Bienemann done for year
PULLMAN – Washington State won’t physically limp into Husky Stadium on Saturday for this year’s Apple Cup, but it might as well.
Beaten down over the course of a winless Pac-10 season, the Cougars hope to find some salvation with a win against archrival Washington this week.
They’ll have to do so, however, without a senior captain, Troy Bienemann, who has a torn ACL as well as a medial meniscus tear and a bone bruise, the damage coming on a touchdown catch in the fourth quarter against Oregon on Saturday night.
That play, as it turned out, was the last of Bienemann’s college career, as he’ll have to undergo surgery in the near future. The senior ended up with 94 career catches, just one shy of the school record for a tight end.
“If we can get that thing healed up, hopefully we can get him in the draft,” head coach Bill Doba said Sunday evening. “I know there’s some interest in him.
“It’s sad for him. I really hate to see that happen to him at the end of his career here.”
Losing Bienemann won’t help as they enter Washington’s home stadium, which has been a house of horrors for Cougar teams in recent years.
Doba, who has been on the WSU staff since 1989, has won just once at Washington while losing seven times. That knowledge had Doba playing up his team’s status as an underdog this week. (The Cougars are actually a 2½ point favorite over the Huskies, who claimed their first Pac-10 win last weekend.)
“They’re not?” Doba said when told Washington – not WSU – was the underdog. “Oh, man, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
Doba and his staff gave the players Sunday off, eschewing the normal workout routine to try and rest the team.
“We didn’t lift or run,” Doba said. “We said, ‘Get the heck out of here and we’ll see you Tuesday.’ The thing we needed more than anything was rest and rehab. Clear their brains, clean the slate and come back. We’ve got a one-game season.”
The Cougars could apparently use the time off, as Bienemann isn’t the only injured player. Wideout Michael Bumpus is also still out, as is tight end Jesse Taylor. Defensive end Michael Graise (knee) is out, and wide receiver Brandon Gibson probably won’t be able to play for a second week because of a hip injury.
Middle linebacker Will Derting, who played sparingly in the first half and not at all in the second Saturday after missing five weeks with a knee injury, is also hurting, Doba said. The knee swelled up but Doba sounded a hopeful note that his defensive captain would again be able to play at least passing downs Saturday.
“He just didn’t feel comfortable on the run,” Doba said. “He tried to accelerate through one time and it just wasn’t there. He couldn’t push off well. He felt more comfortable going in on passing situations. It swelled up a little bit afterward, and we’ll just have to check it this week to see if he can go.”
Despite all of the losses, Doba still said he’s proud of the effort turned in by a team that has disappointed in the win column. Asked what he’ll take from this 2005 team, Doba cracked a joke, then got serious:
“Not a lot. … Well, I’m going to remember that we had some great kids. You can say, I’ve heard that there’s no leadership on this team. I disagree. I think it takes some leaders to come back week after week like they have and battle and play close.”
And about that Apple Cup?
“They’ll be ready,” he said.
Notes
Doba said the Cougars will be focusing on wide receivers, cornerbacks and linebackers in this year’s recruiting class, which will probably consist of 23 or 24 scholarship players. … Doba also discussed his decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-1 from the Oregon 28 with just more than five minutes to play. The head coach said he opted to kick because Oregon’s run defense had been stout much of the way, and because the wind was at WSU’s back. The week before, Doba made the opposite decision near the goal line only to have Arizona State stuff the Cougars.