Venue: Kibbie Dome
Format: Full Pads, wrapping up the players but not taking them down. QBs are not to be hit.
Practice Rundown: North/South Drills, 7-on-7 skelton, team scrimmage vs. scout team, special team drills.
Highlights:
– It looks like freshman defensive end Zach Cable will see some playing time this week. The freshman from Renton, Wash., is rotating in with the first team defense. Cable is the son of Seattle Seahawks offensive line coach and former Idaho coach Tom Cable.
– Trent Cowan continues to run with the first team offense. Cowan saw a lot of playing time during the Northern Illinois game and it looks like he may be the third or fourth receiver on the depth chart at this point.
– After having a monster game vs. Northern Illinois, Dezmon Epps is getting the ball in a variety of ways. It looks like coach Petrino wants to continue to blend him into offense along with fellow speedsters Josh McCain and Richard Montgomery.
– Speaking of McCain, he continues to show impressive arm strength in practice. At one point he threw a 40-yard bomb to Epps that was right on target. After sitting out for a portion of last game with an injury, he looks like he has recovered and is ready for the game against WSU.
Other observations:
– Petrino looks like he wanted to start the practice with some intensity. The team ended up doing north/south drills to start practice and everyone was involved. They were allowed to tackle and hit as hard as they wanted as long as the quarterbacks weren’t hit.
– Kicker Austin Rehkow continues to improve, especially when it comes to punting. He’s been booting some long kicks in practice. It probably doesn’t hurt that he continues to learn from former Vandal punter Bobby Cowan, who has been at practice helping him improve.
What they said about the Battle of the Palouse:
– “It’s cool. I have family on both sides of it, I grew up in this culture and what not. So it’s cool. But you can’t make it too much of a big deal. You have to treat it like another game and prepare well and it’s going to be high emotion, no doubt. Not just for me but for the whole team, and I’m sure for them too. You run into (those players) all the time, we just live in the same community, so it’ll be a fun game. The last thing you can do is let the rivalry get to you and lose sight of preparation.” — Mike Marboe, center
– “It means a lot, they’ve been trying to schedule this game since I’ve been here. They’ve said we’re going to play them and we never have, never have. Now we’re finally playing them, we’re all ready, I’m ready. We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, I’m definitely excited about this game. We’re preparing for a win.” — Mike LaGrone, tight end
– “It’s what it’s all about. For me being raised both in Moscow and Pullman it’s very special to me, and I’m proud to be on this side living in Moscow coaching for the Vandals. I’m excited about the opportunity, and we made a lot of strides of improvement the last game and we still have a long way to go. Just real excited for the challenge this Saturday night.” — Bryce Erickson, quarterbacks coach
– “It’ll be interesting, I haven’t been back there since I graduated. It’ll be the first time I’ve had a chance to go back into Martin Stadium, but you know I’m going back as a Vandal.” –Ronnie Lee, defensive coordinator