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October 22, 2011 in Sports
Beavers level Tuel, dominate all facets against Cougars
WSU wide receiver Marquess Wilson catches a touchdown pass against Oregon State during first half action in their game in Seattle, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011.
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SEATTLE – This was not a game for the timid.
Or for Washington State, for that matter.
The Oregon State Beavers pounded the Cougars into submission Saturday night before 49,219 at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, turning WSU’s first conference home game on the West Side since 1976 into a 44-21 disaster.
“They were physical,” said linebacker Sekope Kaufusi, who left the field for a while after getting banged up.
No one fit that banged-up category better than quarterback Jeff Tuel, who was battered late in the first half and did not return for the second.
Tuel had a left shoulder injury, according to WSU coach Paul Wulff, and underwent X-rays. The junior missed the first five games of the season with a fractured left clavicle.
It was obvious Oregon State remembered how Washington State started its victory last season in Corvallis, with a C.J. Mizell personal foul on Jacquizz Rodgers. The Cougars have tried to establish a reputation as hard hitters, and went toe-to-toe with a physical Stanford team for a half last week.
But this time it was the Beavers (2-5 overall, 2-2 Pac-12) who got the first hit in, and they continued to whack the Cougars (3-4, 1-3) throughout the game.
“It was a disgraceful performance, that’s what it was,” said linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis, part of a defense that yielded 551 yards of total offense to a team that came into the game 10th in the conference in that category.
It showed in the Cougars’ first possession, when the center of the OSU defensive line stuffed running back Carl Winston on a fourth-and-1 at the Beavers’ 24, killing a long drive. The Cougars finished 5 of 15 converting third or fourth down.
“I thought our kids were ready to play,” offensive coordinator Todd Sturdy said. “We took the opening drive down the field, ran into the score zone there and didn’t get it done.”
The physical nature showed on kickoffs, on blocks, on tackles. And it showed especially on Tuel’s chest.
As the first half wound down, with Oregon State already leading 24-14, first tackle Andrew Seumalo, then end Scott Crichton and finally linebacker Tony Wilson took turns hitting the junior, who walked slowly to the locker room.
He came back out, but not back into the game.
“We didn’t do a great job of blocking a couple of times,” Sturdy said.
By the time Marshall Lobbestael took over, WSU trailed 31-14. It got worse.
“We couldn’t get them to punt,” Wulff said. “They were converting everything.”
The Beavers scored on eight of their first nine drives, the only stop coming when Damante Horton ripped a Sean Mannion pass out of Wheaton’s hands in the end zone for a first-quarter interception.
Mannion, a redshirt freshman who didn’t start until the season’s third game, was 26 of 34 for 376 yards and four touchdowns.
But his lone interception kick-started the Cougars’ offense – for a while.
Trailing 7-0, Tuel led WSU on an 80-yard drive, hitting Marquess Wilson in the left corner of the end zone from 20 yards out.
Trailing 14-7, Tuel hit Wilson on a 48-yard post pattern, with a 15-yard facemask penalty added on. Two plays later, Tuel scored on a 1-yard sneak.
But, trailing 21-14, Tuel fumbled when Crichton grabbed at him going by and Dylan Wynn recovered at the WSU 31.
Oregon State later settled for a field goal.
With 30 seconds left in the half, Tuel, who finished 11 of 13 for 127 yards, tried to get the points back. On a third-and-2, Wilson crushed the quarterback as he delivered an incomplete pass. Tuel struggled to get up. It was obvious he was hurting.
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cougforlife67 on October 23 at 12:33 a.m.
The Mike Leach era has officially begun in Pullman!
ericdx on October 23 at 12:33 a.m.
Well, at least Hoffman-Ellis hit thaty right on the head. The game was a joke, the Cougs were a joke, and talk of making a bowl appearance now appears to be a bad joke. I was not that upset by us getting 41 hung on us by Stanford, who i think has a realistic chance of being in the BCS Title game. To allow the 9th place team in the PAC 12 to hang 44 on us, is nothing short of total embarrassment.
Frankly, I have tried to give Wulff support this year, even though I did not think he was up to the job, but this game and the UCLA game are steps back to the bad old days of the last 3 years. It is time for a change, because losing like we just did shows that we got a couple of cream puffs, and are not as good as we should be at the 4 year point of rebuilding. Wulff and his staff did not make adjustments, and they did not inspire or prepare the team well enough.
Its time to admit that you are over your head, Wulff.
coug79 on October 23 at 9:40 a.m.
Yeesh. That game gave me flashbacks of the 2008 season. Pretty much a beatdown in every aspect of the game.
Sad.
david on October 23 at 10:26 a.m.
let’s see, we get stuffed on the run on third down, go for it on fourth down and run again. same result. I believe we need a new offensive coordinator. How about the guy that used to run the offense, Mike Levenseller. Also when are we ever going to have a decent pass defense? Our secondary looks like high school players.
spnelson on October 23 at 3:40 p.m.
Why I never buy the SR- I see a copy of it today in a common area”- I made the mistake of looking at it. There were some serious upsets in college football yesterday- from Oklahoma going down, to Michigan State beating Wisconsin. Kirk Cousins completed a hail mary pass- when was the last time someone successfully completed a hail mary- 1994? Very unusual. Plus, there is the World Series- pretty interesting stuff all around.What does the SR have on the front of the sports page? “Cougs fall apart”. Seriously- who cares? There is MUCH more to the sports world than an irrelevant team losing AGAIN. More importantly- “falling apart” is a really nice way to describe that game. WSU got the snot beat out of them, they didn’t “fall apart”. WSU sucks- why Paul Wulff is employed is BEYOND me- he should have lost his job some time ago now. Newsflash to the SR- this isn’t Pullman- your paper is NOT a part of the WSU sports information department. I could really care less if WSU doesn’t win. If they upset Oregon (not ever going to happen, but let’s pretend), then write a story about WSU. Until then, I’ll be reading other newspapers.