Signs were all there — WSU was out of it early

PULLMAN — Friday, many miles from the Washington State campus, the signs were already ominous for the Cougars. Automobiles, lines of 12 to 15 of them, streamed west on Highway 26, young faces homeward-bound and WSU's weeklong Thanksgiving vacation.

Smart students, those Cougars. Good to see our tax dollars are well-spent.

They must have known something. Not only was it a horrid, rain-soaked first half here Saturday — think '92 Apple Cup, plus about 20 degrees — WSU's performance here unfolded in lockstep.

Looking more like LSU than the two-point underdog it was, Oregon State undressed Washington State, 52-17.

The student count, according to a WSU official, was 2,160. Friday night for the Idaho-Washington State basketball game, it was 2,250.

"It's tough," said WSU receiver Michael Bumpus. "I wouldn't imagine my last game at Martin Stadium, even with 20,000 people in the stands and raining, the way we lost."

While the day, meteorologically and athletically, was a shame for 20 WSU seniors and their families, maybe it was actually a favor in disguise, an opportunity for a self-examination of the program.

If this was a referendum on the state of affairs under coach Bill Doba, the Cougars didn't exactly deliver a bullhorn endorsement.

Defending Doba, linebacker Cory Evans said, "I would love to have coach Doba as a coach. He's a great coach."

Officially, WSU fell — no, crashed — out of bowl contention for the fourth consecutive year. For the six miles or so quarterback Alex Brink has thrown for in four seasons, for the WSU career touchdown record he possesses, he will leave without ever having played in a bowl game.

Ahead of the Apple Cup next week, WSU looks like a 4-8 team waiting to happen. This was a game in which it had every reason to be sharper than the Beavers. OSU, coming off an emotional win over Washington, had its six wins, very likely enough to land it in a bowl this year.

Then there was the factor of two OSU defensive backs having to sit out the first half because of fighting in the Washington game. The thinking was, WSU might be able to capitalize early and play well enough against a limited OSU backup quarterback, Lyle Moevao, to pull this out.

Instead, the Beavers came out like they were stumping for poll votes in the BCS. It took about two offensive plays to realize this could be a long day for WSU. The Beavers mounted a big rush on Brink, underscoring that they would win both sides of the line of scrimmage. Much of the day, they inhaled the Cougars' offensive line.

Just as the Washington program has seen itself fall behind OSU, so should the Cougars be concerned. If that wasn't a gulf between these two programs, it was at least a divide. There were simply a lot more good football players on the field wearing orange and black.

Asked if he believes the gap between the two Northwest ag schools is so pronounced, Doba pointed to WSU's eight turnovers and said, "I think it was just a bad night."

Can we amend that to a rotten, horrendous, piteous, wretched, unspeakable, unthinkable night? Doba acknowledged a couple of early coverage busts that didn't point to the conclusion that WSU was fully prepared for the Beavers.

And here's an assumption: that the WSU fan base would prefer the coaching staff forever expunge the words "fake punt" from its vocabulary. Time and again in the Doba regime, coaches have, you presume, seen something on film, decided they're assured the defense will react a particular way, and felt confident they were on to something.

In this game, that meant WSU — trailing 7-0 at the OSU 47 — did this: On third-and-11, tight end Devin Frischknecht took a short snap and flipped the ball to freshman wideout Jeshua Anderson on a reverse. Other than the fact Matt Mullennix was called almost immediately for an illegal block, and two Beavers swarmed Anderson at the flank for a 3-yard loss, it worked wonderfully.

Which means: It worked a lot like Scott Davis' critical fourth-and-two fake punt at Cal two years ago (stuffed), punter Darryl Blunt's gimmick run here against Arizona last year (lost 6 yards), and Blunt's pass at Wisconsin in the season opener (interception).

In his final home game, Brink was miserable, throwing five first-half interceptions. But then, the line didn't give him a chance.

By the second half, a slim crowd turned sparse. You assume the patrons who stayed either are rock-solid loyalists, or they couldn't squeeze their way into a bar at halftime.

The ones who left, or simply didn't show up? Here's the sad part: You couldn't really blame them.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com