WSU Football | Home-field advantage is key for Cougs

Washington State students are being encouraged to delay their departure for Thanksgiving break until after Saturday's home football game against Oregon State.

"Stay around, please," coach Bill Doba said on a radio broadcast after Saturday's 33-17 victory over Stanford.

The Cougars enjoy one of the biggest home-field advantages in the Pac-10 because of their small stadium and noisy crowd, and Doba doesn't want to lose it. The Cougars are 3-1 in Martin Stadium this season and have played their best football there.

WSU (4-6, 2-5 Pac-10) needs to beat Oregon State (6-4, 4-3) and Washington (3-7, 1-6) to become bowl-eligible.

As a semester school where classes start in August, WSU takes a full-week break at Thanksgiving. In even-numbered years for the past 25 years, the Apple Cup usually has been played in Pullman on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The rivalry and chance to help beat Washington with maniacal cheering has been a sufficient magnet to keep students from heading home.

This year, the Apple Cup is Nov. 24 in Seattle. The schools agreed to move it to after Thanksgiving so each could have a bye week during the season.

Another enticement for students to delay their trips home until after the 3:30 p.m. football game Saturday is that the 10th-ranked WSU men's basketball team hosts Idaho on Friday night.

Notes

• Doba is expected to announce today the severity of the sprained left ankle suffered by tight end Jed Collins. Collins was injured in the final quarter and left the field on crutches. He caught 10 passes for a career-high 123 yards, with a long gain of 48 yards Saturday.

• The Cougars have been held without a sack twice this season, and both times WSU has responded the following week. After being held without a sack against Arizona, WSU posted seven sacks against Arizona State. And after failing to get a sack at California, the Cougars had four Saturday against Stanford. Greg Trent had two sacks, but the most memorable of the night was an 11-yard loss by linebacker Kendrick Dunn, who hit the gap between Stanford linemen midway in the first quarter as if he were a running back.

• Tim Hodgdon, a 6-foot-3 ½, 287-pound offensive lineman from Tesoro High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., has made an oral commitment to WSU, according to Cougfan.com. He is believed to be WSU's second recruit, joining Jared Karstetter, a 6-4, 195-pound wide receiver from Ferris High School in Spokane.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com