So, yesterday the Cougs were back at it after a Monday off, and things sound pretty positive.  One might expect the team to come out a little flat, you know, with the heat above 90, coming off a day off, and some bodies and minds starting to get a little fatigued.  But nope, the "dog days" haven't quite set in yet, and the energy was pretty positive yesterday. 

NOTE - our own Longball was able to hit one of the practices yesterday, live and in color.  But unfortunately the opening paragraph went "live" on the site before the recap was ready to roll, so, that's why you saw it briefly yesterday afternoon.  No big whoop, and no, we didn't violate any confidentiality agreements 'n such.  It was just a technical difficulty issue that was quickly corrected.  Stay tuned for Longball's full recap, coming soon!

But before we get to the many links out there, some business to attend to.  See that RV in the pic above?  Why show a picture of an RV for a post about the Cougs?  Well, because WE BOUGHT IT! That's right, we acquired the 30-foot Class C RV over the weekend.  What does that mean for you?  Why would you give a rip?  Some of you might remember, but last fall we put together a tailgate party for the blog.  Our own Hooty did the vast majority of the work, which wasn't exactly easy.  He got most of the drinks, food, and his own travel trailer, as well as scouted out the spot for the get-together.  He even went out and bought a "WSU Football Blog" banner! 


Very cool.  But sadly, the WSU cheerleaders came by, and Hoot had to tell them to leave, as they just weren't invited......


Seriously though, he totally stepped up and we are forever grateful to him.  Now, on to business - if you didn't make it by last year, good news - you can just come by this year.  That's right, we are going to hold our second annual WSU Football Blog tailgate party, coming to a Pullman home game near you! We will supply the refreshments, hot dogs and the RV, and now we just need you to come on by and say hello.  We don't have the game picked out yet, as some busy fall schedules for all of us are making it a little tough to decide, but rest assured, we will be doing this again.  Stay tuned to the blog for the details as they come together, and we will give you notice way in advance, but yes, YOU are invited!     

Read on for the links.....

Inevitable:  Incapable of being avoided or evaded (example:  an inevitable outcome).

With that, the inevitable happened for the Cougs in this year's edition of Fall Camp 2010, in more ways than one.  First, a possible key backup on the defensive line has been lost for the season.  Per Grippi's post from late Sunday,  backup Jordan Pu'u-Robinson tore his ACL, and will be on the sidelines for 2010.  While it's not a headline-type deal in that yeah, Pu'u-Robinson wasn't a starter, he was certainly in the mix as a backup at defensive end.  Losing Pu'u-Robinson thins things out a bit, as Kevin Kooyman and Casey Hamlett are now the last two standing at left defensive end.  The injury means more opportunities for youngsters like Sekope Kaufusi and Adam Coerper to slide over from the right side, so we'll see what happens there.

More in the inevitable department - bumps and bruises.  Yeah, they are starting to add up after a tough, physical week of intense practices.  Grippi ran them down here, and the list is fairly extensive.  But keep in mind that Pu'u-Robinson is still the only major casualty of camp thus far.  It still isn't THAT bad, you know?  Just think back to a couple of years ago, Wulff's first camp, when almost half the team was nursing this and that on the sidelines.  But the reality is that bumps and bruises, nicks and cuts and sore bodies, they are going to happen in camp.  It's an "inevitable" outcome when young, fast, big dudes are crushing each other for a couple of hours a day!

The other inevitable from the weekend?  The defense won the battle of the first true scrimmage of fall, per most of the recaps from Grippi, the official WSU site, etc.  The thing is, just remember that throughout football, it's usually a general rule that early on, defenses are ahead of the offenses.  It can be based on a number of factors, but a lot of it is simply timing from the offense.  Meaning that offenses need the reps to develop the rhythm and consistency required for success on offense, and that type of thing can take a while to come together.  It doesn't matter how they did in spring ball, or how hard they worked in skeleton drills over the summer, playing 7-on-7 in t-shirts and shorts.  You get into that "game" mode that is a scrimmage, when the pads come on and the defense is trying to knock your block off, and it can be a whole different deal. 

What's kind of hard to take sometimes is how the different perspectives can develop when one side of a team dominates the other side.  For example, the defense dominated the scrimmage on Saturday.  Is that a GOOD thing for the defense?  Or, is that a BAD thing for the offense??  It's hard to really peg, especially after just one week of action.  You can on one hand feel good that the defense is out there flying around and making plays with their newfound speed and athleticism not seen on the Palouse for several years.  On the other hand, one can lament the offensive struggles with a still-young offense trying to develop some consistency!  The thing is, when you "play yourself", one side is going to beat the other side.  It just happens that way. 

The thing to really watch is how the scrimmages go from here on out.  If you still hear the defense is controlling things, especially after the next big scrimmage, then maybe it's time to start the hand-wringing.  But if the offense strikes back and does well after more time working on things, making some adjustments here and there, then you can feel better. 

But the bottom line for now?  DON'T FREAK OUT.....yet. 

Continue on for the links, as well as a first-hand report of the scrimmage from a well-regarded Cougfan poster.....