Doba stays optimistic after defeat

PULLMAN — For all the Cougar fans out there who are fretting over Saturday’s less-than-inspiring performance in losing to Colorado, head coach Bill Doba would like to remind you of something.

“We’re right where we were a year ago,” Doba said. “We were 1-1, we just lost to a team we felt like we could have beaten. We lost to Notre Dame in overtime; we darn near lost this one in overtime to Colorado. Last year we sucked it up and went on to have a good season, and that’s what we plan to do this year.”

While that certainly is true — Washington State ripped off six straight wins after the 1-1 start in ‘03 — there are two major differences that even Doba has to admit.

The first is the overall youth on this year’s Cougars roster, at least by comparison to last season’s veteran team.

“Some of the kids, we just had to explain to them how to behave after a loss,” Doba said. “It doesn’t quite mean as much as it does to a senior when he knows it’s his last go-around.”

The second, and much more pressing concern, is that the Cougars don’t have a starting quarterback right now. Doba said he’d wait to name either Josh Swogger or Alex Brink his man against Idaho until later this week.

But outside that, there was little the coach could say in terms of quarterbacking strategy at the moment. Against Colorado, Swogger was pulled twice in favor of Brink, and neither had what could be classified as a solid outing. According to Doba, quarterbacks coach Timm Rosenbach radioed down to the sidelines that he wanted to give Brink a look after Swogger started the game 4 of 14. But Brink’s ineffectiveness in two series prompted WSU to reinstall Swogger, who then looked much less confident and went 2 of 13. Finally, Rosenbach asked to put Brink in for a second time.

The redshirt freshman had better passing numbers, but crucial mistakes and turnovers helped keep the Cougars on the short end of the scoreboard.

Doba did assert, as he’s said in the past, that he has no desire to play both quarterbacks as a plan because he doesn’t think there’s enough time to prepare both like starters.

However, the situation remains muddled at best as Doba wasn’t yet sure how the snaps would be divided in practice this week or what his timetable was to name a starter.

“Both of them had some pluses and both of them had some minuses,” Doba said. “Josh had some poor throws and there’s times when he’s got people open other places, throwing the wrong place. And then Alex of course brought them down the field and got them the one touchdown and took them down the second time. Of course he fumbled. He had two fumbles and the pick for a touchdown. So there’s no clear-cut winner just yet.”

Trouble up front

While the offense sputtered, the defense played fabulously against the Buffaloes. But now it appears as though both starting defensive tackles could be lost for at least this week’s game.

Senior Steve Cook has a left knee sprain, and Doba called him “very doubtful” to go against Idaho. Beyond that in the Pac-10 season, there are still no guarantees — “Maybe we can get him back for Arizona, maybe not,” Doba said.

Freshman Ropati Pitoitua has what is most likely a high ankle sprain, an injury of surprisingly difficult consequences. Unlike a regular ankle sprain, the high ankle sprain can take weeks to heal. Doba did not elaborate on Pitoitua’s chances for playing, but suggested the team would need to start finding other players to fill in the depth chart immediately.

“Sometimes you almost would rather have a break than a high ankle sprain,” he said.

If neither Cook nor Pitoitua play, then sophomore Odell Howard and freshman Aaron Johnson would start. Bryan Olson, formerly an offensive guard switched to defense in the offseason, would move up from the scout team to be a backup. Also, defensive end Adam Braidwood, a starter, could move inside if necessary.

One other Cougar, linebacker Brian Winter, sustained an injury on Saturday. Doba said Winter fractured his fibula against the Buffaloes and could miss three to four weeks. Winter was a walk-on who is a fifth-year senior in the program. Doba was finally able to give the special teams regular a scholarship on Thursday, but apparently that bit of good news served as bad luck on the injury front.

“It was the kiss of death,” Doba said.

Cornerback and kick returner Tyron Brackenridge couldn’t go on Saturday because of a strained hamstring. Doba said he’s doubtful for this week’s game. Running back Kevin McCall replaced Brackenridge on kick returns against Colorado.

A return Qwest?

WSU doesn’t have a home game scheduled at Seattle’s Qwest Field next year, although the team does still have an open date to fill. Doba has said in the past that he enjoys playing in Seattle on Labor Day weekend — as was the case in 2002 and 2003 — but this season the team played there a week later and also lost for the first time.

“The myth is gone. We’re not undefeated,” Doba said. “But I think we already have an away game scheduled on Labor Day weekend next year unless we rearrange the schedule. But that’s an administrative decision and not mine. I can understand their feelings on it. It’s a good venue, but it’s always a pain to have to travel. It’s kind of nice to be home in Martin Stadium.”

Case of the drops

Cougars receivers again struggled badly with dropped passes on Saturday, letting nine potential catches hit the ground and playing a large role in Swogger’s early struggles at quarterback.

“Some of those balls were a little bit low and some were a little high,” Doba said. “And some of them they just plain dropped. It’s started to become an issue where they’re playing not to drop instead of relaxing and catching the football. They caught it well in practice, but we just got to relax. Right now we’re playing not to make a mistake instead of just letting it flow.”

Notes

Bobby Byrd played the majority of the snaps over Patrick Afif at left guard. Afif has started both games thus far, but Doba said that spot is up in the air this week. … Doba named his players of the week from the Colorado game: wide receiver Jason Hill on offense, linebacker Scott Davis on defense and new punt returner Michael Bumpus on special teams.