Many Coug fans remember the WSU football game against Colorado in 2017 when endless rain and whipping wind forced many fans out of Martin Stadium before the end of the first quarter.

That’s how it felt during spring practice Tuesday as the rain fell in Pullman and the Cougars continued to make improvements.

“I think that a lot of teams in spring ball cancel practice if it rains or gets cold […] I think that us practicing in conditions like this helps us,” Head Coach Mike Leach said. “I think we become mentally tougher and in the fall we aren’t shocked by weather like this.”

One welcomed sight at Tuesday’s practice was graduate transfer quarterback Gage Gubrud fully participating in spring practice for the first time since transferring from Eastern Washington.

Though he took part in all of the drills, he did not take any reps with the first team as the coaching staff slowly eases him in.

After a tough scrimmage on Saturday for the wide receivers, where Leach called them out for a lack of effort, all eyes were on them to see if they would respond.

“They were better, I think we definitely got their attention,” Leach said. “We don’t have any receivers that have arrived or established themselves in a special way […] You go out and work constantly and try to refine your skills. That’s the mentality that’s got to exist for everybody.”

The wide receivers were definitely helped out by the play of redshirt senior quarterbacks Trey Tinsley and Anthony Gordon, who made some great throws despite the tough weather conditions.

Tinsley threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Travell Harris that cut through the rain before dropping into the arms of Harris in the endzone.

Gordon followed that up by finding redshirt freshman wide receiver Kassidy Woods open in the endzone for a 12-yard touchdown pass. However, Gordon did throw an interception to sophomore cornerback Derrick Langford.

One wide receiver who looks to lead the Cougars this season is redshirt senior Easop Winston Jr. He helped the receivers rebound from a tough scrimmage by catching a touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Cammon Cooper.

“We had good energy, and we bounced around,” Leach said. “I think we had good work today, and there’s a certain amount of it we want to be out in the elements anyway.”

The Cougars return to the field Thursday for their next spring practice at Martin Stadium and Rogers Field.