Cougs can't compete

PULLMAN — In the wake of the latest indignity driving Washington State football into further oblivion, Paul Wulff was asked what could be taken from a 43-7 defeat to UCLA.

We'll answer for the WSU coach: What you can take is, there are only two dates left in the 2009 season, against Oregon State and Washington, and WSU has about the same chance in either game as David Stern's mayoral future in Seattle.

What you can take is, try to keep guys healthy, make them live in the weight room, and recruit like hell in the offseason.

And oh yeah, tell the quarterback not to audible on third-and-two feet on the first series of the game.

In WSU's cavalcade of bad performances the past two seasons, this felt like a candidate for the worst, given that UCLA is nobody's idea of a good team, one that mucked through the middle of the Pac-10 schedule with five straight losses.

I'll accept that Wulff and the Cougars were dealt a weak hand by the previous staff. I'll buy that they're the most beat-to-pieces team in the conference physically. Saturday, WSU suited up 50 available players, a shockingly low total for a home team.

Still, the offensive performance put out there was simply pathetic.

The Cougars succeeded in playing so miserably on that side of the ball, they flew in the face of all the little edges they had in karma. It snowed here Friday, and temperatures were in the low 30s a day later; they had a recent history of playing well against UCLA; they were playing in front of a Dad's Weekend crowd.

Not a lot of that mattered.

With freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel injured, WSU went with third-year sophomore Marshall Lobbestael. On the first series, it was third down and maybe two feet to go at the Cougars' 29. Lobbestael audibled out of a running play and threw a pass in the right flat for fullback Jared Byers. Bruins outside linebacker Akeem Ayers leapt in front and picked it off.

Wulff initially said Lobbestael's decision to audible wasn't a "horrible" one, but when pressed on it, said, "That's not something ideally we want, no."

He went on to explain that Lobbestael didn't go through his reads, and that receiver Jared Karstetter appeared open on a post route.

"He just made a quick decision to throw it there," said Wulff. "It just wasn't the right decision."

By the 9:29 mark of the first quarter — 5 minutes, 31 seconds into the game — Lobbestael had thrown three interceptions. And the Cougars were on their way to another feckless first 15 minutes, during which they've been outscored 159-3 in 2009.

Wulff covered for Lobbestael, saying, "I said this a year ago at this time: It's going to be a challenging year for Marshall, coming off the [knee] injury he did. He's nowhere near the player he's going to be and will get to. It's tough to come off a major surgery like he did."

Want the six degrees of separation that might have caused the hurried decision on the audible? A year ago at Oregon State, Lobbestael was sacked when a walk-on offensive tackle couldn't fend off a pass rusher.

So 13 months later, here's the deficit Wulff and his staff perceive in Lobbestael as he tries to come back.

"Just not trusting the protection," Wulff said. "Throwing the ball maybe quicker and not going through his reads, so he hurries things."

As Wulff said pointedly, "This isn't all on Marshall, by no means." And he's right; an offensive line reunited for the first time since Sept. 12 was hardly boffo, either.

Center Kenny Alfred was ready to run the ball on that audible, saying discreetly, "We need to gain a little mastery of those situations."

Doggedly, Wulff said, "Saturdays have been tough on us. Every other aspect is going extremely well. If you're around these guys, it's a different world today than it was a year ago at this time."

But the Cougars are beat-up physically and battered psychologically. Talking about the need to play hard from first to last snap, Alfred said, "I think it's something we need to do a lot better."

Competing, then, is the goal. Winning, that holy grail, is somebody else's province entirely.

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