Highs and lows
High point of the game
In this type of defeat, even the high point was tarnished a little. The Cougars tried a few go patterns, just sending receivers deep, a few times, with Alex Brink even connecting with Jeshua Anderson on one, good for 61 yards. So, on the second play of the final quarter, they tried again. Brandon Gibson took off down the left sideline, blew past Tim Clark and gathered in Brink’s pass deep in OSU territory. Clark didn’t quit, finally caught Gibson at the 5, hauling him down, but not before the ball crossed the goal line for WSU’s second touchdown. But wait a minute. For the fifth time, the replay official got involved. The touchdown was overruled, the ball placed at the 2-foot mark and WSU had to run another play to score.
Low point of the game
Where to go? The fumble? The interception? The other interception? The other interception? The other interception? The other … you get the picture. All those are possible selections, but we’ll pick Clinton Polk’s 56-yard touchdown run on the possession following the possession described above. Polk, the Beavers’ third-string running back, went left, got the corner, was cut off, broke back to the middle and took it to the house, running through Devin Giles at the goal line. There were at least five Cougars who had a shot to make the tackle, but none did.
A pat on the back
We’ll give it to Romeen Abdollmohammadi, the field goal kicker who has improved more this season than any other Cougar. Abdollmohammadi has converted eight consecutive field goal attempts, including three from more than 40 yards. Since his miss that would have tied the Arizona State game, Abdollmohammadi has only missed a 50-yarder against UCLA. This season, he’s kicked 14 field goals, ninth on WSU’s all-time list.
Needs fixing
It’s very late to make any major fixes, but with UW on the schedule this week, the defense needs to play with a controlled aggression. They were aggressive Saturday, just not under as much control as they need to be. If Jake Locker plays, the Cougars can’t just attack without being assignment conscious.
Three unanswered questions
•What’s up with the state of Oregon? The combined score in the two games with the state’s universities this year was 105-24. The Cougars have never surrendered that many points in one season to those two schools.
•Will the Cougars take the week before Thanksgiving off in the future? A bye-less season last year was unacceptable. So was the get-out-of-town crowd Saturday. How about moving the Apple Cup into December and taking another week off?
•Will Locker play in the Apple Cup? The freshman phenom didn’t in last Saturday’s win over Cal and it didn’t phase the Huskies. But against the Cougars, his mobility may be needed.
Vince Grippi