SEATTLE — Asked to explain the unexpected malfunction of his 20th-ranked Washington State University football team on Friday, coach Mike Leach raised his hand and started counting off the offensive miscues, one by one, on his fingers.
“We dropped balls,” Leach led off.
“We missed open guys,” he added.
“We fumbled,” he continued on.
“We missed blocks,” he concluded.
And the Cougars lost, 45-10, to Washington in the Apple Cup.
Many will point to the absence of No. 1 quarterback Luke Falk as the starting point to the Cougars’ failures. Falk was knocked out of last week’s game with an apparent head injury, and missed the annual rivalry game. His backup, freshman Peyton Bender, became the first Cougar QB since Ryan Leaf (1995) to start his first college game in the Apple Cup.
Bender moved the WSU offense past midfield on five of six first-half drives, but the Cougars had only Erik Powell’s 41-yard field goal to show for it. The one that hurt the most was at the end of the first half. Reaching the UW 23 in the final seconds, Bender fumbled after being sacked and WSU lost the ball. “That was the most disappointing part of today. We just have to finish those drives. We just missed opportunities,” Bender said.
It went from bad to worse in the second half as the Cougars’ offense gave up three defensive scores to UW. In all, WSU committed seven turnovers, its most since 2009 against Hawaii.
“It was a snowball effect,” right tackle Cole Madison said. “Once something bad happened, it just kept happening. We should have changed it. We never did.”
Bowl options
Eric Graves, a selection committee member for the Holiday Bowl, was at the game, even ducking into Leach’s post-game press conference. The Cougars (8-4) won’t know where they are headed in the postseason until the first week of December when bowl matchups are announced.
Extra points
The Huskies have won six of the past seven Apple Cups. … With UW’s Myles Gaskin rushing for 138 yards Friday, it marked the ninth 100-yard rushing game the Cougars’ defense has allowed in its past 10 games.
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