A Cautious Approach for Resurgent Cougars

Washington State had gone 67 years between Rose Bowl appearances when it earned a spot in the 1998 game, and it looked for a while as if it might take 67 more years for the Cougars to get back. Washington State football sort of went the way of Ryan Leaf’s career: south.

Since nearly upsetting Michigan in the 1998 Rose Bowl game, Washington State has defeated two Pacific 10 Conference teams--California, three times, and USC, once. In that time, the Cougars are 4-21 in conference play and have suffered waves of injuries, heart-rending defeats and indignities (52-10 to Oregon; 54-17 to Stanford). The 1997 Pac-10 title should have earned Coach Mike Price a lifetime achievement award for job security, yet you wondered how many more 0-8, 1-7 and 2-6 conference finishes he could withstand.

Fortunately for him, Washington State has been reborn, perhaps 63 years ahead of schedule. No one is suggesting that the Cougars are ready to mount another title charge, this being the most stacked Pac-10 deck we can recall, but Price’s team is off to a 3-0 start. With its 51-28 rout of California last weekend, Washington State already has posted more conference victories than it did in 1998, when it went 0-for-the-Pac.

Price won’t compare this year’s team with the Rose Bowl squad.

“In a way, these kids are doing even better,” he said. “Because it is more difficult to do this. Of course, the Rose Bowl team opened with UCLA. This team opened with Idaho. There is a difference.”

In other words, don’t book any Pullmans yet. Yet, the Cougars have been this year’s biggest early surprise, scoring 128 points in three blowout victories. They have a strong backfield in quarterback Jason Gesser and tailback David Minnich, a stingy defense made up of converts--tight ends converted to defensive tackles, linebackers converted to defensive ends--and a wide receiving corps that would make 1997’s Fab Five proud.

This is the funny part, because Price at Pac-10 media day said he was concerned about the receivers. Minnich, sitting next to Price, offered a public rebuke, assuring his coach the receivers would be fine.

They’ve been better than fine. Nakoa McElrath leads the nation with 514 yards, and Mike Bush and Jerome Riley have exceeded expectations. McElrath, Bush and Riley each had more than 100 yards receiving in last week’s victory.

Bush? He’s on loan from the basketball program after averaging 15.9 points and five rebounds for the Cougars last season. He joined the football team in spring practice and has started all three games.

Price said he had a premonition about this team.

“Last year, we lost three games in overtime and lost four games on the last kick,” he recalled. “I kind of thought, ‘We were close last year, we’re going to sneak up on some people.”’

We’ll see. The Cougars have not won consecutive Pac-10 games since defeating Stanford and Washington in November of 1997.

This weekend, Washington State plays at Arizona, which has won the last three meetings.

PAC Bits

Don’t go see Cal. The Bears are 0-3, in the throes of despair, with more trouble ahead. Saturday, Cal plays Washington, a team it hasn’t defeated since 1976. After that, the Bears have Oregon, UCLA and Oregon State. There may not be a victory on the schedule until Cal plays Rutgers on Nov. 23.

Cal’s secondary has collapsed.

“I’m very surprised,” Coach Tom Holmoe says. “The guys we’re playing with right now played a considerable amount last year. We are in a deep pit in the secondary.”

Holmoe said no jobs are safe--including his own--with the exception of quarterback. Kyle Boller, yanked from last week’s loss, will remain the starter for now.

Asked why Boller was benched, Holmoe said, “He just needed to cool off or something. There were just a couple of plays that weren’t Kyle.”

Cal’s offense is actually improved, averaging nearly 400 yards a game, but 12 turnovers in three games have not accentuated the positive.

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Oregon cornerback Steve Smith, who had three interceptions in last week’s 24-22 squeaker overUSC, offered this postgame critique of Trojan quarterback Carson Palmer:

“He’s radaring his receivers,” meaning Palmer is locking on one receiver from the snap of the ball.

Smith also said he thinks USC is headed in the right direction.

“We knew they’d play us hard,” he said. “They’re a great team.”

Great team?

“I think they’re good. Real good.”

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Washington’s loss of tight end Jerramy Stevens with a broken left leg ranks among the biggest blows for the Huskies in the last decade. He is a future first-round NFL pick and one of the few tight ends opponents have to double team.

“Certainly, a devastating loss,” Coach Rick Neuheisel said.

Stevens is expected to miss eight weeks of play, which means he will be out for key conference games against USC on Oct. 6 and UCLA on Oct. 13.