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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cougs Sleepwalk Through Loss Coach Mike Price Wants To Get A Few More Z’S

Mike Price seemed in no hurry Sunday to sift through the rubble or deal with the pending aftershocks of Saturday’s 27-11 road loss to California.

The Washington State coach, after viewing video of his team’s fourth consecutive loss, said he would prefer to sleep on the shaky situation surrounding his slumping team a bit longer.

But chances are, none of the nasty problems Price must eventually face - including a potentially explosive quarterback controversy - are going to go away any time soon.

The Cougars, in falling to 2-4 in the Pacific-10 Conference and 3-6 overall, seemed adrift on an ocean of uncertainty in losing to a Cal team (2-4, 3-6) that has been one of the biggest disappointments in the country.

They seemed particularly confused in the decisive second quarter when Price pulled starting quarterback Chad Davis and inserted redshirt freshman Ryan Leaf. It was a move that many WSU fans especially those who booed Davis in the latter stages of last Saturday’s 24-14 home loss to Arizona - undoubtedly applauded.

But it was a move that also helped seal WSU’s fate and shake the very foundation of the Cougars’ season-long effort to forge a lasting team unity.

With Leaf under center for all five of its second-quarter possessions, WSU netted zero total yards. And the Cougars’ usually reliable defense failed to answer the offense’s call for help, giving up 24 points during that 15-minute span to a Cal team that came in averaging only 20.4 per game.

There was a definite lack of purpose, urgency and inspiration in WSU’s effort throughout that second-quarter swoon, but what should have been even more troubling to Price was the reaction of Davis after being yanked.

Instead of standing next to Price and helping signal in plays like Leaf and thirdstringer Shawn Deeds have done all season, Davis planted himself as far away from his head coach as he could and started conversing with some of the backup offensive linemen near the far end of the Cougars’ bench.

Price, when asked if he was upset by the way Davis responded, said he hadn’t even noticed.

“I didn’t really think about it at the time,” he said, adding that he had not talked to Davis since the game. “There were a lot of things going on. I was all caught up in the game, trying to make the offense work.”

Price did admit, however, that starter Brad Gossen and backup Aaron Garcia both stayed close to him on the sidelines and helped signal in plays after he promoted freshman Drew Bledsoe to the starting quarterback position and gave him his first start against Oregon State in 1990.

And he added that he was in the process of talking to players to see what the sideline chemistry was like with Davis out of the game.

“I’m getting input on that right now and trying to analyze that situation,” he said. “I haven’t really come up with any decision and I’m just kind of getting the information in as far as how it went and how it all came about.”

Price said he would not announce any personnel changes - at quarterback or anywhere else - until later in the week after he’s had a chance to talk to his players and assistant coaches.

Predictable, as always

Davis unloaded plenty of frustration in the interview area following Saturday’s loss and at one point even questioned Price’s play calling.

Davis suggested the offense has become too predictable, noting that California defenders were calling out WSU’s plays while the Cougars were lining up to run them.

“It happened against Arizona and it happened today,” he said. “When that’s happening, you’ve got to do something. You’ve got to make some changes.”

When told of Davis’ comments, Price admitted he heard Cal defenders shouting “Counter! Counter!” on several occasions when running plays had been called. But he explained that nearly every running play he has in his one-back offense is some type of counter.

He added, however, that he and his staff are concerned about the potential problem and will be looking at various things this week to see if defenses are being tipped off by something the offense is doing after breaking the huddle.

Early Stanford start

The starting time of Saturday’s home finale against Stanford in Martin Stadium has been moved back to 3:30 p.m. to accommodate live television coverage by Prime Network.

The game, which was originally scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m., will be carried live on Prime Sports Northwest.

Injury update

The injuries suffered by running back Frank Madu and defensive tackle Gary Holmes during Saturday’s loss to Cal planted both players on the doubtful list for the Stanford game.

Madu suffered badly bruised ribs on a second-quarter carry and fumble that set up the Bears’ first touchdown. Holmes sprained a knee early in the same period.

Price said it was still not certain who will start in their places if they can’t go. But with senior running back Derek Sparks out for the year with a knee injury, redshirt freshmen Kwame Stewart and Miguel Meriwether have been sharing backup ballcarrying duties.

Delmar Morais, another redshirt freshman, has been the first defensive tackle off the bench most of the season and would seem like the logical choice to replace Holmes.

, DataTimes