Doba advises star receiver Hill to relax

PULLMAN – Head coach Bill Doba has a word of advice for his star wide receiver this week as Jason Hill prepares to take the big stage against USC – relax.

“I think he’s a lot better than what he’s played so far this year,” Doba said earlier this week. “I think he’s really pressing, trying to make something out of nothing and trying – if it’s possible, trying too hard. He’s dropped a couple balls. But he’s made some great catches.”

Hill has been slightly less involved in the offense this season that he was in the two previous years, most notably because defenses have worked harder to take away the deep routes that Hill has thrived on historically.

Still, the senior has been effective at times catching the ball underneath and working his way up the field. Yet on his only legitimate chance for an over-the-top touchdown, Hill dropped a pass right in the breadbasket against Baylor on what would have been an easy score.

“He’s a physical kid, and I think he’s just got to relax and have fun and forget about the NFL,” Doba said.

But don’t think that Hill hasn’t contributed to the Cougars this season even though he hasn’t had a monstrous effort at wideout. The San Francisco native blocked a punt last week at Stanford in his first special teams appearance in two years, leading both Hill and Doba to think that we’ll see more of him in those situations.

“I’m pretty sure they’ll probably throw me in there,” Hill said. “There’s a lot of plays to be made over the course of the game, and sometimes it’s on special teams.”

Added Doba: “We’d like to play some, just on his conditioning and how he feels. We felt that was an opportunity. It just proves that X’s and O’s are one thing, but the people that are on the field, that’s the (main thing). He did the same thing, we ran the same block before and we never got there. Then we put Jason out there and bingo, he makes the great play.”

Notes

Fox Sports Northwest has picked up WSU’s next game, at Oregon State, for its 4 p.m. time slot on Oct. 7. … Center Josh Duin did not practice again on Wednesday because of his MCL strain and that essentially rules him out for the week. There is a good chance that Duin will be able to play next week against the Beavers. … Former Cougar coach and current color commentator Jim Walden will miss this weekend’s game for a high school reunion.