| 01 October 2009
Happy Thursday (already?), and October 1st at that. Wow, that first month of the season just flew by or what? As usual, well-wishes to all those in Coug Nation, out there doing the "heavy lifting" on a daily basis. Let's get to it.
First off, Travis Long, what a start to his young Coug career! 19 tackles in four games, leading the defensive linemen. Not bad, until you consider that's 13 MORE than any other defensive lineman on the team. Also leading the team in tackles for loss (3), QB hurries (2) and QB sacks (2). And, per Howie, Long was named the WSU defensive player of the week for the second time in four games (hey, Howie, Long....Howie Long).
It is simply remarkable to see a true frosh defensive end come in and make an impact like this, especially in the PAC-10. There was some real positive buzz on Long all fall camp, and early on Grippi was touting Long as someone who was going to play. Our own Hooty remarked in comments a few days ago after the Jeff Tuel debut that still, Long looks fantastic:
"As great as Tuel and Simone were, I continue to be more amazed at the play of Long. It just seems to me the DE is one position where a kid that young and inexperienced would have little or no impact. He has the makings of becoming an absolute BEAST in the next couple years."
Our own Longball was impressed by Long as well, reporting after the practices and scrimmages he witnessed several times this summer:
"Travis Long (89) - The freshman defensive end from Gonzaga Prep will probably start making an impact this year. He was causing problems for the 1st and 2nd team offenses today and has been a lot to handle all through camp. And to think, he is only going to get bigger and stronger..."
I can't remember a true frosh defensive linemen in recent WSU history making an instant impact like this. Who saw this coming anyway? Well, Paul Wulff for one. An article from Cougfan over the summer highlighted something Wulff said, when asked about which WSU rookies would make the biggest initial impact? The first name - Travis Long. ESPN.com had some evaluation on Long as a commit last year, and it was good. But if you jump over to that ESPN link and read the report, well, it doesn't exactly scream INSTANT IMPACT, know what I mean? Long's a smart cookie too, per his WSUcougars.com bio:
3.89 high school GPA...U.S. Army Scholar-Athlete Award as a junior...National Honor Society member...plans to pursue a degree in engineering at WSU.
Nice.
But that said, I wonder where his future lies? I mean you look at that picture above, he's all of 6-4, 250 lbs, and he has that wide, lean frame that coach Wulff has raved about in his efforts to rebuild the Cougar program. Long looks like he could handle, oh, I don't know, another 30 lbs of muscle mass? Maybe he grows another inch, and suddenly he's 6-5, 280? Maybe he starts to look more like another impact "Long" from the WSU glory days?
Yes, that's Rien Long. Predictable, I know. And, yeah, you don't want to set that bar TOO high, too soon....but let's just say, four games in, and Travis Long's future is looking awfully bright!
By the way, speaking of Travis Long.....do NOT go out and "Google" his name under images, if you have that safe search setting off on your Google. Trust me. You've been warned. Let's just say I'm now turning safe search "on" in Google, and it will stay that way.
But also speaking of Long, most of you know that he hails from Spokane. Grippi did a nice feature in his blog about how SPOKANE EFF'ING RULES in producing PAC-10 players! Well, not rules, but it's not too bad. Right now we're enjoying Andy Mattingly, Jared Karstetter, Travis Long. Next year, if the verbals hold, we're looking at Connor Halliday, the Ferris QB, plus the four-star tight end Aaron Dunn from Mead, and Jake Rodgers, a three-star special from Shadle Park. And overall, the GSL has been kind to WSU. Eric Coleman and Jeremy Williams come to mind, from that great 01-03 run. Jason Hanson, the great kicker who is still doing his thing. And you can go back further, even back to Mark Rypien from Shadle Park. Anyway, hooray Inland Empire!
Finally, this is random-off topic, but, must be seen. Check out this video from a high school game, if you haven't seen it already? Pay close attention to how it ends, about the 1:40 mark of the clip....
WOW. I know it's high school and all, and kids make mistakes....but WOW.
That's about it for now. We'll have more later. Enjoy your morning, and as always, GO COUGS!
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