Leaf Falls Off Once-Lofty Statistical Heap

Down 28-7 in the third quarter on Saturday and 91 yards from its end zone, Washington State needed to go somewhere in a hurry.

Which the Cougars did - though not in the manner you might imagine.

Quarterback Ryan Leaf made 42 yards on a quarterback draw and running back Michael Black got 37 more on a burst through the middle. Two plays later, the Cougars would reach the end zone - though they would get no closer than two touchdowns in a 38-14 UCLA rout at the Rose Bowl.

That bit of success underscored the problems the Cougars had moving the ball through the air Saturday - and the somewhat erratic progress of Leaf as the WSU schedule has become tougher.

Though his sophomore season is statistically superior to the best quarterbacks in Cougar history - Drew Bledsoe, Timm Rosenbach, Jack Thompson - Leaf’s numbers the last month haven’t matched his fast start.

In the first four games, the 6-foot-6 slinger threw 12 touchdown passes and just two interceptions; in the last five games, that count has flip-flopped to eight picks and just seven TDs. His 195 yards passing against UCLA was his lowest total since the opener at Colorado.

The low point came in the third quarter, when Leaf and his receivers combined on nine straight incompletions. But his 20-of-46 day passing included at least six drops by Cougars receivers.

“He didn’t play well,” said Cougars coach Mike Price, “but I don’t know a phase of the game that we played well.”

Leaf complimented UCLA’s defenders for “a good job of covering our inside receivers, which I wasn’t anticipating. Their outside guys were a little iffy, but their inside defensive backs did a good job on our interior receivers.

“Actually, I felt great. I thought I was throwing hard and on the money and the receivers were running great routes. I felt in a good rhythm the whole game.”

He called the third-quarter drought “misleading.”

“I think there were some tough situations, thirdand-12 plays,” he said. “I have to make some plays when we’re in those situations, but that’s probably a misleading stat.”

UCLA rolls the dice

The Bruins used a trick play to take a 28-7 lead in the third quarter, although the Cougars didn’t appear to be fooled on the play.

Quarterback Cade McNown handed off to tailback Skip Hicks, who handed off to Jim McElroy, who found Danny Farmer for a 38-yard touchdown.

McElroy threw the pass into double coverage, but cornerback Shad Hinchen and safety Duane Stewart were unable to make the play.”We had it covered, man, but he played the ball well,” Stewart said. “Shad had him covered and I came over - we didn’t really know what was going on, but we knew they were going to throw the ball somewhere.”

Family values

When Mark and Beth Birnbaum ordered 57 tickets for Saturday’s game, the people at UCLA threw in a complimentary Bruins jacket - figuring the Birnbaums must be prospective boosters.

But the Birnbaums sent the jacket back. As parents of WSU backup quarterback Steve Birnbaum, they had no interest in UCLA they needed tickets to accommodate friends and family from nearby Chino Hills.

Birnbaum saw mop-up duty against UCLA, completing 2 of 6 passes for 39 yards with one interception.

Birnbaum wasn’t the only Coug with a large rooting section. Friends and relatives of punter Jeff Banks - upwards of 40 - chartered a bus for the journey to the Rose Bowl from Orange County.

Return of the Bruins

UCLA’s kick returners came into the game ranked ninth in the Pac-10, but burned the Cougars on several occasions - even though WSU entered the game leading the conference in kick coverage.

After averaging just 17 yards per return against their eight previous opponents, the Bruins averaged 33 on their two returns against WSU.

UCLA’s special teams helped give the Bruins superior field position throughout Saturday’s game.

“We worked extremely hard on special teams,” coach Bob Toledo said. “Our kickoff guy, Greg Andrasick did a great job.”

Injury update

WSU right guard Bryan Chiu re-injured his left shoulder in the second quarter and did not return. It was the Cougars’ only significant injury. Chiu is expected to play next week.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo