Hearts deep in Texas

PULLMAN – There won’t be any Knute Rockne speeches needed. Nothing from “Remember the Titans.” No trash cans tossed or benches kicked.

Saturday, the Washington State Cougars will fire themselves up before playing the Baylor Bears in Waco, Texas.

The Texas locale – and its importance to eight Cougars – will see to that.

“It’s going to be a different level of intensity,” said WSU cornerback Alfonso Jackson, one of those eight from Texas or nearby in Louisiana. “It’s not going to take much to get us hyped. I already know it’s not. In our home state, we want to go down there and make a statement.

“I know I’m speaking for every last one of us,” said Jackson, from Hearne, 65 miles south of Waco on Texas Route 6. “We want to go down there and let them know we’re not just up here existing, we’re playing some football, we’re playing on the top level and we can play with anybody.”

Back in 2001 when WSU scheduled Baylor in a home-and-home arrangement (the teams played in 2006 in Seattle), the idea of a “home” game for the recruits out of Texas – just beginning to become a pipeline for Cougars talent – was a secondary consideration.

“It was more of a happy coincidence,” former coach Bill Doba said Wednesday. “At that point we tried to schedule a tough game, a middle-of-the-road one and a game where we would be favored. Baylor was one of the middle ones. But there weren’t a lot of options, if I remember right. … (Athletic director) Jim (Sterk) came to me and said Baylor was open at that time and I said that would be great.

“That was the main reason for it and, secondly, I thought it would get the kids from Texas home because we recruit down there, too. But that was really not the main reason.”

Whatever the reason, the gang of eight is happy to be going back.

“It’s going to be (important), because I’m going home to play in front of my family and friends,” said junior running back Chris Ivory, from Longview, about 170 miles from Waco.

It’s that family and friends aspect that is really important to Ivory.

Two years ago he dropped out of WSU and returned to Texas to be with his mother, Judy Gilliand, who was battling a life-threatening sickness. She recovered and sent Ivory back to Pullman, but the illness tightened the bonds between them, even if there are 1,500 miles between them.

“It always been important for me to keep in touch with her, always,” Ivory said. “But it just brought me that much closer to her than I already was.

“It was an eye-opener, too. It’s one of those things that teach you more to cherish life.”

It’s those family bonds that have been stretched for the eight and, though all expressed some pride for the decision to travel so far for college, they can’t wait to play in front of the people that mean the most to them.

“I wasn’t torn, I was excited,” said senior linebacker Greg Trent from Keller, northwest of Dallas, about heading north. “Life takes you different ways, so it wasn’t that hard. Family, they’re always going to be there.”

Trent’s family will be at Saturday’s game. That’s why Trent, despite sitting out his first practice at WSU with a foot problem, said Wednesday nothing would keep him from playing this weekend.

Jackson echoed that sentiment.

“Gotta play that game through hell or high water,” he said, a possible unintended reference to Hurricane Ike, expected to make landfall on Saturday and bring 50 mph winds and up to 8 inches of rain to the area.

Jackson and his cousin, linebacker Kenny Dunn, have extra incentive. While playing at Hearne High, Baylor came calling, but the Bears never got around to offering a scholarship.

“They were on us OK, pretty heavy,” Jackson said. “Our junior year, if we both could have gone there, we would have committed. But they never came through with an offer. They were just interested.”

WSU was offering the eight a chance to play major college football.

“I knew what I wanted,” Ivory said of leaving Texas, “and I finally got the chance to have what I wanted. So I took advantage of it and came on out.”

Now they are all headed back.

“I haven’t scored yet this year, so it would be a good thing, especially back home,” Ivory said.

“Playing in a D-1 stadium back home? That’s a dream come true, probably to every last one of us from Texas,” said Jackson, who played two years at Blinn Community College with Dunn. “I know it is for me. I can guarantee it is for Ken.

“There’s a lot of football here, but Texas is, it’s almost like a religion. Going into this game, this atmosphere, I know we’re going to jump start it in the locker room.”

Notes

The relentless advance of Hurricane Ike is expected to cause discomfort, but not a cancellation of the game, according to Sterk. Baylor is making contingency plans, but expects the early start time (9:30 a.m. PDT) and the hurricane’s direction should allow the game to be played. … Besides Trent sitting, starting offensive tackle Micah Hannam sat out the end of practice when his sore right knee acted up. Will Hunter took his spot. … Quarterback Kevin Lopina again took the vast majority of snaps with the No. 1 offense. … The Bears’ last winning season came in 1994, when Chuck Reedy led Baylor to a 7-5 mark and a berth in the Alamo Bowl. The Bears’ opponent for that game was WSU, which was making its second of five bowl appearances under Mike Price. The Cougars won 10-3. … WSU and Baylor have played five times, though none of those games has been in Pullman. … The remaining Apple Cup tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at www.wsucougars.com. There is a $10 processing fee whether you buy one or the maximum 12 $60 tickets.