Reliving A Nightmare Depressing Loss To Usc Played Over And Over
Time heals all wounds, Mike Price said Sunday, trying to convince himself.
“Boy, this was a tough loss,” the Washington State football coach said, still absorbing Saturday night’s 29-24 heartbreaker against USC.
“A very depressing loss in the locker room after the game.
“It knocked us out of our goal (the Rose Bowl) and also, our seniors are leaving the school without beating USC, which is a tough thing to handle.”
The Cougars were at the USC 11-yard-line in the game’s final minute, but quarterback Ryan Leaf was hit and fumbled. The Trojans recovered and ran out the clock.
Unable to sleep after the game, Price returned to his office, replaying the game film until 3 in the morning. Six hours later, he watched the Prime Sports replay on television. Still haunted, he watched film again in the afternoon.
Leaf was also devastated, and sought relief Sunday by watching the volleyball team upset Stanford in Bohler Gym. The match had been over for at least 20 minutes, but Leaf remained in the gym, sitting alone.
“I’ve been through some (close calls) in high school,” the sophomore said, “but I always won ‘em.
“I’ve always won ‘em. I’ve always been the hero, not the goat. So it’s difficult. But I’ve got to be stronger, hold onto that football.”
Several factors contributed to Leaf’s fumble.
Sparked by a flukey 48-yard completion that bounced off two players before Kevin McKenzie caught it, the Cougars had just gone 84 yards in 1:10.
The Martin Stadium crowd of 33,111 was deafening, Leaf and Price said, and receiver Nian Taylor was unable to hear the play-call.
With no timeouts and just 49 seconds left, the Cougars decided against spiking the ball - Price feared it might kill their momentum. Unwittingly, that decision would leave Taylor, a sophomore, no choice but to improvise.
Instead of breaking his route off at the USC 5, as the play had called for, Taylor ran into the right corner of the end zone - crossing into McKenzie’s pattern and eliminating Leaf’s first option.
Meanwhile, flanker Shawn McWashington was coming open over the middle. In the confusion, Leaf simply ran out of time.
USC defensive tackle Matt Keneley had slipped between two WSU linemen, forcing Leaf into linebacker Lawrence Larry.
“I thought I should have just thrown it out of bounds, but I looked at the replay and (Keneley) was holding my right arm and I couldn’t throw it that way,” Leaf said. “So I tried to get it in my left hand. Just as I got it in my left hand, I got hit (by Larry).”
In electing not to spike the ball, the Cougars were unable to substitute prior to the final play. That left senior Chad Carpenter, WSU’s best goal-line receiver, on the sideline.
Unfair fair catch?
The Cougars led 10-3 when they kicked off to start the second half. Nine seconds later, the game was tied.
R. Jay Soward had returned Tony Truant’s intentionally high, short kickoff 74 yards without being touched.
WSU relaxed on the play, mistakenly believing one of Soward’s teammates had signalled for a fair catch.
In fact, the player was signalling for Soward to make the return.
“That’s what the official told me,” Price said. “Our players didn’t see it that way. They saw it as a fair catch.
“Soward ended up catching it. We slowed down and then - bang! - got blocked, there was the hole and he took it through.”
Replays were inconclusive.
Injury update
Eight Cougars were injured against USC, but none is expected to miss the Nov. 9 game at UCLA. WSU has a bye this week.
The most serious injuries were to tailback Michael Black (ankle), linebacker James Darling (quadriceps) and backup safety Ray Jackson (hamstring).
In addition, Price said linebacker Johnny Nansen, who suffered a broken jaw in practice before the Oct. 18 game against California, is not expected to return for the UCLA game.
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