WSU Football
Cole's dream run tramples Cougars

By Kevin Hampton
Special to The Seattle Times

Ryan Cole

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CORVALLIS, Ore. — The hole opened before Oregon State running back Ryan Cole, and all he had to do was race through the clear spaces for his first collegiate touchdown.

No cutbacks or jukes were required, just a straight sprint for Cole, a sophomore running back from South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard.

Cole's 79-yard touchdown run helped give the Beavers a 26-point lead in the third quarter of a 38-19 win over Washington State yesterday at Reser Stadium.

"It's one of those plays that a running back dreams of," Cole said.

The Beavers knew of WSU's tendency to blitz on second down and called a guard-trap play to catch the Cougars off balance. The play worked perfectly, as two WSU linebackers and a safety charged through only to watch Cole slip by.

It was the longest run for Cole since an 80-yard score during the Class 4A state high-school playoffs his senior year.

"Usually those types of runs only happen in high-school games," Cole said. "That run was just like the parting of the sea, just wide open."

Cole wound up at Oregon State despite efforts by Washington and Washington State to land him. He said the Huskies went after him pretty hard and the Cougars wanted him to play strong safety.

"I didn't want to play defense, and Washington wanted me to play running back but their program was kind of going through some bad times with Rick Neuheisel at that time," he said of the ex-UW coach's firing. "So I just didn't really want to be involved in that."

The Beavers went to Cole several times in the fourth quarter, and he finished with a career-high 104 yards on 12 carries. It was among the top rushing efforts this season for the Beavers, who have used Cole as Dwight Wright's backup.
 
Wright, who has several long scores this season, said he jokingly complained to Cole about the 79-yarder.

"I was teasing him about how (he) took my run," Wright said. "I'm happy for him."

Cole said Wright, who finished with 79 yards on 21 attempts, is a close friend and spent quite a bit of time with him while they both waited behind Steven Jackson, the OSU star who moved to the NFL this year.

"When I came in here as a true freshman, he (Wright) took me under his wings and kind of taught me the ropes of college football," Cole said. "And with Steve, you just watched how he carried himself and handled himself."

Cole said he his happy with his first big day as a Beaver.

"It feels real great," he said. "I woke up this morning and I was expecting to win, but I wasn't expecting my individual performance to be what it was. It was just one of those games where everything went right."