Cougars strong-arm Vandals
PULLMAN – The gap between Washington State and Idaho, it would appear, has not become any smaller.
On the contrary, the distance from Pullman to Moscow has rarely looked greater than it did in WSU’s 56-10 win before 29,431 in Martin Stadium on Saturday.
“Well, obviously, it’s pretty embarrassing,” Idaho running back Jayson Bird said. “We couldn’t run the ball, couldn’t do anything on offense, couldn’t stop anything on defense.”
The Cougars were all too happy to take advantage, rolling up 637 yards of offense and coasting to the win one week after getting similarly pounded by No. 4 Auburn.
Given that result, and Idaho’s much narrower loss at Michigan State that same day, it seemed reasonable to expect a more competitive game Saturday afternoon.
WSU (1-1) quickly extinguished any such thoughts, scoring its first touchdown on its first drive, just 2 minutes and 48 seconds into the game. By halftime, the Cougars had skipped to a 35-3 lead, and the second half was an exercise played mostly for the sake of backups getting game time and padding the final stats.
“We needed to win – to take it to somebody,” WSU head coach Bill Doba said.
Said Idaho coach Dennis Erickson: “They just ran the ball at will. … I didn’t believe they could do that to us, but they did.”
With Erickson on the Idaho sidelines for the first time in decades, the Vandals (0-2) thought they’d have a chance to end a five-game skid against WSU. But as more than one Cougars player noted after the game, they had a point to prove as well.
“We didn’t talk about Dennis Erickson at all,” defensive end Mkristo Bruce said. “The only time I heard his name was in the media. I mean, we’re not playing the coach. We’re kind of playing the players.”
It seemed that the entire WSU roster played the Vandals, too. By game’s end, 62 Cougars had played at least a snap, a number of them making their collegiate debuts.
Before the parade of walk-ons and unknowns took the field, Idaho had some chances to make things interesting in the first half. Two drives of 10 plays or more took up nearly 9 1/2 minutes, but the Vandals got only three points out of those possessions, stalling inside the 5 once and settling for a field goal, then getting stood up on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line their next time down the field.
WSU, meanwhile, was taking anything it wanted on offense, even without starting running back DeMaundray Woolridge, who didn’t play because of a bruised thigh.
The Cougars were content to share the wealth, befuddling the Idaho defense. Chris Jordan caught three first-half touchdown passes, and Michael Bumpus had another. Alex Brink threw for three of the four touchdowns in the first half and ran for one of his own.
“We spread the ball all over,” WSU offensive coordinator Mike Levenseller said. “When we win games, that’s what we do. More guys have to be involved.
“Last week we made the mistake, probably, of preaching too long all during fall camp that we were going to get Jason (Hill) downtown. We kept doing it and trying to do it and do it, when we probably should have come back inside and focused on everybody. We saw the mistake and thought within our own mind and rectified it.”
Were it not for a pair of missed Loren Langley field goals, WSU might have broken 60 points in the game.
But even when the Cougars gave Idaho a break, the Vandals gave the momentum right back. Dwight Tardy, who replaced Woolridge and finished with 92 yards on 15 carries, fumbled on the Idaho 1-yard line as he was diving for the end zone.
On the next play, Vandals running back Brian Flowers fumbled and the Cougars pounced on it, setting up a one-play touchdown.
“They were improved, but we thought going into the game that it wasn’t about them,” Cougars guard Sean O’Connor said. “It was about us.”