Cougars give thanks for November
PULLMAN — Almost everything spiraled out of control for the Washington State University football team in October. It all got started with a 27-point fourth quarter by Oregon to stun the Cougars, then continued with three more losses that left WSU 0-4 for the month and all but done in the bowl picture.
But thanks to a road win last week at UCLA, this much can be said for the Cougars as they prepare for their penultimate regular-season game at 4 p.m. today on TBS at Arizona State: It’s all in their control.
Should WSU pull a second straight upset – last week a 14-point underdog, this week 13 – only a win in the Apple Cup against the hapless Huskies would stand between them and a bowl game.
It’s still no easy task, and the Cougars know it.
“There’s no tomorrow,” WSU head coach Bill Doba said. “This is it for us. We’ve got to earn this ballgame.”
Given their porous defense and sputtering offense in October, it would seem an impossible task to defeat Arizona State, a team ranked 20th in the nation that has lost only to No. 1 USC and No. 5 California. But last week’s win gave the Cougars new life, and perhaps a new game plan as well.
WSU racked up more than 300 yards on the ground against a weak Bruins run defense last week, controlling the flow of the game on the way to a 31-29 win. Jerome Harrison alone had 247 rushing yards, the third-best total in Cougars history.
“It’s scary,” Sun Devils head coach Dirk Koetter admitted. “UCLA has struggled stopping the run all season, but you’re talking about the second-best rushing performance of the season in the Pac-10 by Harrison. And I’ve always thought that those two tackles (Calvin Armstrong and Sam Lightbody) for Washington State are as good as anyone out there.”
The ball-control offense helped give a break to the WSU defense, which has allowed 26.3 points a game this year, the second-worst number in the Pac-10.
“It was weird. I woke up Sunday and I wasn’t tired or sore,” defensive end Adam Braidwood said. “It was like, ‘Ah, OK. This is what it feels like to play a regular football game.’ It was good. If we can do that again, it’ll be great.”
The Sun Devils have other plans, of course. Winning their last two regular-season games would give Arizona State at least a third-place finish in the conference, and a shot at a 10-win season should they triumph in a bowl game as well.
There will also be plenty of emotion in Sun Devil Stadium, as the school retires the jersey of Pat Tillman at halftime with his family on hand.
“It’s more for the Tillman family and to honor the man,” Doba said of the former Sun Devils and Arizona Cardinals player, who left the NFL to join the military and was killed in action in Afghanistan. “I think it’s really neat that they’re doing it. There are so few heroes left for our youth to admire.”
Notes
As WSU head coach Doba had suggested last week, the team will take injured quarterback Josh Swogger on the road to Tempe so he can sit in the press box and observe the game. … The Cougars flew out of Lewiston for the first time all season, as construction work at the airport there had forced the team to fly out of Spokane for its earlier road games. … For the Sun Devils, right guard Zach Krula has been able to practice after missing some time with mononucleosis. His return to the lineup bumps Grayling Love over to left tackle, and puts Arizona State at full strength on the offensive line.