Langley’s game-winner confidence booster

SEATTLE – For two years Washington State has played close game after close game, but not one has come down to a field goal.

And given the Cougars’ woes in the placekicking department in that time, it’s a safe bet that nearly every Cougar and Cougar fan in Qwest Field was a little squeamish when Loren Langley trotted out onto the field to attempt the game-winner with 14 ticks on the clock.

“You have to convert,” said Langley, who booted the ball through the uprights to hand WSU its second win of the season. “It’s quite a feeling. I know it was only 17 yards, but at the same time it’s definitely a feeling to remember. It’s better than being the one that loses you the game, I’ll tell you that.”

Langley had the advantage of attempting the kick from the shortest possible distance, even closer than an extra point.

It might have been a good thing, too, because Langley missed on two field goals a week earlier against Idaho and head coach Bill Doba opted to go for a 4th-and-10 in the first half when Langley could have attempted a 42-yard kick.

“I just watched him in pre-game practice,” Doba said. “He wasn’t really on that well, and I thought we’d go ahead and take a chance.

“He’s not going to miss an extra point, and that was even closer than an extra point.”

Because of his troubles, Langley has been anything but popular during his WSU career. He had made just three of his previous 12 field goals, and has been teetering on the edge of being unseated for the job by walk-on Romeen Abdollmohammadi.

Rarely has anyone questioned his potential as a kicker, but Langley’s confidence has been a major issue and his technique has tended to falter as a result. Not so on the final kick of Saturday’s game, however.

“Right now, we just trust him to go out and hit it,” safety Eric Frampton said. “Maybe last year wasn’t as good a year for him, but it wasn’t a good year for the offense or the defense, either. And we all know that.”

Langley said this was the first attempt at a game-winning kick in his life, and wondered openly if this might be the kick that leads to better things in the future.

“I’ve had some rocky times, and I’ve had some good times as well,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it being up the rest of the time.”