During the first four games of the Washington State’s 2009 season the young and inexperienced team has debuted 14 first-time starters — four on offense and 10 on defense. And tomorrow evening they will feature a 15th first-time starter with true freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel getting the starting nod after his performance against No. 7 USC last weekend.
Tuel entered the game midway through the second quarter and went 14 of 22 for 130 yards and one interception. Tomorrow will mark the second time in school history that Washington State has started a true freshman quarterback. The only other was Drew Bledsoe in 1990.
Head coach Paul Wulff thinks that his young quarterback showed moments of poise and maturity in his season debut, saying, “for an 18-year old playing his first football game he did a great job.”
 
“There were some mistakes,” Wulff said. “But he did a nice job of not forcing throws or eating the ball or just taking off and running. He showed a lot out there.”
 
Wulff, a former WSU graduate and four-year letterwinner for the Cougar football team, spent the last 15 seasons at Eastern Washington University where he was named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in 2001, 2004 and 2005.
 
And with a heavier emphasis on cutting down on penalties, which hurt the Cougars tremendously last year, the second-year coach for the Cougars has been able to reduce the amount of easily preventable mistakes as the Cougars have been penalized only 23 times for 163 yards.
 
“We are getting better,” Wulff said. “We are redshirting a lot of good young players with some good speed. We are rebuilding, but a lot of it is behind us and we keep moving forward building character and toughness.”
 
Offensively, the Cougars will hope to see more of the freshman connection between Tuel and true freshman wide receiver Gino Simone. Simone reeled in eight receptions for 83 yards against a tough USC secondary last week, but in order for the passing game to be effective, the offensive line will have to do a much better job up front. Last week Washington State gave up eight sacks to USC.
 
“(Tuel’s) coming in to Autzen,” said Oregon linebacker Spencer Paysinger. “And any quarterback who’s been here knows that it’s going to be hectic for him.”
 
Paysinger also said that the Autzen fans usually do their research and mostly know when to go after young opposing players in an attempt to rattle them even more than usual. But head coach Chip Kelly is still impressed with Tuel’s poise.
 
“Part of the challenge is their new quarterback,” Kelly said. “I thought he played really well. He came in and did a nice job throwing the ball and a nice job scrambling against USC’s defense.”
 
The play of Washington State’s secondary has been key with junior safety Chima Nwachukwu and redshirt senior safety Xavier Hicks Jr. leading the way for the Cougars. Nwachukwu has recorded 29 tackles, one interception, two pass deflections and a fumble recovery, while Hicks has tallied 23 take downs and forced two fumbles.
 
Yet the Cougars have been outscored by their opponents 131 to 69 through the first four games, allowing at least 27 points in each contest. They have also been outscored 56-0 in the first quarter.
 
Another bright spot for the 1-3 Washington State team has been the play of junior punter Reid Forrest. Forrest is averaging 45.3 yards per punt, with six punts traveling 50 yards
or more.
 
The Cougars will be without running back after junior James Montgomery underwent season-ending surgery on Sept. 20 for acute compartment syndrome in his left leg. In the three games Montgomery played in this year, he rushed for 167 yards on 37 carries and reached the end zone once.
 
But besides all of this, Kelly feels that the Ducks will have to match WSU’s intensity, no matter the score.
 
“You preach it all the time,” Kelly said. “That’s one thing that’s impressive with the Cougars. Those guys play hard. I respect anyone who gets their team to play hard because it’s not easy.”
 
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