I'm not really sure what to say...

This is the worst I've seen Washington State look in years. I've been told (I'm still trying to find out if it's the truth) that Saturday's 66-3 route by California is the worst loss in Cougar history.

Nothing looked good. California scored on the first play of the game (an 80 yard touchdown run by Jahvid Best) and they never looked back. In fact, they scored a second touchdown on only their third play from scrimmage (1:31 after the first TD) as well. The Cougs missed tackles, took bad angles, and who knows what else. It was 42-3 at halftime.

Cal's running game absolutely ate up the Cougar defense. The Golden Bears finished with 391 yards on the ground (Best finished with 200 yards on 14 carries; an average of 14.3 yards per run). They scored seven of their nine touchdowns on the ground (they scored on runs of 80, 39, 27, and 86 yards).

In the end, the Bears outgained Wazzu 505 yards to 167 yards.

That brings me to WSU's offense. It looked horrible again today. I don't know if it's Todd Sturdy's schemes or the lack of a leader at quarterback. No matter, the Cougs need to figure out an answer quick (or it's going to be a very, very long season).

Gary Rogers was pulled after the first half. He completed only 10 of 21 passes for 78 yards and threw two interceptions. Again, some of the receivers didn't help his cause with dropped balls, but he still didn't look very good. From what I hear, the quarterback job will likely be up for grabs this week. Kevin Lopina connected on three of his seven passes, but also threw an interception today. Marshall Lobbestael also played, completing no passes and tossing an INT. The battle will be between Rogers and Lopina.

Reid Forrest was the only shining spot for Washington State. He punted the ball eight times for 330 yards (a 41.2 yard average) and twice pinned the Golden Bears within the three yard line. WSU kicker Nico Grasu (who earned the starting job in pregame warm-ups) knocked home a 44 yard field goal, but also kicked another 44 yarder off the back of one of the offensive lineman (California recovered the loose ball for a touchdown).

Another positive...Jeshua Anderson played (even though he was listed as doubtful in the injury report). He caught one pass for five yards (and was also flagged a couple of times for penalties).

Aside from that...there's not much more to say. It was awful!

I'll hopefully have a follow up for you tomorrow (if you even care to read it).

Talk to you soon!

1 Comments

kim-spokane said:

Ugh, make my former comment a "long, hard, winding road with three detours, two u-turns and one cul-de-sac." Wow, that was even hard to watch on the radio, even with Jim Walden's hilarious comments.

I wonder what all the Brink haters are doing now?

Go Cougs, but how about that Eastern game?

Kim

September 6, 2008 11:43 PM

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