Despite spectacular run, offensive line knows it must bear down on every play

PULLMAN – One of the most memorable plays from Washington State University’s season opener, and perhaps one of the most memorable plays that will come out of the 2005 season, occurred on Jerome Harrison’s 80-yard sprint to the end zone on the first play.

That touchdown run came largely because of a succession of perfect blocks up and down the line of scrimmage.

So it might come as a surprise that earlier this week, when asked what his main concerns were coming out of that Idaho game, head coach Bill Doba pointed to the same offensive line that paved the way for Harrison out of the gate.

“I think we were good at times last week, but I think we were very inconsistent,” he said. “I want to see the offensive line run block a little better, see if we can move the ball on the ground better than we did, more consistently than we did.”

The displeasure comes as a result of a middling effort following that big play. Harrison ran for 85 yards on 23 carries after the first snap, just 3.7 yards per attempt. While the Cougars were still able to make big plays in the passing game, Doba and the offensive linemen know that getting more push up front to establish a running game will be essential this season.

“Our pass blocking is pretty good,” senior center Nick Mihlhauser acknowledged. “When we want to we can bust huge runs. We just have to get our assignments down better, get a hat on a hat and let our backs do their work.”

Right tackle Charles Harris, starting his first game at a new position, came out of the game in the second half. On Sunday, Doba had suggested that Spencer Hollison had taken Harris’ place because of ineffectiveness. But offensive line coach George Yarno said Harris is still the starter and wasn’t taken out because of poor play.

“Charles is the starter. Spencer deserved to play so I put him in,” Yarno said. “It wasn’t a thing where Charles wasn’t playing well. He played a good game, good enough to win. Spencer needs some experience and time, and I wanted to get him in the game so I put him in there.”

Yarno also added that he’d like to get a number of his backups into a game early so they can garner some much-needed experience. That includes, perhaps, true freshman Kenny Alfred, who remains on the bubble to play this season or redshirt.

But as became clear a week ago against Idaho, the starting five will have to open holes on more than just one snap to earn some rest in the game’s later drives.

“At times we do things really well. We just need to do them well all the time,” Yarno said. “We all graded well enough to win, but we could do a lot better. I think we all hit a lull there in the second quarter. Things were kind of easy – I don’t know if easy is the right word, but we executed early in the game. And then we went through a period where we didn’t execute well.”

Notes

Coach Bill Doba wasn’t trying to play up his 65th birthday Wednesday, but the team serenaded him nonetheless at the beginning of practice. Unsurprisingly, the head coach said the birthday present he’d like most is a win at Nevada. … Doba has named Graham Siderius an honorary captain for the game. The senior kicker went to high school in Reno and was a teammate of current Wolf Pack quarterback Jeff Rowe for three years there. … Safety Husain Abdullah should be a game-time decision Friday, but it still appears likely that he’ll wait at least another week before playing on a high ankle sprain. … According to a report in the Natchez (Miss.) Democrat, Grambling State coach Melvin Spears is pursuing a forfeit after his team’s game against Alcorn State was put off last week. Alcorn State is looking to play the game Dec. 3, but Spears said in a teleconference that his team would be done playing after the Bayou Classic against Southern, scheduled for Nov. 26 this year. The newspaper also reported that Grambling offered Alcorn State travel expenses to move the game to its Louisiana campus, but Alcorn State declined and canceled the game after losing power for much of the week in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.