Monday, Mar. 17, 2008

Few Mid-Columbian connections on WSU's football spring roster

By Eric Degerman, Herald staff writer

The Paul Wulff era at Martin Stadium begins today with the opening of Washington State University spring football.

It was snowing Friday night in Pullman -- a report courtesy of the WSU basketball fan in Los Angeles. Today, the high is expected to be 43 degrees, with a wind-chill factor of 28 degrees.

Wulff, 41, played for Jim Walden, Dennis Erickson and Mike Price, so the Palouse weather comes as no shock. In fact, he's spent the past eight seasons as Eastern Washington's head coach, and fared rather well (53-40) under similar conditions.

Blustery conditions won't make Gary Rodgers' job at quarterback any easier, though. And the media spotlight will be focused on how Rodgers -- no longer the backup to Alex Brink -- fares in the spread offense.

There's not a lot of Tri-City influence on the roster left behind by former coach Bill Doba (30-29). In fact, I spotted just one -- Tri-Cities Prep grad Joe Campbell -- on the prospectus issued by the WSU sports information department.

Campbell is listed as No. 42, a 5-foot-10, 163-pound redshirt freshman running back. He ranks sixth on the depth chart. As a record-setting tailback in the B-8 ranks, Campbell may well find the spread attack to his advantage.

Moses Lake's B.J. Guerra is No. 79, a 6-3, 315-pound offensive lineman. The redshirt freshman is second on the depth chart behind sophomore left guard Andrew Roxas.

Hermiston grad Luke Hansell, a JC transfer from College of the Siskiyous, is third on the depth chart at defensive left tackle.

Ephrata product Reid Forrest, a sophomore, returns as the starting punter. West Valley grad Phillip Jennings is a redshirt freshman who is fourth on the depth chart at free safety.

Among those listed at quarterback is Pullman product J.T. Levenseller. He played some remarkable games against Prosser, including a 2006 playoff loss at Art Fiker Stadium.

His father, Mike, stayed on as WSU's offensive coordinator, so that might explain why J.T. is competing at the quarterback spot. However, the 6-1, 187-pounder could make a heckuva impact in the WSU secondary some day.

The Cougars open the season Aug. 30 in Seattle vs. Oklahoma State. The home season begins Sept. 6 vs. Cal. And the Apple Cup is set for Nov. 22 in Pullman.

On Nov. 29, they close the regular season in Hawaii, just as the Huskies did last season.