Washington St coach given assurance he'll be back

Washington State coach Paul Wulff said Monday he has the support of his school's administration and will be back in 2010 despite just three victories in his first two seasons.

In a conference call with reporters ahead of Saturday's Apple Cup against Washington, Wulff said athletic director Jim Sterk has talked to his staff and been "very reassuring about what we've been doing."

"(Sterk's) very excited about how much work we've done and moving forward. It's been outstanding," Wulff said. "As we move into next year you're going to see a hugely improved team, one of the most improved teams around. We've got all the ingredients to take a giant step as a team."

Wulff, a former offensive lineman for the Cougars, was hired from Football Championship Subdivision Eastern Washington to take over for Bill Doba after the 2007 season.

Dealing with reduced scholarships because of academic penalties and installing a new philosophy that not everyone bought into, while trying to reshape a program that grew complacent after a trio of 10-win seasons earlier this decade, Wulff and the Cougars struggled to a 2-11 mark in his first season. The losses during that first campaign were eye-popping, including going 10 consecutive quarters in the middle of last season getting outscored 172-0. They lost to California 66-3, Oregon 63-14, Oregon State 66-13, USC 69-0 and Stanford 58-0.

The only redeeming win in Wulff's first season was a stunning 16-13 double overtime upset of Washington that was part of the Huskies' winless season.

This year hasn't been any better for Wulff, leading fans to question whether the former center was the right person to try and revitalize football on the Palouse. Plagued by injuries and a lack of depth that's required a number of true freshman to play this season, the Cougars are 1-10 entering Saturday's game, where they are 24 1/2-point underdogs to the Huskies.

The Cougars' only victory is over SMU and their offense hasn't scored more than 17 points since late September. Defensively, Washington State has allowed at least 40 points in six of its last seven games and it ranks 118th out of 120 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring defense.

"We just know this program is going to jump by leaps and bounds," Wulff said. "You're right, that helps us keep our sanity because there are so many parts that are missing right now that are going to be in the fold next year and we know we're going to take a big, big step as a program."

---

TICKET COUNT: Get ready to see some empty seats at Husky Stadium for an Apple Cup.

Washington reported Monday that 65,700 tickets had been sold for Saturday's game. At this rate, it would be the first Apple Cup played at Husky Stadium to draw less than 70,000 since the stadium expanded to its current 72,500 capacity in 1987.

The smallest Seattle crowd for the rivalry game since the stadium expansion was in 2005 when 70,713 turned out to watch 2-8 Washington lose 26-22 to the 3-7 Cougars. The biggest crowd came just two years earlier when 74,549 saw the Huskies score twice late for a 27-19 upset of the No. 8 Cougars.

The last Apple Cup played in Seattle with less than 70,000 in attendance was in 1985 when 59,887 saw Washington State pull out a 21-20 victory.

---

DATE CHANGE: The 2010 Apple Cup could be moving to December, but neither school is confirming the switch.

The Seattle Times reported on Sunday that the 2010 game would not be played on Nov. 20 as originally scheduled and that Wulff hinted it would be moved to Dec. 4.

A Washington spokesman had no comment on Monday.

If the change is made, it would be the first time the teams have played in December. The move would also give both schools the flexibility to work byes into their schedules next season.

The Cougars have long balked at playing the Apple Cup on Thanksgiving weekend in Pullman because the school is closed the entire week and the game has traditionally been played the Saturday before.

This year's game in Seattle is the second straight hosted by the Huskies to be played Thanksgiving weekend.