Washington State football: Mike Leach’s presser 11/5, impressions

Washington State football head coach Mike Leach held his weekly press conference on Monday. Here are a few things we learned.

Washington State football coach Mike Leach held his usual Monday morning press conference. Saturday’s hard-fought win over Cal kept the Cougars on top of the PAC-12 North Division. This week, the media was interested in this week’s opponent, Colorado as well as a few of the WSU players. Here are some of the things we learned.

Thoughts on Colorado

Leach was asked if he’d watched Buffs on film. “They’re good like they always are. They’re mean and scrappy and like to play defense,” he said. After that, he praised Colorado offense. Next came what has he learned from his past experiences about coaching at Colorado’s home field in Boulder. The biggest thing in his mind is the Buffs always have a good team.

Colorado has lost four of their last five games, but it’s not something the coach dwells on. He’s more concerned about how his team plays on Saturday. That’s something he and his staff can control, rather than how Colorado responds to their recent streak of poor performances.

Fitting in as a Freshman

There were quite a few questions about freshman running back Max Borghi this week. The first was when Leach knew Borghi would be able to jump right in and play as well as he has. The former Colorado player of the year looked good right away in the Cougars fall training camp. Leach also said his freshman running back is consistent and very coachable. Halfway through camp, the staff knew he would be a valuable part of the offense.

Another freshman was also brought up, tackle Abe Lucas. The coach said he’s never seen anyone Lucas’ age whose that big. Size is only part of the package, the tackle is also in great shape and has good footwork. What impresses Leach the most about Lucas is that he’s one of the best linemen in the PAC-12 as a freshman. The reason why it’s so impressive is that offensive line isn’t as easy as running back to make an immediate impact due to synchronization with the rest of his linemates.

Live Mascots

One of the reporters asked for his thoughts on live mascots. According to Leach one of the best mascots in the country belongs to this week’s opponents. The coach is a fan of Colorado’s Ralphie the buffalo. “One thing I will say, their mascot is just outstanding, I mean them and Mike the Tiger (LSU) are by far the best.”

He did stick up for Butch, Saying the cougar mascot is a better symbol. Leach thinks it would be cool if WSU had a live cougar, but he’s not sure how the animal would do in captivity. In case you were wondering, he doesn’t like mascots based on weather.

On the DVR

Of course, there was the useless fan question of the week which had to do with the coach’s least favorite household chore. It morphed into what Leach has on his DVR. So for posterity sake, he’s been watching Mountain Men, Naked and Afraid, A Football Life, Goliath (Leach is a Billy Bob Thornton fan), and a documentary on Whitey Bulger.

Aside from one question about the receivers, Gardner Minshew wasn’t mentioned.