Jenkins Fires Passing Shot, Says UW Will ‘Kill’ Cougs

As if Arizona freshman quarterback Oretege Jenkins hadn’t given the Washington State football team enough trouble Saturday.

After picking apart WSU with his arm, Jenkins went after the Cougars with his mouth.

“They’re going to get killed by Washington. I don’t care what nobody says,” Jenkins said after throwing for four touchdowns in Arizona’s 35-34 overtime loss. “I like Washington State and everything, but it’s a different world down south or wherever we are.”

So, geography isn’t Jenkins’ strong point. But he had the Wildcats going in the right direction all afternoon, running in the first touchdown and throwing TD passes of 37, 1, 34 and 6 yards. He completed 20 of 44 for 246 yards.

The previous Saturday, at home against Washington, the Cats were blown out 58-28.

“I’m going to rephrase that,” Jenkins said of his biting Apple Cup prediction.

Sorry, O.J., but the verdict is in.

“I don’t care,” Jenkins continued. “I’m not going to see them until next year, anyway. But it’s going to be a tougher match for them down there (in Seattle) just because, up front, we’ve got a couple injuries. And Washington’s defense is really good. … DBs, linebackers, up front, the whole thing.”

Saturday’s start was the fourth in Jenkins’ career. Since Jenkins took over Sept. 27 in the UCLA game, the Wildcats are 2-2. They’re 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the Pac-10.

After his TD plunge gave the Wildcats a 7-0 first-quarter lead, Jenkins followed with a 37-yard pass to Dennis Northcutt that capped a 12-play, 72-yard scoring drive and gave the Cats a 14-0 lead.

“At 14-0, I think they were asleep on us,” Jenkins said. “They won and everything and I give them all the credit… . but they’re going to remember that we came in here and played our (butts) off.”

Arizona’s second TD was the first of three that came at the expense of WSU cornerback LeJuan Gibbons. Late in the third quarter, Jenkins threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brad Brennan, who had a step on Gibbons in the end zone. That gave the Cats a 28-21 lead.

In overtime, Jenkins hit Rodney Williams in the back of the end zone from 6 yards out, with Gibbons in his shadow.

But when Jenkins was asked about Gibbons’ play, he offered nothing but positives. Gibbons, a tailback in high school, played in the same backfield as Jenkins when both were at Jordan High School in Long Beach, Calif.

“We went in and tried to go away from LeJuan,” Jenkins said. “We thought LeJuan was the best DB on the field. The plays just happened to be on that side of the ball.”

Said Gibbons: “Same old Ortege. He hates to lose. That’s always been his motto and he’s always been able to pull off stuff. I don’t know how, but he always does. He just didn’t pull it off today.”

, DataTimes