Cougar football got one step closer to this Saturday’s Crimson and Gray game by putting another week of practice under its belt.

The Cougars have just three practices and their spring game left before they take a break for the summer. This past week, WSU held its second scrimmage of the spring and continued putting an emphasis on improving as a whole going forward. Head Coach Mike Leach said he was pleased with the outcome of the second scrimmage.

“I thought it went good,” Leach said. “I thought we bounced around on defense, offense we gotta polish some stuff up but I thought we got a lot of good work in.”

Perhaps coming as a surprise to some fans, the defensive side of the football made strides in this past week of practice. Sophomore cornerback Marcellus Pippins had a team-high six tackles in the scrimmage and also registered two interceptions on the day. Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch said forcing turnovers this season will be an emphasis for the secondary.

“It’s a big deal, it’s not a try-to thing,” Grinch said. “We gotta find a way to get the ball, I mean our one responsibility when we walk on that football field is to get the ball back to the offense. We continue to harp on it, continue to harp on it and I certainly think the guys are buying in.”

The defense has been showing its improvement through the front-seven putting more pressure on quarterbacks. Grinch has employed an increased look at blitz packages enabling more pressure on the offensive line and getting to the quarterback. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Peyton Pelluer believes using the nickel defense matches up well with teams in the Pac-12.

“I like having the nickel in there just ‘cause the way the Pac-12 is set up, the way our offense is set up, it definitely helps us having that speed in there,” Pelluer said. “I think all the pieces are starting to fall into place. Like I said we’re not going to be perfect with this new defense but we’re getting there, we’re striving to be perfect every day.”

Another story stemming from last week was the announcement from Leach that he doesn’t plan on naming a starting quarterback until the middle or end of the fall camp. Both quarterbacks have been playing well throughout the spring. Redshirt freshman quarterback Peyton Bender had a huge day during the Saturday scrimmage, throwing for 266 yards on 21-28 passing for six touchdowns and one interception.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Falk had a solid day as well, throwing for 197 yards on 25-35 passing for two touchdowns and a pick while also adding a rushing touchdown of his own.

“Competition is always great … the better he plays then hopefully the better I play,” Falk said. “It’s good to see him develop ‘cause it’s helping our team and it’s just all about the team and the better he does, the better the team does.”

The two quarterbacks will continue to battle this week and during the spring game next Saturday. However, the defense will look to spoil both of their days throughout the week as they continue improving as a unit.

WSU will resume spring practice today at 2:30 p.m. and will practice Thursday at the same time before its spring game at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.