Cougars' Jeff Tuel will go pro, ending pursuit of fifth year eligibility

Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel has ended his pursuit of a fifth year of NCAA eligibility and will now turn his attention to the upcoming NFL draft, the Seattle Times reports.

The senior was seeking a fifth year because of an injury-riddled season in 2011, but he told the Seattle Times that the NCAA's line of questioning appeared to be asking if he'd been mistreated by Paul Wulff's coaching staff. Tuel told the newspaper that he didn't feel comfortable saying that he'd been forced back into action too soon after suffering a collarbone injury early in the 2011 season. He returned in the middle of the year and re-injured the collarbone.

Because the NCAA seeks certain amounts of playing time in the first half a football season to hand out a medical redshirt, Tuel was forced to appeal for what would've been his fifth season with the Cougars.

Tuel threw for 2,087 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2012, the first under head coach Mike Leach. He ends his career as a Cougar with 5,932 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.