Inside the opposition:

The Cougs and Bears are just a day away from opening up the Pac-10 season in Pullman. 

Down in Berkley the big scuttlebutt with the Bears has been their question mark at the wide receiver position and whether or not thaty will improve.

If you recall in are interview with Cal broadcaster Joe Starkey, he talked about the crazy "tree people" that were protesting the school's desire to build an athletic facility near the stadium, well it looks like the Bears prevailed.

Even-though the Cougars lost last weekend to Oklahoma State and the passing game only managed 82 yards through the air, you would never now that the Cougs struggled by reading comments from the Bears coaching staff.



Flicker.com 


   This week the Washington State Cougars face the California Golden Bears and it marks the first conference game for both teams. 

The Bears come into the game having beaten Michigan State in their season-opener.  The Cougs on the other hand had a much more different outcome, as they fell by 26 to Oklahoma State.

This weeks Crimson & Gray Show welcomes longtime California broadcaster Joe Starkey to the show.  In addition, Washington State middle linebacker Greg Trent joins the program and the senior talks about last weeks loss and how the Cougars defense plans on slowing down the Cal offense on Saturday.

As always, former Cougar quarterback Jason Gesser joins the program and answers your e-mails about the state of Cougar football.   And, Ian Furness entertains us with his "weekly thoughts" on the Cougars football team.

The Crimson & Gray Show Week two of the Crimson & Gray Show will preview the Cougs upcoming game against the Cal Bears. Guests this week include: Cal broadcaster Joe Starkey, WSU linebacker Greg Trent, former WSU Quarterback Jason Gesser and KJR host Ian Furness   To download the podcast, right-click "Listen" and select "Save As" from the menu.

Crimson & Gray Host:  Jason Puckett

Questions/Comments:  crimsonandgray@950kjr.com 

Every Tuesday marks the day where every Pac-10 coach joins in on a conference call and answers questions from various members of the media from in and around the Pac-10.

The majority of the questions asked of Paul Wulff today were about how his team is holding up and whether or not he saw anything positive from Saturday's blowout loss to Oklahoma City.

Wulff once again praised the play of his defense, he reiterated that they held up pretty well under the circumstances.   Wulff felt that if his offense provided some more consistency then the defense would not have been so tired at the end.

A lot of fans have been SCREAMING about the play of the special teams; Wulff said at this point there will be no changes with his kicking unit. 

Wulff noted today that Patrick Rooney will continue to serve as the kickoff specialist.  Sophomore Wade Penner will still handle field goals and PAT's, but did say that all could change.  One injury that we didn't get an update on was with punter Reid Forrest, and whether or not he'll be able to punt this weekend.  If not, Daniel Wagner will remain as the teams punter.

Wulff also took time out to praise the play of Cal's offense.  He said the problem the Bears offense is that it's dangerous in three different parts.   First of all, their offensive line is big and physical.  Secondly, the Cal running backs led by Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen, are a danger in turning a short run into a long one into the end-zone.  Finally, sophomore Kevin Riley might be as a good of a quarterback that there is in the conference.  In the teams season opening win over Michigan State, Riley was 17-of-24 for 202 yards.

Hear for yourself:

Like I said before, every Tuesday, the Pac-10 coaches get on a conference call and answer a number of questions from the media covering the Pac-10.  Some questions well thought-out, some are rather silly.  I'll provide with a link every Tuesday of the Wullf's conference call and you decided for yourself.

Wulff Conferecne Call:   Click Here

Injury News:

Left tackle Vaughn Lesuma has a "good chance" of playing on Saturday against Cal, according to Wulff.   Senior defensive back Alfonso Jackson (hip) and linebacker Jason Stripling (toe), are both listed as questionable for the game on Saturday.


Inside the opposition:


One thing about Cal and the Bay Area, the coverage of college football down south is not the best - very limited coverage.  I guess there too busy hanging out in trees. 

- This from the Cal blog on the Oakland Tribune website.   To no one's surprise, Jeff Tedford is sticking with one quarterback, and one quarterback only.  Cal Blog 

- This also from the Oakland Tribune, unlike Washington State, the kicking game at Cal looks pretty good. 

WSU vs. Cal
3:30pm
TV FSN
Radio Fox Sports Radio 850-AM



KJR Reporter Jason Puckett

Questions/Comments:  jasonpuckett@clearchannel.com

 


Associated Press

The Cougs must quickly forget Saturday's loss to Oklahoma State, because they open up the Pac 10 season at home this Saturday against the Cal Bears - who looked awfully good against Michigan State on Saturday night.

The two names that should put the fear into Cougar fans are: Jahvid Best and Shane Vareen.  That duo  combined for 212 rushing yards.  Best rushed for 111 and Vereen bounced for 101.

In addition to the the 111 yards gained by Best on the ground, he accounted for 277 total yards.

Scratching your head:

Certainly one of the biggest surprises on Saturday was the play of the special teams.   This was a unit that was victimized countlessly during the Bill Doba era.   But, like the case was under the previous regime, special teams continues to be less then special.

On Saturday, the kicking and punting unit gave up 252 return yards to Oklahoma State.  On kick returns alone, the Cowboys averaged 42.7 per return - that will cause you to lose a ton of games. 

And the thing about special teams, and any coach will tell you, it's all about effort.   Were the Cougars lacking effort or is the talent just that bad.  Paul Wulff said after the game that when he took over the program the players on special teams had difficulty simply lining up in their respective positions.

On the flip side, the injury to Reid Forrest certainly proved problematic on Saturday as freshman walk-on quarterback, Daniel Wagner, was thrown into the punting duties and not to be to critical of the young man, but he didn't belong on a Division I football field handling the punting duties.  

But, when you have a new staff that is coming in and cleaning up the previous mess by a former staff, who simply ignored the details of special teams, this stuff will continue.

Was anyone else a little concerned on how the offense looked before the ball was even snapped?  

It's the first game, under a new staff, running a new system.  But, it just seemed like they weren't totally sure on what plays they wanted to run and what proper formations they wanted to line up in. 

Their confusion and delay with getting the plays called and having people line up properly, I thought took away from a little bit of the surprise factor and keeping the defense on their heals with the no-huddle offense. 

If you noticed a few times, freshman wide receiver, Jarred Karstetter, looked as if he didn't know where to line up on almost every single play - kind of a "deer in the headlights" look.

Wulff said it after the game, and most coaches echo the same statement after they lose their opening game, you see more improvement from week one to week two.  Let's hope in the Cougs case that the improvement is enormous.

Even-though, the time of possession only favored Oklahoma State by seven minutes, didn't seem like the Cowboys were on the field the entire game?

The time of possession was certainly more lopsided in the first half, compared to the second, but it's still a concern for the team. 

Especially in the first half when the Cougars defense was left out there for the majority of the time and received no relief from it's struggling offense.

What makes you smile:

There wasn't much to be happy about on Saturday, but a few things stood out.  

- Dwight Tardy on his surgically knee, rushed for 59 yards on 18 carries.  I know, it's not terrific, but think where this kid was eight months ago.  He looked good.  He looked fast.  And, he showed no signs of fatigue.

- The Cougs gave up 174 yards rushing, but it seemed like in the first half that the front seven did a pretty decent job against a veteran offensive line.   Alot of the those rushing numbers came late in the game.   They'll need to be even better this weekend against Cal.

- The young offensive line held up pretty well against Oklahoma State.  Gary Rogers was only sacked two times in the game - baby steps, but something to build on.


Early Links:

- Here is a blog from the Oakland Tribune, it's provided by Jonathan Okane:  Oakland Tribune.

- This is the official site for the Cal Bears.   Calbears.com.


KJR Reporter Jason Puckett

Questions/Comments:  jasonpuckett@clearchannel.com

Welcome to the very first Crimson & Gray Podcast Show, each week Jason Puckett goes inside the Cougar football team and previews the upcoming game.

The Cougs open up the 2008 season with a match-up against the Cowboys of Oklahoma State at Qwest Field.  Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 on Saturday and the game can be heard on our sister station Fox Sports Radio 850-AM. 

On the first show of the season, Puckett chats with Robert Allen of the Oklahoma State Cowboys Radio Network.  In addition, former WSU quarterback Jason Gesser, currrent Cougs QB Gary Rogers. 

Every week, Gesser will answer your e-mail questions about the Cougar football team.  If you have a question for Gesser, send it to jasonpuckett@clearchannel.com

For your reading pleasure:

- The Daily Oklahoman follows the Cowboys all season long.

- No one covers the Cougars better then Cougfan and you must check out their latest story on the development with recently expelled defensive tackle Andy Roof.

Crimson & Gray: Oklahoma State The first Crimson & Gray podcast focuses on the Cougs' upcoming game vs. the Cowboys of Oklahoma State at Qwest Field. This Week's Guests: OK St. Sideline Reporter Robert Allen, Former Cougar Quarterback Jason Gesser, Starting QB Gary Rogers, and Ian Furness.   To download the podcast, right-click "Listen" and select "Save As" from the menu.

KJR Reporter Jason Puckett

Pullman -   The Washington State football team already has a depleted roster, well that roster took another hit yesterday.

Sophomore wide receiver Jeshua Anderson, who caught 12 passes for 372 yards last season, underwent hernia surgery on Monday, it will sideline him for about six weeks.

Unless Anderson can some how make a miraculous recovery he will miss at least the first four games of the season against Oklahoma State, California, Baylor and Portland State.

Anderson nearly missed out on the opportunity to make the U.S. men's track and field team.  Anderson was the NCAA 400-meter hurdles champion and also set a school-record of 48.69 seconds.

Longtime WSU offensive coordinator Mike Levenseller is staying put in the Palouse