Cougars Raise Yellow Flags Once Again

Flags were to be expected. After all, these were the Cougars, the most-penalized team in the Pac-10. They averaged 10 penalties and 82 penalty yards a game.

Well, the Cougars were above average. Or below, depending on how look at it.

In the 51-3 loss to Washington in the Apple Cup, the Cougars were penalized 15 times for 108 yards. It got so bad that at one point referee Jim Fogltance, who was unaware his field mike was on, was not above pointing out the Cougars’ problems. Fogltance’s language was not exactly Disneyesque.

As for the Cougars, it was their anger that was running wild. Washington State had four unsportsmanlike conduct penalties called. Two of those came after third-down stops. Both allowed Washington to keep scoring drives alive.

“We lost our composure,” said cornerback Chris Martin.

Martin was the first to lose his.

On the second Washington drive, the Cougars stopped UW on a third-and-4 at the WSU 38. But after the play Martin was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Huskies took advantage of the flag and went on to score.

“It always happens that the second guy gets caught,” Martin said. “I was hit in the throat and I retaliated when I shouldn’t have.”

“A lot of guys felt that they were cheap-shotting us,” said safety Billy Newman. “It was the refs’ job to step in and break that up. They didn’t do a very good job of breaking up the talk tonight. They let things get carried away.”

“You know the emotions are running high, but you got to keep it clean,” said WSU defensive lineman Rien Long. “After the (whistle), there is no excuse for doing that kind of stuff. During the play, that’s when you take it out.”

Off-season motivation

Last year the Cougars all talked about how a win over Hawaii in the last game of the season would help propel them through the winter workouts and spring. This year, they will be using the worst loss in Apple Cup history as their motivation.

“We’ve got some incentives,’ said safety Billy Newman. “This year we’ve got that 51-3 looking at us every day we go out there.”

“I’m going to remember that for a long time,” said running back David Minnich.

Kegel at quarterback?

Matt Kegel might push Jason Gesser for playing time this spring. At least that’s what some of his teammates think. “We’re going to have quite a quarterback deal going on this spring,” said Minnich. Kegel, a freshman, became the starter two weeks ago after Gesser, a sophomore, broke his leg against Oregon. In two games, he was 24 of 60 for 364 yards with a touchdown and an interception. For the season, he was 40 of 91 for 535 yards. His efficiency rating was 94.77.

Gesser, in nine games, was 128 of 246 for ,1967 yards with 10 interceptions and 16 TDs. His efficiency rating was 132.52.

Notes

Former Huskies standout Steve Emtman and former Washington State standout Mike Utley were both present at the game… . WSU running back Deon Burnett not only didn’t have a carry, he didn’t get in the game. Burnett, who had 974 yards last year, finished with 345 yards and a 3.7 yards per carry average… . David Minnich had his fourth 100-yard game of the season. He finished the year with 754 yards and a 4.6 yards per carry average.