Better Showing Expected Price Believes Unbeaten Cougars Need To Display More Consistency

Washington State’s 24-13 victory over Oregon may have lifted the Cougars to a No. 12 national ranking in both major college football polls, but coach Mike Price didn’t find his team’s performance sweet enough to savor.

Just hours after his team improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Pacific-10 Conference, Price had already turned his attention to California, which makes an Oct. 18 visit to Martin Stadium.

While driving with his son, Aaron, from the airport in Lewiston to Pullman, Price listened to the radio broadcast of Cal’s 41-34 loss at Louisiana Tech.

So much for enjoying the Cougars’ second and final bye. And so much for savoring the Cougars’ highest national ranking since 1958, when they were 10th.

“Personally, I think we’re a top 10 team, but we played like a top 12 team,” Price quipped. “We can play a lot better than we did against Oregon.”

The Cougars, who had been ranked 15th in both polls after last week’s 58-0 trouncing of Boise State, figure to spend part of their idle Saturday watching the Cal-Washington game on television.

The additional week of practice will be used primarily to work on consistency, particularly on offense. WSU was held to season-lows in points and yards, even though Oregon entered the game with the Pac-10’s last-ranked defense.

“We would mess around, mess around, mess around, then do it perfect,” Price said.

Defensively, the Cougars made several big plays. But they also allowed Oregon to convert eight times on third down. And the Ducks’ lone touchdown came on fourth-and-22, an inexcusable lapse.

Price was also disappointed by his team’s penchant for penalties, a problem that has dogged the Cougars during his eight-plus seasons at WSU. WSU was penalized 11 times against the Ducks, including eight times for transgressions committed either before or after the play.

“We were distracted by the crowd and distracted by comments made on the field,” Price said, “and good teams cannot allow those kinds of distractions to bother them.”

On a positive note, WSU’s fast start is expected to give the Cougars renewed credibility in recruiting. Price said his staff will spend the upcoming weekend evaluating junior-college players.

WSU is looking for JC receivers, defensive linemen and perhaps a center. The Cougars may also look at a cornerback or two, Price said.

“The recruiting phone calls are a lot better now,” said Price, who is 5-0 for the second time as WSU coach.

WSU coaches can now tell potential recruits about WSU’s continued rise in the polls.

They might also mention WSU’s first road victory against USC since 1957, a feat the Cougars accomplished last month. Another selling point: WSU’s first season sweep of USC and UCLA.

“We just have to keep it going through the season,” Price said.

With four of the Cougars’ six remaining games at home, that would appear to be a possibility.

Where was Leon?

WSU quote machine Leon Bender, who doubles as one of the best defensive tackles in the Pac-10, never made it to the postgame interview room Saturday. Bender’s pointed postgame pontifications had previously prompted public protest from Price, but the coach said he did nothing to dissuade Bender from speaking to the media.

Bender’s absence meant reporters were forced to settle for a watered-down version of the regular Leon:

At 11:40 a.m., some 80 minutes before kickoff, Bender emerged from the WSU locker room and strutted onto chilly Rich Brooks Field wearing only shorts, sandals, headphones and a half-shirt.

When the 6-foot-5, 299-pounder finally made it to midfield, he proceeded to walk in circles with his head bowed, all the while engaging Oregon’s Fighting Duck logo in a one-sided conversation.

Exactly what was said, we can only guess.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 color)