By Craig Hill
The News Tribune
The Washington State Cougars don’t have it everywhere, but they have more of it than they’ve had in a long time.
“Depth – it’s nice to have,” WSU coach Mike Price said. “We are proud of that.”
The Cougars are playing 60 players per game, more than they have since the Rose Bowl season, but even that season, WSU didn’t have depth like this.
“Nobody got hurt in ‘97,” Price said. “It hasn’t been like that for us this season.”
In building its 4-0 record, WSU has weathered the loss of three middle linebackers, their best cornerback, two offensive linemen, the top two tight ends, a starting defensive tackle and two backup running backs.
Depth – more precisely, lack of depth – has always been a major issue at WSU and the primary reason the Cougars are 9-28 in November and have blown several chances at going to bowls under Price.
It’s taken some creative shuffling to fill some positions, like moving fullback Jeremy Thielbahr to tight end, but Price is ecstatic about his bench.
On the defensive line he has players such as Ing Aleaga, a former starter, and Jeremey Williams, the top defensive line recruit in the state in 1999, to rotate into the game. At receiver, he has Jerome Riley and Trandon Harvey – two first-year players who’ve come along quickly. At quarterback, he has Matt Kegel to back up Jason Gesser.
“That’s one of the bigger differences than other teams since I got here,” Gesser said. “There’s more than just one or two players at each position who can play. If somebody goes down, we have somebody who can step in.”
There are some positions that are dramatically thin, especially linebacker. WSU has nothing but inexperience behind the starting trio of James Price, Raonall Smith and Al Genatone – and Genatone made his first career start Saturday. And the loss of cornerback Marcus Trufant severely depleted the secondary.
“But I would say that besides the three linebackers, we are in pretty good shape,” Mike Price said.
Don’t ask: Price has made it clear that he’s tired of answering questions about his relationship with Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson. The coaches grew up together in Everett, Price lived in Erickson’s old house when he took over for him as WSU’s coach in 1989 and they talk regularly.
But whenever Price, who’ll usually talk about anything, was asked about Erickson on Tuesday, he gave the same answer: “I guess I’m just tired of answering those questions.”
What were they thinking? WSU running back David Minnich will be featured in a short article this week in Sports Illustrated. The first thing he reportedly did during his interview was harass the magazine for picking WSU as the 79th best team in the country during the preseason.
Rescheduled: Most of the festivities scheduled for the canceled Sept. 15 Colorado game have been rescheduled to coincide with WSU’s game Oct. 27 against Oregon. Among the events Oct. 27 are the rededication of Bohler Gym and the 1981 Holiday Bowl team will have its reunion and will be honored during the game.
Quick kicks: Trufant’s status for the rest of the season is still uncertain, although coaches hope he’ll return from his hand injury by the end of the season. … Running back Jimmy Wilson (knee) will be available to play Saturday. … Price said for the first time this week what most suspected: sophomore receiver Devard Darling, a transfer from Florida State University, will redshirt this season.
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