WSU Couldn’t Come Close In Loss To Ducks, Price Says

Mike Price revisited Saturday’s 26-7 loss to Oregon Sunday afternoon and in doing so was forced to take exception to one of football’s most enduring adages.

“They say in every game there are four or five plays that are the difference between winning and losing, but I don’t know if it was even four or five plays,” the Washington State coach said about the disappointing road loss that dropped his Cougars to 2-2 in the Pacific-10 and 3-4 overall. “It might just have been two or three.”

The two that come immediately to mind are the interceptions that Oregon (3-1, 6-1) turned into touchdowns to help avenge last year’s 21-7 loss to WSU in Pullman.

All told, WSU quarterback Chad Davis was picked off three times and all three turnovers led to scores - the last a meaningless 42-yard field field goal by Joshua Smith. But it was the touchdown returns of 35 yards by linebacker Paul Jensen and 82 yards by free safety Issac Walker that hurt the most.

Jensen came up with his big pick midway through the first quarter with WSU leading 7-0 following a 4-yard touchdown pass from Davis to Bryant Thomas on the Cougars’ first possession.

After faking an outside blitz and baiting Davis into change plays at the line of scrimmage, Jensen backed off into coverage and stepped between Davis and his intended receiver, Eric Moore, to make the interception.

That play resulted in an early shift of momentum, but it was Walker’s long touchdown run with a deflected Davis pass midway through the final period that blew away any WSU comeback hopes.

Otherwise, the Cougar defense was brilliant, limiting Oregon’s multi-dimensional offense to just 245 yards and holding tailback Ricky Whittle, the second-leading rusher in the Pac-10, to 13 yards on 17 carries.

“It was a defensive win,” said first-year Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, who is trying to take the Ducks to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row. “I think it was a great defensive game for both teams.

“We just created a few more turnovers, and we took advantage of the turnovers.”

“Those two picks for touchdowns were really the difference in the game,” Price said. “They just made plays and we didn’t. Other than that, our will to win was there, our spirit was there and we tried awfully hard.”

Price continued to preach togetherness Sunday, noting that his young team has played exceptionally hard in recent losses to Nebraska, Southern California and Oregon and has nothing tangible to show for its efforts.

“There’s a certain amount of frustration right now on everyone’s part. We’ve got to continue to reinforce the things we think are important as a coaching staff and not get away from that - just keep doing what we believe in.

“One of these days we’re going to win again. I really believe that,” Price said. “Otherwise, what choice is there? There isn’t another choice, so (morale) is a concern and we’re going to make sure we emphasize that with everyone of our players.”

On the positive side, Price said he was pleased with the performance of his special teams, which were beefed up with the addition of some offensive and defensive starters after a horrible effort in the Cougars’ 26-14 loss to USC the weekend before.

And he said he liked the way several of his players, including tailback Frank Madu, who rushed for a game-high 106 yards despite a painful shoulder bruise, played with pain.

Price added that he expects everyone, with the possible exception of senior running back Derek Sparks, who missed the Oregon game with an ankle sprain, to be ready to play in Saturday’s critical 7 p.m. Pac-10 showdown against Arizona at Martin Stadium.

Because one of its three wins came against Division I-AA Montana, WSU must win its last four Pac10 games to meet the NCAA minimum of six Division-I victories needed to qualify for a post-season bowl game.

“Our backs are against the wall now. Oregon is probably going to a bowl, but we’ve got to win every game.”

Then Price reconsidered.

“What the hell, we’ve only got to win one game,” he said. “We’ve got to beat Arizona. We’re putting all of our eggs in this one basket. I have a lot of confidence our players will bounce back. We’ve got fighters.

“They’re busting their butts and I’m still their coach and I’m still real proud of them.”

, DataTimes