Originally published Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Cougars' QB decision may come game day

A final decision in Washington State's quarterback competition between senior Gary Rogers and junior Kevin Lopina may not come until the...

By Brandon Scheller

Special to The Seattle Times

Cougars forum

PULLMAN — A final decision in Washington State's quarterback competition between senior Gary Rogers and junior Kevin Lopina may not come until the first snap Saturday.

"We want to get through the week and see if we feel real comfortable with one of them," coach Paul Wulff said Tuesday. "At this point, we want to keep our options open."

Rogers, the longtime backup, won the starting job but threw three interceptions and only passed for 160 yards in two starts.

Rogers was pulled at halftime during WSU's 66-3 loss to California — the worst loss in school history. However, Lopina didn't perform any better — going 3 for 7 for 32 yards and an interception.

Wulff ruled nothing out, including sharing time between the two, but Lopina took snaps with the first team Tuesday.

"Obviously the coaches feel like Kevin can do a better job at moving the ball and putting points on the board," said wide receiver Brandon Gibson. "That's why Kevin got the start [at practice]."

Both quarterbacks will share snaps with the first-team offense the rest of the week. Players have struggled to learn the new offense that Wulff and his staff installed. Receivers run bad routes and line up wrong. Injuries to key players have delayed the learning curve.

"Maybe there's a lot of information overload with these guys, because we are asking them to do a lot more mentally than they've been required in the past," Wulff said. "But that's not going to change. We're going to keep pressing harder until they get it figured out."

Notes

• Wulff on speculation that some players were not playing hard during the second half of WSU's 66-3 loss to California: "There's a concern. We probably didn't fight and fight as hard as we needed too, particularly into the third and fourth quarter. ...

"We're going to change that attitude. It's going to take maybe a little longer than we would like, but we will get that fixed. We've got to have a bunch of fighters."

• LB Cory Evans suffered a pinched nerve Saturday, but likely won't miss playing time.

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