No Looking Back As Washington State Nears Its 1999 Opener, Cougars Insist They’Re A Better Team

They were lost.

That’s what the Washington State players say now that they have 3-8 in the rearview mirror.

They were complacent.

That’s what the Washington State players say now that they have reflected on their actions and, more importantly, the actions they didn’t take. In the end, they were numb to it all.

That’s what the Washington State players say now that they remember what it was like to walk into locker room after locker room with every scoreboard in every stadium pushing their chins to their chest.

They will be different this year.

That’s what the Washington State players say now that they have a year of promise stretched out on the road before them.

That road starts in six days with Utah. But for most of the Cougars, it began last Nov. 21, when they walked off the field in the Apple Cup. That was when they realized the 0-8 conference record was as bad as it has ever been for any WSU team. Most know the dubious record-book brand that these players wear will never be removed, but it may be dulled if … if the offense comes together, if a group rather than a person leads, if they win the Apple Cup, if they win seven and reach a bowl.

And like the 113 other Division I teams, the Cougars believe they can.

“We are way better than we were last year around this time,” said wide receiver Leaford Hackett.

On and off the field, the players contend.

The defense is stronger, loaded with veterans. The offense has quarterbacks vowing they will be a solution, not a problem. The wide receivers are bigger, faster, stronger. Four running backs believe they can take the place of 1,000-yard rusher Kevin Brown. The offensive line is bigger and has three returning starters.

But maybe most importantly, this year there is leadership. Nobody yelled last year. Nobody got upset or got in anybody’s face when things went wrong. And so much went wrong, so often. Everybody just accepted what was happening.

“Last year, people were expecting other people to step up,” said defensive back Torry Hollimon. “Or they were expecting things to automatically happen. People got in that mode and they were thinking, `OK we went to the Rose Bowl and we’re going to go right back.’ But it doesn’t work like that.”

A lot of that has to do with youth. Most of the guys on the field last year didn’t pave the road to the Rose Bowl in ‘97. They were just passengers on the bus.

“It was like we saw our dreams right before our eyes without seeing how to get there,” said Brad Philley, a junior running back. “We thought we could have the same attitude and want to work hard and this and that and still be in contention. We took a lot of things for granted last year that we won’t this year.”

Last year was a transition year. The Rose Bowl team passed the torch, but, not surprisingly, the ‘98 team fumbled it along with every thing else. The 1998 team was last in Division I in turnovers with 40.

Linebacker Steve Gleason feels the Cougars fumbled the torch because they weren’t ready. They didn’t have the leadership paramount to winning. And they didn’t have players who believed in their potential and their team.

“Where last year maybe it was more of a case of, `Well I’m on this team, but I’m trying to find an identity for myself.’ this year he (a player) knows what is going on,” said Gleason. “It’s his team. He’s going to be telling people what should be done. And this year, we’ve got 20 guys like that. Last year, we had three.

“There are guys that feel they have a larger investment in what we are doing this year,” added the senior co-captain.

“We don’t have too many guys who are going to allow people to go through the motions,” said Hollimon. “We got a lot of communication between players and coaches and between the players. It’s a renewed confidence that wasn’t around. We can go out and play with the best of them and beat the best of them.”

Right now, that’s easy to say. But put aside all the talk of leadership and maturity and there are still question marks. The concern is how to stretch those question marks into exclamation points. And almost all tho questions reside on offense.

First and foremost involves the quarterback. Washington State coach Mike Price tapped fifth-year senior Steve Birnbaum as his starter last week. Birnbaum had six touchdowns and 11 interceptions last year. He also failed to throw a touchdown the last six games of the season.

Price said Birnbaum “gives the team the best chance to win.” And that the quarterback position is “solid.”

It’s not solid enough for him to reduce the snaps of freshman Jason Gesser, though. The 6-1, 200-pound scrambler is still taking equal snaps in practice and in Saturday’s scrimmage, despite being the backup. Price has said Gesser will play, just not when. But it will probably be early. And, despite earlier comments by Price that his system is better suited to one quarterback, Gesser will probably play often.

At running back, there is freshman Deon Burnett and his world of potential. The coaching staff has used every superlative known to describe the 5-10, 211-pounder, but if he doesn’t get it done and fast, there may be a few expletives flying around.

Burnett won’t have to shoulder the burden of ball-carrying by himself. Jeremy Thielbahr (6-2, 230) will be the back responsible for getting the tough yards and showing the running backs what needs to be done and how it should be done.

“Jeremy (Thielbahr) is a legitimate Pac-10 player,” said Price. “He is not dainty and pretty. He is a tough physical player who will knock your head off.”

Adam Hawkins, the “ironman” of fall camp, should also see some action after not touching the ball in 1998. Philley, a converted linebacker, could also help out in the backfield.

The receiving corps has added height in 6-foot-4 Milton Wynn and 6-foot-5 Marcus Williams and reliable hands in freshman Collin Henderson. But none of them has played a down of Division I football.

Still, the changes, additions and subtractions have the players believing the Cougars will not be the bottom-dwellers of the Pac-10 offensive statistics.

“The offense is more consistent this year,” said Hackett, who led the team with 54 receptions last season. “People say all this and that about the defense, but we’re not doing bad. The defense, we have to go against them every day, they know our tendencies, so they’re gonna look good.

“But we’ll be all right,” he added. “We just have to stop doing the little things wrong and we have to stop making mental mistakes.”

Sometimes, like during Friday’s practice, it appears like the most important mental mistakes have already been corrected. It was then that Gleason, out with a tender knee, was standing at the 50-yard line watching his teammates practice.

A wide receiver jogged by as he was going back to the huddle, and Gleason yelled, “What are you jogging for?”

The player was falling into last year’s bad habits, acting lost, complacent and numb to how important practice was. With one bark Gleason restored order, exerted his leadership and let everybody know this year would be different.

WSU holds final scrimmage

Steve Birnbaum threw three touchdown passes Saturday morning and the defense was dominant in the Cougars’ final scrimmage.

The nearly 3-hour workout was a mock scrimmage, with the Cougars offense going against a scout team running Utah’s defense, while on defense, the WSU varsity stopped every thrust by a squad of players operating Utah’s offense.

Austin Matson, Curtis Holden and Grady Emmerson each had three solo tackles during the scrimmage, while Billy Newman and Anthony Matthews had two each.

Two of Holden’s solo stops were sacks, while Rob Meier, Matson and Anthony Adedipe had one sack each.

The running attack didn’t put up impressive numbers, but head coach Mike Price did single out freshman Deon Burnett (34 yards) and Brad Philley (43 yards) for their work.