Just some afternoon quick-stuff to carry you through the day.

1) Many have seen it already, but this week's release is up.  I don't think anyone is too shocked by what we see?  Other than perhaps Jason Stripling starting at weakside linebacker in place of a still-healing Louis Bland?  Here's hoping Louis can get back soon.  But Stripling was an intriguing guy when he first appeared in Pullman, one of the Texas kids who looked awfully promising on the recruiting tapes and such.  Injuries have derailed him a bit, but hey, he's back, bigger than ever (225 lbs now as a converted safety) and it's his last chance as a senior.  Who knows, maybe he'll play well?  It's been a while.

They still have that pesky "OR" next to the QB names, even though the world knows Lopina will start.  Maybe it's a pretty strong reminder that while Lopina trots out under center for the first snap of the season Saturday afternoon, Marshall will be getting loose on the sidelines.  I think we see both of these kids, quite a bit actually, through the first few games.

2) A decent highlight of Stanford's spring scrimmage is available.  The reason I show it here is to see some video of Andrew Luck at QB throwing some nice balls. 


You can see he can move too.  Look around the 40-second mark of the tape as he moves to his left and then flicks his wrist to a wide-open WR down the middle.  I know there has been talk about Luck being young, and has a big arm, but there is also word that the kid has some great feet.  6-4, 225, and runs a reported 4.7 40, we'll see for sure in a few days.

3) NFL rosters are being trimmed this week, and of course, next week's final cut will happen as the LEAGUE gets ready for 2009.  Michael Bumpus, who barely got on the field this preseason, was cut today by the Hawks, per Ian at KJR.  Too bad.  I thought he was a nice story last year, where he made the team as an undrafted free agent and even caught at TD pass early in the year.  But that was about it.  Maybe he'll land back on the practice squad and he can have another year of learning how to be a pro wide receiver?  Good luck Bump, we'll always love you around here!

That's about it for now.  Enjoy the rest of your day, and GO COUGS!

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Comments (12)

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written by James_WSU, September 01, 2009

After seeing that Stanford video... I'm losing some of the optimism I had for the opening game The only QB we have that can make those kind of throws is going to be on the bench. Stanford looks like a bowl team, now that they have (or seem to have) a solid passing game.

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Uh Oh
written by Chris '04, September 01, 2009

Yikes, we're gonna get killed.

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We shall see...
written by '03CouveCoug, September 01, 2009

Perhaps we can do to Stanford what the Cardinal did to the Beavers last year? If there is a chance that we can surprise them, there is no better time than the first game of the season. Last thought, just because the guy has a great arm doesn't mean he's going to make great decisions. I'm guessing that Ball and Sears are cooking up some great schemes and will throw the kitchen sink at this kid to see how he reacts. Now we just have to hope our D can get some pressure on this kid!

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Remember
written by SeanHawk, September 01, 2009

As the pic above suggests, We've won ONE IN A ROW at home over a PAC-10 opponent. So we've got that going for us.

The scary this isn't so much the tape on Luck, but they say the guy is just "real deal" in every way. They plucked him from Texas as a top-10 QB recruit two years ago and he's wowing them on the farm. But it is his first game, on the road, fired up team with a chip on it's shoulder, in the season/home opener, etc. And let's face it, you can look great in highlight tapes or scrimmages, but you can be sure like Couve says, our defensive coaches are going to do everything they can to make the kid sweat a bit. They need to create some adversity and see what he's got.

Now about Toby Gerhart...jeesh. That monster is a story for another day.

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written by lucascoug, September 01, 2009

I am curious, in the history of the Pac 10, how many RS Freshmen Quarterbacks have won their first conference road game under center? My guess is not many. I can't believe how down some of you guys are (Chris '04), seeing as you haven't seen the Cougs play a snap since last November.

BTW, Sean, Stripling was never a safety. He was recruited as a LB

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written by stefen, September 01, 2009

that roll out and flip to the receiver you mentioned was Leafesque, only quicker.

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written by James_WSU, September 01, 2009

I'm still excited about the season to see the improvement, but I just haven't seen anything particularly great from either of our starting QBs. Lopina's decision aren't always the best and his intermediate to long passes tend to be under thrown, while Lobbestael has a sore knee and his accuracy has suffered. I liked it better when I just had Gerhart to worry about is all lol.

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written by WSU91, September 01, 2009

Tough to tell from the Spring game video. Looked to me like a lot of the passes were wobbly, and you could make a case that their defense can't get any real pressure on the QB. I don't think you can read too much into this video, and it's also the best shots from the game. You don't see what they sucked at.

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Wasn't Stripling a safety in high school?
written by SeanHawk, September 01, 2009

Then converted to linebacker from the get-go? But agreed Lucas, he was never a safety at WSU. He was a strongside linebacker/special teamer as a frosh in '05. But I thought for sure he was a safety in high school. But whatever! I hope he's ready to go and can stay healthy for the first time in a while.

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written by ptowncoug, September 01, 2009

Is it easy to bag on us pessimists? Honestly, just keeping it real.
The problem is that the coaching staff failed miserably in every aspect. Is that bad, not for your first season, but again we are talking about a staff who includes coaches that were readily questioned about their ability to coach at the D-I level.
Again, we just don't have the game breaker that is needed to generate great hope. I remember Harrison. The guy barely played the first half of his first year, but everyone, I mean everyone was talking about him. Guess who we are mainly talking about this year? A guy who won't see the field until next yr. That's troubling.
Hope starts at the QB position and the coaching staff just added to the pessimism by being unable to decide on a QB particularly when you have numerous reports that Lopina was the clear cut winner. It makes our staff look foolish. I hope they prove people wrong, but again diminishes expectations.

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Luck
written by selahcoug, September 02, 2009

Luck does look good, does remind me a bit of Leaf how easily he gets the ball downfield. But on a positive note, Stanford's secondary did not look good at all.

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Response to Lucascoug
written by Soze, September 02, 2009

I think many of us our "down" on the team this year because we saw them play last year. When people talk about how we are bigger and stronger and better, every other school in the Pac-10 also got bigger and stronger and better. So yeah... I see 3 wins MAXIMUM this year (SMU and maybe Hawaii and Apple Cup) and anything more would just be gravy.

But again, I'm a big believer in CPW and in 2010!

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