Cougars need to rediscover defense and do it quickly

PULLMAN – Sure, it’s a little unfair to hold a team up for thorough examination after playing the No. 1 team in the nation.

But for Washington State, there’s little choice. Having dropped to 3-5 after the 55-13 loss at USC, the Cougars first must conjure up some way to play better defense.

Only Washington has allowed more points per game in conference play. It’s not a fluke, either, as the Cougars have given up – in order – 410, 475, 516, 548 and 745 yards in their Pac-10 games.

“We have been working on different schemes and trying to give ourselves a break,” head coach Bill Doba said Sunday evening. “I think we just need to get better and grow up a little bit, get a little stronger.”

As defensive coordinator, Doba helped build the Cougars into one of the league’s better defensive teams, progress that now seems to have eroded. The third-year head coach admitted that WSU’s current personnel doesn’t compare to that of the 2001-03 teams, but it seems that other teams have also figured out ways to beat WSU on the chalkboard as well.

“The same blitzes that worked against Texas, we’re running them just as well now and they’re not working as well,” Doba said, referring to the 2003 Holiday Bowl win. USC quarterback Matt Leinart had near-perfect protection, able to stand comfortably in the pocket and wait an eternity for receivers to get open. “We can come up and bump, we can do some things different with them. But when that quarterback has that much time, that you can run that hard a post pattern, make a break and run the post corner, that’s tough. That’s tough on any defensive back.”

And while offense has not been as great a problem this season for WSU, it certainly looked every bit as bad against the Trojans.

No Cougars quarterback – and three of them played as game time turned to garbage time – completed a pass for more than 12 yards, and top receiving threat Jason Hill never got a look downfield, where he has singed defenses all season long.

“They were doing some double coverage on him,” Doba said. “You throw it downfield, you’re going to get it intercepted.”

Starting signal-caller Alex Brink looked rattled, threw passes with little zip and often hung receivers out to dry by setting them up for big hits. Doba acknowledged the sophomore had a below-average outing.

“He had some bad throws and we had some drops,” he said.

Backup Josh Swogger didn’t get in until the fourth quarter, then played only two series before yielding to third-stringer Gary Rogers. Doba said Swogger didn’t play longer for two reasons.

“We just wanted to get Gary some time where he could throw the football,” Doba said. “Let’s face it, the game was out of reach and there’s no sense putting Josh or anybody else in jeopardy. We may need Josh to start in the next two or three weeks. Who knows? He’s still a valuable part of our football team.”

The Cougars couldn’t even escape Los Angeles without something going wrong at halftime. As WSU walked to the locker room, it got caught from behind by the Trojans, many of whom were sprinting up the tunnel.

Some reports after the game had Doba getting knocked down, others said he got shoved against a wall. On Sunday, the head coach tried to clear up the matter.

“The way they were playing, if anybody had run into me intentionally I would have been laid out,” Doba said. “I don’t think anything was done intentionally. We got bumped around a little bit; there was a whole group of them trying to get up in there.

“Pete (Carroll) came across the field after the ball game and said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry that happened. It wasn’t intentional.’ “

The issue of teams running into each other in the tunnel is bound to draw attention from the conference, and Doba suggested that more needs to be done to make sure one team has cleared out completely before the other is allowed off the field.

To say the least, however, the Cougars’ problems at halftime pale in comparison to those on the field right now.

“They’re all painful,” Doba said. “We have to just erase the first half of the season, put that away, start a new season and regroup.”

Notes

Doba said wide receiver Michael Bumpus is likely out again this week with a high ankle sprain, while middle linebacker Will Derting has a decent chance to play after missing four games with a knee injury. Derting had the knee drained Sunday, and Doba said he won’t play if he can’t get any contact in practice. … The head coach said no significant injuries emerged Saturday.