Behind the bond between WSU's specialists -- and other notes from practice No. 13

Aug. 18—PULLMAN — Dean Janikowski's phone buzzed, and ever so carefully during this Washington State team meeting last week, he pulled it out of his pocket. The Cougars' place kicker looked down to see a notification from eBay.

Oh, I got it! Janikowski thought.

He could hardly believe his luck. A few minutes before walking in to the meeting, Janikowski had submitted a low bid on a remote control car, low enough that even he doubted the seller would agree to the price. There's no way he takes it, Janikowski thought.

Later that week Janikowski found himself in his backyard with punter Nick Haberer, his roommate. They were doing laps with the car — "ripping laps," in Janikowski's words.

"I find these new hobbies," Janikowski said, "and I'm like, all right, RC cars it is."

Such is the life of specialists, the guys whose success goes thankless and whose failure goes viral on Twitter. At WSU, Janikowski handles kicking duties, as does Cole Theaker. Haberer has manned the punter and holder spot since 2021. For the past four seasons, the long-snapping job has belonged to Simon Samarzich, a senior from Upland, California.

Together, they make up a four-man ensemble whose bond has grown tighter than vice grips across the last several seasons.

"I think Nick going through the hardships he went through with his ankle and still playing," Janikowski said, "and still holding and still like saying, hey, I'm gonna be here. I'm gonna hold for you. And Simon just always being there and being super consistent — I think that's been a ton of help. That's just made us a lot closer. We've been through a lot and just to have that stuff on the field, there's 100% confidence."

They traveled far to link up in Pullman. Janikowski's home is Fallbrook, California, a small town nestled between Los Angeles and San Diego. Samarzich's hometown isn't too far from there — Upland is just outside L.A. — but Haberer comes from Queensland, Australia, an 8,000-mile jaunt to the Palouse.

They share lots of differences and even more similarities. It starts with this: the special teams unit has blossomed into a real asset for the Cougars.

Janikowski, a first-team all-Pac-12 pick in 2021, made 14 of 17 field goals that year and 11 of 14 last fall. In 2021, Haberer earned Freshman All-American honors, racking up 52 punts for 2,225 yards — a 42.8 yards per punt average. Then there's Samarzich, whose job might be the most thankless of all — there aren't exactly stats for long-snappers, except the embarrassing kind — but whose consistent snaps have keyed everything for his teammates.

For all three, getting to know each other meant connecting on the field first. Haberer faced a bit of a learning curve. Even when he arrived at Washington State, he hadn't internalized all the differences between American football and rugby, the more popular option in Australia. He didn't really understand how to throw a ball, either, which isn't the worst thing for a punter — but a handy skill to have in a pinch.

Since then, he's displayed more of his skills that don't involve kicking. In last year's Apple Cup, the Cougars called a fake punt pass, which Haberer parlayed into a 36-yard completion.

Even in this fall camp, Haberer has been learning the finer points of American football, the tips he never imagined he'd need to know. In one practice, WSU's coaches set up Haberer and the punt team with a scenario where they had to spike the ball to kill the clock, lest that situation ever surface during a live game.

So Haberer got under center, took the snap, and...

"I chucked it behind me," Haberer said, "and they're all blowing up, like, you can't do that! You can't do that!"

Haberer now understands that if he's ever in such a situation — for WSU, something has likely gone horribly wrong if he is — he'll need to spike the ball forward to stop the clock, otherwise it's a fumble and a live ball.

So now that Haberer has the rules he needs to know memorized, when he and his specialists teammates aren't kicking during drills during practice, they're off to the side, talking about everything under the sun. Remote control cars? Check. What else?

Samarzich considered the question, then a smile crept across his face.

"Some of those conversations..." Samarzich laughed, leaving things at that.

With specialists, some things are better left unsaid. Where would the magic be otherwise?

Falatea out with apparent knee injuryAt one point during Wednesday evening's practice, redshirt sophomore edge Lawrence Falatea left with an injury, coming off the field with the help of two trainers. It wasn't immediately clear what his injury was or how serious it might have been.

That became a bit more clear on Friday. Falatea, a backup option, sat out with a large brace on his right knee. It appears as if he will miss some time, which could press into action freshman edge Isaac Terrell, who took his place on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Washington State head coach Jake Dickert confirmed Terrell will make a meaningful push to make the travel squad and get playing time.

Tight end group looking strong, with starting job still up for grabsTwo things are clear among WSU's tight end corps: The players feel energized to be more involved in the passing attack — and they all might be candidates for the starting job.

The names include redshirt junior Billy Riviere III, junior Cooper Mathers (who has worn a yellow non-contact jersey in each of the past two padded practices), sophomore Andre Dollar and redshirt senior Cameron Johnson.

In recent history, the Cougars offense has seldom utilized the tight end position. That has begun to change. Last fall, Riviere hauled in a pass to become the first WSU tight end to do so in more than a decade.

Now, under new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, the Cougs' tight ends are seeing even more action, particularly in the passing game. Arbuckle made that a point of emphasis right when he took the job, tight ends coach Nick Whitworth said, and it's fueled the tight ends up for the job.

"It brings energy to it, it brings an excitement to it, it brings a sense of value to it," Whitworth said. "So our guys are thrilled to be in that position, and we need to own it. We need to be the tight ends that he needs in this offense to win."