Notebook | Lobbestael takes over as Coug quarterback

PULLMAN — Marshall Lobbestael strode into an interview room Saturday and immediately was a lot tougher on himself than others were on him.

"You can't turn the ball over," said Washington State's redshirt freshman curtly after his team's 63-14 loss to Oregon. "Three turnovers is too much, whether it's your first start or your 10th."

It was Lobbestael's first, and according to WSU publicists, that makes it the first year the school has had three quarterbacks make their debut start at least since 1976, when Jack Thompson made his.

Lobbestael fumbled on WSU's first series when he was stripped from behind. In the third quarter, he threw two interceptions to Ducks cornerback Walter Thurmond III.

"I felt pretty good," Lobbestael said. "Sometimes I felt, not overwhelmed, but sometimes I didn't have long enough to have a pre-snap read. You've got to watch more film, and that'll fix that."

Mostly, the reviews were good for Lobbestael, who led Oak Harbor to the Class 4A state football championship in 2006.

"He did a great job," said receiver Jeshua Anderson, who caught the first of two touchdown passes from Lobbestael.

The Cougars, who have run a no-huddle offense in the first year of the Paul Wulff regime, decided to reinstate the huddle for Lobbestael, feeling it would lessen his responsibilities.

"I thought he handled it real well," said Todd Sturdy, the offensive coordinator.

Ducks QB steps up

When quarterback Jeremiah Masoli signed with the Oregon Ducks last spring as a junior-college transfer, he figured he would be lucky to see any playing time. But a season-ending injury to Nick Costa in fall camp and another injury to Justin Roper sent the Oregon coaching staff looking for a new starting quarterback.

They found one in Masoli.

Masoli, who led City College of San Francisco to the national junior-college championship last year, completed 9 of 16 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns in a little more than two quarters as the Ducks roughed up Washington State 63-14 at Martin Stadium on Saturday.

Not bad for a guy who was listed as probable against Washington State after suffering a concussion last week in a loss to Boise State.

"I wasn't going to miss this game," said Masoli. "It wasn't fun not finishing the Boise game, but I knew I needed to come right back."

Masoli said he has tried to fit in quickly with the offense, despite not showing up on campus until the middle of last summer.

"I'm starting to feel comfortable in there," said Masoli. "I'm getting a good rapport with the receivers and it's great to be surrounded by so much talent. The sky's the limit for us."

Oregon coach Mike Bellotti thought he might be in trouble when his top two quarterbacks went down. But Masoli has filled in just fine.

"He's really taking control of the job," Bellotti said. "He's making some good choices and looking comfortable. He's put himself in a good position to be a great leader.

"He's our man right now."

WSU plan goes awry

Cougars safety Xavier Hicks, making his second start after a three-game suspension to open the season, had 14 tackles, which he ascribed to the Cougars selling out to stop the run.

Well, not quite mission accomplished. The Ducks ran for 346 yards.

"Part of our plan was to have one more person than they could block in the box," said Hicks.

Notes

• Turnovers continue to be a bugaboo for the Cougars, who committed four more against Oregon without taking the ball away. That brings WSU to a turnover margin of minus-13, by far worst in the Pac-10.

• One of the most confounding statistics for WSU is time of possession. The Cougars led the Pac-10 with an average of 33:16 entering the game and had the ball 32:12 against Oregon.

• Last year's Oregon total of 53 points was the highest by the Ducks in the history of the series against WSU until the Ducks scored 63 Saturday.

• Through the first five games this year, WSU has had 22 players register the first start of their careers. Along with Lobbestael, linebacker Louis Bland made his first start Saturday.

• Washington State honored record-setting former running back Rueben Mayes at halftime. Mayes was selected to the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame earlier this year. He was the first WSU player to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame since tackle Glen "Turk" Edwards (1929-31) in 1975. Mayes is the Senior Director of Development at Washington State.

• Washington State coach Paul Wulff thought his team wasn't physical enough. "We got pushed around," he said. "We couldn't do anything physically." The Cougars gave up 507 yards and 26 first downs to the Ducks.

• Fox Sports Northwest announced that it will televise Washington State's game this Saturday at UCLA. The game will kick off at 7:15 p.m. at the Rose Bowl. WSU's first six games will be televised, and the Cougars will have eight games aired in 2008.

• Larry Baber of the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl attended the Washington State-Oregon game. The Holiday Bowl in San Diego will invite the second-place team from the Pac-10 as well as a team from the Big 12.

• Oregon had six scoring drives take less than three minutes.

Seattle Times freelancer Steve Turcotte contributed to this notebook.