WSU on national radar

PULLMAN — Washington State’s football team is hot, and it appears that people well beyond the Palouse and the Pac-10 are starting to take notice.

The Cougars broke into the Associated Press’ Top 25 this week, picking up just enough votes to edge Tulsa for the 25th and final spot. WSU is the only three-loss team to crack the Top 25, probably a testament to the fact that all three losses came to teams currently ranked 10th or better.

WSU, which also moved up to 23rd in the BCS standings after waxing a respected UCLA team on the road by 22 points on Saturday, is surely playing its best football since the end of the 2003 season, which was also the last time it found itself ranked.

So what is it about this Cougar squad – one that on the surface seemed to be remarkably similar to the last two unsuccessful groups – that has them improbably on the national radar?

As both players and coaches recognized after the UCLA win, this team has shown a remarkable amount of toughness and fortitude, especially after the trainer’s table became the best-stocked position in the locker room.

The Cougars have had an avalanche of injuries, and ended up using their punt returner as their punter Saturday night, among other position swaps and depth chart shuffles.

Bill Doba and his staff may be gluing a lineup together on a weekly basis because of the injuries, but it appears to be with super glue. No matter who it is trotting out onto the field, one player after another is finding ways to make winning plays.

With the UCLA game seemingly in hand, Alex Brink threw an interception midway through the fourth quarter in WSU territory. Where many teams might have allowed that play to become the start of a comeback, the Cougars turned it into a game-clinching positive. Wide receiver Jason Hill stripped the ball away from the Bruin linebacker moments after the interception, and fellow wideout Brandon Gibson pounced on the ball to give WSU possession once again.

That drive ended in a fourth-down incompletion, but the four additional minutes off the clock sealed the win.

At 6-3, the Cougars are virtually assured of a bowl bid and now are in complete control of their own destiny. Three wins in the last three games – and they’ll likely be favored in all three of those contests – would assure WSU at least a third-place finish in the Pac-10, perhaps even higher if USC loses twice more to conference foes, a notion that seems much less far-fetched after its loss to Oregon State.

Banged up, sure. But the Cougars haven’t looked this good in a long time, and they now have the ranking to prove it.

For more on the Cougars, check out our free online report by Glenn Kasses at www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/wsu