John Blanchette: Collins makes points at many positions

PULLMAN – Mining the resume of Jedidiah Gabriel Collins on Saturday in the wake of Washington State’s finest football hour in a few years, it was learned that he played some point guard on his high school basketball team.

“Depending on the game,” he allowed, “but, yeah.”

Right. Depending on the game. The game that would demand a 220-pound linebacker taking over at the point doesn’t come easily to mind – a rumble, possibly – but obviously there was such a situation, and Jed Collins was the man for the job

The situation was different Saturday, but the solution was the same. Jed Collins.

And not just Jed, but also the idea of Jed Collins – something that seemed to spread to every player the Cougars called upon in an inspired 34-23 manhandling of Oregon’s 16th-ranked Ducks at Martin Stadium.

By now, anyone with Internet access or a DVD player has seen the old “Saturday Night Live” send-up of Blue Oyster Cult, wherein Christopher Walken’s delusional record producer insists the key to making “Don’t Fear the Reaper” a hit is, “more cowbell.”

Well, the key Saturday was more Collins.

And more Matt Eichelberger. And Bryan Tarkington. And any other Coug who was asked to give something extra, to be ready, to play more and better than he had before.

“To answer the phone when it rings,” said defensive captain Mkristo Bruce. “And we had guys push the green button, not the red button.”

No, no longer is Wazzu’s season on hold. Ahead are four entirely winnable games with the Cougs one victory short of bowl eligibility, although nobody should even think about settling for the bare minimum. Not now that they’re getting a taste of how smooth the good stuff goes down.

“You should see the faces of our guys in the locker room right now,” said receiver Jason Hill. “It’s crazy down there.”

That’s a product of a long hunger. The Cougars really hadn’t defeated a ranked team – or anybody very good – since the 2003 Holiday Bowl.

“It’s about time we did,” acknowledged coach Bill Doba.

And there at the center of it all was Jed Collins, Wazzu’s own slash. As a tight end, he made a leaping catch of an Alex Brink pass for the Cougars’ first touchdown, and worked open for a 32-yard bullet that set up the tipping point touchdown – which he then scored as a fullback. As a blocker, he was a beast on the edge, springing Dwight Tardy for a good many of his 145 yards rushing.

“You prepare every week the same,” insisted Collins, a 6-foot-2, 250-pound junior who has started since the injury to Cody Boyd. “You prepare to be the star.”

Sometimes it even turns out that way.

Likelihood doesn’t have to enter into it, or else Collins wouldn’t be around. He was recruited to WSU from Mission Viejo High School in California as a linebacker, but soon found himself switched to fullback. That move and special teams play got him on the field as a freshman, and his versatility in playing tight end got him more time as a sophomore, though no one threw him a pass.

“With a Pac-10 team, you do what you can to get on the field,” he said. “So many guys would give their right arm to be on this team and the guys on this team would give their left arm to get on the field. So, if the coaches are telling me to go in and play defensive tackle, I’ll strap up and do my best.”

That may be coming.

The game wasn’t a quarter old when both starting tackles, Ropati Pituitoa and Aaron Johnson, were knocked out with knee and elbow injuries. Feveae’i Ahmu, a starter previously, was already sidelined with a broken foot. That left Eichelberger and Tarkington, who filled in more than respectably, despite not having much in the way of history or expectation.

Resorting once again to a 3-4 alignment, the Cougs managed to keep Oregon’s dangerous offense bottled up until the Ducks – down 24 points – had to abandon the run. Helping that along was – at last – some Wazzu success in the red zone, previously a toxic area for which we now know Collins was the cure.

“I was just lucky enough today to be the guy to get the ball,” he demurred.

Is that right?

“Well, I tell the coaches every week that I have the best hands on the team,” he cracked, “but they don’t believe me. Do I have great hands? I don’t think so. But if I’m coming down with the rock, that’s all that matters.”

Like the score. A loss is a loss, yes, but surely it will not sit well with the Ducks that they were beaten by a quarterback who was a high school teammate of their coach’s son, the fourth and fifth options at defensive tackle and the Willie Bloomquist of college football. You decide whether it was more about Wazzu’s will or about Oregon pretty much fainting dead away for a couple of quarters.

“Today, I just think they underestimated me,” said Collins. “They didn’t guard me. Nobody had really heard of me before.”

Hmm. Think we’ll hear more?