Offensive Line Handles Trojans

Joey Hollenbeck didn’t look tired.

Really the offensive lineman didn’t look as if he had even broken much a of sweat. But, assuredly he had. The junior guard was one of the five, and only five, offensive lineman who played the entire game for Washington State.

Derrick Roche left the game early with a hip pointer and that forced the Cougars, who were already thin on the offensive line, to stick with the same five players all game.

“I think all the hype with (defensive tackle Ennis) Davis, SC talking like he is going first round, we just came out there all fired up, thinking we’re going to play against somebody who was real good,” said Hollenbeck. “Come to find out that really I see guys like that every game.”

But, the difference was, in the past the Cougars would allow guys like that to go right past them. This time, they held the USC line. In fact, Matt Kegel was only sacked once. And Kegel, unlike injured quarterback Jason Gesser, is not a runner. He only scrambled one time in the game.

They love L.A.

Washington State is supposed to have problems playing well in L.A. All the family, all the friends, all the distractions, the players from here don’t do well here, WSU coach Mike Price said.

A couple of them proved the coach wrong.

Wide receiver Milton Wynn had 61 receiving yards. Safety Billy Newman had 11 tackles. Linebacker Champ Simmons had a sack and four tackles.

“It’s so great for guys from down here in Southern California to come down here and play well in the Coliseum,” said Price. “USC had a chance at all these guys and passed them up. And they know that.”

For Newman it was a chance to play against his old teammate from Santa Margarita High, Carson Palmer. It was also a chance to crow a little bit.

“I just gave him (Palmer) a look and he knew,” said Newman. “I didn’t have to trash talk, sometimes a look is worse than the talk.”

Rumbling, bumbling, stumbling

Jeremy Thielbahr, the WSU running back who doesn’t get any chances to touch the ball, finally got his chance on Saturday.

OK, so it came off a punt block, but it still counts. So does the touchdown he scored.

The play came when James Price came up the middle and blocked Mike MacGillivary in Trojans territory. Thielbahr took over from there.

“I’m on every hands team,” he joked.

“To be honest, coach (Kasey) Dunn always says don’t just fall on it,” Thielbahr continued. “Against Cal, I just fell on it and I kind of got it for that. So, I just wanted to get it going toward the end zone. I remembered what he said: `Scoop and score, scoop and score.’ I just wanted to get it going toward the end zone, hit it with your feet if you have to, just get it going toward the end zone.”

Kicking game

The Cougars brought backup kicker Drew Dunning along on the USC trip.

After starter Anousith Wilaikul missed a 43-yard field and had an extra point blocked, Price put in Dunning. The freshman made all three of his extra-point attempts.

Wilaikul has now missed five of his last eight field goals, including one block. He is also 13 of 16 on point-after attempts. Wilaikul started the season by being named Pac-10 player of the week after making three field goals against Boise State.

The Cougars also had troubles with their punting. Alan Cox came into the game averaging 39.4 yards per punt. Cox had punts of 12, 17 and 18 yards. USC failed to take advantage of any of those short punts. In fact, twice the Trojans fumbled the ball right back.

Two-point troubles

Washington State failed to convert on its sixth two-point conversion attempt of the season. This time the Cougars were attempting a reverse, but the handoff to Paul Mencke was batted out of his hands.

The Cougars converted two two-point attempts in the first three games of the season. Since that time they are 1 of 4.

Traveler’s travails

USC made the firing of Ardeshir Radpour official this week. Radpour was the rider atop Traveler, USC’s mascot. The university said Radpour, who was in the middle of his fifth season astride Traveler, was dismissed for shouting an obscenity at a fan during the Oregon game.

“I did not say anything obscene or make any gestures,” Radpour told the L.A. Times.

The university is also in the middle of a controversy over trademarking the horse. The owners of the horse, the Saukko family, have applied for a trademark. The university has fought that move. Radpour has been a vocal supporter of the Saukko family. Some feel that Radpour’s support of the Saukko was one of the reasons for his dismissal.