In light of the poor tackling on Saturday, Washington State has gone back to the basics, ramping up the hitting and tackling in practice in an effort to clean up some of the mistakes. While practices during the season are usually lighter on full-contact hitting, the Cougars took the training wheels off yesterday and went at it in live-tackling drills.

Vince Grippi, of the Spokesman-Review, reported on the sights and sounds from Pullman yesterday.

As for Tuesday’s practice, for the first time I can remember, the team sessions featuring the backups running the opposition schemes against the Cougars’ first team was a live drill, meaning other than quarterbacks, the tackling was full go. And it was fierce at times, with the pads popping and every great tackle or block praised to the hilt.

The Cougars absolutely have to shore up their tackling this season, and they need to do it in a hurry.

Washington State takes on UCLA at the Rose Bowl this Saturday at 12 p.m.