SEATTLE – Explain this one. Go ahead. Try.
The Washington State Cougars held Colorado without an offensive touchdown Saturday before 56,188 at Qwest Field and lost 20-12.
The Cougars had nearly three times as many first downs (20-7) and yardage (402-125). They held the Buffaloes’ stud tailback, Bobby Purify, to 53 yards (2.3 yards a pop), made the Buffs punt 10 times and still managed to lose.
A fitting, lasting sight: Reserve quarterback Alex Brink, a promising freshman, took off to run, reached the Colorado 2-yard line and lost the ball with five seconds remaining. Brink was ever so close to scoring, making possible a tie score with a 2-point conversion, but came up short and fumbled in the process.
It was that kind of day.
“We have a lot of work to do,” said WSU coach Bill Doba, whose team fell to 1-1.
That goes double for his receivers, who dropped 10 passes they should have caught. Certainly, much of starting quarterback Josh Swogger’s dreadful day (he completed 6 of 27 passes for 77 yards) was his own doing, but just as certainly, his receivers failed to give him support.
“It got contagious,” Cougar flanker Trandon Harvey said of the drops. “Once wide receivers star dropping balls, it has to give the quarterback a lack of confidence. It has to be discouraging.”
And once Swogger started routinely overthrowing his receivers, it was time for Doba to turn to Brink, which he did during both halves. Brink responded by completing 12 of 23 passes for 251 yards.
But Brink was far from perfect. He lobbed a costly interception that linebacker Joe Sanders ran back 51 yards for a TD, which gave the Buffs (2-0) a 17-6 lead with 9:13 left in the game.
“They had two receivers out to my side,” Sanders said. “The quarterback had a little three-step drop and he was looking my way the whole drop.”
Brink also sparked what little offensive consistency the Cougars could muster. He connected with wideout Jason Hill for a 60-yard TD pass with 8:04 remaining to pull the Cougs to a 17-12 deficit. The two-point conversion failed when Brink missed wideout Chris Jordan on a pass in the end zone.
When Mason Crosby nailed a 41-yard field goal to give CU a 20-12 lead with 4:42 left, it was Brink who brought Washington State back.
Brink and Hill teamed up again for a 40-yard pass play in which Hill outleaped cornerback Gerett Burl at the Colorado 4-yard line. After Brink spiked the ball to stop the clock with 10 seconds remaining, there was time for one more play.
Brink drifted to his left, trying to find a receiver. Seeing none open, he took off running. He tried to leap over two CU defenders, but was whacked by linebacker Jordon Dizon, lost the ball and defensive tackle Matt McChesney recovered.
“I thought I was going in for a touchdown,” Brink said. “I wanted a TD, but that’s not the way it went and I lost the ball.”
WSU special teams didn’t help matters. In the third quarter, CU safety Tyrone Henderson took advantage of a breakdown in blocking assignments and easily blocked a punt attempt by Kyle Basler. Lawrence Vickers, a reserve fullback, pounced on the ball in the end zone to give the Buffaloes a 10-3 advantage.
Placekicker Loren Langley converted from 44 and 35 yards, but missed from 35 on the Cougars’ first drive. A botched snap with 10 seconds left in the half sabotaged a 40-yard attempt.
The problems on offense and special teams ruined a wonderful day for the WSU defense. Colorado lost two fumbles and had 12 plays go for negative yardage. This, despite the losses of WSU’s starting defensive tackles. Steve Cook left in the second quarter with a sprained left knee and may be lost for the Cougars’ next game, against Idaho at home. Ropati Pitoitua sustained a high ankle sprain in the first half and didn’t return.
“The defense played great,” Doba said, “but we have a way to go.”
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