The Cougars held a 90-minute practice wearing helmets and skelly pads in Martin Stadium today...the first couple segments focused on special teams before the offense worked against the scout defense while the defense worked against the scout team offense...a lot of energy again during practice today, a lot more than weeks past...the team travels to Boulder, Colo. tomorrow morning and we will hope to have a video of the team at Folsom Field tomorrow...Saturday's game captains will be Alex Hoffman-Ellis, Jared Karstetter, Travis Long and Marshall Lobbestael...GO COUGS!

Also featured on the WSUCougars.com Podcast Network page this week is Monday's "Cougar Calls With Bill Moos" show and interviews with student-athletes Mike Ledgerwood (football), Brandi Vega (soccer) and Meagan Ganzer (volleyball). Listen in HERE
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Former Washington State men's basketball coach Dick Bennett came to Pullman to serve as the keynote speaker at 'An Evening with Cougar Basketball,' Saturday, Sept. 24 at the CUB Ballroom. Bennett spoke of the challenges in rebuilding a program and when he knew it was time for him to retire from coaching (for a second time). Both men's and women's teams were in attendance and head coaches Ken Bone and June Daugherty of the men's and women's teams, respectively, addressed the group as well.

Check out a few photos we have, and Dick Bennett's speech in whole here in this blog entry.

The Cougs worked out for just over an hour in helmets and shoulder pads Thursday afternoon...it was the final workout of the week...practiced started with Andrew Furney kicking field goals, including one from 49 yards...a punting segment followed before the team worked through some individual segments with their position coaches...the team then went into one-on-one battles...the final segments were 11-vs.-11...Marquess Wilson turned in the highlight of the day, diving to catch his own deflection before the ball hit the ground, bringing some "ooooos" and "ahhhhs" from players on both sides of the ball...the team will have tomorrow and Saturday off before returning to the practice field Sunday night to begin preparations for Colorado...have a good weekend Coug fans, GO COUGS!

In addition to the interview with Moos, be sure to listen to a conversation with Cougar Basketball Legend James Donaldson, who is visiting the WSU campus this week. Donaldson talked to the men's basketball team on Wednesday and afterward sat down for an exclusive interview. During the wide-ranging interview, Donaldson discusses his WSU career and his new book, "Standing Above The Crowd."

Listen to both the Moos and Donaldson interviews at the WSUCougars.com Podcast Network page HERE

WSU worked out in full pads for just under two hours Wednesday afternoon...the Cougs dialed up the intensity even more today, competing in one-on-one battles in a number of drills, with the lineman squaring off, the linebackers facing the running backs and tight ends while the receivers and defensive backs battled...the defense played well early on, as Damante Horton and Mike Ledgerwood each picked off passes in the first 11 vs. 11 segment...Marshall Lobbestael did provide the offense with a nice highlight as he completed a long pass to Marquess Wilson...in the day's final 11 vs. 11 segment, Deone Bucannon had a pair of interceptions and Jordan Simone made a leaping INT of a Connor Halliday pass to cap a very good day by the defense...tons of energy throughout the day by the players and coaches...the Cougs will practice tomorrow before taking Friday, Saturday and Sunday off...GO COUGS!

The Cougs traveled to San Diego this morning and after arriving, headed directly to Qualcomm Stadium to check out the playing surface, the locker room and get a feel for how things will look inside the stadium...former Cougar great Ryan Leaf made an appearance at the stadium, greeting the team as they got off the bus and talking with a couple guys as they checked things out, including Jeff Tuel and Marshall Lobbestael...the team then left and checked into the hotel...later, they will have a team dinner before going through some film and reviewing the game plan...GO COUGS!

You can access the interview at the podcast page HERE

The Cougs worked out in just helmets and their "skelly" shoulder pads for just over an hour in Martin Stadium Thursday afternoon...the team reviewed its game plans for both sides of the ball with the offense working in Martin Stadium while the defense going up to Rogers Field for the majority of practice...at the end of practice, coach Paul Wulff announced that Tyree Toomer and Isiah Barton will serve as captains along with Alex Hoffman-Ellis and Jared Karstetter...the Cougs head to San Diego late Friday morning...game time for Saturday is 3:30 p.m. and will be televised on The Mountain...GO COUGS!

For the second consecutive day, the Cougars worked out for two hours in full pads and the intensity was dialed up...a little bit more noise coming from coaches yelling and from pads popping really stood out today...the Cougs continued to implement the game plan for San Diego State, working through a couple individual segments before going through a couple extended segments against the scout teams...Alex Hoffman-Ellis and Deone Bucannon each had INT's while working against the scout team...the final five minutes was a full 11-vs.-11 segment that had the No. 1 offense face off against the No. 2 defense and the No. 1 defense face the No. 2 offense...Marquess Wilson highlighted the day with one of the better catches we have seen this fall...Wilson worked his way down field before extending out to snag a Marshall Lobbestael pass using just his left hand before falling to the ground and holding on for the one-handed catch...the offense celebrated and coach Paul Wulff called it a day a few plays later...the Cougs will work out tomorrow before heading to San Diego Friday morning...GO COUGS!

WSU worked out in full pads for just over two hours Tuesday...a lot more energy at practice as compared to last week...a couple big pops by the No. 1 and No. 2 defenses as they worked against the scout offense...cornerback Daniel Simmons highlighted the defense during the final team segment, corralling a tipped Marshall Lobbestael pass and taking to the "house" while the offense was highlighted by a couple nice catches from tight end Andrei Lintz who went up high in traffic to come down with two Connor Halliday passes...there were some special teams segments, again focusing on field goals and punt coverage...one noticeable difference at practice was that the players expected to travel this weekend were wearing their newly issued Crimson helmets...the Cougs will work out in full pads again tomorrow...coach Paul Wulff had his teleconference today and we will add the video shortly...GO COUGS!

Paul Wulff breaks down film from Saturday's UNLV game during Monday's Cougar Athletic Fund Spokane Luncheon at the Spokane Club. To view more photos from the luncheon visit our Facebook page HERE.

The luncheons will take place every Monday during the football season (except Sept. 19 because of bye week). To learn how you can attend click HERE.

The Washington State University men's basketball team continued to make its presence known as it braved the heat Saturday to sign autographs prior the football team's 59-7 victory over UNLV at Martin Stadium. All 15 members of the basketball team were stationed at a booth in the middle of the field at Mooberry Track during the noon hour as part of WSU Athletics' Family Day. The team has been involved with the community all summer and will continue to do so all season long, as it will hold a Free Kids' Clinic, Saturday, Oct. 1.

As many of you Cougar Basketball fans know, the team was very busy this summer reaching out to the Palouse Community in various ways. This photo of this season's team was taken at the Lentil Festival Street Fair, August 19. This photo was meant to be a candid shot of the team, but Dexter Kernich-Drew looked up at the last second, as Will DiIorio attempted to lean out of the picture. Newcomers Royce Woolridge, Chuks Iroegbu, and Dominic Ballard (from left to right), at the end of the table, were too busy signing autographs for young fans to notice the photo being taken. For more about the team's community service this summer, click HERE.

The Cougs worked out in helmets and their "skelly" shoulder pads for 90 minutes in Martin Stadium Thursday...practice opened with a couple segments focused on special teams, kickoff and punt coverage...the no. 1 and 2 defense then headed up to Rogers field to work against the scout team offense while the No. 1 and 2 offense worked against the scout team defense in Martin...Marshall Lobbestael made a couple nice throws in a redzone drill, throwing touchdown passes to Kristoff Williams, Marquess Wilson and Jared Karstetter...the defense later returned to Martin Stadium as the team worked on field goals...during the team huddle after practice, coach Paul Wulff announced that Jared Karstetter, Alex Hoffman-Ellis, B.J. Guerra and C.J. Mizell will be the team captains for Saturday's game...tomorrow will be a walk-thru...GO COUGS!  

You can access the interview at the podcast page HERE

The Cougars worked out for just over two hours in full pads on a hot and muggy Rogers Field Wednesday...it was another day of implementing the game plan for UNLV...after a couple segments of special teams for field goals and kickoff coverage, the Cougs broke out with their individual  position coaches and continued to work through UNLV plays...the defense was flying around the field for most of the day but it was Marshall Lobbestael and Connor Halliday who turned in a couple solid performances during 11-vs.-11...Lobbestael connected with Bobby Ratliff for long bomb during a hurry-up offense drill...Halliday had a great hurry-up drill, hitting Bennett Bontemps for a long gain and throwing touchdown passes to Kristoff Williams and Bontemps...Lobbestael made his best throw of the day towards the end of practice, hitting Marquess Wilson for a long touchdown pass...the Cougars continue practice tomorrow at 3:45 p.m., most likely working out with just helmets and shoulder pads...GO COUGS!  

The Cougs hit the Rogers practice field for a two-hour workout in full pads Tuesday afternoon...the team ran through a lot of segments with their individual coaches which focused on the game planning for UNLV...below is Coach Wulff's Tuesday teleconference.

As many of you Cougar Basketball fans know, the team was very busy this summer reaching out to the Palouse Community in various ways. This first photo from this season's team took place at Habitat for Humanity July 9. As you can see Marcus Capers had a hard time fitting his hands into the gloves provided. Newcomer Royce Woolridge, who will sit out this year after transferring from Kansas is figuring out his gloves in the background of the photo. For more about the team's work with Palouse Habitat for Humanity, click HERE.

With Thursday's practice just focusing on Idaho State game planning we thought we'd pass along some notes from Coach Paul Wulff's teleconference from this morning...the first couple questions focused on Idaho State and coach talked about how there is an "unknown" about this Idaho State team because of the new coaching staff so there is more to worry about and game plan for...Wulff also pointed out that we don't know how they will line up defensively so we have to focus on ourselves...one last question focused on ISU quarterback Kevin Yost, coach said they have some film of Yost in junior college last year and that he has a good arm, has some athletic ability and can make a good number of throws...when asked about how he feels coming into the season-opener, coach said "I am a lot more confident than I have been in years past"...coach also said "I like our team. It's now about playing ball games and then building off the games and getting better each week"...when asked about running back Logwone Mitz, coach said "Logwone has made a ton of progress in his time here and the fact that the offense is more versatile will help him"...that's all for today, tomorrow will be a walk-through for the team...news out of the WSU athletic communications office today is that Saturday's opener will be webcast through Cougars All-Access on wsucougars.com...GO COUGS!