Injuries have put Washington State football on a downswing

Back in August when it appeared Washington State might at least be vaguely competitive in football, coach Paul Wulff made what seemed a logical forecast: Because of a coaching and stylistic transition, the Cougars should be better later in the season than early.

If that's the case, WSU needs to get cracking pretty soon, perhaps starting today in Pullman against Arizona.

The Cougars have been trending downward, in heavy measure because of injuries. Today, they plan to play true freshman J.T. Levenseller more than the three series he got last week at Stanford, and he's the fifth quarterback to see action this year.

How might WSU begin to show that it's finally getting it in this miserable year?

• Scoring would be a start. Since freshman linebacker Louis Bland took in an interception in the second quarter at Oregon State, WSU has gone 154 minutes and 28 seconds without a point. It has been outscored 172-0 since that touchdown in the OSU game four weeks ago.

• Stopping the run. Stanford crunched the Cougars for 344 yards rushing last week, one game after USC ground out 362 yards.

• Continuing a faint hint of a rushing attack. WSU had 117 gross rushing yards against USC and 132 last week against Stanford. While those are hardly numbers that flatten you, and a good portion were gained when the game was decided, it's at least a start in this abysmal season.

• Playing hard, even when the game is lost. Wulff has noted repeatedly that WSU's resolve is terribly thin once it encounters adversity.

"In so many areas, this team doesn't have a lot of confidence," Wulff says. "Mistakes compound themselves. We make one mistake and it hurts us the next play. It's just kind of a vicious cycle for us right now."

WSU (1-8) is 118th in NCAA statistics in total offense (251.3 yards per game), last in scoring defense (49.2) and tied for last in turnover margin, having a net minus-20.

Victory is virtually out of the question against the Wildcats (5-3), who can cinch their first bowl trip in five years of the Mike Stoops regime. Arizona averages 37 points and is sixth in NCAA pass-efficiency defense numbers.

WSU likely will be without running back Chris Ivory, who has a nagging hamstring pull, and perhaps tight end Devin Frischknecht, out since the Oregon State game with a high ankle sprain.

Wulff says defensive end Andy Mattingly should play despite a sore ankle. He also hinted that Mattingly could return in the offseason to his outside linebacker position, where he was effective last year as a pass rusher.

One reason Mattingly was moved in the spring was WSU was uncertain about defensive end Matt Mullennix's appeal for a sixth year, which was granted. After that, the staff chose to leave Mattingly at end.

"Will we sit down at the end of the season and potentially look at [Mattingly] going to a [strong] linebacker position?" Wulff asked rhetorically. "Yeah, we may do that if some of our defensive ends are coming through that we're redshirting right now.

"Things happened that we just couldn't predict."

Freshman cornerback Tyrone Justin probably won't play because of a sprained ankle, and Wulff hinted that safety Alfonso Jackson might take that spot, which he has played before.

That probably would reinsert safety Chima Nwachukwu, whom Wulff said "hasn't played as well as he's capable of, most recently. We need Chima to play better."

Matter of fact, that goes for a lot of people.

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