Tardy breaks lose against hometown team
PULLMAN – Heading into Saturday’s game against a UCLA team that was allowing an average of only 79.6 rushing yards per game, Washington State had amassed a paltry 280 yards on the ground against its previous four Pacific-10 Conference opponents.
Not exactly the kind of numbers most WSU fans would want to consider.
But in the end, they proved to be only numbers as the Cougars, behind the splendid play of their offensive line and the inspired running of Dwight Tardy, burned the Bruins for 274 yards on the ground en route to an unexpectedly easy 27-7 win.
Tardy, taking advantage of gaping holes in the middle of UCLA’s defensive line, rushed for a career-high 214 yards and two touchdowns as the Cougars snapped a four-game losing streak and delighted a Martin Stadium crowd of 31,027.
And he capped his big day by breaking loose on a 51-yard scoring scamper in the final minute of the game that meant much more to his teammates than it did to the outcome of the game.
“That was great to see that happen,” junior offensive tackle Vaughn Lesuma said of Tardy’s late touchdown run. “To win and just run out the clock in that situation is nowhere near the same as winning and really sealing the deal.
“Now that run will be on ESPN and all the other teams will see it and, hopefully, we’ll get some of that respect back that we deserve.”
This was a day on which everything seemed to click for WSU’s running game.
Tardy, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound sophomore, carried a career-high 37 times and his backup, senior Kevin McCall, finished with 51 yards on 11 carries as the Cougars riddled the No. 8-ranked rush defense in the country.
“You’ve got to give the offensive line a lot of credit for getting in there and getting it done,” said WSU quarterbacks coach Timm Rosenbach, who also calls the plays. “That was nice. It gives you a chance to win a game when you run the ball like that.”
When asked if Tardy has run with more passion that normal, Rosenbach added, “When you get a hole, it’s a heck of lot easier to run a little harder. I don’t think it’s a question of him running harder. I think it’s a question of us just getting it done up front.”
Offensive line coach George Yarno expressed an immense amount of pride in his O-line’s effort.
“Some adversity set in, but they’ve never wavered, they’ve never questioned anything. They just kept working hard and they got a little reward today, so that’s great for them.”
Junior offensive guard Dan Rowlands said he and his teammates respected UCLA’s defense coming in and noted the Bruins were coming off a big win over California.
“But they kind of play a defense that we can attack,” he said. “They play real soft on the inside, D-tackle-wise, and were able to run the ball up the middle more than we normally do.”
Rowlands added that the Cougars might have prepared harder for the Bruins than any other team they’ve faced this fall.
“I know I prepared harder than any game,” he said. “I’m from Southern California and I hate UCLA because they passed me up. I just tried to show them what I could have done for them, and now they can see by watching the film on their way back to L.A.”