Cougars, Beavers wince at memories

PULLMAN – It seems, in many ways, that no one has particularly fond memories of last year’s Washington State-Oregon State game.

Ask a Cougar about the game and he will almost certainly grimace or sigh, thinking back to a Pac-10 opener that touched off a seven-game losing streak.

Ask a Beaver about the same game and he will say, while happy to have won, that many things went wrong in allowing Alex Brink 531 passing yards along the way.

“The cliché is a win is a win. They all come out differently,” Oregon State defensive coordinator Mark Banker said. “Then you’ve got to go back and not necessarily feel good about how you went about it.”

Of course, Brink’s school-record passing effort was almost immediately and completely forgotten as the then-sophomore also threw four interceptions, misguided passes that contributed immensely to a blown 17-point lead and eventual 44-33 loss.

“That was a very interesting and competitive game,” Beavers safety Sabby Piscitelli said. “It was a game in your career you’ll always remember.”

Piscitelli made what might have been the biggest defensive play of that game, intercepting a Brink throw and returning it into the end zone for a second-half score. But for the Oregon State secondary, it’s tough to shake the memories of one Brink bomb after another being completed for huge chunks of yardage.

Were it not for the interceptions, Banker, Piscitelli and Brink agree, the game might have ended up looking different.

Piscitelli is the clear leader of the OSU secondary in his senior season. He has the advantage this time around of playing with a much more experienced corps of defensive backs.

“We were so young last year in the secondary,” he said. “(And) you’re only as good as the guy next to you.”

But while Oregon State brings back much more this season to combat the WSU passing game, it might be that passing game itself that makes things look most different this year as opposed to 2005.

The Cougars have dedicated themselves to a higher-percentage, lower-risk passing game this season. So while Brink may not throw for as many yards, the Cougars expect a reduction in the interceptions that were so problematic in Corvallis, too.

“We were throwing bombs,” WSU head coach Bill Doba said of the game last year. “We were throwing high-risk passes. And this year our game plans have been a little different with the short passes and screens and drags and the dig patters. I think if (Brink) just plays like he did last week, we’ll be just fine.”

For Brink, going up against this Oregon State secondary has been somewhat of a bellwether throughout his collegiate career. As a freshman, the Oregon native made his first career start and looked overmatched in a blowout loss. Last year, he showed an ability to make big plays – for both teams. This year, he hopes to prove that a more mature, consistent passer has evolved.

“They obviously understood that I was a fairly young player last year and they started blitzing us a little more,” Brink said. “I, in turn, tried to make too many plays.”

Banker said he admires the progress Brink has made, recalling the young quarterback who once was prone to getting spooked by an aggressive pass rush.

OSU’s defensive coordinator knows that if his secondary gives up yards as it did a year ago, he probably won’t be able to wipe the slate clean because the team has won.

“You can see the progress he’s made,” Banker said. “If last year he gets 500 yards against us, he can get 1,000 this year.”