I'll start with the positive...Washington State was not shutout. Nico Grasu drilled a 47-yard field goal in the third quarter to extend the university's scoring streak to 279 straight games. That's the second longest streak in the country (behind Michigan's 303). The Cougs haven't been shutout since 1984 (a 44-0 loss to Ohio State).

Other than that there wasn't much to cheer about in Saturday's 28-3 loss to UCLA.

The Cougars running backs just can't get it going (I'm sure the offensive line is to blame as well). WSU ran for only 26 yards against the Bruins (even though the numbers are a little skewed because Marshall Lobbestael's -30 yards). Dwight Tardy led the charge with 50 yards on 15 carries. The Cougs have run for only 105 yards the last two games (and a lot of those yards came in garbage time last week against Oregon).

The passing game was OK (considering the circumstances). Lobbestael completed 15 of 31 passes for 151 yards. Brandon Gibson caught six passes for 62 yards. Jeshua Anderson (who I thought looked really good) had three receptions for 61 yards. No other wide receivers touched the ball (the rest of the passes went to tight ends (3) and running backs (3)).

The total number of plays always weighed heavy in the Bruins favor. UCLA ran nearly 20 more plays than WSU (74-56), which also effected time of possession. The Bruins had the ball for 34:15; the Cougs for 25:39 (the TOP was definitely noticeable in the second (5:28) and fourth quarters (5:42)).

One final note: the Cougars were successful on only 2 of 14 third down conversions. Wazzu had only 11 first downs the entire game.

I think I've come to grips with the fact that this is the way the season is going to go. Washington State will lose more games (and hopefully they'll win a couple too). The offense will stall with a redshirt freshman in charge. And the defense will miss tackles and allow big plays. It is what it is.

I still love everything about Cougar football!

Washington State travels to Oregon State next weekend. I'll talk about that matchup later this week. And, of course, you can expect a report from practice on Wednesday.

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