Cougs Sigh With Re-Leaf Quarterback’s Td Pass Decides Seesaw Struggle, Knocks Off Owls 38-34

They talked all week about simplifying the offense. They ended up needing every trick in the book.

The Washington State offense, under fire after a hideous showing seven days prior, asserted itself and acquitted an unusually rag-tag defense Saturday night, lifting the Cougars to a 38-34 victory over Temple University at sultry Franklin Field.

Thanks largely to a defense that was caught offsides 10 times - can you say “wind sprints”? - the Cougars blew a 21-6 lead and found themselves trailing 34-31 in the final 5 minutes.

That’s when the offense, backed up to its own 12-yard line and needing to compose itself for one last drive, came through.

Michael Black broke free for 27 yards on first down. Two plays later, after a holding penalty nullified a 38-yard run by Black, Kevin McKenzie stretched a 20-yard reception into a 40-yarder by juking two defenders into next week.

Three plays later, with just 1:36 left, Ryan Leaf found Chad Carpenter on a 5-yard timing pattern that - after a few more nail-biting moments on defense - would make a winner of WSU for the first time in almost 10 months.

The Cougars (1-1) snapped a seven-game losing streak, while Temple was denied its first 2-0 start since 1981.

“I knew that it was going to come down to me running hard and the offense stepping up,” said Black, who carried 19 times for 134 yards. “I couldn’t give in.”

Neither could Leaf, who threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth to earn his first win in three tries as WSU’s starter. “The big thing on that last drive that really boosted my confidence was Michael’s run to start it off,” said Leaf, who completed 19 of 29 passes for 273 yards. “He busted up the hole there - the offensive line gave him a great hole - and that just opened things up.”

For Leaf, the final drive was especially meaningful.

“I just felt like it was our turn to go down there and take the team on a winning drive,” he said. “It’s something that Coach (Mike) Price has stressed to the media ever since I stepped on campus in the fall here again - I may have played well in some other games we lost, but now it’s my turn to take a team on a 90-yard drive and win the game.”

But the 38-34 lead barely held up.

Led by indomitable quarterback Henry Burris, the Owls made it to the WSU 30-yard line with 7 seconds left. Burris, who completed 23 of 33 passes for 268 yards overall, had his final pass batted away in the end zone by WSU cornerback Dee Moronkola.

“We never gave up,” Temple coach Ron Dickerson said, in what has become a familiar postgame refrain. “I told the kids after the game to keep their heads up, that they can be proud of the way they played and the way they came back.”

The key for WSU was the offensive line, which rebounded after being overwhelmed in last week’s 39-17 loss at Colorado.

“It was definitely a chance to come out and prove what we’re capable of,” senior left tackle Scott Sanderson said.

With Sanderson and the line giving Black room to run early, Leaf picked apart Temple’s undersized secondary.

Leaf completed 9 of 9 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter alone - connecting with Black, Shawn Tims and Carpenter for TDs as WSU jumped to the 21-6 lead.

Cougars linebacker Brandon Moore set up the first touchdown by intercepting Burris on Temple’s opening drive, helping to mask an otherwise sloppy start by the WSU defense.

The Cougars were offsides three times on the game’s first five plays - one of the three was declined - and the trend continued. Two more offsides before halftime helped Temple pull within 24-20 by intermission.

The momentum carried into the third quarter. Temple took its first lead, 27-24, when Ramod Lee’s 1-yard run capped a 20-play, 80-yard drive that seemed to last forever.

The impressive march, which actually used 10:39, included two more critical offsides penalties by the Cougars. The first flag bailed Temple out of fourth-and-2. The second turned third-and-7 into third-and-2.

“It almost got away,” Moore said. “It was like a nightmare.”

Almost.

The WSU offense was undeterred, putting the Cougars back in front on the next series. Leaf and Black led the 74-yard scoring march, with Leaf scoring on a 20-yard QB draw that defied Price’s pregame emphasis on going back to basics.

“That was Coach Price’s call,” said Leaf, who scored on a similar play against Washington last season. “He called quarterback draw, and it was there.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos