Cougars’ problems mounting
PULLMAN — Losing three games in a row is bad. Dropping them by an increasing margin from game to game is worse.
Taking a realistic view of his team’s 2004 season one day after a disappointing performance in a 38-19 loss at Oregon State, Cougars head coach Bill Doba admitted that this is the low point of the season thus far and also acknowledged the fact that there don’t appear to be any easy answers.
“Sure. We’ve lost four ballgames and we were in them right until the end. And this one we weren’t,” Doba said. “I think that’s the first time we were really defeated. There was no doubt. They scored their last touchdown, and it was 31-12 then. I don’t think there’s much of a chance with four-and-a-half minutes to go to overcome that lead.”
Perhaps the most frustrating part for Doba this year has been the inconsistency that has plagued Washington State. On Saturday, the struggles, particularly on offense, were somewhat less surprising given that WSU had first-time starters in at quarterback (Alex Brink) and running back (Jerome Harrison).
But over the course of the season, the Cougars have failed to string together four quarters of effective play, a trend that has hurt them in Pac-10 play, where they are now 1-3.
“The thing that probably bothers me the most is, well, this guy had a bad day or that guy had a bad day,” Doba said. “You can’t have a bad day at this level, in this league, and reach the goals you’re trying to reach. You just can’t have bad days.
“It’s distressing. I don’t know what you do. If you’ve got any ideas I’m all for it. I think you just stay the course, continue to practice hard.”
Right now, Doba also faces the unenviable coaching challenge of trying to keep his team’s spirits up. Some of the Cougars have been hit by a 24-hour flu-like illness this season; now, it appears almost all of them have a bruised ego.
The second-year head coach had discussed his team’s confidence being down a bit after both losses to Oregon and Stanford, but the plane ride back from Oregon State was very quiet and this loss seems to have sapped even more of the swagger from WSU.
“We’ll continue to accentuate the positive, look for things that they’re doing right and praise them for that,” Doba said. “If you go in there now and start telling them all the things they do wrong, I think it’s just going to beat them down even worse. They feel bad enough. Nobody missed a tackle on purpose. Nobody dropped an interception on purpose or got covered on purpose. There was good hustle through the ballgame. No one quit. They just didn’t make the plays.”
Things don’t get any easier for the Cougars, either. The defending national champions and No. 1 team in the nation, USC, is coming to Pullman after wiping the floor with Washington in a 38-0 blowout. After that, WSU goes on the road for two straight weeks to UCLA and Arizona State, both of whom appear to be upper-echelon Pac-10 squads.
Those two road trips are the furthest thing from the minds of WSU for now, with the overwhelming challenge that the Trojans present in the short term.
In fact, Doba half-jokingly discussed all the plays he’d pull from the bag of tricks to take on USC, even throwing in a twist from another sport.
“Fake punts, fake field goals, all those things. They all come into play,” Doba said. “Reverses, reverse passes, double passes. A lot of blitzing off the edges. Maybe a box-and-one, we’re thinking about that for (Reggie) Bush.
“We got a couple Canadians and we’re close to the Canadian border, we might be able to get a 12th guy.”
Injury update
As of Sunday evening, it appears that only two Cougars suffered injuries against the Beavers that could hold them out this week.
Cornerback Alex Teems sustained a concussion — part of the reason why both Omowale Dada and Tyron Brackenridge saw more time than usual on Saturday — and is questionable for the USC game.
Wide receiver Greg Prator had a defender fall on his leg as he grabbed the first touchdown of his career. The junior college transfer was carted off the field and Doba said he is doubtful this week with a sprained right ankle.
Also, Allen Thompson missed the Oregon State game because of a shoulder injury — he had been a game-time decision — and is still questionable this week.
Notes
Doba expressed his concern about a number of things on Sunday, most notably third-down conversions. WSU was 1 of 14 on Saturday, while Oregon State was 8 for 20. …Doba complimented the play of running back Jerome Harrison, who was on the field for 76 snaps with Thompson and Chris Bruhn out with injuries.