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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cougars preparing in virtual solitude

The term ghost town comes to mind when trying to describe the Washington State campus this week, with Thanksgiving just days away. Except for the football practice field.

With the Apple Cup coming up Saturday, the Cougars are about the only students left through the week-long break. And that suits senior safety Husain Abdullah just fine.

“With the performance we put on (last Saturday) it might be a good thing,” he said, alluding to the 52-17 loss to Oregon State. “It’s just us. We can get together with no outside distractions. It might be a good thing.”

There is no “might be,” according to head coach Bill Doba. The week alone, with no class and unlimited time with the football players, is the perfect situation pre-Apple Cup. Especially when you are facing a Washington team with some unknowns.

“We can get a little extra time with them,” Doba said Monday. “We need extra time. I know defensively we do when you don’t know whether it’s going to be (Carl) Bonnell or … Jake Locker, the phenom (playing quarterback).

“Really, there are two different emphasizes of offense. One, of course, is a drop-back passer and the other guy runs the football pretty well, in fact, real well. So it’s a little extra burden on the defense trying to get ready.”

Locker has been the Huskies’ star this season. The redshirt freshman started each of UW’s first 10 games and, though he hasn’t wowed anyone with his passing (a 48.6 completion percentage for 1,696 yards, 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions), he does lead all Pac-10 quarterbacks in rushing with 807 yards.

But he was knocked from the Oregon State game two weeks ago and didn’t play in last week’s 37-23 win over Cal. It looks like he will play Saturday, but Doba isn’t waiting for a call from Seattle with any news.

“I’m sure coach (Tyrone) Willingham isn’t going to tell me,” Doba joked.

Against Cal, the quarterback position was manned by former Cougar greyshirt Bonnell. The senior struggled against the Bears, hitting just 7 of 19 passes for 108 yards and one touchdown. He didn’t, however, turn the ball over and he did a good job of handing the ball to Louis Rankin.

Rankin rushed for 224 yards on 21 carries, topping the 200 mark for the second time in three games. The senior also went over 1,000 yards for the season (1,077), the first Husky to do that since Rashaan Shehee in 1997.

Notes

Jed Collins said he’s been taking treatment up to five times a day on his sprained ankle and expects to play. After spraining his ankle late in the Stanford win, Collins played just one series against Oregon State.

“The Washington and Washington State seasons have been remarkably similar. Both lost to a highly ranked Big Ten non-conference foe (WSU at Wisconsin, UW to Ohio State); both won their other two pre-Pac-10 games; both defeated one Pac-10 team from the upper echelon (UW stopped Cal; WSU beat UCLA) and both hammered Stanford. Washington does have one extra non-conference game this season, finishing at Hawaii.

“Rankin was the Pac-10’s Offensive Player of the Week. … There are only a few tickets available for Saturday’s Apple Cup game, mostly scattered singles.