Anthony Laurenzi's Diary: Week 6

PULLMAN – The heat has definitely been turned on this past week. We also switched up our schedule a bit and that’s got things even hotter. Over on the d-line, I think we’re starting to round into really good form for our upcoming fall camp. And there’s something else this summer at WSU, something that has not been in short supply.

Confidence.

One of the big reasons I feel good about our d-line is because as a group, we have confidence in what we’re doing and it’s starting to show.

Overall this summer on the d-line, guys like Toni Pole, Xavier Cooper and Steven Hoffart continue to stand out. They’re always there, they’re always working hard. And you can see the results. They’ve gotten stronger and their bodies look different than when we started.

I’ll tell you one other thing. We have to be one of the hardest working teams in the Pac-12 right now. I just don’t see how we could do much more than we are. Everyone is tired, everyone is sore. But in a good, productive way.

The last couple weeks, we were supposed to taper down. And we haven’t.

Really, our team as a whole is coming together – we’re talking and communicating on the field better. When someone does something good, there’s encouragement. When someone makes a mistake, they get called out, but still in an encouraging way.

In my time in Pullman, it feels like we have a lot more confidence than we’ve had in previous summers. We know we’re going to be good. Last year, I think it was more that we really, really wanted to be good. But in the end we lacked the “swag.”

That’s not the case this summer. We’ve all looked at the schedule, and we feel pretty confident we can compete with every team we play.

Some o-line guys I should mention before I go – John Fullington and Matt Goetz.

I think those two are the guys on the o-line who have the new offense down the most from what I’ve seen, that are the furthest along and look the most comfortable. It’s different for a guy like Wade Jacobson who wasn’t able to do any team stuff in the spring as he healed up. But he’s now starting to come along, too.

These last few days we’ve moved our schedule so that we’re outside in the afternoon getting work in. And it’s been hot. Really hot. I think we’re going to get used to the heat for when fall camp begins in August. It’s not that far away now..

I didn't get to some of your questions last week but I will for next time, and keep posting any questions you have about the D on the CF.C message boards and I’ll answer as many as I can.

Go Cougs!
Anthony Laurenzi

Cougar nose tackle Anthony Laurenzi (6-3, 290) out of Placentia, Calif. started all 12 games for WSU in 2011, posting a career-high 25 tackles, (17 solo) with 6.5 tackles for loss. A redshirt senior, d-coordinator Mike Breske this spring said that in Laurenzi, “we have what we want at the nose guard position.” Laurenzi was named the Orange County Register Defensive Player of the Year his senior year at El Dorado High, racking up 40 sacks and 170-plus tackles over his prep career. His 23 sacks his senior year were both an all-time school record and the most that year in California.