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September 4, 2010 in Sports
John Blanchette: Cougs at competitive disadvantage again
STILLWATER, Okla. – Is it already time to reconsider the “Maybe it won’t be as bad as we think” season of Washington State football?
Hey, it’s always good to be reminded that even hedged expectations can go unfulfilled.
But in college football, it’s just not so good to be reminded before Labor Day.
Now, if you think it’s too early to give up on the notion of competitive Cougars football in 2010, you’re certainly entitled to that delusion, er, decision. Might even be the mentally healthy thing to do, if you were brave enough to commit to some seats and Saturdays on behalf of the cause.
And, of course, the Cougars themselves haven’t surrendered.
“We’re not going to stop and give up,” said defensive tackle Brandon Rankin, “just because we lost one game.”
OK, but he wasn’t around for the 22 that piled up over the previous two seasons.
And other than the usual handful of look-at-that plays and the bare hints of brilliance from the odd freshman like receiver Marquess Wilson, there was virtually nothing to distinguish Saturday’s 65-17 drubbing by Oklahoma State – that’s unranked, picked-for-fifth-in-the-Big-12- South Oklahoma State – from those calamities and humiliations.
It will get better, is what everyone keeps being told by Cougars coach Paul Wulff, his lieutenants, soldiers and everyone inside the program with a stake in success.
But it just doesn’t. Pretty soon, the question that needs to be answered is “When?”
Part beatdown and part meltdown – a beltdown? – this pratfall was exactly what Wulff and the Cougars could not abide on this day, even in a hostile joint in true football country, against a program that has been to four straight bowl games and with a sugar daddy who is beyond Big Money and even Huge Money but into Obscene Money.
Yeah, yeah. The Cowboys have T. Boone Pickens. The Cougs can’t afford T-bone fixin’s.
It was amusing to hear Pickens hold court in the press box before the game, claiming “I’m not an owner” (he laid a cool $165 million on athletic director Mike Holder and coach Mike Gundy for the football program a few years ago) and telling everyone how tight it is at his shop, BP Capital (“If Gundy thinks he’s got it tough, he ought to try my business”).
He also said, “I told Holder and Gundy five years ago that I wanted to be competitive. Now I’m tired of being competitive.”
Don’t think he isn’t being heard. Gundy went out in the offseason and got one of those hotshot coordinators, Dana Holgersen, to inject some octane into the offense. And though there’s a brand new quarterback – Brandon Weeden was a mere 22 of 30 Saturday and yet was a complete afterthought as Kendall Hunter ran wild for 257 yards behind a completely rebuilt line – Pickens figures eight wins would be about right, even if he’s not thrilled about it.
Meanwhile, at WSU, no matter how many pronouncements are made about how much better the players are that Wulff is bringing in – and it’s undeniably true – there isn’t so much expectation as dread.
With good reason. Against the Cowboys, WSU fumbled on its first play – it was 7-0 with the game 30 seconds old – and then built on it: They didn’t shake blocks, didn’t tackle, dropped interceptions and passes, misfired and got burned. Some brief hope – pulling to within a TD in the second quarter – was snuffed by 34 straight OSU points. Wulff hasn’t been happy to lose before – though at times he seemed to be – but this was the first time frustration seemed to bubble over.
“We’ve got to have success,” he said. “We’ve got to have games where we come in and compete with somebody, and we’ve got to start winning some games.
“We’re going to be a good football team, but we came out here and didn’t respond and play well. We’ve got to find ways to respond and not allow those letdowns and disbelief happen to us in the middle of a game.”
And though they preach to each other about trust and belief, quarterback Jeff Tuel isn’t convinced the message is getting through.
“Obviously, we were the underdogs,” he said, “but some guys weren’t expecting us to be in that game in the second quarter. We’re down a touchdown and some guys are thinking, ‘Holy crap, we’re in this game’ – and that’s too late. Our eyes were wide open and we just lost it.”
The youth of the Cougars – 24 of the 60 participants Saturday were in their first game – will be mentioned often, yet even so Wulff insisted, “I don’t think that score is any indication of what we’re capable of doing.”
Then it’s time the Cougars do what they’re capable of doing, if only for one Saturday. Might be nice for their constituents to grow tired of being competitive, for a change.
Blanchette: GU track lifts off with Thomas 
Jobu on September 05 at 1:26 a.m.
Wulff, if they don’t respond and play well. It’s on you. You are making 600K, maybe not a lot in your profession, but a lot to the average person. The product you are putting out there is crap, Non BCS schools are more competetive than this crap. Weber State played Boston College tough, Jacksonville State beat Ole Miss. North Dakoda State beat Kansas. Eastern hanged with Nevada. Utah State of all teams lost by 7 to OU, but you have ever excuse in the world why we continue to suck. Stop it, coach, do your job. If I performed as bad as you have in 3 years in my job, I wouldn’t have a job. Regardless of the situation I inherited. We are not going to be a good football team, so stop talking about it. You can say all you want, but your coordinator on offense is a joke, your players quit on you left and right and WE ARE NEVER PREPARED FOR A GAME! Please, do us a favor and just quit. You are in over you head and best thing to do is resign. That way we don’t pay you money that you don’t deserve and we can go out and try to find a real coach that can revive this program. If you truly care about this university like you said, you will quit.
Also, Jim Sterk, don’t you EVER come back to Pullman again. I despise you as an Athletic Director. You destroyed Cougar Football and I will never forgive you for that.
eagleproducer on September 06 at 3:19 p.m.
But Sterk doesn’t get credit for resurrecting men’s hoops and the baseball program?
I’d look at Bill Doba if you want to point fingers about what set the Coug football decline in motion. The problem with Wulff is that he took two full years to halt that decline so the march uphill is ever more arduous.
“T-bone fixins.” Classic, Blanchette!
Jobu on September 07 at 1:44 a.m.
Yep, Dick Bennett was a great hire. But Dick was originally asked for advice on who to hire. He told Sterk he’ll get back to with names. After asking around, people don’t him it couldn’t be done, you couldn’t win here. He took it as a challenge that he could do it. When he hired Tony Bennett we just finished last in the Pac-10 and he had no experience whatsoever. It worked out great. But where is Bennett now? Not here. We’ll see how Bone works out. But the book is still out on that.
He lucked out with the baseball. Marbut lied on his resume and fabricated it. He didn’t check his sources on that. It worked out and I am glad it did. Schools have fired coaches for doing that. Not us. We kept him. But baseball doesn’t pay the bills, we’ll be lucky to break even with it.
You have no idea what you are talking about with Doba. His wife was dying of cancer. His assistants, who should have been helping, they weren’t. So, yea Doba will take the blame. But the guy did more for this university tham Wulff or Sterk have ever or will ever do for this university. The guy was here for almost 20 years. Helped build two Rose Bowl teams with Price, created the best defense in the country in 1994.
Sterk gave him a huge extension when he was like 68 years old. Sterk gave his assistants 2 year salaries, which we had to paid out after the ‘07 season. Sterk sold us out at every chance he got to other schools for pay days. He was a horrible AD. He hired Wulff, he made the decisions that got us in this situation. Everything happened under his watch. I’m done with him. I hoping that Moos can get us out of this hole, but he has a lot of work to do.