Cougars lick chops over OSU secondary
PULLMAN – The numbers aren’t good for Oregon State University head coach Mike Riley.
His secondary, so often stout against the pass in previous years, has been giving up yards and points at a dizzying rate. Four opponents have thrown it into the end zone for six points 14 times this season. They’ve gone for nearly 304 yards a game in the air, and their quarterbacks have a passer rating of 165.3.
“There’s one major item – big plays,” Riley said. “Arizona State hit us with some big ones at big, big moments in the ball game.”
Those big plays – five passes went for 28-plus yards – were a major reason the Sun Devils hung 42 on the Beavers a week after Louisville put up 63 points against Oregon State.
So – take a moment to think about this one – what might Washington State try to do this week, considering it has one of the nation’s top deep threats at wide receiver in Jason Hill and an offense scoring 47 a game so far?
Hmmm …
“They’re talented, but not playing with confidence. Hopefully we can keep them like that,” Hill said of the Oregon State secondary. “I’ve got the type of confidence right now where it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t matter if they’re playing at the top of their game or the bottom of their game. Me and Alex, we’re on the same page and we’re going to try to make it work no matter who we’re playing.”
Cornerbacks Keenan Lewis, a redshirt freshman, and Gerard Lawson, a sophomore, figure to be in the crosshairs of WSU’s offense. To try and compensate for the troubles in the defensive backfield, Oregon State has blitzed often this year, something it also did against the Cougars in 2004.
But then, quarterback Alex Brink was making his first career start.
Now the sophomore has eight full games tucked away and has often excelled at beating the blitz.
“I’ve learned how to handle the blitz better,” Brink agreed. “They like to bring pressure, which can be good for the defense or good for the offense depending on how you react to it. I think Arizona State was able to take advantage of their blitz and get some matchups downfield. We’d like to try and do the same thing. We feel like we’ve got some guys that can go downfield in Jason Hill and Michael Bumpus and Chris Jordan.”
While no one at WSU is anxious to give away the game plan, Riley probably doesn’t even need to hear it to know: His defense will be tested once again this week, and the Cougars are more than happy to take advantage of any struggles they’re having.
“They did get beat a lot of times deep,” Brink said. “There’s definitely some things we’d like to take advantage of, but at the same time they start at this level for a reason. We’re well aware of that. So we’re going to do some things offensively and attack their weaknesses.”
Notes
Despite the struggles of the Oregon State defense, the Beavers are two-point favorites for Saturday’s game. … The Beavers are 18-7 at home in Pac-10 games going back to 1999, best in the conference by a half-game over USC. … Both linebacker Scott Davis and cornerback Wally Dada were able to practice for WSU, though backup cornerback Don Turner was carted off the field during the session with back spasms. … The Oct. 8 home game against Stanford is set for a 2 p.m. kickoff with no television coverage. Game time for the following week against UCLA has not been set.… WSU head coach Bill Doba said there is an outside chance that defensive tackle Ropati Pitoitua could play for a few snaps in that game against Stanford next week. The sophomore broke a leg before the season opener and has been projected to return Oct. 15 against UCLA. … WSU has sold more than 11,000 student season passes this year for $99 each, a school record eclipsing the 10,800 it sold last year at $79.