Notebook: Braidwood responds to coaches with big day

By Craig Smith
Seattle Times staff reporter

MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Mike Hass of Oregon State can't make the catch, but Eric Frampton of WSU is called for pass interference.

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CORVALLIS, Ore. — Prodding apparently paid off.

Defensive end Adam Braidwood had his best game at Washington State yesterday with three sacks and three other tackles.

"The coaches have been getting on me, saying I can be a big-time playmaker," said the 254-pound junior from Delta, B.C. "I've been trying to push myself ... Do whatever I can."

Braidwood's performance followed a career-high eight-tackle outing against Stanford last week.

Yesterday, he said there were some sack opportunities he missed and other plays where he could have done better.

But, he added, "I felt I left it all out on the field."

The Cougars tied a season high with five sacks.

Movin' on up Derek Anderson continues to move up career passing and total offense lists: OSU career TD passes: No. 1, with 64 OSU career passing yards: No. 2, with 9,648 OSU career total offense: No. 2, with 9,148 Pac-10 career passing yards: No. 6, 9,627 Pac-10 career TD passes: Tied for No. 8, with 64 (with Kyle Boller, 1999-2002)

"I think our pass rush is starting to come together," Braidwood said. "We're starting to hit more quarterbacks. Eventually, it's all going to come together and we're going to play as a defense. We're not going to make mistakes like we did today and shut teams out."

Harrison steps up

Junior running back Jerome Harrison had his second-best day as a Cougar with 98 yards on 20 carries and a 19-yard touchdown.

The junior-college transfer gave credit to his offensive line. "My O-line is getting better."

He also said he is adjusting to the speed of Pac-10 football and added, "The game is slowing down and I'm getting the hang of it."

Harrison got plenty of carries because two of the Cougars' top three running backs didn't play yesterday. Starter Chris Bruhn (knee injury) was left home and before the kickoff the medical staff ruled that Allen Thompson (shoulder) shouldn't play.

Kicking themselves

A subtle series of punt difficulties in the second quarter was critical to the Cougars losing touch with the Beavers.

WSU had cut Oregon State's lead to 10-3, and backed the Beavers up to their own 10-yard line, from where Derek Anderson threw three incomplete passes.

The Cougars put a huge rush on Beavers punter Sam Paulescu and narrowly missed blocking the kick, which could have meant a tie game. Instead, Paulescu nailed the ball and the Cougars let it bounce about 25 yards, all the way to the WSU 21, for a 69-yard punt.

After another exchange of punts, WSU's Jerome Harrison let Paulescu's kick bounce to the WSU 8. When the Cougars failed to move, Oregon State took over at the WSU 39 and scored in two plays to take a 17-3 lead.

Swancutt in backfield

In a big showdown between Oregon State defensive end Bill Swancutt and WSU offensive tackle Calvin Armstrong, Swancutt was the winner.

Swancutt made life miserable for freshman quarterback Alex Brink and the Cougars' offense with three tackles for loss, including two sacks, and recovered a fumble.

He forced Armstrong into at least one holding call and on one series in the first half, dumped WSU running back Jerome Harrison for a loss and then sacked Brink.

"It was a lot of fun, especially since we won the ballgame and I got to the quarterback a couple of times," Swancutt said. "

Northwest champions?

Notes

	Derek Anderson is No. 2 in OSU career passing.

• Quarterback Derek Anderson passed Erick Wilhelm to move into second on the Oregon State career passing-yards list. Anderson has 9,627 yards and needs 53 yards next week to overtake Jonathan Smith for the stop spot. He also moved into second ahead of Wilhelm in career total offense with 9,148 yards, and added to his lead in career TD passes with 64.

• With wins over Washington and WSU, the Beavers are on the brink of taking the mythical Northwest championship. Oregon State has to beat Oregon for the Northwest bragging rights, but wins over the Washington schools haven't come in the same season since 1974 and only 14 times in OSU history.

• When Washington was shut out yesterday by USC, 38-0, it moved Washington State up to No. 3, behind Nevada, Michigan, in consecutive games scored. Washington's streak ended at 271. Nevada's streak is at 288, although only 146 were as a Division I-A school, while Michigan's is at 256 and WSU's 234.

• Dr. Ed Tingstad, the Cougars' orthopedic surgeon, said Friday's surgery on the foot of quarterback Josh Swogger "went well."

• Construction work stopped only a few hours before game time on the addition to Reser Stadium. The 8,000-seat additional seats are scheduled to be available for next season.

Seattle Times staff reporter Bud Withers and correspondent Kevin Hampton contributed to this notebook

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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