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Washington State coach 'meant no disrespect' to ESPN's Lee Corso in postgame call-out

Jake Dickert misquoted Corso's remarks on "College GameDay" after Washington State beat Oregon State

Nick Bromberg
College football and motorsports writer
·3 min read
39

Washington State football coach Jake Dickert and ESPN's Lee Corso are on the same page regarding Corso’s comments during “College GameDay” on Saturday.

After Washington State beat Oregon State, Dickert went on an impassioned rant and mentioned how Corso said the game between the Cougars and Beavers was the “no one watches bowl.”

“Nationally, there’s a lot of noise out there,” Dickert said regarding the fact that Washington State and Oregon State are the only two teams from the Pac-12 that haven’t been scooped up by another Power Five conference. “I caught something this morning, I was watching ‘GameDay’ and Corso comes on and he says ‘the no one watches bowl.’ And I don’t really understand it. What’s the merit once again? Because the facts say people watch the Cougs.”

Dickert’s callout of Corso came hours before Ryan Day called out former ESPN host and ex-Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz for what Holtz said about Ohio State. For anyone who is familiar with Corso and his role on “GameDay” it was a bit odd to hear what Dickert claimed Corso said. And it wasn’t true, either.

Corso didn’t say what Dickert thought he said. Instead, Corso noted on “GameDay” how the matchup was the “no one wants us” bowl. Listening to the video above, it's clear that Corso did not say it was the "no one watches bowl."

You can, however, understand why Dickert is frustrated about the uncertain future that both Washington State and Oregon State face. Neither Washington State nor Oregon State has received an invite from another power conference as Washington and Oregon are joining the Big Ten, four Pac-12 schools are joining the Big 12 and Stanford and Cal are heading all the way to the ACC to find conference games.

Tuesday, Dickert said he had a chance to talk to Corso on Tuesday and discuss what he said in his postgame remarks.

“I meant no disrespect to Coach Corso the person and I want to make sure that’s well understood,” Dickert said Tuesday. “I had an opportunity, I called him on Sunday, we had a great conversation and I just really appreciate his understanding. And he’s an old ball coach and he got it. Meant no disrespect to ‘College GameDay.’

“My frustrations really still stem from — there’s a conglomerate of people that have made a lot of decisions that have been outside mostly our control. And the lack of clarity based on the metrics and the real facts is where my frustration really comes from. I think it is my job to stand up for the people of Washington State. Because I think these decisions greatly impact all of us.”