Bouncing back

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Bill Moos addresses the media in Beasley Coliseum during Ernie Kent’s press conference,  April 2, 2014.

The Cougar football team may be on bye week, but the hype is already growing for next week’s Dad’s Weekend home game against Arizona.

WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos announced on his Monday radio show, Cougar Calls, the official kick off time for the Arizona game will be at 3:00 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25. He announced the Cougars will finally have a game that doesn’t occur in the non-late evening,

“We’ll actually have light,” Moos said.

WSU Cougar Athletic Fund (CAF) Assistant Director of Development and former WSU quarterback Jason Gesser was a guest on this Monday’s Cougar Calls. He expressed how beneficial it will be for the team to have the opportunity to have a bye week prior to the Arizona game.

After last Friday’s loss against Stanford, numerous players got knocked around. According to Gesser, this bye week will give the Cougars the opportunity to rejuvenate.

“The mind starts wearing on you, on the legs,” Gesser said. “Anytime you can get some juice back in those bad boys, it helps you out tremendously.”

This Dad’s Weekend game will be a must-watch, as odds will be in the Cougars favor.

“A team that has had a week off and can lick their wounds a little bit, gather and have two weeks to prepare,” Moos elaborated. “I think it’ll be a great contest and hopefully we can get back and win one at home.”

 As for a chance at a bowl game this year for the football team, all hope is not lost. With five games remaining in the regular season the Cougars (2-5) will still have a chance to be bowl eligible.  

“The season is far from over,” Gesser said.

For those looking for a taste of the Arizona spirit before next Saturday’s football game, Cougar fans can literally test the waters these next two weeks, when WSU women’s swimming team will compete against Arizona schools. The team will swim against Arizona this Friday and then against Arizona State the following week. Both meets will be located in Smith Gym at and begin at 5:00 p.m.

WSU Women’s Swimming Head Coach Tom Jager was also a guest on Cougar Calls Monday. Jager said he has been working diligently to get southern teams to come up to Pullman and compete against the WSU team. In the past, teams from the California and Arizona regions resisted coming up to race because they didn’t feel Cougar team was good enough.  

Swimming programs in the Pac-12 do not have a mandated schedule. Meets are planned through the coaches.

“Arizona swimming has never stepped on the Pullman campus and neither has Arizona State,” Jager said. “It’s just as important for your athletes to come up to the Pullman area as it is for ours to go down to the bay area.”

One thing Cougar football and swimming have in common is the fan base. Home field advantage in football mimics itself as home pool advantage for Cougar swimming,

“It’s the little idiosyncrasies that we know and they don’t,” Jager said. “We’re excited that they’re coming up and we’re going to give them everything we’ve got.”

Jager said he expects to have a large turnout and at least 600 fans come to cheer on WSU swimming in the upcoming meets against the Arizona schools.

CORRECTION: This story has been changed to contain accurate information.