It was a strange day last Saturday on the Palouse. As I took my morning jog as the sun was rising over the Palouse Ridge Golf Course I had a feeling. It was a good feeling because I just knew the Cougs were going to do something special. My kids were already up as I returned home and the Game Day Flag was flying in the upper right corner of the screen. My son couldn't eat breakfast fast enough so he could put on his Cougar Football player uniform and head to the game. Imagine a 3 year old sitting at the front door waiting until it is 11:30 so we can go tail gate with Nana and Papa. Everything was lining up nicely.
At about 11:30 we arrived in parking lot A across from French Ad to tail gate with the same Cougs we have for our entire lives. My son went nuts when the band came through and my daughter tucked into my wife's shoulder during the Butch visit. Bill Moos walked through dressed to the nines and talked Cougar football with us for a while. After a lunch and a few beers the time had finally arrived to head to the game.
We finally marched up Section 26 to the same seats I have been attending games at since my Dad used to drag me too them when I was five. Now I am sitting with my son, wife, daughter, sister, Dad, Mom, and Brother in Law in Martin Stadium under the beautiful sunshine awaiting kick off. Then it all started to go wrong.
We noticed that Jeff Tuel was not warming up. Word had already spread about the virus he had and was probably not going to play. By the time the we were singing Home of the Cougs at the end of the Star Spangled Banner a little bit of nervousness had crept into my stomach. (it wasn't the beer mixing with my lunch either) I knew we were going to win regardless of Tuel's participation but I wanted to see what this team was fully capable of.
When Lobster took the field on the first snap I was concerned. However, everything changed after the first snap. The Cougs looked great. Lobster was just a piece of the puzzle that Wulff and the Coaches have been building. It actually felt as if I was watching a Cougar team from the past handling their business the way they were suppose too. Our defense was dominating the line, our linebackers were attacking anything in their area, and our corners were making plays in coverage and on the run.
As I was sitting in a near deserted Martin Stadium at half because the Cougs had cruised to a 40-0 lead, I thought this was the team I had waited for. Then word slowly started to trickle in about Tuel's injury and the panic set in again. Why couldn't we just have everything fall into place for this team this year? Then Lobster came back and led the troops right down the field again. Then our third stringers came in and continued to march the football. By the end of the game we had 64 points and our defense held them to 21.
Then came the press conferences and the radio interviews with the players. Surprisingly they were saying what you expect them to say. However, it was different this time. You could tell in their voices that they meant what they were saying. Sure losing Tuel was concerning to them but they believe it isn't going to define their season. This team has gone beyond just one player. They are in this together and will continue to win games together. Mizell understands the defense is going to have to step up its play to keep the offense on the field. Lobster knows that this is his time and when Tuel is ready it will be his time. This team has something other than speed that has been missing in the past. It has character.
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