Familiar scenario for Cougs
PULLMAN – Readers of the comic pages might recall a famous Peanuts strip, which reappeared in Sunday’s paper, where Linus rushes outside to tell Charlie Brown about a football game he just watched on television.
Linus breathlessly tells his pal about the home team’s last-second score, and how the players and fans went berserk in celebration. Without missing a beat, Charlie asks, “How did the other team feel?”
These days, it seems Charlie Brown might be the last Washington State fan left.
“I heard them bones snapping with people jumping off the bandwagon,” head coach Bill Doba said Sunday evening, breaking into a wearied laugh.
Three times in the past four weeks the Cougars have blown fourth-quarter leads, posting another heartbreaking loss Saturday night at California. This time, it was a 10-point lead WSU allowed to evaporate, dropping the Cougars to 3-4 overall and 0-4 in the Pacific-10 Conference.
What has developed in the current four-game losing streak is apparently a twofold problem. First, Doba and his staff haven’t found the right button at the right time to propel the Cougars to attainable easy wins. Next, WSU has allowed its play to slip when things have started to go poorly.
At Oregon State, the Cougars tried to sit on a big second-half lead by playing conservatively, a move that allowed the Beavers to climb back into the game. Fast forward to the 42-38 defeat Saturday night, where WSU changed course and played aggressively with a 10-point fourth-quarter lead against Cal.
“We had a lead with eight minutes to go in the game,” Doba recalled. “I told the offensive staff, ‘Throw the bomb.’ And we got sacked.”
Then came the momentum-changing play of the night. Linebacker Scott Davis attempted to sneak up the middle on a fourth-and-2 fake punt with just more than six minutes left. The Bears sensed what was coming and stuffed the junior shy of a first down.
“I thought if we needed 2 yards we could get it for sure,” Doba said. “Both linebackers came flying up in there as soon as he walked up under center. A very alert play on their part.”
Then, when the aggressive play calling didn’t work, the Cougars compounded the problem by blowing a basic coverage scheme in the secondary. That miscue, just two plays after the fake punt, allowed Cal a 57-yard touchdown pass, momentum and eventually a win.
The Cougars apparently lost more than just the game, too. Doba said sophomore wide receiver Michael Bumpus has a high ankle sprain, and he almost certainly won’t be able to play against No. 1 USC in Los Angeles this week. Trandon Harvey appears to be the likely candidate to replace Bumpus at wideout and on punt returns.
The problems are even worse in the secondary, where starting cornerback Omowale Dada is questionable because of a groin pull and reserve corner Lorenzo Bursey may be unavailable again because of a shoulder sprain. If both players can’t go, Alex Teems and Don Turner would start at cornerback with redshirt freshman Ian Bell and walk-on Ryan Kensok in reserve against the top-scoring offense in college football.
Immediately after the game – even before he knew the extent of the injuries – the head coach was visibly steamed at his post-game meeting with reporters and beforehand stomped on a nearby folding chair in disgust. Asked Sunday why this latest loss was so tough to take, Doba said it had to do largely with the disappointment he felt from his team.
“I just felt so bad for our players,” Doba said. “Our seniors have worked so hard. To walk into that locker room, man, that’s tough.”
In other words, good grief.
Notes
Middle linebacker Will Derting is expected to do some running this week but it appears the best-case scenario for the senior is a Nov. 5 return from a knee injury against Arizona State. … Running back Jerome Harrison missed most of a series at Cal because of a nagging shoulder problem, and after the game defensive end Mkristo Bruce made reference to how much of a pounding the senior star has already taken this season. … One of his backups, Kevin McCall, is questionable because of an ankle injury that caused him to miss the trip to the Bay Area as well. … Alex Brink was sacked four times by Cal after WSU had allowed just five sacks in the first six games.