The Washington State Cougars, in a bizarre scheduling quirk, play just one football game in Pullman between Sept. 10 and Nov. 12.
Naturally, the Cougars are eager to return to Martin Stadium this Saturday for homecoming. A classic “be careful what you wish for” predicament may await the Cougars, however, because seventh-ranked Stanford and Heisman Trophy candidate Andrew Luck come to town riding the nation’s longest winning streak (13 games).
Despite coming off a tough loss to UCLA, WSU coach Paul Wulff put a positive spin on facing the Cardinal during his Sunday night teleconference.
“A great opportunity for the Coug fans to come out and have an impact on this football game,” Wulff said. “Our players will be ready to play and excited to play.
“We plan on giving them one heck of a battle.”
The Cougars and UCLA staged quite a battle late Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The Bruins, with former starting quarterback Kevin Prince in charge after Richard Brehaut broke his left leg in the second quarter, erased three WSU leads and scored late to win, 28-25.
WSU showed improved balance on offense running the ball 40 times and making the same number of passes. However, the longest run measured just 17 yards, and the longest pass gained only 21 yards.
In contrast, Johnathan Franklin’s 32-yard run set up the first of two UCLA touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Nelson Rosario’s 58-yard catch – one-handed, no less – led to the winning touchdown.
Wulff pointed out that the Cougars would have won if any of Andrew Furney’s four field goals had instead been a touchdown. All nine of WSU’s points in the first half came on field goals after the Cougars had moved inside the 10-yard line.
EXTRA POINTS
Wulff said quarterback Jeff Tuel “hopefully” will be cleared to play against Stanford. More X-rays are planned Wednesday on Tuel’s left collarbone, which he broke in the first game. ... Wulff said there’s “an outside chance” starting offensive right tackle Wade Jacobson (lower back) will play against Stanford. Wulff said Dan Spitz “played pretty good” in place of Jacobson against UCLA. ... Wulff said punt returner Leon Brooks (shoulder) may return after missing the UCLA game. ... The Cougars technically play two home games in a row, because the Oct. 22 contest with Oregon State at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field is considered WSU’s home game. ... Senior wide receiver Jared Karstetter moved into a 10th-place tie in WSU history with his 16th touchdown catch. ... Big-play sophomore receiver Marquess Wilson caught a career-high nine passes. None were good for more than 15 yards, and he failed to score for the first time this season.
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