The Wulff Era Begins and The Observer saw Plenty to be Happy about

Today marked an important day in the history of the Washington State Cougars football program. Today Paul Wulff officially stepped onto a field as head coach of his Alma Mater and while I'm sure it did not quite go the way he and many fans had hoped, it was not a loss without merit.

The fact of the matter is that Oklahoma State came into this game with an upper hand by way of experience and familiarity with their coaches, their system, and each other. While it could be argued that coming in blind against the Cougar's newly installed hurry up offense would be a disadvantage it proved to be a less than challenging proposition for the Cowboys to stifle the Cougars. By the end of the first half with the score 18-0 in the Cowboys favor, the stat-line could tell the story of the Cougar's offensive woes with little to no trouble. 52 total yards from an offense that routinely put up 400 plus yards of offense in games last year. Ouch!

By the end of the game things got somewhat back to normal, as the Cougs were finally able to start moving the ball by the end of the third quarter. And that is where the most pleasant surprise of the afternoon began to manifest itself. For the first time since Jerome Harrison left WSU for the NFL it appears the Cougs might just have a running game that needs to be taken seriously. Meanwhile the passing game struggled mightily throughout the entirety of the game. Brandon Gibson found himself suffering from a case of dropitis and, at least early, never really looked like he was completely in sync with new QB Gary Rogers. Speaking of Rogers, he looked solid if unspectacular and definitely had some issues with timing and touch on deeper passes. Fortunately enough for the Cougs the offense looked to be finding a rhythm and on their final scoring drive caught Oklahoma State napping while trying to get the right personnel on the field resulting in a touchdown.

If the offense was a bit stilted then the defense was just the opposite. Paul Wulff's influence became obvious in no short order when the defense took the field. For the first time since the 2003 season which saw the Cougars defense just destroy opponents with mean quick hits, the Cougars defense had some teeth. The Cougs have learned how to tackle ladies and gentlemen and can I just say that it's about time. What also impressed was just how fast defenders were on top of ball carriers. With the exceptions of a couple of early runs by Oklahoma State, the Cowboys ground game was pretty well stuffed, and for the first time in a loooong time the opposition didn't just hammer a ball down the Coug's gullet until they were able to break a big run. There were some troubling issues with the defense though as it became apparent, especially late in the game, that jump balls could be thrown with impunity and our corners could do nothing shy of blatantly interfering with the much larger Cowboy's receivers to prevent them from hauling them in. Overall this defense looked a lot more physical than it has in quite some time. If they can get better with each passing week and turn hard hitting safety Xavier Hicks loose after the next two games (3 game suspension) this could be a special unit to keep an eye on as the Pac 10 race heats up.

The special teams of the Cougars obviously still need help. Coach Wulff has already said that they have to use more starters on special teams than he would like to because of depth issues. Even using starters on special teams could not stop the Cowboys from running back a kick off for a touchdown so here's hoping the coaching staff can get the players to shore up some of the coverage issues. At the same time one has to wonder just how the Cougs are ever going to be able to score if they can't get the ball in the end zone as the field goal unit missed the first PAT of the season. If the kicking situation can get sorted out as the next few games unfold so that by the time the Cougs play Oregon they have some consistency it would be one of the best things that could happen to this team.

Overall I have to admit I was not happy about what I saw when this game ended. I got up and left my seat after the clock hit 0:00 and I felt like I watched the worst Cougars game I had ever been to. However, after awhile my unflappable optimism got a hold of me again and I began to think about what positive things could be taken from this game. The good was that the defense looks better than they have in years and while they have some issues, compared to openers in years past I feel a lot better about where they will be next week and in the season to come than I ever did last year. The offense wasn't so hot this week, but I'd be willing to bet that by the time Cal shows up in Martin next week Gibson will have cured his dropitis and Rogers will be able to get comfortable and actually start to show us what he can do. Special Teams needs some work but I have confidence in the coaching staff to at least get them to play more capably than what we saw at Qwest today. Heading into the home opener at Martin I think Coach Wulff will have the Cougs ready to play and lay it all on the line. Oklahoma State was the warm up game that just happened to count, Cal is where we will start to see what this team is really all about.

I'll be back late in the week with my thoughts and speculation on the Cal game and keep your eye out for some rants about Coug stuff as there's almost always something I wanna talk about. Until then feel free to leave comments about the game, about the post, or anything Coug related.

Laters and GO COUGS!