WSU football notebook: Cougars valuing rest, three O-linemen named to watch list
Aug. 17—PULLMAN — Long before his Washington State team kicked off this fall camp, the second of Jake Dickert's tenure, he decided to change things up. He wanted to find a balance between hard work and rest, between "calluses and blisters," in his own words.
The Cougars spent Wednesday and Thursday nursing their blisters. They practiced at night on Wednesday, a rarity around the program, and they held an indoor walk-through practice on Thursday evening — all in the interest of managing injuries and staying healthy before things begin to count.
"Last night, to me, was our physical peak. It really was," Dickert said, referring to Wednesday's session. "Now today, all mental. Tomorrow, quick. We'll get our guys back. We need to be peaking here in two weeks. So be physical now, get them stressed and strained now, but then as we go forward, there won't be many practices over two hours. It'll be fast, it'll be sharp and we'll make sure that we're running and getting ready for a long season."
That matters to the Cougars because across these last two weeks of fall camp, they've had several players go down with injuries, some come back and some wear yellow no-contact jerseys to get reps during practice.
If there was anything meaningful to be taken from Thursday's walk-through, it was sophomore offensive lineman Fa'alili Fa'amoe taking reps, after sitting out for most all of fall camp with a knee injury. He wasn't in pads, like the rest of his teammates, but he lined up at right tackle for reps.
Fa'amoe should be ready to return to padded action on Wednesday, Dickert said, when the Cougars transition to planning for their season-opener at Colorado State.
"He's working through his process," Dickert said. "It's gonna be one of those things that we gotta manage as we go throughout the season — playing on Saturday, and then getting back and making sure he's good. So we'll manage everything as we go forward."
WSU's other returning starter on the offensive line, redshirt sophomore Christian Hilborn, returned sooner than Fa'amoe, but he's been lining up with the No. 2 group. That's been on purpose, Dickert said. Hilborn has to earn his starting spot back.
Other injury updates include...
—Junior defensive back Tanner Moku missed the week of practice with a wrap on his hand, but during Thursday's walk-through, he sat out with a cast on his leg.
"Another non-football injury with his foot," Dickert said. "Some of these things are hard to process. He's gonna be out for a while, probably miss the first game."
Expected to fill in for Moku will be Reece Sylvester, a redshirt freshman who stands 6-foot-1, and Adrian Wilson, a true freshman.
—Redshirt sophomore Jackson Lataimua also missed another practice on Thursday. He's expected to return in about a week, Dickert said.
—True freshman edge Isaac Terrell could see some meaningful playing time this fall. Sophomore edge Lawrence Falatea left Wednesday's scrimmage with an injury, which could press Terrell into action.
Three WSU offensive linemen named to watch listFa'amoe, Ma'ake Fifita and Esa Pole were all named to the watch list for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award, which goes to the most outstanding college football player of Polynesian ancestry "that epitomizes great ability and integrity."
Fa'amoe, descendant of Pago Pago, American Samoa, moved to the offensive line ahead of last season and started the final seven games at right tackle.
Fifita, of Tongan descent, logged appearances in 10 games last season, including eight as a starter — six at right tackle and two at right guard.
Pole, a junior of Tongan descent from Hayward, Calif., is playing his first season at WSU after transferring from Chabot College in his hometown. There, he earned Region I All-California first-team honors and became a unanimous All-Bay 6 Conference honoree last season.
