Flu Won’t Keep Price Away From Game, Assistant Says

Washington State Coach Mike Price missed Wednesday’s final pre-Rose Bowl news conference because he had flu. However, his stand-in, defensive end coach Larry Lewis, said Price will be on the sideline today no matter how bad he might feel.

“He figured if we only go every 67 years, he wanted to be sure to make this one,” Lewis said. “Sixty-seven years from now, he’s not sure where he’s going to be.”

Lewis said Price, 51, became ill Tuesday after helping tend to flu-ridden redshirt quarterback Bill Graffis. A doctor ran precautionary blood tests after Graffis’ temperature hit 104 degrees, but he soon began to improve.

Lewis said Price’s fever didn’t climb quite that high, and that he merely needed bed rest. He felt well enough later in the day to be part of the team picture at the Rose Bowl.

Lewis also said none of the Cougar starters has been stricken and that the team’s final preparations were not affected by Price’s illness because the game plan already had been firmed up.

“It’s something that a couple of our kids have had,” Lewis said of the flu bug. “We’ve tried to stay away from hot meeting rooms and let them out in the fresh air.”

Rod Commons, Washington State’s sports information director, looked as though he needed some fresh air when the possibility was broached that Graffis might have passed his illness to Ryan Leaf. However, Commons said there was little chance of that. “We’re pretty much quarantined [Graffis],” Commons said.

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Add injury/illness report:

Robert Sackerson, a student equipment manager for the Cougars’ last Rose Bowl team who couldn’t go to Pasadena because the Depression-era budget didn’t allow for it, planned to attend today’s game before he suffered a mild stroke last week.

Commons said Sackerson, who lives in a retirement community near Seattle, is in no danger but can’t travel.

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Michigan’s bowl-eve plans included a movie, as they do the night before every game. The Cougars’ plans included a team dinner, a series of meetings and a potentially emotional finale.

“We’re going to give our seniors, who have done a great job getting us to where we’re at today, the opportunity to stand up and talk about anything they’d like to say at the moment,” Lewis said.

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The Wolverines will wear decals with the initials “JR” on their helmets in honor of Michigan wrestler Jeff Reese, who died Dec. 9 while trying to lose weight in order to make a weight restriction.