Taking heart in history
PULLMAN – Sometimes a history tutorial adds up to a psychology lesson.
“I reminded the team of this,” Washington State head football coach Bill Doba said of his post-game comments following the 47-14 defeat to USC on Saturday. “In 2003, we went to the Holiday Bowl, we beat No. 5 Texas, we finished ninth in the nation. I asked them, ‘Do you remember what the score was of the SC game in the Coliseum that year? It was 43-16, pretty close to what it was this year. It’s just one game, the season’s not over, we still got a long way to go. Get your chins up off your chest and get ready to go play Arizona.’
“So we’ve put that game behind us and we’re on to the next one.”
Did it work? Are their heads up?
“I’ll know more (at practice today),” Doba said. “They were disappointed, obviously. Probably half of them thought we could win, half of them thought it would at least be close, being honest about it. I don’t expect them to be all happy and giggles after they get their butt kicked.”
If the former high school math teacher figured right, the Cougars should be ready to bounce back by Saturday from the “old-fashioned butt-whipping” USC put on them. They have to.
Because if Washington State is going to imitate that 2003 team and play in a bowl, the Wildcats are one of the hurdles it will have to clear. Arizona, expected to challenge for a bowl berth itself in coach Mike Stoops’ fourth year, had a disappointing non-conference slate (1-2, with only a win over Northern Arizona, a Football Championship Subdivision team) and followed that up with a 45-27 loss at Cal last Saturday.
The Wildcats installed a spread offense this season, importing offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes from Texas Tech. They returned 10 defensive starters. And Stoops declared before the season they were on the cusp of big things.
Last year Arizona came to Pullman when the Cougars were 6-3, ranked 25th in the nation and needed just one more win to ensure a bowl berth. The Wildcats left the Palouse with a 27-17 win, rushing for 116 yards, including 95 from Chris Henry, now playing with the Tennessee Titans.
In its three losses this season, Arizona has rushed for 93 yards total.
A big part of that is the type of spread offense the Wildcats are running. Though quarterback Willie Tuitama is athletic and quick, he doesn’t look to run, according to Doba.
“A lot (of spread teams) run option off it, and they aren’t really an option team,” Doba said. “Tuitama gets rid of the ball very quickly. He does not want to run it. In some ways I wish he would. He moves around in that pocket and waits and waits. He keeps his eyes downfield … he’s got a good strong arm and gets the ball downfield.
“He’s very difficult to sack. We’ve watched teams come at him with five-man pressures, six-man pressures, and he gets rid of the ball very quickly.”
Plus he’s been improving, having thrown for more than 300 yards in each of the past two games.
“I’d like to have played them about three weeks ago, to be honest with you,” Doba said, only half-joking. “They are just starting to gel. We didn’t like to see 27 points against Cal. I think they are starting to put it together.”
But the Wildcats’ biggest problem hasn’t been on the offensive side of the ball. They just haven’t been able to stop anybody.
“We’re moving the ball at will,” linebacker Spencer Larsen said after the Cal loss Saturday. “In the red zone they got held up a little bit, but they moved the ball and 27 points is enough in my eyes, especially with the guys that we have on defense. We need to play better defensively.”
Last year the Cats were fourth in total defense (326.2 yards per game) and third in scoring defense (19.6) in the Pac-10. This year those numbers have ballooned to 369.2 and 29.5.
Still Doba thinks Arizona’s defense will be a handful, especially at home.
“They have the complete package,” he said. “It will be a good challenge.”
Notes
Washington State announced Monday that the Oct. 6 home game against Arizona State – Dennis Erickson’s latest return to the Palouse – will start at 1 p.m. and be televised by FSN. It will be the fourth consecutive TV game for the Cougars. … Doba said Darryl Blunt was still the No. 1 punter, but Reid Forrest did well against USC and could wrest the job away at practice this week. … Doba praised the play of both defensive captains, junior linebacker Greg Trent and senior free safety Husain Abdullah. Trent had 12 tackles according to Doba’s count and Abdullah, who is observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and not eating during daylight hours, had one interception and could have had another if he had been on the correct side of the receiver, according to Doba. … No one was injured against the Trojans, and Doba attributed at least part of that to playing a talented team. He explained most major injuries are accidents, occurring when a player is out of position or doing something out-of-the-ordinary. Good teams don’t do that as often, according to Doba. However, the Trojans do hit hard and there were a greater number of nicks and bruises after the game.