July 10 – LAS VEGAS – Jake Dickert turned, footsteps echoing in a hallway somewhere inside the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, and greeted the guy he was sure had disappeared.
Walking his way was Ron Stone Jr., the former Washington State edge rusher who played his sixth and final season last fall for Dickert, and hugged him.
The two men wore bright smiles as they talked. They talked about Stone, his family, his new opportunity with the Las Vegas Raiders, with whom he signed an unsigned free agent contract this spring. After all, that was why he was in town.
For WSU, Stone’s presence was about the only similarity between Wednesday’s conference media day and the dozens that preceded it. In this event — a scaled-down version that featured WSU and fellow Pac-12 holdover Oregon State in a night called “After Hours with the Beavs and Cougs” — the differences stood out like a sore thumb.
For one, there were only two institutions represented, rather than the usual 12. As each coach and player spoke on the main stage and in calmer moments aside, some themes emerged.
We are in the fight.
This is our chance to show who we are.
We are two proud schools.
Nearly a year after the collapse of the Pac-12 as we know it, all but WSU and OSU defecting to other conferences and forcing the Cougars and Beavers to find temporary homes in other conferences, reality dawned on a ballroom in Las Vegas. Vegas.
“I mean, there’s a lot of mixed emotions going into my senior year,” said WSU wide receiver Kyle Williams, who transferred from UNLV and played his freshman season at Pullman last season. “But like they always say – just take it one day at a time, and that’s what I’m (doing). Just living in the moment, enjoying everything, taking it all in and not letting anything pass me by.”
For nearly two hours, WSU coach Dickert and OSU coach Trent Bray took center stage to discuss their schools’ place in the college football landscape. Cougars player representatives Williams and senior linebacker Kyle Thornton revisited their paths to WSU and how those experiences shape them today. Highlights from both teams were shown on stage-side TVs and their mascots, Benny and Butch, roamed around.
At the very least, it gave the Pac-12 and new commissioner Theresa Gould an opportunity to make a case for why people across the country should still make an effort to invest in the only two schools left in the conference. If things go as expected in the conference, there will be more at some point — the only plan Gould would commit to Wednesday would be to explore “all options” — but at least next year, the Pac-12 will look more like the Pac-12. two.
The evidence is in the Cougs’ football schedule for this fall. As part of a scheduling agreement, WSU will play nine Mountain West opponents – seven courtesy of the agreement, two from previously contracted meetings – and in September, they will play a non-conference game against longtime rival Washington at Lumen’s. Seattle Seahawks. Field.
In other words, things aren’t just changing in Washington state. The people involved are beginning to feel the changes, to face them.
“Honestly, we don’t know, because we haven’t been there,” Thornton said. “So when we get into that, I’ll probably have a better answer because it’s really hard to imagine — it’s hard to imagine not playing on the Pac-12 schedule. , we are such a committed team that they will play whoever they tell us to play.”
As the night wore on, something else became clear: Both schools may be excited about the chance to play Mountain West teams, but they are being careful to avoid treating the games like a cakewalk. Dickert was previously defensive coordinator at Wyoming. Williams played three years at UNLV. They know what it’s like to play against these teams.
That’s why, as Dickert and his players recounted the upcoming schedule, they spoke about the competitions with a certain reverence.
“It’s all about approach – how do you get into that game, in that moment, in that stadium?” Dickert said. “Because I’ve been to Fresno. It’s hard to play there. I’ve been to Boise on a Saturday night, it’s hard to play there. Obviously the Apple Cup in Seattle will be a great environment. Texas Tech at home What we’ve been able to do, put together this schedule in a very short period of time, I think it was very special.”
