Cougs plan to fight until bitter end

PULLMAN – Their fate is sealed for this 2005 season, done in by a six-game losing streak to open conference play. But head coach Bill Doba said Sunday evening that his Cougars aren’t throwing in the towel with two weeks left to play.

“I’m not going to can the season,” said Doba, when asked if he might give younger players more opportunities to play. “Those seniors, they’re my guys, you know? They’ve been a great bunch. And I’m not going to sell them short. We’ll do everything we can to win these last two ball games for those guys.”

Washington State certainly has had opportunities to win more than three games this season, but again on Saturday a close fourth quarter yielded a negative result for the Cougars, this time against Arizona State.

The question on most minds after the game concerned a controversial decision to take the tying points off the scoreboard in favor of a fourth-and-1 that failed as Jerome Harrison was stuffed by Sun Devils linebacker Dale Robinson.

A day after the game, Doba said he still felt opting for the offsides penalty and the fourth down over a successful field goal was the right call.

“I’d do it again,” Doba said. “A guy who rushed for 250 yards during the game, we’d been moving the ball well.”

The head coach again explained his reasoning for taking the risk. Primarily, Doba was worried about Arizona State’s ability to score go-ahead points to break a tie with little time left, a concern heightened by the stiff breeze at the opponent’s back in the fourth quarter.

Regardless of the decision to go back on offense or to take the kick, there was also dissent amongst the Cougars Saturday night about the play call, a pitch to the right side. Many offensive players insisted that the Sun Devils had shifted to that side, anticipating that exact run. Quarterback Alex Brink saw things differently and didn’t call an audible, a decision that Doba backed up on Sunday.

“Everybody had a hat on everybody,” Doba said. “Their middle linebacker, No. 44 … made a hell of a play. He got off of a block, came around and a one-on-one open-field tackle on Jerome Harrison is hard to get and he made a nice, good-form tackle.”

With bowl hopes now lost, Doba said he is pleased that some of his injured players will get a chance to have medical procedures done sooner rather than later.

According to Doba, Brink has a shoulder sprain and bone chips in an ankle. The former injury – apparently on the throwing shoulder, which was covered with an ice pack after the game – is a minor injury suffered Saturday. The latter has been a nagging issue, and Doba said it might require surgery.

Defensive end Mkristo Bruce has a sore knee that could also send him to the operating room after the season, Doba said.

But while those two players are still able to play, others are not. Atop that list may be middle linebacker Will Derting, who is again doubtful to play after partially tearing an MCL in the Pac-10 opener. Doba said the senior might dress and take a snap in this, his last home game, but no final decisions have been made.

Wideout Michael Bumpus (high ankle sprain), wideout Brandon Gibson (strained hip), running back Kevin McCall (high ankle sprain) and tight end Jesse Taylor (minor nerve damage) are also unlikely to play this week.

The Cougars have been the victim of their own poor decisions and play this season, to be sure. But the losing streak also has a number of Cougars shaking their heads about bad luck, and Doba is no exception.

“I haven’t bought any lottery tickets lately, put it that way,” he said. “We just can’t seem to catch a break.”

Notes

Doba said kickoff returns remain a major concern and wasn’t sure if freshman running back DeMaundray Woolridge would get another chance after taking a kick out of the end zone in an ill-advised runback that ended up inside the Cougars’ 10. … The head coach said his team needs to get better at adjusting to the officiating crew, as some referees will call a tighter game than others. In two weeks before Arizona State, the Cougars drew six flags. On Saturday, they had 10. … Senior wide receiver Marty Martin‘s career is almost certainly over as a result of a concussion sustained at USC. Martin was in uniform Saturday to join the captains for the coin toss, but was in street clothes for the second half.