Defense dominates day 10 of WSU spring football
April 17, 2014
WSU redshirt junior linebacker Darryl Monroe said the defense entered Thursday’s spring football practice with a chip on its shoulder, and it showed out on the field.
The roar of the defensive celebrations grew louder as the 11-on-11 period went on as the momentum began to shift toward the second half of the drill. Everyone in a white jersey erupted on the second-to-last play of the afternoon, a pass breakup by redshirt sophomore safety Beau Glover that saved a potential offensive score.
“We had to make up for last practice,” Monroe said of the defense’s effort on Thursday. “There’s a lot of things that we wanted to come out and do. Be intense, fly around, make plays…we wanted to prove who was the better unit today.”
While Monroe rallied the troops, his fellow front-seven members were wreaking havoc on the quarterback. Both redshirt junior linebackers Tana Pritchard and Chester Su’a recorded sacks on redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Falk in the full-team portion of practice.
Falk finished the drill 6-of-15 with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. He took the reps under center with the second-team offense while redshirt senior quarterback Connor Halliday assumed his usual role with the first team.
Halliday went 9-of-16 with one touchdown in the 11-on-11 part of the day. Redshirt senior wide receiver Rickey Galvin hauled in the only score of the drill.
In the 7-on-7 portion of Thursday’s practice, Halliday was 12-of-18 with two touchdowns, another strike to Galvin and one to redshirt senior receiver Vince Mayle on a slant route.
“The receivers didn’t have their greatest day, but they played well,” Halliday said. “We got it through it, and we had a pretty good day.”
Falk was 14-of-20 in the same drill.
For the first time this spring, junior wide receiver Gabe Marks participated in the entire practice. Marks has been limited all spring and usually bowed out when the team began contact drills.
Marks was heavily targeted by both Falk and Halliday in the 1-on-1 drills, mostly going against freshman cornerback Marcellus Pippins.
Head Coach Mike Leach said Marks is among the many players battling for a spot this spring. Leach said currently he has a bunch of guys ahead of the 6-foot, 179-pound receiver.
“Gabe played well, happy to see Gabe back, happy to see him out here running around,” Halliday said. “Gabe’s always been a leader. He’s a very vocal guy, wants the ball all the time, and that’s what you want out of a receiver, so it’s nice to have him back out here.”
The Cougars resume spring practice Saturday at Martin Stadium.