WSU Football | Cougs stick to plan

Washington State is 1-6 and has surrendered more than 60 points three times for the first time in school history. No doubt first-year coach Paul Wulff wasn't in a mood to be very expansive on his Sunday evening teleconference.

Until he was asked how he recruits at a time like this.

"You recruit based upon your needs and what your vision is, and where you're headed," Wulff said pointedly. "Just because we're having a tough year, doesn't mean we're going to have a tough year in the future. You've got to evaluate where you're at.

"Right now, we're playing a tremendous amount of young kids across the board, No. 1, so physically we're not as strong as we need to be because of our youth. On top of that, we have several injuries. We're going to get a lot better as we mature and guys get bigger and stronger. If we look at it that way, and we all do, recruiting should go good."

Wulff's staff has worked the state hard and had seven commitments when the season started in what appears to be a promising base for the 2009 class. But one player, 6-4, 250-pound Geoff Meinken of Lynnwood, possibly a tight end or defensive lineman, has said he has been offered a scholarship by Stanford and will explore that.

Wulff scoffed at the notion of putting too much emphasis on some of the scores teams have been putting up on the Cougars. He noted that 14 of Oregon State's points in a 66-13 romp came when a true-freshman linebacker (Tyree Toomer) leaked an OSU defender through on a fourth-quarter blocked punt for a touchdown, and another touchdown came when the Beavers threw deep with a big lead.

Part of the plan is not to play more than the five true freshmen who have seen the field, although J.T. Levenseller could if more injuries occur at quarterback.

"When we came here, the idea was, we had to rebuild the program," said Wulff. "There's a plan. We have a very solid plan we'll stick to. That's how we're going to get going in the right direction. If we start changing the course of our plan, the long-term isn't going to be as bright.

"I know it works, it will work, and we'll be good. We're in a tough time right now; we'll get better."

Kevin Lopina, out the past three weeks with a broken bone in his back, practiced Sunday and likely will play quarterback Saturday against USC, an early 42-point favorite against WSU. Either Levenseller or walk-on Dan Wagner, who finished the Oregon State game, would back up Lopina with Marshall Lobbestael out probably two to four weeks with a knee strain.

Elsewhere, the injury news piles up. Tight end Devin Frischknecht is likely out with a high ankle sprain, offensive tackle Vaughn Lesuma is having tests for what appears to be a shoulder sprain, and Wulff said running back Chris Ivory is probably out again with a hamstring pull.

Wulff had a sobering note when talking about offensive-line play, which led to Lobbestael's fourth-quarter injury, and to a net 132 yards gained.

"They weren't assignment errors at all," he said. "Kids were where they were supposed to be. They just got beat bad."

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