INSIDE THE PAC-PART III
A tabular look at the WSU Cougars for next season
By: Richard Linde, 1 June 2002

 

In some of the early polls that have been taken thus far, the Washington State Cougars are ranked as high as 11th and 12th in the nation. The data in the tables from below seem to support those rankings. However, beware to the Cougar faithful: Football is played on the gridiron, not paper. J

With four of the interior offensive linemen returning, led by preseason All-American Derrick Roche, offensively speaking, the 10-2 Cougars from last season should rock and roll in 2002. Shifty, senior quarterback Jason Gesser, who led the Pac-10 in total offense last season, could lead the Cougars to the Roses in 2002, providing they replace leading rusher Dave Minich and leading receiver Nakoa McElrath. Wazzu will get immediate help from the J.C. ranks, where they have seven players incoming, four of them being running backs. Also, wide receiver Mike Bush returns; he had 46 receptions for 959 yards last season.

On defense the Cougs need to replace safeties Lamont Thompson, all Pac-10 career-interception leader, and Billy Newman, along with linebacker Roanall Smith. Most of the defensive linemen return, as does cornerback Marcus Trufant.

Inside the Pac-10, relatively speaking, the Cougars have the easiest road schedule of any of the leading contenders, getting Washington, Oregon, USC and ASU at home. They finish at UCLA, which could be their only toughie on the road, albeit all road games in the parity-ridden Pac-10 conference are not easy.

On the down side, during his thirteen-year stint at WSU, head coach Mike Price has never had back-to-back winning seasons, and last season counts as a winning season.

 

1. Upside-and-downside factors that could affect their title hopes.

 

Led by senior quarterback Jason Gesser, the Cougars hope to repeat their magic from last season (10-2). The next two tables examine the upside-and-downside factors affecting their title hopes. 

 

 

2. Returning Starters

The Cougars return thirteen starters, seven on offense, five on defense and one specialist. Most of the offensive and defensive linemen return.

3. Offensive stats from 2001.

Of the eleven offensive statistical categories listed below, WSU finished in the top half of the Pac-10 in 9 categories. Rushing offense is an area for improvement. Four incoming running backs from the J.C. level should help the Cougars improve on that stat. 

4. Defensive statistics from last season (2001)

Of the ten defensive categories shown in the table below, the Cougars ranked in top half of the Pac-10 in nine of them. Offensively and defensively last season, the Cougars were a well-coached football team.

 

5. Special-Teams Statistics from 2001

Of the six special-teams categories shown in the table below the Cougars finished in the bottom of the half of the Pac-10 in four of them.

 

6. Schedule 2002

The Cougars play a demanding 13-game schedule this season. Two bye weeks sandwiched inside the schedule should help out. They have an extra week to prepare for Arizona and Washington each.