WSU Football
Notebook: Cougs' Bumpus proves worth

By Craig Smith
Seattle Times staff reporter

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PULLMAN — Cougars freshman Michael Bumpus showed yesterday why he is considered a prize recruit.

The wide receiver from Culver City, Calif., became the first Cougar since 1997 to score on a punt return when he broke five tackles on a 52-yard romp down the right sideline late in the third quarter. The TD gave the Cougars a 27-14 lead.

"I saw the end zone, and I hadn't seen it in a long time," said Bumpus.

It was the first Cougars punt return for a TD since 1997, when Shawn Tims did it against Boise State.

Bumpus, 5 feet 11, 174 pounds, got his first start yesterday because of a shoulder separation suffered by Marty Martin at Arizona. Bumpus caught two passes for 17 yards but also caught another pass that was more important.

In a crowd, he caught a two-point-conversion pass from Josh Swogger for a 35-21 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Cougars went for two because a high snap led to a blocked point-after-touchdown after Bumpus' punt-return touchdown.

That blocked kick was the first missed PAT by freshman kicker Loren Langley, who is 15 for 16 for the season. Langley was 1 for 2 yesterday on field goals and is 3 for 7 for the season.

Bumpus also was used as a rusher on one play. The Cougars used him on a reverse, but the Ducks saw it coming and stopped him for a 2-yard loss.

Bienemann hurting
 
Troy Bienemann, Washington State's tight end and deep snapper, played only one down yesterday — a snap on the Cougars' final punt, from their own 17.

The last time the Cougars were without Bienemann, who was sidelined with a shin injury, two wild snaps led to a USC safety and field goal last year.

This time, a new backup snapper, Adam West, handled the punt-snap chores. Freshman Robbie Hyslop from Spokane did the snapping for field goals and extra points. Hyslop had one high snap and the PAT was blocked, but the Cougars made up for it on their next touchdown when Bumpus caught a two-point-conversion pass.

Losing his cool

One of the most amusing moments of the game for Cougars fans was watching an Oregon player go into a Donald Duck-like rage.

Running back Terrence Whitehead lost his balance midway through the third quarter when he was open with a clear path to the end zone.

Whitehead collided with teammate Cameron Colvin, then jumped up and down in frustration.

Notes

• The Cougars showed a new offensive wrinkle yesterday in the first quarter when two running backs were in the backfield and neither was a fullback.

• It rained hard in Pullman yesterday morning, but conditions improved and the sun was breaking through by kickoff.

• For the third consecutive game, offensive coordinator Mike Levenseller was in the press box and quarterbacks coach Timm Rosenbach was on the sideline.

• The Cougars women's swim team was honored at the end of the third quarter for its school-record 3.66 grade-point average last semester. It also was the highest GPA of any swim team in the nation.

• Apple Cup weekend advisory: The Cougars basketball teams will play a doubleheader Nov. 19 on the eve of the football game in Pullman. The women will play Boise State and the men will play Montana State.

• The three remaining Cougars home games — next week against Stanford, Oct. 30 against USC and the Nov. 20 Apple Cup — are sellouts.

• Swogger wasn't sacked but still took a lot of hits and was limping slightly after some of them. He is playing with a torn ligament in his right leg but said after the game that his sore ankle was hurting more than the knee. "The knee isn't bothering me," he said.

• The Cougars' offensive line didn't give up a sack yesterday and has allowed only one in the past three games after giving up 13 in the first two games.

• Jason Hill's two TD catches boosted his total to eight this season, three shy of the WSU season record of 11 co-held by Kevin McKenzie (1997), Chris Jackson (1997) and Devard Darling (2002).

• The 102 plays run by Oregon are the most against WSU since Purdue ran 107 in the 2001 Sun Bowl, won by the Cougars 33-27.

Correspondent Austin Burton contributed to this report.