Offense’s Day Is Doomed WSU Defense Dominates Scrimmage, Sacks Leaf 6 Times

How dominant was Washington State’s starting defense during Saturday morning’s football scrimmage?

Consider that starting quarterback Ryan Leaf was sacked six times en route to a 6-for-19 nightmare.

“I didn’t have any time, period,” Leaf said.

Consider that the first-string offense, playing without injured tailback Michael Black, ran the football five times out of 32 total plays - three times for no gain and twice for negative yardage.

“The object right now is not to look good, it’s to get better,” coach Mike Price offered.

Consider also that the first-string offense was given three consecutive gift-wrapped possessions inside the opponent’s 16-yard line - and managed to score only on a fourth-down gimmick pass between receivers Shawn Tims and Chris Jackson. (Each of the other two red-zone possessions went three-and-out.)

“Now you know why they call us the Legion of Doom,” crowed defensive tackle Leon Bender, although it was unclear exactly who, besides the effusive Bender, keeps referring to the WSU defense by that moniker.

Finally, consider linebacker Todd Nelson’s 39-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“Today was just a defensive day,” defensive end Dorian Boose said.

Price encouraged the offense to turn Saturday’s experience into a positive.

“Like I told the quarterbacks, I said, ‘This is just making us better.’ If you’re frustrated, good - you’re going to be frustrated during a game,” Price said. “You’ve got to shake it off, get right back in there and forget about it.”

The offensive line has until Monday to forget about this one. That’s when the Cougars resume practices in preparation for the Aug. 30 opener against UCLA.

“We’ll have to look at the films and see where all the pressure was coming from,” Leaf said.

It appeared to be coming mostly from the outside, where Boose and Shane Doyle held a clear advantage over starting tackles Ryan McShane and Rob Rainville.

“That was not representative of the O-line,” said McShane, who likened his own performance to a naturally occurring nutrient commonly found in organic fertilizers.

“We’ve got UCLA in 14 days and this isn’t going to be acceptable on the offensive line.”

The highlight for Leaf was a 57-yard touchdown strike to Nian Taylor. The junior QB hit Taylor in stride, and cornerback Earl Riley appeared to have no safety help.

WSU’s special teams accounted for most of the other positives.

New placekicker Rian Lindell showcased his strong leg while making 10 of 16 field-goal tries. Several attempts caromed off the second story of the nearby library building.

Lindell’s misses included four from 49 yards, one from 59 and another from 64. He made a 56-yarder with distance to spare.

Punter Jeff Banks, meanwhile, averaged 48.2 yards on four punts.

Bad news for Wilson

Eboni Wilson’s knee injury is more serious than initially thought, making it uncertain whether he’ll return this season.

The sophomore defensive end has a torn ACL in his left knee, trainer Mark Smaha said.

Wilson, a promising backup, was initially thought to have only a torn meniscus. But arthroscopic surgery Saturday morning confirmed the torn meniscus and torn ACL.

“We’re going to try to fix his meniscus and just try to rehab it through the season,” Price said, “because he doesn’t have a redshirt season.”

, DataTimes