Gloomy Year Down To This For Cougars

It seems fitting that both Washington and Washington State plodded through the rain during their Apple Cup walk-through Friday.

In fact, one dark cloud or another has been hanging over the heads of both teams all season.

Take Washington State (0-7, 3-7) for instance.

It was evident the Cougars would be down this season. Back-to-back bowl seasons are something that just don’t happen in Pullman. So, they were picked seventh by the media in the preseason poll.

By the third game - another subpar performance against a team sponsored by Hostess - many were wondering if that seventh-place pick was too high. By the sixth, everybody knew it was.

There were interceptions, fumbles, bad penalties, a seven-game losing streak … did anybody mention interceptions?

There have been 24 picks against the Cougars this season. Six in one game. By one quarterback. Everybody’s heard of having a six-pack at a game before but this was a little ridiculous.

“There has been no finger pointing,” WSU coach Mike Price has said throughout the season.

Washington’s Jim Lambright doesn’t buy it.

“That’s something that affects your whole team,” he said. “You start looking at your people on the sidelines and it’s hard not to blame somebody.”

To Paul Mencke and Steve Birnbaum’s credit they have accepted the blame for the turnovers and most of the offensive problems. But the real problem is, no one has been able to fix any of it.

Just last week, in a game the Cougars were winning 28-14, there were five interceptions. Two of those were throws that could have been and should have been touchdown passes. And guess what? The Cougs lost, 38-28.

And how about the Huskies? They are hardly any better off.

They’ve lost three straight. They nearly got picked off by Oregon State. They could have easily been beaten by Cal. And they pulled off a miracle play to beat Arizona State.

They are 5-5 and easily could fall to 5-6. That would be their first losing record in 22 years.

It’s been so maddening that their quarterback, Brock Huard, who wears Lord’s Gym T-shirts, let loose with some NC-17 words.

The cherry on top of it all, is that their second-leading receiver, Andre DeSaussure, didn’t heed the warnings of Lambright and popped off about what a terrible place Pullman is. He will be watching the game at home in Seattle. And the Huskies, whose leading back, Willie Hurst, has only 383 yards, need all the help they can get at the receiver position.

Throw it all out this week, everybody says. This week it’s the Apple Cup. This week these teams will shine.

Well, not everybody shared those sentiments. For the first time in memory, tickets were returned.

While this may be the Apple Cup that is rotten to the core, a win, the teams insist, will take the sting out of the bitter season.

For the Huskies a win would mean a potential bowl bid.

For WSU it would mean knocking the Huskies out of a bowl. And bragging rights for another season.

But to win, both teams will have to deal with the expected wind and rain.

“This weather would dictate a little bit more conservatism,” said Lambright. “Conservatism means you start tucking things into the bag and you are not going to pull them out.

“You are going to do everything you can to play field position,” he continued. “You prefer to play the game on their end of the field. You really start pulling your weapons in.”

That’s not good for the Cougars.

Price has talked all week about implementing a couple of new wrinkles into the offense.

“There are some things that we need to try out,” he said. “Trick plays, reverses and some things like that.”

And it would seem he has nothing to lose; except for maybe the football for the 40th time this season.

“The trick plays might add to turnovers and listening to Mike all week long he’s not doing things to add turnovers,” said Lambright.

With Huard’s ability to throw a wet ball the Huskies should have the advantage at quarterback. But Lambright is worried about his receivers.

“He’s (Huard) got the experience, we got a lot of young receivers,” he said. “That would worry me more.”

The Huskies are also saddled with a couple of young running backs. Hurst will start, but Braxton Cleman will be used early and often. The Huskies will try to build on their performance against UCLA. Cleman and Hurst had the Huskies’ first 100-yard games of the season: Hurst with 114 on 17 carries; Cleman with 16 carries for 100 yards and two TDs.

Marques Tuiasosopo, Huard’s backup and the second-leading rusher on the team, could also be integral to the running game.

“That’s what we’ve been waiting for all year,” said Lambright. “Then we could spend a week working on building more balance on offense.”

But Price believes the Huskies will still primarily rely on the arm of Huard.

“I don’t think they will come out running a lot,” he said. “They will run more early than we have seen. “But Brock is just a real good passer; they have to keep him involved.”

The Huskies also went to the no-huddle offense against the Bruins with some success and may try to utilize it again this week.

But since the offense is designed to limit substitutions by the defense, and the Cougars do not have the personnel to substitute, Price believes the no-huddle will not affect his team.

On the other side of the ball, the Cougars expect the Huskies to stack the line of scrimmage, hoping to stop Kevin Brown.

“They will have seven or eight guys in the box,” Price said. “It leaves them a little bit vulnerable to the pass.”

And the Huskies’ secondary is loaded with young players who have been burned this season.