a Walmart in between Wilson and the closest Colorado Buffalo.

After UCLA next week on the road, the Cougs return home for Homecoming on October 15th against a solid Stanford team.  Hopefully Martin Stadium will be rocking as the leaves will start to turn color in the Palouse.

The program has already turned color.  It's a much brighter crimson now.