Trufant makes Cougars defense much better

  • Craig Hill / The News Tribune
  • Thursday, November 8, 2001 9:00pm
  • Sports

By Craig Hill

The News Tribune

PULLMAN – Mike Price never passes on an opportunity to try to be funny, so when a reporter recently asked him for “a few words on Marcus Trufant,” the Washington State University coach had this to say:

“Wow and great.”

That was it. Two words.

But two words that adequately sum up the moments this season when Trufant has been able to play.

Really, the junior cornerback out of Wilson High is having his worst season because he has missed five games with a broken thumb. But when he was cleared to play against UCLA last week, he validated his status as the Pacific-10 Conference’s best cover cornerback with a dominant performance.

He intercepted a pass, deflected a pass on a key third-down play, broke receiver Tab Perry’s ribs and forced him to fumble in the third quarter and tackled Heisman candidate DeShaun Foster behind the line of scrimmage twice.

All that with a cast on his right hand.

“You should see what he can do with two good arms,” said safety Lamont Thompson. “He’s awesome. We are better when he’s out there.”

Sophomore Erik Coleman played well in Trufant’s place after Trufant broke his thumb in three places during a late-September practice.

Coleman picked off three passes and returned one for a touchdown, but even Coleman admits Trufant plays at another level.

“He makes other guys on the field better,” Thompson said. “He shuts down whoever he covers.”

Thompson said part of the credit for his four interceptions against UCLA should go to Trufant, who eliminated his receiver as an option on those plays. Safety Billy Newman says Trufant makes his job easier, too.

“I really appreciate him, because I don’t have to worry about his side of the field,” Newman said. “I can help out on the other side or come up and play the run. I hardly ever have to worry about staying back to help him.”

In the four games he has played this year Trufant has three interceptions – tied for fifth best in the Pac-10 – and hasn’t allowed a touchdown.

“You might get one (touchdown) every once in awhile,” Newman said. “But by and large, if you go his way he’s going to intercept the ball or knock it down. That’s why teams don’t throw his way very often.”

Newman estimates opponents throw in Trufant’s direction only five times each game and not with much success. Trufant, who usually covers the opponent’s top receiver, has allowed two touchdowns in his last nine starts.

“That kind of bothers me,” Trufant said. “I want them to throw the ball my way more so I can make plays.”

But Trufant now knows only having a few passes thrown in his direction each game is much better than none.

“It was tough not being on the field,” Trufant said. “It was hard on me, because I felt like I could play.”

Doctors told Trufant he couldn’t play until his bone had healed enough to reduce the likelihood of another break. They told him if he broke it again the bone would likely puncture his skin and create more damage.

So every Tuesday afternoon Trufant went to the doctor’s office to get his thumb X-rayed. And each game-day for five weeks he watched as the Cougars played without him.

Actually, he watched the home games. The road games against Arizona and Stanford weren’t televised.

“My roommate (reserve defensive back Wendell Smith) and I listened to the games on the radio,” Trufant said. “We were jumping around and trying to have fun, but I wanted to be playing.”

After the wins at Arizona and Stanford, some defensive players huddled around a phone in the locker room and called Trufant.

“That was nice,” Trufant said. “I felt like I was still part of what was going on.”

Perhaps the toughest game for Trufant to watch was the Cougars’ only loss of the season. Oregon rushed for 446 yards against the Cougars.

“I’m not sure I could have done much to help from the cornerback position,” Trufant said. “But I wanted to be out there to do something.

”I was just hoping for a big stop or for something to go our way.”

Something did go WSU’s way, but not until three days later when Trufant went in for his weekly X-ray. The doctors cleared him to play.

“We expected him to play well against UCLA,” Price said. “But we didn’t expect him to play that well. I don’t think he even expected to play that well. … He was awesome.

“He’s an amazing athlete to be able to do what he did after being out for more than a month.”

Trufant will probably have to wear a cast for the final two games of the regular season, so he spends time after every practice catching passes with one hand. But after his game against UCLA, nobody seems too worried about his ability to contribute.

In fact, Price can think of only two words to describe how he feels to have Trufant back: “Wow and great.”

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