Only A Nutt Would Give Cougs 39 Boise State Coach Says He Doesn’t Know How Broncos Will Stop 15th Ranked WSU

Thirty-nine points. That may be only 13 field goals to a swashbuckling kicker like Todd “Bulletin Board” Belcastro, but it’s a plethora of points to the rest of us - Mike Price included.

Washington State’s ninth-year football coach finds his 15th-ranked Cougars favored by what he considers a “ridiculous” margin. If Price thinks the spread is too generous, he’ll get no argument from Belcastro, the Boise State kicker who has already forecast a glorious upset.

If nothing else, today’s point spread is unprecedented in recent WSU history.

According to a Los Angeles-based tip sheet that keeps track of such figures, the Cougars have been favored by 23 or more points on just four occasions since 1976, all under Price. Each of the three previous times, they’ve more than lived up to expectations (see graphic).

In searching for ways in which Boise State might make today’s game competitive, we turned to Houston Nutt, the Broncos’ first-year coach. Unfortunately, Nutt was about as optimistic as Marv Albert’s agent.

“Washington State, they’re going to compete for that Rose Bowl,” Nutt said, borrowing a line from WSU’s marketing department, which is optimistically promoting today’s game as “Preview For Pasadena.”

Nutt is particularly impressed by the Cougars’ quickness. And their speed. Which is to say nothing of their size. And talent. And depth. And experience. And, well, you get the picture.

But what about the Broncos’ 28-24 loss at Wisconsin? The Badgers were 36-point favorites in that game. Shouldn’t that count for something?

“It’s totally different,” said Nutt. “The one thing we had at Wisconsin is we knew their passing game wasn’t as good as we’d faced the week before (in a 63-23 loss to Northridge), so we could zero in a little bit.

“Washington State, they’ve got a great tailback, they’ve got a great quarterback, great wide-outs, tight end. They’ve got the whole thing, so how do you defend them? I mean, UCLA couldn’t. USC couldn’t. Illinois couldn’t.”

He makes a convincing argument.

Boise State’s offense also appears to be overmatched. The Broncos are missing their top tailback, Gavin Reed. Their starting tight end, Jim Brekke, may also miss the game. Both are injured.

That leaves quarterback Nate Sparks, who has completed a modest 52 of 104 passes during the Broncos’ 1-3 start.

Sparks, averaging a respectable 8.1 yards per passing attempt, must contend with a WSU defensive line led by end Dorian Boose and tackle Leon Bender. Bender has batted down five passes this season, a gaudy number for an interior lineman.

“I can see why - his reach goes to about 12 feet high,” Nutt cracked.

If Ryan Leaf and the offense pick up where they left off in last week’s 35-22 victory at Illinois, the Cougars should be able to substitute freely.

Price wants backup quarterback Steve Birnbaum to gain experience - not a bad idea, since there are no guarantees that Leaf will come back for his senior season.

Nutt notes

The 39-year-old Nutt replaced the late Pokey Allen in December 1996 after going 31-16 as head coach at Murray State.

He was 22-3 in his final two seasons there, including 16-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

As a player, Nutt is the only athlete to start in football and basketball in two difference conferences.

His playing career began at Arkansas and ended at Oklahoma State. His coaches included Lou Holtz, Eddie Sutton and Jimmy Johnson.

As a true freshman, Nutt quarterbacked Arkansas to the 1978 Orange Bowl title. Later that year, he played on an Arkansas basketball team that won the Southwest Conference championship.

He has never been a 39-point underdog.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Cougars vs. Boise State

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PLAYING FAVORITES A look at the most WSU has been favored by since 1976: Line Year Opponent Score -39 1997 Boise State ??? -27 1996 San Jose State 52-16 -27 1993 Montana State 54-14 -23 1992 Temple 51-10

Source: Bill Blackburn, associate editor, The Gold Sheet.