Price Sees More Time For Leaf

Washington State coach Mike Price has named fifth-year senior Shawn Deeds his starting quarterback for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. home finale against Stanford.

But the game will probably be Ryan Leaf’s to win or lose.

Price announced Thursday evening that he has scripted the first 10 plays of the game and that Deeds will be under center for the first five. Leaf, a redshirt freshman, will run the next five and get the majority of snaps from then on, according to Price.

“I feel Shawn deserves a chance to start and I’m proud to have him be the first to run out on that field with the seniors,” Price said. “I’m proud to have him as our starter, but Ryan will probably play more.

“If things go well and we win the game, Ryan will probably have most of the snaps.”

Price said he plans to stick with the five-plays plan for Deeds, no matter what transpires at the start of the game. He does expect to use Deeds later in the contest, too.

Price seemed to soften his stance on the benching of former starter Chad Davis, saying Davis will probably suit up and be available in an emergency.

He indicated, however, that redshirt freshman running back Miguel Meriwether would probably be used before Davis.

Madu to start

Senior running back Frank Madu, who has been listed as doubtful for the Stanford game all week because of bruised ribs, will start against the Cardinal.

Madu, the third-leading rusher in the Pacific-10 Conference, practiced Thursday night and will play as much as possible Saturday, according to Price.

Price added that redshirt freshman defensive tackle Gary Holmes remains doubtful because of an ankle sprain. Delmar Morais, another redshirt freshman, will start at his spot.

Limited coverage

Saturday’s game will be televised live by the Pacific-10 Conference’s syndicated network, but it will not be carried on Prime Sports Northwest, as previously reported.

Instead, the game will be carried in the Spokane area by KXLY Extra, which is part of the Cox Cable system. In addition, the live telecast will be picked up by KLEW-TV in Lewiston and KIRO-TV in Seattle.

Senior salute

Saturday’s game will mark the final Martin Stadium appearance of 15 WSU seniors, and all of them except cornerback Greg Burns and running back Derek Sparks, who are injured - are expected to start.

Some will play only briefly, however, according to Price.

Sparks, Price said, is home in Los Angeles, getting a second opinion from his family doctor on the knee injury he suffered against Arizona three weeks ago.

, DataTimes