Cougars savoring not being worst in history

Paul Wulff, his staff and players experienced something different Saturday night and Sunday. For the first time since Wulff took over the Washington State football job almost a year ago, there was reason to celebrate.

"There's a level of relief and excitement," Wulff said Sunday afternoon. "All the things we've been working for and trying to establish, there was a reward for that."

The Cougars had only beaten lower-level Portland State until Saturday, when they upset touchdown-favorite Washington in the Apple Cup, 16-13, in double overtime. Though the Huskies are probably headed to an 0-12 season, WSU was more than happy to savor a victory and quiet comparisons to history's worst teams in the Pac-10 and nationally.

"Got to go," Wulff told a cluster of reporters after a second round of interviews Saturday.

He had good reason — seven recruits were on campus for the game, and he spent time with them Saturday night and Sunday.

"I went home and wound down, had a few friends over and listened to a bunch of people give me guff on my lack of vertical jump," laughed Wulff, who was caught on camera leaping after Nico Grasu's winning field goal.

"I didn't think it was that bad at the moment. But if I'd really tried to jump, you'd probably have seen a heck of a vertical."

At midafternoon, Wulff hadn't yet looked at video, in which WSU caught the Huskies after trailing 10-0 at halftime and won the rivalry game for the fourth time in five years.

"You watch all the freshmen having a major impact in this game, and for the future of Cougar football, I think that's very promising," said Wulff.

The Cougars won't necessarily finish on a high note, however. They're 29-point underdogs at Hawaii on Saturday night.

Wulff said he plans to give true freshman J.T. Levenseller some snaps in the Hawaii game. Levenseller was taken out of a redshirt year Nov. 1 at Stanford, but has thrown only 23 passes in three games. Kevin Lopina went the distance against Washington.

"We want to make sure J.T. clearly plays in this game," Wulff said. Asked if he might start, Wulff said, "I wouldn't go that far just yet."

Hawaii is 6-5, but WSU could get the Warriors' best shot, because they're not yet bowl-eligible. They have Cincinnati, possible Big East champion, a week later, so Hawaii might need this one to get to the necessary seven wins in a 13-game schedule.

Wulff said WSU would like to re-establish a connection with Island recruits that brought them quarterback Jason Gesser a decade ago. Hawaii is a state that the Cougars didn't recruit hard under Bill Doba.

"We're looking at some juniors," Wulff said. "It is an area we want to bring back to life on our campus."

Wulff was unsure about the status of two players injured Saturday — wide receiver Jeshua Anderson, who has a chest contusion; and tight end Tony Thompson, who suffered a second concussion in recent weeks.

"It's always a concern anytime you're dealing with multiple concussions," Wulff said.

"The only thing I can say is, he seemed to have bounced back fairly well after this game. We're hoping it was very mild."

Washington State will stay in Seattle Wednesday night, leaving Thursday for Honolulu.

Note

• Gino Simone, a highly regarded wide receiver recruit from Skyline High who committed to WSU in August, is planning to take some other recruiting trips, he told Cougfan.com. "It's not me de-committing in any way," Simone told the Web site. "It's more having an opportunity to kinda look at other schools."

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