WSU football team is feeling refreshed after the bye week

The WSU football team got a much needed rest last week. The Cougars are coming off their first bye week of the season, after seven consecutive games.

Head Coach Mike Leach had his press conference yesterday and was joined by redshirt freshman running back Jamal Morrow, redshirt freshman right tackle Cole Madison and junior defensive lineman Destiny Vaeao. All three discussed how the bye week helped the team regain focus, and prepare for their final five regular season games.

Leach pointed to his team’s lack of depth as a reason why the bye week was crucial.

“We’ve only played, I think its 52 guys, not playing too many bodies it’s pretty much important for all of them to freshen up,” Leach said. “It was good we had an off week.”

Morrow added the bye week will help players relax and get their bodies and minds right.

“I just wanted to get my legs back, going seven games in a row gets tough on the legs. Just being able to relax, getting in the cold tub, felt good to get my legs back,” Morrow said. “We needed that bye (week) just to relax and reset our clocks, get ready for this little run, these next five, six games we get to play.”

Going into this week the offensive line could look different than it has previously this season. The unit is coming off a rough outing against Stanford in which redshirt senior quarterback Connor Halliday was sacked four times. Halliday faced regular pressure from Stanford’s defensive front.

Redshirt sophomore center Sam Flor and redshirt junior guard Jacob Seydel have both been getting more time with the starting unit in practice. Riley Sorenson has started all seven games at center for the Cougs this season but a change wouldn’t throw off the line.

“Communication is great with Sam. He’s really good, really clear about the line, calling the fronts and he’s great at communicating,” Madison said. “He doesn’t hesitate at all, our flow in practice has been, if not as good, better. Sam’s doing a great job.”

Leach doubted that a change would be made but added that if one were to, it would not affect play calling.

Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Eduardo Middleton has started the whole 2014 season at right guard and appeared in one game last season against Southern Utah.

“Jake (Seydel) does his job good. I enjoy playing with him and Ed (Middleton) so whoever gets the spot, that’s who gets it.” Madison said.

The Cougs host the Arizona Wildcats this Saturday at 3 p.m. The Wildcats are also coming off a bye week. In their last game Arizona suffered their first loss of the season against the USC Trojans by a score of 28-26. . The Wildcats had a chance to win the game with a 36 yard field goal, however the kick was missed wide right at the end of the game. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.