At least one team got it done Saturday
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Yesterday was a bottom-line type of day. And the bottom line was, the Cougars took care of business. The rest of the teams in the region? Not so much. Read on.
• Washington State was supposed to handle Portland State, right? A mid-level Big Sky team, the home opener, a must-win game. All that pointed to victory, correct? But doing what its supposed to do hadn't been the M.O. of this WSU team just yet. After all, it had lost to Rutgers in the Seattle opener. It was favored. It had lost on the road in Nevada. It was favored. So would it do what it was supposed to do Saturday? Yes, and maybe a bit more. How about 11 more? That's how many yards of total offense above WSU's old school record the Cougars had last night. The old mark, 695, was set when Gerald Ford was president and Chevy Chase was funny, back in 1975. With Connor Halliday and Luke Falk combining for a school-record 630 yards passing, the Cougars had 706 yards in total offense. That'll do, as will the eight touchdowns and a 59-21 victory. After the disappointment of the first two weeks, last night was a sigh of a relief. And maybe, just maybe, a revelation as well. After all, Rutgers, the team WSU was supposed to run over in the opener, came within an eyelash of upsetting Penn State, the Big Ten's last great hope. And Nevada traveled to Tucson, giving Arizona all it could handle before falling, 35-28. I would be willing to guarantee if the Cougars had played Nevada in Pullman, the outcome would have been different. What yesterday's results may indicate is WSU is – cliché alert – a bit better than its record would indicate. And all the moaning and groaning might have been premature.
• The rest of the night wasn't as successful. Just down the road in Moscow, the Vandals, according to coach Paul Petrino, had their butts kicked by Western Michigan. And across the state, the Mariners lost a key game to the Athletics, 3-2, when Fernando Rodney (pictured) walked the world in the 10th inning, including forcing in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded, two-out, four-pitch walk. That's an inning we'll all remember if the M's fall short of the postseason.
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• WSU: Of all the statistics that stood out for me after WSU's win, the 7-for-7 in the red zone – six touchdowns and a 29-yard Quentin Breshears field goal – stood out. Or maybe it was that the Cougars averaged almost 10 yards for each of their 64 passing attempts. Ten yards per attempt is a good number. Or maybe it was the 43 net yard average for each of Jordan Dascalo's three punts. That will work. Or maybe it was the six-dozen stories and blog posts Jacob Thorpe put together by himself after the game. OK, that last number was made up. But it was a lot. Jacob has the game story, sure, but he also has four videos of after-game interviews, including Halliday and Mike Leach. That's just the beginning, however, as there is the final statistics in a couple forms, the scoring drives, the key player, a notebook, some thoughts late last night and, of course, this morning's post with links. And, lest we forget, he held a live chat before the game yesterday though I kept interrupting him. ... Tyler Tjomsland brought his camera and chronicled the doings during the first game in the revamped Martin Stadium. ... Jim Allen made an appearance in Pullman and wrote this nice piece on Keith Jackson (pictured), the broadcast legend who came to town for his 60th college reunion. ... ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog told us what we learned from yesterday and handed out meaningless helmet stickers. Meaningless, because there wasn't one for Isiah Myers (pictured in the top section above), who caught 11 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns. ... Bud Withers covered the conference's up-and-down day in this blog post and had a column out of WSU's win. ... Next week's opponent, Oregon, is down three starting offensive linemen right now.
• EWU: The Eagles were off but that doesn't mean there wasn't Big Sky action even outside of Pullman. ... North Dakota was shut out on the road, losing to Missouri State 38-0. ... South Dakota State powered past Southern Utah, 26-6. ... Sacramento State hosted Weber State, got a school record five field goals and a 42-31 victory. ... Montana held off South Dakota in Missoula, 28-20. ... Colorado State used big plays to defeat UC Davis 49-21. ... And, in Bozeman, Eastern's opponent next week, Montana State, improved to 2-1 with a 43-33 win over Central Arkansas.
• Idaho: Western Michigan ran over the Vandal defense yesterday en route to a 45-33 victory. John Blanchette was in the Kibbie Dome and documented the defeat with this game story and blog post.
• Whitworth: The Pirates overcame the Southern California heat and the Whittier Poets, 30-17.
• Chiefs: The preseason is winding down and Spokane is struggling to find ways to put the puck in the net and win games.
• Preps: Greg Lee looks back on the week that was in prep football and covered a Saturday morning cross country invitational. We also have a roundup we can pass along that covers Saturday's other action.
• Seahawks: It will be unusually warm in San Diego this afternoon and probably a bit more humid than usual. Will that affect the Seahawks? Probably not as much as Philip Rivers and the Charger passing game can, what with the dinged-up nature of the Hawks' defensive backfield. ... Up front, though, Seattle has a definite depth advantage. ... The Hawks also have another advantage, which helps everyone. It's Percy Harvin (pictured). ... There are a lot of things to watch today, none more so than this, if this prediction turns out to be right.
• Mariners: Last night's loss, with a full house on hand to watch Felix Hernandez shut down the A's, has to hurt more than most for Lloyd McClendon. ... So does the timing of this story. ... The win sure felt good for Oakland. ... What else is there to call the loss other than maybe a meltdown. ... Ryan Divish has his weekly power rankings.
• Sounders: Though it's tempting to look back at Friday night's win that clinched a playoff spot for the Sounders, there is an Open Cup final to look forward to. And we would be remiss not to mention there was another tie for Portland yesterday.
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• It seems like a RedZone sort of morning. But maybe that's just me. Until later ...
