Cougars Jarred By Bruschi

Cary Taylor’s right-hand and Tedy Bruschi’s helmet helped deal Washington State a loss on Saturday night.

Bruschi, Arizona’s All-American defensive lineman, buried his helmet into running back Frank Madu’s elbow, dislodging the football and the Wildcats recovered at WSU’s 42-yard line.

Seven plays later, Taylor, a wide receiver, pulled in an 8-yard touchdown pass with one hand, while shielding off WSU cornerback Shad Hinchen with the other hand.

The score broke a 7-7 tie late in the first half and propelled the Wildcats to a 24-14 Pac-10 Conference victory at Martin Stadium.

Bruschi had a huge first half, racking up two sacks to move from No. 5 to No. 3 on the NCAA all-time list with 49.5. He passed Mitch Donahue (Wyoming) and Hugh Green (Pittsburgh). Former Alabama star Derrick Thomas is No. 1 with 52 sacks.

But Bruschi’s most important contribution was running down Madu from behind to force a fumble at the 39. Arizona’s Rafell Jones pounced on the ball at the 42 with 1:57 left in the half.

“That was one of the few good plays I had today,” Bruschi said. “I played terrible.”

Not in everyone’s eyes.

“He’s all hustle,” WSU offensive lineman Jason McEndoo said of Bruschi. “He gets blocked, he gets up and makes plays.”

To capitalize on the turnover, Arizona used a trick play. On fourth-and-3 at the WSU 35, the Wildcats lined up for a field goal, but holder Ryan Hesson cleverly pushed a shovel pass to Charles Myles, who cruised off the right side for 17 yards. Bruschi, incidentally, freely offered advice to Arizona’s offensive coaches on the sideline during a timeout before the play.

“We practiced that all week,” Myles said.

On Taylor’s TD catch, WSU blitzed, leaving Hinchen and Taylor locked in a tug-a-war in the right corner of the end zone.

“He made an amazing catch,” quarterback Dan White said. “It was just a fade route and it almost seemed like there was pass interference.”

Madu on the run

Madu posted a career high 143 yards on 25 carries. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior accumulated many of his yards after breaking tackles. On his 13-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, he wriggled out of attempted tackles by Charlie Camp and Rafell Jones.

Madu became the Cougars’ main offensive weapon because Arizona’s secondary smothered WSU’s receivers.

“They bumped us and took away our short passes,” WSU coach Mike Price said.”Frank ran like a big-time back and it’s not like he had huge holes to work with.”

WSU quarterback Chad Davis was intercepted twice in the final 5 minutes, both by Brandon Sanders.

“No. 18 (Sanders) played a great game,” Price said. “He covered us and he made two awesome interceptions near the end.”

Notes

Former WSU standout Mike Utley watched the game from his wheelchair in the end zone. Playing for the Detriot Lions several years ago, Utley was paralyzed after an on-field collision with an opposing player. At halftime, Utley drew an ovation by making a 35-yard field goal, launching the football with the aid of a surgical-tube slingshot. …

Always ahead of the fashion curve, WSU unveiled its third different helmet style of the season. WSU opened the year with the standard cursive “Cougars.” Three weeks ago, the Cougs changed to the WSU logo, and two white stripes sandwiched around a crimson stripe. On Saturday, the white stripes were gone, replaced by a thick crimson stripe. …

Arizona’s 24 points was its second highest output of the season. The Wildcats scored 41 against Pacific.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo