Preview WSU Cougars At Utah State

Monday the news out of Pullman head

coach Kirby Moore is taking over the 

duties of play calling. This doesn't mean

the offensive coordinator is out. Moore

who was offensive coordinator at Missouri 

last year so not far from the job.

Moore could have the duties for a week 

to show what he wants for the offense

then just telling the OC.  Showing can

be what the offensive coaches need to

see. 

One thing is there sees more use of the

running backs coming out of the backfield 

as well as running the ball. This is something 

the Huskies and Seahawks need to do we

what they do to.  The Cougars lost their

number one receiver in the Apple Cup for

the season so that could be a difference 

as well.  The offensive line needing to do

a better job.

Moore didn't come out saying Caden Pinnick 

is the guy this week either so we will see.

The Cougars are 1-4 and none of the losses

were close at least by the score. The win 

was against a team they were highly favored 

agains. Last weeks game the Cougars were

favored by a field goal at home and lost to

Fresno State 26-6. The two field goals were 

in the first half too. 

The Utah State Aggies have the same record

as the Cougars and are favored  at 5.5 points.

Be the home team might be the reason. They 

weren't expected to be good this season. 

The Cougars have averaged 22.5 points a

game while giving up 25 points. The Aggies

have averaged 13 points a game while 

giving up 28.4 a game. The only team they

both played was the Huskies and the Aggies 

kept it very close.  The Cougars played the

opening of the season so can only judge

so much.

Both teams total yardage isn't far off from

each other. The Cougars are averaging 

313.8 a game while the Aggies is only six 

more. It is interesting with difference in

scoring points. Pinnick is completing 61.3%

while throwing 5 interceptions compared

to three touchdowns in the three games total.

He has three running touchdowns to.

The Aggies are better at throwing the ball

than the Cougars while it is the other way

around running the ball. The Cougars use

two running backs while the Aggies go with

one most of the time. Last week the Cougars 

didn't do well running the ball  compared to 

passing. We will have to see how it goes 

this week though Moore wants to have

success doing both. Go Cougs 

Preview Iowa at Washington

The Iowa Hawkeyes have a 4-1 on the season. 

They are 1-1 in the Big Ten beating Michigan

20-19 the lost to Ohio State 31-14 last Saturday. 

This game takes place Friday evening at Husky 

Stadium. The Huskies are favored by 2.5 points.

That has to be one of the closest games at Husky

Stadium where they are favored. 

The Huskies are 0-2 in Big Ten games so this

is an important game for them to win. The 

Huskies offense has struggled at times in

all five games they have played. Last Saturday 

at USC the Huskies had a chance to win but

bad play in the 4th quarter cost them the game.

The three touchdowns the Huskies had were

unconventional but when they had the opportunity 

late they played conventional. Huskies quarterback 

hasn't done as well that way.  They three td's

were a bright idea but why not stay that way.

The Huskies running game hasn't been good

all season losing three running backs and

the offensive line hasn't been good either 

Desmond Williams Jr has had to hurry passes 

as well because of protection breaking down.

The Huskies have had success going to their

tight ends. They need to stay in the same

play calling. The Huskies Lose this is going 

to be difficult for them the rest of the year.

The Hawkeyes are hard to defend since both

running and passing are both a little over

two hundred yards each. The Huskies defense

against the run hasn't been as good against 

the run as expected. If they can stop the big

running plays  that will help a lot.   The 

Hawkeyes average 29 points a game while

the defense is averaging 12.6 points a game

which is 7th in the country so this will make

it difficult for the Huskies.  Since the Huskies

play well at home most of the time this will

be a big factor. 

Hank Brown is the Hawkeyes quarterback.

On the season Brown has completed 

78 of 124 for completion of 62.9 percent

for 832 yards with five touchdowns and

one interception again Ohio State last 

Saturday.  Hank was injured in the 3rd 

quarter last week though expected to

play. 

Kamari  Moulton is the starting running

back with 33 percent of the carries with

50 for  311 yards and two touchdowns.

They have two running backs with 19

carries. Sophomore Braeden Jackson 

with 170 yards with two td's, and junior

Xavier Williams for 167 yards and  3 td's.

The 4th running back Nathan McNeil 

has 21 carries for 128 yardsand two td's.

This will be a fortable group to go against.

The Hawkeyes catches are done primarily 

by their three top three receivers. Tony Diaz

a junior leads with 25 catches with one TD

which was in the opening game of the 

season and longest reception to yards. 

Another junior Reeze Vander Zee is third

with 13 catches with two touchdowns both

against Michigan and leads the team in

touchdown catches. Tight end DJ Vonnahme

is second with 16 catches with 21 yards the 

longest. Another tight end Addison Ostrenga

is 4th with seven. He has no touchdowns 

however his longest catch 29 yards against 

Michigan.

On defense Iowa tackles are done by three

linebackers of the top four. Junior Cam

Buffington leads with 44. Second is defensive 

back Zach Lutmer with 31 tackles. Linebacker 

Jaden Montgomery is third with 27 and a 

sack against Michigan. Landyn is 4th with

19 tackles and assisted on a sack in the

season opener. 

Defense back Deshaun Lee has 17 tackles 

with two interceptions with the latest against 

Michigan. Defensive Lineman Bryce Hawthorne 

is tied with Lee in tackles the most by any 

lineman and has one and a half sacks. 

Though the Huskies are slight favorites

at home they will need to play like last

week to win on Friday. Go Dawgs. 

Cal and Naylor Have Off-season Surgeries

Two important members of the Mariners 

lineup Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor had

surgery recently since the Mariners didn't 

make the playoffs.

There weren't alone that the Mariners didn't 

make the playoffs however if they had been

100 percent healthy they might have made

it. Cal was out for just over a month returning 

after the all-star break. Interesting he blasted 

home runs in rehab assignment with the

triple A Tacoma before being activated. It

showed it didn't help him to face major league 

pitching. We will never know but it could 

have still affected his hitting.  He played in

14 games and his batting average didn't 

really change at all.  He had one home run 

in July and five rbis. He had one double as

his only other extra base hit.

Much of August he wasn't hitting well either.

In fact his average went down until August 

21 when he hit a home run and driving in

three runs and then on the 24th he had three

home runs. He had three more the rest of

the month. In September he had only three 

home runs but still had a batting average 

that ended at 182.  The first of May Cal was

hitting .186.  Only a few days before in April

he was batting .205.  His average continue 

to go down when they finally put him on

the injured list because of his oblique. The 

surgery was to cleanup on his shoulder.

Many were aware that Cal wasn't throwing 

out a lot of runners though the pitchers

could have played a part as well. 

Josh Naylor had surgery to his right wrist.

He said that you have to play through pain 

and doesn't use it as an excuse.  At the 

plate the wrist was showing giving him

problems though he ended up with a good 

average though was low on how runs which

this was part of his problem. Also his defense 

wasn't good either. 

Josh was in a slump at the beginning of the 

season and didn't get over .200 until almost

the end of April. His average climbed after 

that and his high .272 was on  September 16 

but the wrist must still had bothered him

that he ended up  .261.  Josh had only 10 

home runs which was his lowest since 2021

when he played in 69 games.  He did have 

23 doubles although lower than  any year 

except in 2021.  He had only  57 rbis and

with that he batted .212 with runners in

scoring position.  That shows a lot since

the teams batting average RISP was .233.

The team batting was .228 so they were

slightly higher with runners on base. 

A healthy Cal and Josh in 2027  will help

the Mariners a lot in 2027. We know Cal

being a catcher it will be hard to come

by over the full season. Hopefully whoever 

is Manager and the backup catcher Cal

will  catch less games in 2027. Go M's 

Seattle Kraken 1-1 Over Weekend

The Seattle Kraken has their second and

third games on the season so they are 

now 2-1.

On Saturday the Kraken lost to Edmonton

Oilers on their home place 3-1. Not a

big surprise since the Oilers and the 

Vegas Golden Knights are two of the

favorites to win the Pacific division.

After last season still up in the air

how the Kraken will finish though the

bottom half is likely unless they prove

otherwise.

On Sunday they bounced back in their

home opener beating Calgary 6-1 this

being the same score as they won in

Calgary on Thursday. 

Tuesday the Kraken play  Vegas at home. 

This game may give us more answers we

hope. After that they have two days off

before playing the Redwings in Detroit

and on Sunday the Washington Capitals 

on the road too.  In all the Kraken have

five road games in a row before coming 

home. Go Kraken. 

Where the Mariners Go Forward

Every Mariners fans and media know it

was it was a rough season and the M's 

management as Dan Wilson as well 

the hitting coach, first base coach and

a couple other long time coaches were

here under Scott Servais were dismissed.

The pitching is still in hand and we haven't 

heard whether Edgar will still stay around. 

Arozarena, Canzone and Young had good 

seasons thou Cole tapered down in the

second half however it was his first full

season. We hope that Arroyo and Montes

will be back at the beginning of next season.

I would give the team an incomplete on the

season instead of being a letter score. 

Having three hitters doing most of job

didn't help. The starting pitching didn't have

a good second half.  The relief pitching

when Matt Brash went down..

Besides adding depth to the bullpen and the

bench it will be important to bring in a

manager and coaches that will change the 

culture. We will see what happens. 

I am enjoying the playoffs and I everyone 

in the Mariners organization is watching.

Go M's.

Seahawks Get Back to a Win

The Seattle Seahawks won on Sunday 

30 to 23. Not smart football in the 4th

quarter though which almost cost them

the game or allow  the LA Chargers to

tie in regulation.

The game was ugly as there was 28

penalties total by both teams. The 

Seahawks had eight personal fouls. 

A critical one in the 4th quarter when

the Chargers had third down and thirty 

and roughing the quarterback. After 

that the Seahawks had the Chargers

deep in their side of the field went for

it on 4th down and the Seahawks gave

up a 30 yard pass for a first down that 

led to a touchdown. 

The Seahawks offense trying to run

the ball with no success kicked back

to the Chargers who were able to get 

the ball down and decided to kick

a field goal to come within the seven 

points. Again the Seahawks offense 

didn't do the job so the Chargers got

it back again. The Seahawks defense 

came through just under a minute to

cause a fumble and they were able

to run out the game.

Justin Herbert Chargers  quarterback 

did a fine job being hurt by the Seahawks 

and fortunately turned over the ball

three times.   The Seahawks led at halftime 

20-6. Had ten points to the Chargers seven

in the 3rd quarter but none in the 4th.

Emanuel Wilson did a fine job running

the ball until the 4th quarter. He had

a touchdown both running and catching.

Tory Horton had a touchdown too.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had five catches

however the Chargers kept him out of

the end zone 

The Seahawks play the San Francisco next 

week but they must play  better to win.

The 49ers are undefeated beating the

Broncos. The Rams lost to the Eagles

so the Seahawks are second place

at 3-1. Go Hawks. 

WSU Lose Ugly At Home

The Cougars were a slight favorite 

heading into Saturday's evening

game but ended up losing to 

Fresno State Bulldogs 26-6 at

home. 

This was the first game of Pac-12 

action for both teams. Positive 

for the Bulldogs and not so good 

for the Cougars. 

The game was tied 6-6 at halftime 

despite struggling on offense and

defense keeping them in the game. 

Fresno State kicked a field goal

in the first quarter.  Second quarter 

the Cougars tied then responded a

second time after the  Bulldogs 

had kicked their second field goal.

It was a positive aspect for the Cougars

as field goal kicker Jack Stevens had

struggled going into this game. His

first kick was 32 yards and the second.

50 was a big accomplishment. 

The Cougars had only 30 yards rushing

was a season low. Quarterback Caden

Pinnick had 11 carries for a negative 23

yards. Still not impressive without it.

A great part on the Bulldogs as they are

averaging 171 yards against the run.

Made quite the adjustment since the 

Cougars are averaging 152.8 on the 

ground. Pinnick was second on the 

Cougars 51.5 yards per game. 

Running back Kirby Vorhees had 25 ysrds

on six carries to lead the Cougars. The 

Cougars ran the ball 24 times while Pinnick

threw the ball 34 times while completing 

21 for 152 yards and one touchdown.

The Cougars are averaging 161 yards 

passing per game so not a big difference.

The Cougars will have a short memory 

as they play at Utah State next Friday 

evening.  Utah State has the same record 

as the Cougars at 1-4. 

The big question is how long will the

Cougars stick with Pinnick as quarterback?

Go Cougs.