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SPORTS Thursday, October 10, 2019 East Oregonian B3 Washington State shakes up defense after back-to-back losses By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press Washington State coach Mike Leach is shaking up the Cougars’ underperform- ing defense in the wake of defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys’ abrupt resignation. The Cougars have made some personnel changes on a squad that is yielding 30 points per game, ranking it 10th in the Pac-12. Leach said they are also simpli- fying defensive schemes that he believes were too complicated. “We didn’t have any short- age of strategy,” Leach said this week. “We had too much strategy.” Washington State (3-2, 0-2 Pac-12) had a bye last week and plays at No. 18 Ari- zona State (4-1, 1-1) on Satur- day facing an urgent need to get the season back on track. The 0-2 start in league play is the worst for Washington State since 2012. Claeys abruptly resigned last week after the Cougars gave up a total of 105 points in losing their first two Pac- 12 games. Washington State AP Photo/Rick Bowmer Utah running back Devonta’e Henry-Cole, right, carries the ball as Washington State corner- back Marcus Strong (4) defends in the second half of an NCAA college football game on Sept. 28, 2019, in Salt Lake City. gave up 50 points in the sec- ond half of a 67-63 loss at home to UCLA, which rode the second-biggest comeback in FBS history to victory. The Cougars followed that with a 38-13 loss at Utah. After the Utah game, Leach called his players “fat, dumb, happy and entitled.” He also criticized his defensive backs for playing “street ball.” “I think guys just run around and do what they want to do,” Leach said. But Leach has insisted he was surprised by the resigna- tion and said Claeys, a former Minnesota head coach who had been with the Cougars only 1 ½ seasons, was not pushed out. “He chose to resign for his own reasons, which he wasn’t very specific about,” Leach said. “It was sudden and it was in the middle of things, but we wish him the best.” Claeys sent a tweet Friday that read: “The defense has struggled and I am respon- sible. We couldn’t agree on solutions.” The Cougars defense is giving up 444 yards per game, ranking 105th nation- ally. They’re giving up 178 rushing yards per game and have allowed teams to con- vert on 42% of third down situations. The one area where they excel is recover- ing opponent fumbles, where they lead the league with seven. Leach has elevated Roc Bellantoni, the inside line- backers coach, to interim defensive coordinator and Darcel McBath, the corner- backs coach, to co-interim defensive coordinator. Bellantoni will call plays from the press box, while McBath will work down on the field, Leach said. The Cougars held an all-team meeting after the Utah loss to discuss ways to improve. Among the most effec- tive speakers was Pat Nunn, a freshman who is moving into the starting lineup at nickel- back, said offensive lineman Josh Watson. “He’s one of the younger guys around here, but I felt like he had a pretty good mes- sage in his speech,” Watson told The Spokesman-Review. Watson said it is more effective when players hold each other accountable. “It’s powerful when a coach does it, but you think about it more when it comes from your peers,” Watson said. Leach said Monday the team would consider some personnel changes on defense, and sure enough there were several when the depth chart was released. Safety Daniel Isom was moved into a starting position at cornerback. Skyler Thomas will replace Isom at strong safety. Nunn takes over for Thomas at nickelback. Dallas Hobbs will start at nose tackle, while previ- ous starter Misiona Aiolupo- tea-Pei is now the backup. Backup nose tackle Lamonte McDougle is no longer listed on the two-deep chart. There were some addi- tional changes among the backup defensive players. Washington State needs to win at least three of the next seven games to become bowl-eligible for a team-re- cord fifth consecutive season. U.S. women’s hoops announces college exhibition games ical times in which we had the opportunity to show- case our national team in this light, women’s college basketball is at an all-time high as far as exposure. This will increase the exposure to women’s basketball. And I’m excited. ... It’s more prep time. The more time we have, the better we will per- form in Tokyo.” Staley won’t be coach- ing during the tour because she will be focused on her own college team, South Carolina. Olympic assistant coaches Dan Hughes and Cheryl Reeve will lead the team. “I’m going to tell Cheryl and Dan, do what you got to do to win the game. Whether it’s our stuff or their stuff. Instincts take over. We just want to win the games,” In this July 14, 2012, file photo, U.S. women’s Olympic basket- ball players Diana Taurasi (12) and Sue Bird (6) watch during practice in Washington. Jeff Snell Taylor Smith Ron Gibbs Brett Kane Mike Appleton 34-16 7-3 34-16 6-4 32-18 6-4 32-18 5-5 31-19 4-6 Hermiston Pendleton Pilot Rock Kiona Benton Millersville Oklahoma Eastern Oregon Chiefs Rams Eagles Chiawana Pendleton Pilot Rock Kiona Benton Millersville Oklahoma Eastern Oregon Chiefs 49ers Vikings Chiawana Pendleton Pilot Rock Kiona Benton Lock Haven Oklahoma Eastern Oregon Chiefs Rams Eagles By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK — The U.S. women’s national bas- ketball team’s college tour is set to tip off next month. USA Basketball announced Wednesday that members of the wom- en’s team will play exhi- bition games at Stan- ford, Oregon State, Texas A&M and Oregon in early November to prepare for the FIBA tournament later in the month. “Historically speaking, it has been great for our program to have a college tour,” U.S. coach Dawn Sta- ley said. “All our past USA teams that had a college tour went on to win Olympic gold medals. So, if we can pull back into some histor- WEEK 6 Overall: Last week: Chiawana at Hermiston Pendleton at LaSalle Union at Pilot Rock/Nixy Mac-Hi at Kiona Benton Lock Haven at Millersville Oklahoma at Texas Montana State Northern at Eastern Oregon Texans at Chiefs 49ers at Rams Eagles at Vikings THANK YOU TO LAST WEEK’S GUEST PICKER STEVE HOFFERT AP Photo/Nick Wass, File Ronald Bond mike in the core group. The game at Stanford will be a homecoming for Ogwu- mike, who starred at the school. The roster for the November exhibition games will be rounded out by Seimone Augustus, Layshia Clarendon, Napheesa Col- lier and Kelsey Plum. Gray will miss the game at Stanford and Plum will miss the first two games due to previous personal commitments. This is the Americans’ first extended college tour since training for the Bei- jing Olympics in 2008. The only loss came in 1999-2000 against Tennessee, with the U.S. winning the other 39 games. The U.S. will play another series of exhibition games against colleges in February. Daniel Wattenburger 29-21 8-2 Annie Fowler Aaron Karlson Ronald Bond 29-21 5-5 28-22 4-6 26-24 4-6 Chiawana Chiawana Chiawana Pendleton Pendleton La Salle Union Pilot Rock Pilot Rock Mac-Hi Kiona-Benton Kiona-Benton Lock Haven Lock Haven Lock Haven Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Eastern Eastern Montana State Oregon Oregon Northern Chiefs Chiefs Texans Rams Rams 49ers Vikings Vikings Eagles Chiawana Pendleton Pilot Rock Kiona-Benton Lock Haven Oklahoma Eastern Oregon Chiefs 49ers Eagles Chiawana Pendleton Union Mac-Hi Lock Haven Oklahoma Eastern Oregon Chiefs Rams Eagles Donna Biggerstaff KER GUEST PIC Chiawana Chiawana Pendleton Pendleton Pilot Rock Pilot Rock Kiona-Benton Kiona-Benton Lock Haven Millersville Oklahoma Oklahoma Eastern Eastern Oregon Oregon Texans Texans 49ers 49ers Eagles Vikings GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE PICKERS! IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR Aaron Karlson (7-3) IS ROOTING FOR Staley told The Associated Press last month. The Americans revealed at the WNBA All-Star Game that they would have an expanded training pro- gram to help prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, where they will be trying for a seventh consecutive gold medal. The exhibition games will be the first of five training periods leading up to the Olympics. As part of the expansion, a core group of players led by Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will be paid $2,000 a day at each of the training camps and games. The two stars, going for their unprecedented fifth Olympic gold, are joined by Elena Delle Donne, Sky- lar Diggins-Smith, Sylvia Fowle, Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson and Nneka Ogwu- IS ROOTING FOR Daniel Wattenburger Ron Gibbs Jeff Snell Brett Kane Taylor Smith Mike Appleton