After an encouraging performance against the Oregon Ducks last weekend in Pullman, the Washington State Cougars take on the Arizona Wildcats at Martin Stadium this Saturday. The Cougars seemed to pick momentum up from Saturday's game, limiting the big plays from LaMichael James and the Ducks. It was a game Paul Wulff and the Cougs thought they could build off of.
The best news from Saturday was the continued improvement seen from the Cougs. After starting the season incredibly slow, WSU has improved every week, giving fans hope for the rest of the season and the future.
Sure the Ducks may have overlooked WSU. But this is a team that's so talented, they can overlook a team and still run them off the field. The fact that Oregon may have given WSU less than their full attention doesn't take anything away from the way the Cougs played yesterday. They fought, scrapped and clawed to give Oregon one heck of a game.
After all the good to come from Saturday's game, the team had to deal with unneeded distractions in the wake of the loss. Shortly after the game, two Cougar players -- Andre Barrington and Jamal Atofau -- were arrested in a marijuana grow operation sting.
Local products Jamal Atofau and Andre Barrington were arrested early Sunday morning after Pullman police officers served a search warrant and found 38 marijuana plants in the basement of their rental home. The plants were part of an apparent grow operation in the house, leading to felony drug charges for all four living on the premises.
Cougar fans were embarrassed by the arrests and CougCenter writer Jeff Nusser called for an immediate dismissal.
I don't care whose plants they were. Atofau and Barrington lived in the apartment, and they had to know they were there. They're culpable. And whether it's through incredible audacity or sheer stupidity (or both), these two guys have brought tremendous embarrassment on a program that is headed in the right direction -- including a head coach who went to bat for both of these guys -- and that, to me, is unforgivable. Both should not only be kicked off the football team; they should be expelled from WSU.
The Cougs came out of the Oregon game relatively healthy, but did take a big hit at wide receiver. Jeffrey Solomon partially tore his ACL and may be out for a few weeks.
Jeffrey Solomon is still waiting for the swelling to go down on his left knee before deciding how to proceed with his rehabilitation on his partially torn ACL
Arizona comes into the game angry after losing to the Oregon State Beavers last weekend. After rising in the polls, the loss knocked Arizona back to 17th in the AP poll. Head coach Mike Stoops will surely have his Wildcats ready to play in Pullman this weekend.
Washington State and Arizona kick off at 4:30 p.m. on Versus.