Cougars didn’t compete

PULLMAN – If you want to know how a game unfolded, listen no further than the adjectives used in the post-game interviews.

The ones used by Washington State following its 52-17 loss to Oregon State on Saturday were no different.

Frustrating and disappointing were the two bandied around most by the Cougars. Let’s add one of our own: surprising.

Why? You could argue, persuasively and correctly, Oregon State (7-4 overall, 5-3 in the Pac-10) was the better team. You could point out the Beavers’ defense has stifled most of the Pac-10’s best offenses, so why would anyone think it wouldn’t contain WSU’s? And you could point to the half-empty stands, the library-like atmosphere before the contest and figure, if no one else cares, why should the guys on the field.

Because the Cougars (4-7, 2-6) had so much to play for. The decent possibility of a bowl game should have been enough, but throw in the final game of the year at home, heck the final game at Martin Stadium ever for a senior class that broke a record or two, and the presence of the extended families of all those seniors, and you should have had a recipe for, if not success, then at least tough competition.

And that’s what surprising. The Cougars played hard, but they didn’t compete. And there is a difference.

Competing doesn’t just mean running all over the field at 110 miles an hour trying to knock somebody’s head off. Competing, in it’s truest football sense, means banding together with your 10 teammates, trusting them to fulfill their assignments and you fulfilling yours. No more, no less. Do that and, at this level, you can compete.

And therein lies the rub. In key games this year – at Arizona, at Oregon, in Pullman on Saturday – too often players tried to do too much. And they failed. Because it isn’t an individual game.

“When you win games it’s a team thing; when you lose them it’s a team thing,” said quarterbacks coach Timm Rosenbach and he’s right. But team disaster is often built on individual failure. And that happened Saturday.

The Cougars didn’t hit much last week. They focused on fulfilling their assignments, drilling over and over in an attempt to prepare for Oregon State’s simple but effective offense and its aggressive, talented defense. Trust the guy next to you. Trust the calls. Then the game started.

All week in meetings and on the practice field, the defense was pounded with the importance of staying in their lanes, covering the backside when Yvenson Bernard ran and staying home with the motion man. Don’t overpursue. Be ball aware. Then the game started.

The first flanker reverse James Rodgers runs, the linebacker crashes down, the defensive end jumps inside – all in a misguided attempt to make a big play – and Rodgers is gone around right end for 13 yards.

That came one play after the Beavers picked up a key first down with a 20-yard completion on third-and-15, an outcome made possible when the safety didn’t rotate to cover the blitzing corner.

But the defense shouldn’t be singled out here. Trying to do too much was the biggest failing of the Cougars’ offensive leader, quarterback Alex Brink.

By his admission, the senior record-holder pressed. He tried to make plays when plays weren’t there to be made. Tried to carry the offense on his back. Tried to use his legs to buy time. Tried to win the game with his arm.

Truth be told, the one body part that failed him was his head. Many of the decisions Brink made – under extreme pressure, mind you – were, as he said, the wrong ones.

“I think you can attribute all the early interceptions to pressing a little bit,” the senior said. “Not throwing the ball away, trying to do a little too much definitely was part of it on a couple of them.

“That’s frustrating because we’ve been able to make plays in those situations, I’ve been able to make plays in those situations and it didn’t happen today.”

Pressing is often a byproduct of pressure, and it was this time.

The Washington State offensive line was overmatched. Dominated more than at any time this season. The OSU front was bigger and stronger. It stunted, twisted and confused the Cougars. It forced WSU to make adjustments – the most noticeable was throwing from a three-step drop, compelling Brink to make even quicker decisions – that helped, but nothing really slowed down Victor Butler and friends.

So, on a soggy field, with few of their fans lending their voices in support, the Cougars fell. And fell hard. Gone are the seniors’ last bowl hopes. All that remains is this Saturday’s Apple Cup. The chance to surprise UW and do something only one other WSU senior class has done: win three of four against the Huskies.