Apple Cup notebook: Another slow start for WSU in rivalry game

In Apple Cups under coach Mike Leach, Washington State has stumbled out of the gate every time.

In four games – three of them losses – the Cougars have scored just two first-half touchdowns and a total of 23 points. Even in an eventual 31-28 overtime win 2012, the Cougars had just 10 points at halftime.

“We go in here wide-eyed and think it’s something special,” coach Mike Leach said after Friday’s game, in which the Cougars were held to a single field goal in the first half.

The Cougars’ poor field position didn’t help: Four of their seven first-half possessions started inside their own 20.

Friday’s first-half performance was only a tad better than last year’s when the Cougars were shut out in the first half en route to a 31-13 defeat. Two years ago in Husky Stadium, WSU led 10-3 at halftime.

WSU’s Apple Cup woes go back long before Leach. Friday’s loss was the fourth consecutive time the Cougars have been ranked and lost to an unranked UW team. Each year from 2001-03 a 10-win WSU team lost to a middling UW team, and the No. 20 Cougars are ranked for the first time since 2003, having secured their first winning record since that same season.

Injury luck at quarterback has not swung WSU’s way in its rivalry game, either. Jason Gesser missed the 2000 Apple Cup with a broken leg, played through a broken thumb on his throwing hand in 2001 and was knocked out of the 2002 edition with an ankle injury. The following year Matt Kegel left the game after aggravating a shoulder injury suffered just a few days prior.

Backup Kevin Lopina led the Cougars to victory in 2008, but former walk-on punter Dan Wagner was unable to replicate the feat in 2009. Both Jeff Tuel and Connor Halliday missed the 2011 Apple Cup, and last year it was Luke Falk who played in place of Halliday. Falk, of course, missed Friday’s edition of the rivalry game after suffering a head injury last week against Colorado, leading to backup quarterback Peyton Bender’s first career start.

Browning unflappable

The other freshman quarterback in the Apple Cup played like an upperclassman.

Washington’s Jake Browning completed 14 of 18 passes for 203 yards and made several big plays to keep drives alive in the Huskies’ 45-10 win.

The biggest came just before halftime, with the Huskies leading 10-3. On second-and-7 from the WSU 49, Browning was in shotgun formation when a poor snap threatened to fly down the field. But Browning snatched the ball, scrambled and lofted a ball downfield just before he was flattened by WSU lineman Destiny Vaeao.

Downfield, receiver Isaiah Renfro outleaped a WSU defender at the Cougar 6; three plays later, the Huskies were up 17-3.

Said UW coach Chris Petersen: “He’s come a long way. … I thought early he threw some nice balls on third down (UW was 7 for 15).

“We’re always talking about third downs, red zone, two-minute situations. That’s when the quarterback has to show up and show what they are all about,” Petersen said.

Responding to prosperity

Two weeks ago at Arizona State, the Huskies held a 17-3 halftime lead, only to fade in the second half and lose 27-17.

Was Petersen worried about a repeat performance?

“When I saw the score that’s the first thing I thought of,” said Petersen, who didn’t feel compelled to bring up the subject because the players already had.

“I didn’t have to say a thing, because they took over the locker room (at halftime),” Petersen said.