PULLMAN — Michael Bumpus is one of the best wide receivers in Washington State history, but don’t look for him in the end zone.
Bumpus caught 60 passes for 558 yards last year, and scored all of one touchdown.
When he scored two touchdowns against Idaho last Saturday, it gave him a grand total of six in a career that began in 2004.
But top-ranked Southern California (2-0) is not likely to ignore Bumpus this Saturday in the Coliseum. He’s the leading receiver in the Pacific-10 with 22 catches for 273 yards. Last year, in WSU’s narrow 28-22 loss to the Trojans, Bumpus caught 11 passes for 112 yards.
Bumpus said it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t get in the end zone much. Last year, many of the scoring balls went to Jason Hill.
“I grind for my yards,” said Bumpus, who averages 12.4 yards per catch. “I do what the Cougs ask me to do.
Bumpus and quarterback Alex Brink are tight off the field.
“He’ll call me in the middle of the night,” Bumpus said.
Brink said he would like to get his friend more touchdown passes.
“The defense usually dictates where we go with the ball,” Brink said. “I would like to see him get into the end zone more, definitely.”
Bumpus has 147 receptions in his career, one behind Phillip Bobo and Hill, who are tied for second in WSU history with 148 catches. The all-time leader is Hugh Campbell, who caught 176 passes from 1960-62.
Not Tardy: Running back Dwight Tardy is keeping opposing defenses honest against the Cougars (2-1).
This season he has rushed 59 times for 303 yards, a 5.1 average in three games. That places the sophomore fifth in the Pac-10. Tardy has been stopped for a loss only three times, for 5 yards, in his 59 carries.
“Dwight is an underrated player,” Brink said.
The Cougars are averaging 475 yards per game.
Has the game started? The Cougars have given up a total of 38 points in the first quarter in their three games this season, and only 49 points in the other three quarters combined.
Coach Bill Doba isn’t quite sure what is going on.
“Much of it is the speed of the game and having an inexperienced team,” he said. “With more practice we’ll get out of the blocks a little quicker.”
“The offense has kept us in the game,” Doba said. “They score and then we score.”
Versus Trojans: Saturday’s 5 p.m. game, televised by ABC, is a big challenge for the Cougars. They have a record of 8-54-4 against the Trojans dating back to 1921, including 4-36-2 in the Coliseum. Washington State has won two of the last four games played at the Coliseum, 33-27 in 2000 and 28-21 in 1997.
This is the ninth time in history the Cougars have faced the top-ranked team, and they are 1-7 in those games. The victory came on Oct. 29, 1988, 34-30 at UCLA. Two members of the Cougar coaching staff, Timm Rosenbach and Steve Broussard, were on the 1988 roster. WSU has faced USC four previous times when they were the top-ranked team (1972, 1979, 2004, 2005), along with Ohio State (1973, 1974), Michigan (1998 Rose Bowl), and UCLA.
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