Meet the players who make the game

8C | THE DAILY EVERGREEN
SPORTS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2006 | 9C
COUGAR FOOTBALL 2006: The Breakdown
Text by Brandon Scheller Graphic by Victor Graf
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Daily Evergreen staff
Quarterback
The Cougars will go as far as Alex Brink and the passing
game will take them, and if training camp is any indication,
the ceiling is pretty high.
Brink has been rock-solid throughout the camp, having reestablished his rapport with Jason Hill.
As a sophomore last season, Brink was the Pac-10’s
third-highest-rated player in passing for 2,891 yards and
24 touchdowns. But what fans seem to remember more
are the interceptions he threw in games at OSU and versus
Stanford – games that proved costly to WSU.
Now Brink appears sharper and is the clear leader of the
team.
The growing pains appear to be over, and what the
Cougars now have is a veteran signal caller in complete command of the offense.
Sophomore backup Gary Rogers has looked good in camp,
and should be a serviceable backup to Brink this fall.
Offensive Line
The unit – and the team – suffered a big blow last week
when sophomore right guard Andy Roof fractured his thumb
in the team’s first scrimmage and will miss the first four to six
weeks.
Depth right now doesn’t appear to be very good on the line,
and the team was counting on Roof, a solid run blocker, to
assume the starting duties there.
The unit does return three of its five starters from last year,
including both starting tackles, Charles Harris and Bobby
Byrd. Both players made big strides last season and played a
big role in the unit’s success. Byrd could be looking at an All
Pac-10 nod if he progresses like he did last fall.
Senior Sean O’Connor resumes his role at left guard, but
the real intrigue comes from center. Right now, it’s anyone’s
guess who will be the primary guy all year, but at the moment
it appears senior Josh Duin has the upper hand on Dan
Rowlands and Kenny Alfred.
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Wide Receiver
Maybe it’s not the Fab Five, but
don’t be surprised if this unit makes a
name for itself by the end of the year.
Jason Hill returns for his senior
campaign just 348 yards shy of the
school record. He has said his goal is to
be remembered as the best receiver in
school history, and if he isn’t already,
he’s not far from it. He and Brink have
already re-established their rapport
in camp, and it’s clear that will be the
bread and butter of the Cougar offense.
Junior Michael Bumpus is the
team’s talented slot back capable of
big things, and sophomore Brandon
Gibson looks like he’s on the verge of
big things to come, opposite of Hill.
That would leave talented flanker Chris
Jordan out of a starting spot, but you
can bet the coaches will find ways to
get him on the field often.
At tight end, Cody Boyd looks to be
a big contributor to the Cougar offense.
But the talented senior will have to stay
healthy, something that has been a
problem for quite some time.
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Running back
Jerome Harrison’s 1,900 rushing yards last year and uncanny pass blocking will be hard to replace, and the Cougars are not about to try.
But the drop off may not be as bad as one might think, for the following
reasons: DeMaundray Woolridge, Dwight Tardy, and Derrell Hutsona.
Together, the Cougars seem to have diversity at running back, giving
them a little of everything.
Woolridge is a prototypical north-south ball pounder who uses his
size and frame to his advantage. He broke a 60-yard touchdown run in
Wednesday’s scrimmage after running through traffic and making a nice cut
up field. Woolridge will be the starter.
Doba has been happy with the play of Tardy, a player he highlighted in
spring. Tardy could be a good change-of-pace back.
Hutsona, who had 2,354 all-purpose yards at junior college last year, is
a shifty runner with blazing speed who also serves as a valuable receiving
option out of the backfield. He’s been impressive in training camp, and Doba
and his staff will probably try to find ways to get him on the field.
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Meet the players
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Defensive Line
Secondary
This could be a very good unit, but
then again it needs to be with the problems at corner.
Senior defensive end Mkristo Bruce,
the leader on defense, is a disruptive
pass rusher who always seems to find
a way into opposing backfields. Matt
Mullennix is a high-motor player who
had a good off season, and he’ll be relied
upon opposite Bruce with the departure
of Adam Braidwood.
On the inside, the Cougars have a
trio of good tackles in Ropati Pitoitua,
Aaron Johnson and A’I Ahmu. It could
be even deeper if Bryan Tarkington’s
school transcripts ever arrive. The junior
transfer has spent camp on the sidelines
in street clothes waiting for them.
It’s said that teams are only as good as their
biggest weaknesses, and if that’s right, then the
Cougs could be in trouble. The team came into
camp knowing it was weak at corner, with no clear
starter opposite Tyron Brackenridge. Since then,
Brackenridge has been hurt.
Junior transfer Markus Dawes has been impressive at times in camp, but he’s been slowed by the
blood work trainers have done on him after cramps
hampered him last week.
Perhaps the safest bet right now is on either
junior transfer Brian Williams or senior Don
Turner, who, if nothing else, are at least healthy.
The Cougars are just fine at safety, however,
with Eric Frampton returning for his senior year
and Husain Abdullah reprising his starting role at
free safety.
Linebackers
Special Teams
Seniors Scott Davis and Steve
Dildine both return with great expectations for their senior campaigns. Both
are great athletes who have a knack
for finding the ball, and Davis could be
looking at an All Pac-10 nod this year.
On the inside, Greg Trent is now
officially the starter after backing up
the oft-injured Will Derting for the
past two seasons. Trent has gone
through some understandable growing pains, but now more stability is
expected in his junior season.
Depth is a big issue here, though.
Jason Stripling is out for another four
weeks from an injury he suffered back
in spring ball, so Brian Hall and Cory
Evans seem to be primary backups at
the moment.
It’s hard to call them special, because this
unit has been anything but during the past
few years.
Loren Langley has a career field goal
percentage of 0.576, and missed seven of
his final 10 last season – including three in a
nailbiting Apple Cup.
He hasn’t helped himself since. The
junior kicker was inconsistent at spring
camp and has been erratic in this one, having connected on only three of eight field
goals in the two scrimmages thus far.
The coaches brought in junior transfer
Romeen Abdollmohammodi to challenge
Langley this off season, and he’s outperformed Langley in training camp and
appears to have the inside track on placekicking duties.
The team has apparently settled on a
punter after giving sophomore Darryl Blunt
a scholarship last week.