For three years, Washington State football coach Paul Wulff tried to convince his players they had a chance to win.
Tonight, the fourth-year coach might have to convince his players they have a chance to lose.
The Cougars, coming off a dramatic, comeback win at Colorado, take on struggling UCLA at the fabled Rose Bowl.
Wulff stressed to his players the need to focus on the Bruins (“They’ve got a tremendous amount of talent running around that football field”) and resist the urge to continue basking in the glow of the thrilling victory at Colorado where WSU scored two TDs in the final two minutes, 35 seconds.
“I warned that to the players; you know, ‘Hey, you’re going to get a lot of people patting you on the back,’” Wulff said.
“We haven’t accomplished a whole lot yet. They’re smart enough to know that. We’ve got to keep grinding and moving forward. We have not, by no means, reached our potential. There’s a lot of room for growth.”
One of the nation’s top-ranked offenses (WSU) faces one of the nation’s lowest-ranked defenses (UCLA). The Bruins have played a far tougher schedule – all three of their losses are to teams (Houston, Texas, Stanford) with undefeated records – so statistical comparisons with the Cougars can be misleading.
“They’re a great defense,” WSU quarterback Marshall Lobbestael said. “They’re big and they’re physical.”
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, who called Lobbestael “a fantastic player,” said the Bruins are “playing better on defense. We’ve certainly gone through a number of injuries, especially in our secondary.”
Count on the Bruins to challenge WSU’s defense by running the ball, something they love to do. UCLA piled up a whopping 437 rushing yards and 565 total yards in a comeback 42-28 win over the Cougars last year in Pasadena.
“We’re just focusing on staying in our gaps,” defensive end Travis Long said. “On a lot of UCLA’s runs, they break off big runs because people are out of their gaps.”
Shutting down that tendency would be huge, considering UCLA’s struggles in the passing game. The Bruins are last in the Pac-12 in yards per game (198.2) and completion percentage (55.3).
A victory over UCLA would definitely be another positive step for WSU. The win would be the second straight on the road over a conference foe and would give the Cougars their first 4-1 start since 2003, their first 2-0 league start since 2006, and their first three-game conference road winning streak (dating back to last year’s win at Oregon State) since 2006.
EXTRA POINTS
Wade Jacobson, enjoying a strong season at right tackle, saw little practice time this week because of a back injury. Junior Dan Spitz may be forced into action. … Matt Goetz, who played well in his first start last week, might start at center again for Andrew Roxas, who grew up in the Pasadena area. Roxas’ ailing ankle is improving. … The Bruins, scrambling for kickers due to injuries, have missed four of their past five extra-point kicks. Neuheisel said former UCLA soccer team manager Tyler Gonzalez will kick tonight for the first time. “It’s a great story,” Neuheisel said.
COUGARS GAMEDAY
WASHINGTON STATE (3-1, 1-0 PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE) AT UCLA (2-3, 1-1 PAC-12)
KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m., Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.
TV: Root Sports. Radio: 770-AM, 1240-AM, 104.3-FM.
THE SERIES: UCLA leads, 38-18-1. UCLA won, 42-28, last year in Pasadena.
WHAT TO WATCH: The Cougars must control UCLA’s strong running attack. Shifty Johnathan Franklin and bruising Derrick Coleman return after gaining most of the Bruins’ 437 rushing yards in last year’s win over WSU. The injury-riddled secondary of the Bruins has been shaky, and WSU quarterback Marshall Lobbestael is coming off a career-best, 376-yard passing day at Colorado. The Cougars are bigger, faster and more experienced on defense than a year ago, when they struggled to defend UCLA’s option-oriented pistol offense. The Bruins’ special teams have been lacking, and they plan to use a former UCLA soccer team manager as a kicker tonight.
WHAT’S AT STAKE: CoachesHotSeat.com ranks UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel No. 1 among Football Bowl Subdivision coaches under pressure to win, with WSU’s Paul Wulff No. 10. A 4-1 start would give the Cougars some breathing room in case they fail to pull off a major upset by beating No. 7 Stanford next week at homecoming. Neuheisel, 8-0 lifetime against WSU, pointed out to his players that UCLA will be tied for first in the Pac-12 South Division with USC (idle this week) and Arizona State if the Sun Devils lose at Utah this afternoon.
THE PICK: Washington State 41, UCLA 35.
PRIME NUMBERS
With roster number, player, height/weight and class with position in parentheses:
WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS
8 Marshall Lobbestael (QB), 6-3/215, Senior
Has completed 63 percent of passes for 1,335 yards, 13 TDs, 4 ints.
86 Marquess Wilson (WR), 6-4/183, Sophomore
Averaging 137.5 receiving yards per game, 26.2 yards per catch.
84 Jared Karstetter (WR), 6-4/210, Senior
Leads team with 23 receptions, one more than Wilson.
17 Alex Hoffman-Ellis (OLB), 6-1/231, Senior
Spirited senior leads team with 27 tackles, also has two sacks.
UCLA BRUINS
12 Richard Brehaut (QB), 6-2/226, Junior
Has completed 55.4 pct. of passes for 907 yards, 6 TDs, 0 int.
23 Johnathan Franklin (RB), 5-10/193, Junior
Averages 79.8 rushing yards per game, 6.1 per carry.
83 Nelson Rosario (WR), 6-5/219, Senior
Averages 72 receiving yards per game, 15.7 per reception.
42 Patrick Larimore (MLB), 6-3/250, Junior
Leads team with 38 tackles, including 11 vs. Stanford last week.
Howie Stalwick, contributing writer
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