Cougs score a complete success
PASADENA, Calif. — Football coaches often talk about the importance of playing a full 60-minute game, and Washington State head coach Bill Doba has often decried the fact that his team has been unable to do so all season long.
On Saturday, that finally changed. The Cougars made a big play on the opening kickoff, forcing and recovering a fumble deep in UCLA territory that set up a touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Then they made another big play in the final seconds, stopping a two-point conversion that could have tied the game.
Those two big plays — and plenty of aggressive, physical action in between — gave the Cougars their first win since September, a 31-29 upset over UCLA in the Rose Bowl. The win keeps WSU (4-5, 2-4 Pac-10) in the bowl hunt after being all but eliminated, and also denied the Bruins (5-4, 3-3) a win that would have ensured a postseason bid.
“We’d lost four in a row, and the last two, they weren’t even close,” Doba said. “Oregon State and USC really took it to us. So we were talking as a staff before — we needed something good to happen early to get the confidence back.”
That very break came in the first moments when Husain Abdullah knocked the ball loose from UCLA kick returner Tab Perry and WSU’s Jesse Taylor pounced on it. Running back Jerome Harrison then danced 25 yards down the right sideline to give the Cougars a lead just 18 seconds into the game, setting the tone for a game which the WSU ground game dominated by racking up 321 rushing yards.
But even though the Cougars never trailed — and coming in they hadn’t led in a game since the fourth quarter against Oregon on Oct. 9 — they still needed to make the defensive stop on the two-point conversion with 42 seconds left to prevent an overtime session.
UCLA got the ball in good field position thanks to a Craig Bragg punt return and drove 54 yards for a touchdown, capped off by a one-handed grab by running back Manuel White. On the two-point play that could have tied the game, linebacker Scott Davis was able to pressure Bruins quarterback Drew Olson into throwing up a jump ball which eventually fell to the ground.
“That was a little bit scary,” WSU defensive end Adam Braidwood said. “I was just hoping they weren’t going to score; I didn’t even want to think about the two-point play. We figured they were going to try and run it. They had two backs in the backfield, so we stacked it up in the middle and our secondary just did a good job of covering their guys.”
The Cougars sealed the win on the ensuing kickoff, when tight end Cody Boyd, playing his first game since separating a shoulder against Arizona, snatched a bouncing onside kick attempt and allowed them to run out the clock. It was appropriate enough, as WSU had spent much of the game running the clock like it hadn’t all season thanks to the dominating ground game.
UCLA’s run defense had allowed 218 rushing yards a game, and the Cougars made that statistic look puny by pounding the ball incessantly into the Bruins defense. Harrison’s 247 rushing yards is the third-best total in school history, and his 42 carries set a school record.
“We had seen some things in the defense that showed us the offensive line could take advantage of them,” quarterback Alex Brink said. “And Jerome Harrison, he was running real well throughout the game. So we just stuck to him.
“We made a point to really come out and hit UCLA in the mouth. The offensive line took that as a challenge.”
The success on the ground also allowed Brink to have his best day as a Cougar in his third collegiate start. With WSU controlling the ball for 35:51 against UCLA, Brink was able to play game manager instead of playmaker and went an efficient 17 of 27 for 185 yards and a touchdown.
“Obviously we like to drop back and throw the ball a lot, but we have a young quarterback,” left tackle Calvin Armstrong said. “He doesn’t have a ton of experience, so we were trying to loosen up the passing game a little bit by running it and it worked.”
The narrow win means WSU now has to win the final two games — next week on the road against a ranked Arizona State squad, then at home for the Apple Cup against Washington — in order collect six victories and qualify for a bowl game.
But that situation is significantly better than where the Cougars stood coming into this weekend, as a 14-point underdog that had been almost completely counted out of the Pac-10 picture after a winless October.
“We know we won 10 games in (each of) the last three seasons,” Armstrong said. “I’ve been starting on all three of those teams. It’s frustrating, definitely, to lose four games like that, especially as a senior.
“We’re trying to get to a bowl game, and that’s one step closer.”