SEATTLE -- The University of Washington football teams' struggles have been well documented on this side of the mountains.
By now everyone knows that a tough schedule, inexperience and injuries -- most notably to quarterback Jake Locker -- have derailed the Huskies' season and put them in danger of going winless.
But what about Washington State? The Cougars also are living through football hell this season on the other side of the Cascades. How did a team that went 5-7 last year fall so far so fast?
A year after being a few breaks away from bowl eligibility -- the Cougars lost to both Arizona and Cal by three points in 2007 -- Washington State looks like one of the worst teams in Pac-10 history. The Cougars are 1-10 with the only win coming against Portland State, a lower-division team. In eight Pac-10 games, all losses, the Cougars have allowed 58 points or more six times. Washington State is being outscored by a margin of 48.5 to 12.6 this season, and that average includes a 48-9 win over Portland State.
So what happened to a WSU team that was returning nine starters on defense and six on offense?
"It's probably a mixture of things," senior tight end Ben Woodard said. "A new transition here; we have a lot of young guys; (and) we had a lot of injuries early on. We need to learn how to win, and I don't think we've quite matured enough to know how to do that."
Woodard is right on when he says it's been a mixture of things. Washington State made a coaching change in the offseason, and the team clearly has struggled adjusting to a new coaching staff.
And the biggest challenge this season for first-year head coach Paul Wulff?
"Just trying to get to know the players," Wulff said. "As coaches we don't have all the answers, and it's hard to come up with answers when you don't even know your players in the heat of the battle over a period of time. We're just learning about a lot of the players on the team and they're just learning about us coaches in the first year.
"As coaches we're learning, and so that's been the biggest challenge for us: Just who do we have and what are their capabilities? What are their strengths and weaknesses and how do we work around all of them and use it to our advantage?"
And Wulff has had to get to know a lot of players. The Cougars started the season short-handed thanks to suspensions and dismissals for discipline reasons. Safety Xavier Hicks, one of the Cougars' best defenders, was suspended the first three games after being arrested and charged with assault for putting rubbing alcohol in his roommate's contact lens case. Andy Roof, another projected defensive starter, was kicked out of school following an arrest. Those are just two examples of many.
Things didn't improve once the Cougars started their season. Like their rivals across the state, the Cougars have been plagued by injuries at key positions, most notably at quarterback.
Gary Rogers, a Kamiak High School graduate who began the year as the starter, went down with a season-ending back injury four weeks into the season. His backup, Kevin Lopina, also suffered a back injury that same game, but was able to return four weeks later -- just in time to take over for Marshall Lobbestael when the Oak Harbor grad suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Lopina is now backed up by J.T. Levenseller, a true freshman. The Cougars also held a tryout during the season to find an extra quarterback to run the scout-team offense.
"Having five different quarterbacks take snaps for you is something I'd never dreamed would occur," Wulff said. "Trying to work through that has been a challenge."
The turnover at quarterback and the need to use inexperienced players at other key positions has led to struggles in what Wulff calls the most important stat for a football team. The Cougars rank last in the country in turnover margin having given the ball away 35 times this year while taking it away just 11 times.
"The only stat that to me typifies our season right now is not the win-loss column or the yards, it's the turnover ration, which we're last in the country in," Wulff said. "If you ever have to hold that honor, you're going to have a record that's not very impressive. When you're minus-24, my lord, you're going to struggle. ... That's a big stat for me. I think that's the number one most important stat as a football program, and that's killed us this year. I think that's a direct reflection of the youth on our team and the fact that we've had to play so many quarterbacks."
Wulff has admitted throughout various stages of the season that this year has been a bigger challenge than he had expected.
"When you've got a team that had a lot of turnover in terms of personnel like we did in so many aspects of it, we just couldn't have a great feel for each other and we're just learning about each other," he said.
But Wulff says that, in the long run, his team will benefit from this season's hardships.
"That's all going to be a positive because now we've got that little base now and we can build from that and move forward," he said.
