A great article from the past ... [No Date] Contributed by Tom Livingston ...

My edit: There is much for the Cougs to live up to in this article. And there is much at stake in this game.  I think the Cougs will win this game ... 24 -13.

Cougars turning region upside down

By Art Thiel SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST

The rise and fall of Seattle as a national cultural darling has become the subject of literature. Popular autumn books such as Jonathan Raban's "Waxwings" and Fred Moody's "Seattle and the Demons of Ambition" offer much wisdom about the epidemic of hubris that infected locals in the 1990s.

But each worthy tome missed a far more insidious force that is changing the righteous goodness of life in the damp.

The Cougarization of college football.

If anything speaks to the decline and fall of all that is double-tall low-fat, it is the notion that the balance of collegiate grid power has shifted to the Palouse.

The phenomenon taxes the imagination. It's as if MTV started a channel on Taliban cable. Or Rush Limbaugh preferred ibuprofen. Or Pedro Martinez said, "Here, old man, let me help you up."

The change became more vivid this week.

The 5-1 Cougars are ranked sixth in The Associated Press poll, just a small gag against Notre Dame from an undefeated season.

The Huskies, meanwhile, are an unranked 3-3 after having lost to Nevada-Casino, a team comprised largely of laid-off blackjack dealers.

It's not merely that the Cougars are ranked ahead of the Huskies. That's happened before. The difference this season is that Washington State is sustaining quality ball. http://ads.nwsource.com/ads/adv.gif

The Cougars are coming off a season in which they were Pac-10 champions and reached the Rose Bowl, then appeared to have their figurative hearts ripped out by the departure of their beloved head coach, who moved on to a better class of stripper.

Yet the Cougs pulled together and carried on, rendering moot the standard claim of cosmic whammy that explained their earlier success.

The Cougs' previous appearance in the Rose Bowl, in 1998, was dismissed as an aberration, much as were the asteroids that strike the earth and wipe out large mammalian life. Given the half-billion years or so between events, it's not something that compels one to stock up on beer in anticipation.

But the Cougs confounded the Pac-10 actuarial tables by returning to the Rose Bowl within the lifetime of the average blue whale. Now they are a threat for two championships in a row, although they still must play the conference's top teams, USC and Oregon State.

Since the beginning of the 2001 season, the Cougars' 25-6 record equals the sixth-best in college football, trailing only Miami, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas and Georgia.

Almost as astonishingly, Boise State is also 25-6, which suggests a second threat from the hinterlands, this one loaded with spuds).

This development, as Foghorn Leghorn once famously observed, is the most unheard-of thing we've ever heard of.

Twenty years ago, Washington State, along with Oregon State, were the stowaways of the conference, confined to steerage with the annual threat to dump them from the Pac-10 at the first sight of land.

Now they are gentry, full of moxie, junior college transfers and fat offensive linemen.

While the standard explanation, that the NCAA's reduced maximum of 85 scholarships redistributed player talent to more schools, is true enough, it explains neither how WSU can eviscerate Oregon 55-16 nor how Washington can have no lead or threat against a group of keno runners.

Competitiveness by the little guys is one thing, but non-competitiveness by the one-time bullies is incomprehensible.

Three blocked field goal attempts? Eight sacks? Not even Soupy Sales took that many pies in the face.

"I'm embarrassed to even talk about it," UW coach Keith Gilbertson said this week, which says a lot for a guy who once made a living in the USFL.

The UW travail follows a 7-6 season, a bowl-game embarrassment and the debacle surrounding Rick Neuheisel, an affair that was handled by the coach, the school and the NCAA with all the grace of North Korean nuclear policy.

While the UW fumbled and fussed about Neuheisel's successor, WSU quietly replaced Mike Price in the same manner that Washington chose -- elevating the most senior assistant coach to the top job. And had better results.

The Cougars' Bill Doba not only made the transition seamless, he did it with a staff largely of ex-Cougars players. In Mike Levenseller, George Yarno, Mike Walker, Timm Rosenbach and Ken Greene, the staff is loaded with former stars who contradict the conventional wisdom that the only way WSU would ever win was by importing Bear Bryant, Joe Paterno and Bud Wilkinson and others who knew better than to try to pronounce the eye chart.

All the Cougars need to affirm regional hegemony is an Apple Cup win. But regardless of that outcome next month, the process of Cougarization is inexorable. Just take a look at recent events in the University District.

The melees, drunkenness and desperado behavior by kids in the neighborhood have promoted much hand-wringing and extra police patrols.

While Seattle views the activities as criminal, civic leaders fail to understand that mindless mayhem is a major in Pullman. Its success as a recruiting tool is breathtaking.

Even Gilbertson, as hardcore a Husky as one can be without fetching tennis balls, seems to be succumbing to the inevitability of change in the Northwest football landscape. He said this week that his mission for the match Saturday at Oregon State -- where the Beavers are 10-point favorites, another when-pigs-fly benchmark -- is to get his tight, overwrought players to "fly around and have fun."

That isn't a major at WSU. It's a Ph.D program.

P-I columnist Art Thiel can be reached at 206-448-8135 or artthiel@seattlepi.com>artthiel@seattlepi.com

Cougfan.com - Posted Oct 28, 2003

The Elite Eight
Celebrating those rare but glorious victories over Troy

By JOHN C. WITTER
Cougfan.com Senior Editor

AS WASHINGTON STATE seeks just its ninth victory ever against Southern Cal on Saturday, Cougfan.com looks back at those shining moments when the Cougars have silenced the Trojans. And take heart, Cougfans: Although eight wins, 4 ties, and 50 losses may seem like some lonely numbers, ol’ Wazzu has taken three of the last five from USC.

2002: WSU 30 USC 27 (Pullman)

Lewiston Tribune Online - 10/29/03

Who will hold the line?; Cougars welcome chance to show how their defensive front compares to USC's

PULLMAN -- Washington State's game at USC on Saturday is being characterized as a showdown of excellent defenses and, in particular, excellent defensive lines.

OK, but Isaac Brown might quibble with the exact wording here. The Cougars, he asserts, have nothing to prove in this matchup.

The USC media guide, published before the season, puts the matter flatly: "Simply put, USC's defensive line is the best in the nation." Brown, the Cougars' senior defensive end from the Los Angeles area, isn't likely to agree.

"We've led the Pac-10 in sacks for the last two years," he said. "We were in the top 10 in the nation in rush defense last year, and will probably do the same this year. We've got so many accomplishments on our defensive line, compared to theirs. I think they get a lot of hype because they're USC and they're in L.A.

"Somebody -- USC or UCLA -- has always got to be good. They're always going to be picked at the top of the conference, no matter what kind of talent they have. We'll see who has the best defensive line on Saturday."

For the record, USC and Washington State finished 1-2 in Pac-10 Conference rush defense last year -- sixth and eighth nationally. In quarterback sacks, the Cougars led the conference and USC was fourth.

Both teams are strong again in those categories, which are the stats most germane to defensive-line play. The Cougars lead the Pac-10 with an allowance of 68 rushing yards per game, and USC ranks second at 80. In sacks, the Cougars lead the league with 31, one ahead of the Trojans.

Each team boasts a Nigerian-American defensive end who ranks among the conference leaders in sacks: Kenechi Udeze of USC is second with 8 1/2 and D.D. Acholonu of Washington State is fourth at 7 1/2.

Both D-lines have nicknames. USC's unit is called "The Wild Bunch II," a sequel to the Trojans' 1969 defensive front. The Cougars call themselves "The Firm."

FIRST OF ITS KIND? -- Washington State publicists, though they haven't researched the issue exhaustively, believe this game will be the first regular-season matchup of two top-10 teams in school history. The Cougars are ranked sixth in both major national polls and USC is No. 3.

Bowl games are a different matter. In the Rose Bowl following the 1997 season, the Cougars were ranked eighth and Michigan was No. 1. In the most recent Rose Bowl, the Cougars were No. 7 and Oklahoma was one spot behind.

REST FOR KEGEL -- Battered WSU quarterback Matt Kegel spent most of Tuesday's wind-tossed practice in a spectator role, allowing backup Josh Swogger to get extensive work.

"I've got sore shoulders," Kegel said. "The more consecutive days I have to rest, the better they're going to get. I can't afford to be missing three days of practice a week. But today was a day when Josh Swogger got better. He needed those reps going into a big game like this. I'll be back tomorrow."

The Cougars practiced outdoors despite blustery winds that made passing difficult.

Kegel partially dislocated his throwing shoulder three weeks ago and played last week with a dislocated left shoulder as well.

NO CHANGE OF VENUE -- The game Saturday is still scheduled for L.A. Memorial Coliseum, despite raging wildfires in southern California. The Cougars are somewhat concerned about their travel itinerary Friday, but the fires are expected to abate by then.

ABC plans to televise the 4 p.m. game on a regional basis, with WSU graduate Keith Jackson as play-by-play announcer.

HEALING NERVES -- Washington State offensive linemen Sam Lightbody and Mike Shelford have been cleared to play after recovering from pinched nerves. Lightbody is expected to resume his starting role at right tackle, and Shelford may relieve Nick Mihlhauser at center. That would allow Mihlhauser to spell the heavily worked Billy Knotts at right guard.

10 ON 11 -- The back injury sustained last week by Troy Bienemann, who is listed as doubtful, hurts the Cougars on a number of fronts. He is their starting tight end, their third-leading receiver and their snapper for punts.

He retained his snapping duties against Oregon State last week, and was allowed to jog off the field after each punt rather than help with coverage. His injury will surely be noticed on video by USC coaches, who probably won't bother blocking him. So he may be replaced in his snapping role by Riley Fitt-Chappell or Adam West.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 10/30/03

Following Doba's lead?; Offensive coordinator waiting for late-career opportunity like one extended Cougar coach

If Bill Doba continues to make a smooth transition to his head-coaching role at Washington State, one wonders if doors will creak open for other longtime assistants who wouldn't mind calling the shots at a major-college football program.

One of the first names to come to mind is that of Norm Chow, the USC offensive coordinator whose credentials appear especially bright at the moment.

Not only did Carson Palmer last year became the second quarterback under Chow's guidance to win a Heisman Trophy, Palmer's successor, Matt Leinart, is developing far more quickly than observers outside the USC program expected.

Chow, 57, will match wits with Doba and the Cougars' defensive staff Saturday at Los Angeles, as one of numerous sub-themes in a Pac-10 Conference game between the nationally third-ranked Trojans and sixth-ranked Washington State.

Having passed the 30-year mark as a collegiate assistant coach, Chow has paid even more dues than Doba, 63, who spent a quarter-century as an aide until becoming the Cougar boss this year.

USC coach Pete Carroll, who hired Chow two years ago, has called him "arguably the best offensive coordinator in the history of college football, certainly in terms of championships and wins and people he has coached."

Carroll was referring not only to 1990 Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, but to several other quarterbacks who put up dizzying numbers during Chow's 27-year stay at Brigham Young, including Jim McMahon, Steve Sarkisian and Steve Young.

Chow may get a head-coaching job soon. He withdrew his name from a search at Kentucky last year, and last week was mentioned as a candidate at Duke.

In a phone interview Wednesday, he said he hasn't noticed a great deal of "ageism" in football. Yet for every Bill Doba who finally gets a chance to run a program, Chow can name a hundred assistants who never did -- who waited years for a boss to retire then watched the school make an outside hire. And now they're building houses or something.

"Profiling" of various types does exist in the sport. Chow sees it in the NFL, which he calls the "cover-your-butt league." For example, a scout might be reluctant to recommend a 5-foot-10 quarterback out of fear of looking eccentric if the player fails.

"It's the reason you don't see a Doug Flutie make it big," Chow said. "No one is willing to take the chance, because he doesn't want to get labeled as a guy who can't figure out what's going on."

At BYU, Chow became known as one of the prime developers of the West Coast offense, which strives for ball control using short and intermediate passes.

It's no longer revolutionary -- Chow implies it never was -- but it initially met resistance at USC, where "ball control" historically means handing off repeatedly to a Marcus Allen or an O.J. Simpson.

"I don't think they were ready, because there's so much tradition here, so much history to this place," Chow said. "Every time there's change, there's going to be resistance."

Chow and Carroll started slowly, going 6-5 in their first year with the Trojans in 2001, then watched the pieces fall into place midway through last season. The logic of Chow's offense seemed to crystallize overnight for Palmer, who transformed from an error-prone quarterback to a Heisman winner and a No. 1 draft choice. The Trojans went 10-2 and won the Orange Bowl.

Leinart, a sophomore, is adapting sooner. He leads the Pac-10 in pass efficiency, and the Trojans are averaging 40 points and 444 yards per game, both No. 1 in the conference. In time, publicists may include Leinart on the growing list of Chow's hard-to-define accomplishments.

Not that Chow is fretting about this head-coaching question. "Think about it," he said. "There are nine assistants and only one guy gets to be head coach. Your chances of improving in our profession are one in nine. So why worry about it?"

As a man of Chinese descent who grew up in Hawaii, Chow may be facing an obstacle that Doba never had to face.

With the increasing number of Asian Pacific athletes in college football, one would expect a corresponding increase in Asian Pacific coaches. Reportedly, though, no member of that ethnic group has ever been head football or basketball coach at a major college.

Has Chow encountered profiling in that sense? Yes, he said, and it's been expressed in no uncertain terms.

"It just blows you away," he said. "It absolutely blows you away."

Lewiston Tribune Online - 10/31/03

Kegel undaunted by aura of Coliseum

Matt Kegel remembers the buff white horse that circles the field before the game. He remembers the strange juxtaposition of tradition (inside the stadium) and squalor (inside the locker rooms).

He seems to attach no symbolic importance to any of it -- which may be a point in Washington State's favor Saturday when the Cougars play at L.A. Memorial Coliseum.

If there are several reasons for them to be nervous about their weighty game against USC, the history of the Trojans' stadium isn't among them. And that probably wasn't true during the 40-year span when the Cougars went winless and generally feckless against USC in Los Angeles.

Since 1997, they are undefeated against Troy at the Coliseum -- a grand 2-0, thanks in part to Kegel's extended family. His cousin Ryan Leaf was quarterback when the Cougars won 28-21 in '97 and Kegel himself led Washington State to a 33-27 win three years ago.

The latter game carried no postseason implications for either team, but it was memorable from a WSU angle because it was Kegel's first start.

With a blithe precocity, the freshman had taken the helm after Jason Gesser's season-ending leg injury. And although he completed only 12 of 32 passes, for 242 yards and a touchdown, he directed the offense with surprising aplomb for a lad of 20, approximately one-fourth the age of the stadium.

His awareness of the Coliseum's history was vague, though he knew the track events of the 1984 Olympics had been staged there. He remembers being impressed by Traveler the Trojan horse, and "just the feel of the Coliseum."

"I remember that big ol' muscle-bound horse coming out," he said this week. "It's not a great place to play football. The field isn't great and the locker rooms are terrible. But the prestige of it makes it great."

For the next three years, while Kegel continued his apprenticeship under Gesser, that win over USC was the most visible feather in his cap. In the face of shaky performances in two Apple Cups, as a starter in 2000 and as a late-game replacement in 2002, he could draw on this debut performance in Los Angeles as a source of credibility with his teammates. Now a senior, he is 8-2 as a starter.

"I remember he got hit and came to the sidelines with a nosebleed -- I mean, he was tough," WSU senior Josh Shavies said of Kegel in the USC game. "He played like he was a veteran quarterback, and hopefully we'll get that same intensity this weekend."

There was one thing Kegel, unlike his predecessors, didn't have to deal with -- the weight of four decades of Cougar futility in Los Angeles. For that, he was indebted to his cousin, who had thrown for 355 yards in the Cougars' exhilarating victory in 1997, which ended a 15-game losing streak in road games against USC, dating to 1957.

Leaf was in attendance at the Coliseum when Kegel made his starting debut, and the cousins continue to speak weekly by phone. But Leaf has since retired from the National Football League, and has largely detached himself from the sport. A financial consultant in San Diego, he recently bought two racehorses (presumably not white) and has been touring the country with them.

The cousins grew up in Montana, but this interest in horses seems to have sprung from the blue. "When you have that much money, you can do whatever you want," Kegel said. "He felt like buying a racehorse, maybe after watching 'Seabiscuit.' "

Even before the USC game in 2000, Leaf's advice to his cousin had little to do with X's and O's. "Ryan doesn't help me with football," Kegel said. "His support is important to me, but football -- I tend to do that on my own, and with coaches."

So what did allow Kegel to approach that game so calmly? For one thing, USC was stumbling toward a 5-7 record that would cost coach Paul Hackett his job, and the Trojans were exuding far less mystique than their stadium.

"They weren't very good that year, fortunately," Kegel said. "They'd won only three or four games, and the coach got fired after we beat them down there. Coach (Mike) Price helped me out. I was prepared for that game. We had struggled that year, but in that game I had a lot people make plays for me. That's what I remember."

The setting is clearly different this time. The Trojans are ranked third in the country, the Cougars are sixth, and both teams harbor ambitions of conference and national titles.

For once, these facts are more relevant than the trappings of Memorial Coliseum, which in any case will be demystified by the Cougars' familiarity with it: They staged their workouts there last December as they prepared for the Rose Bowl.

"It won't feel like a second home, but we've played there, we've practiced there and we're comfortable there," Shavies said.

The Cougars are also keenly aware that this game is merely the first of a series of critical games for them. Their next opponent, for example, is UCLA, which shares the top suite with the Cougars in the conference standings.

"Why blow this game out of proportion?" Kegel said.

Why indeed?

Lewiston Tribune Online - 11/01/03

Cougars look for sanctuary in L.A.; WSU hopes newfound comfort on the road eases task against No.3 Trojans

LOS ANGELES -- Not so long ago, this almost annual trip to southern California would drive the Cougars to distraction, to put the matter literally.

Many of Washington State's players, then and now, grew up in the Los Angeles area. So you could pretty much count on Jim Walden, or later Mike Price, to fret amusingly about the army of doting relatives who would appear on Friday evenings at the team's hotel and, with all the best intentions, throw the Cougars' mental preparation out the window.

This week, however, somebody asked Price's successor as head coach, Bill Doba, why Washington State has played better on the road than at home in recent seasons, and his surprising answer was, "Maybe fewer distractions."

After years of trial and error, the Cougars seem to have learned to cope with these rather predictable road distractions. That should ease their otherwise formidable task today when they play USC in what is believed to be the first regular-season matchup of top-10 teams in WSU history.

The third-ranked Trojans (7-1, 3-1) and sixth-ranked Cougars (7-1, 4-0) kick off at 4 p.m. at L.A. Memorial Coliseum in a game that should play a pivotal role in the Pac-10 Conference title race.

Oddly, it's the home-game distractions that are giving Washington State pause these days, chiefly because they are less familiar. They are partly related to the program's recent rise in prestige. The Cougars have more fans, more friends, more visiting relatives who want tickets.

They have more recruits, too. Schools in general are hastening their recruiting process, scheduling campus visits for home-game weekends rather than after the season. The Cougars in particular have watched their datebook fill up more quickly, since their back-to-back bowl appearances give them more cachet with these high-school stars. That means WSU coaches must take time to welcome larger bunches of the visitors, and more current players must serve as hosts.

"By the time the season is over," Doba said, "75 or 80 percent of the kids have selected a school. So your weekend at home is really packed. You're picking up recruits on Friday night and Saturday morning, meeting with them afterward, arranging for hosts. It used to be done in December and January."

But if home-game distractions are the price a team pays for success, the Cougars will gladly pay.

Meanwhile, they seem to find release on the highway. For whatever reason, they have won 10 of their last 11 conference road games. At one point, their increased focus seemed related to the leadership of Jason Gesser, but now it's continuing under new quarterback Matt Kegel. "I love playing away," he said.

The Cougars' level of preparation is evident in their quick starts. In their first four road games this season, all against major-college teams, they have led by an aggregate 87-18 at halftime, which would have been unimaginable in times past.

Even their one loss, at Notre Dame, was a failing of late-game moxie, not of preparation. They led 19-3 at halftime. Later they went up 20-6 in the first quarter at Colorado, 38-2 by halftime at Oregon and 7-0 at Stanford.

These games in L.A. are a slightly different animal, since about 25 members of the WSU roster are from southern California. (None of their families, by the way, appears to be affected by the wildfires that are devastating much of the area.) Yet the Cougars are 3-1 on the road against UCLA and USC since 1997.

Before these games, coaches send letters to L.A. parents, asking them to "respect the kids' privacy" at certain hours, Doba said. It also helps that Washington State's starting lineup includes nine seniors on defense and six on offense. Older teams generally play better on the road.

Today, something must give. The Cougars own the Pac-10's longest streak of conference road wins (six), but USC boasts the longest string of conference home victories (eight). The Trojans have outscored their opponents 140-71 at the Coliseum this season, and they are almost two-touchdown favorites today.

If the Cougars happen to buck these odds, they will play UCLA next week in Pullman for the conference lead -- hoping, no doubt, they'll be distracted to high heaven.

NOTES -- In choosing a target for his passes today, Kegel may not look as intently as usual at the tight-end position. Starter Troy Bienemann stayed home with a back injury and backup Cody Boyd is playing with a dislocated finger. ... The Cougars hope Sam Lightbody's return from a pinched nerve will stabilize their offensive line, which continued to sputter last week in a win over Oregon State. ... For USC, Dallas Sartz will replace Matt Grootegoed as a starting linebacker, though the latter's sore ankle may allow him to play.

Cougfan.com - Posted Nov 1, 2003

Nightmare at Troy
Trojans, Zebras too much for Cougs

By JOHN C. WITTER
A CF.C Commentary

THREE THINGS WERE crystal clear in Southern Cal's 43-16 victory over Washington State today: The Trojans are one helluva team, Cougar quarterback Matt Kegel is tough as hell, and Pac-10 officiating has gone to hell.

As a wise man once said, games are won or lost in the trenches. No. 3 ranked Southern Cal used that formula to perfection against No.6 WSU, pounding Kegel for most of four quarters and keeping their own signal-caller, Matt Leinart, relatively safe.

Kegel, barely among the living with two bum shoulders coming into the day, was knocked out of action temporarily in the second quarter. This time it was his knee, but a little spit and a little mud during intermission was enough to get the tough-as-nails Montana native back onto the field in the second half.

But that same wise man also said (or was it his cousin Vinny?) piss-poor officiating can influence a game as much--or more--as poor blocking, wayward punt snaps, and missed tackles.

How bad was it? So bad that it would've come as no surprise to see a line judge whistling along to that annoying Trojan band or a referee exhange a knowing wink with Tommy Trojan.

Further review will certainly indicate more infractions on the part of this bumbling crew of Pac-10 goodfellas, but it was three obvious miscalls that will have conference commissioner Tom Hansen's inbox full of angry Cougar emails.

Bad calls from Pac-10 officials are coming at an epidemic rate this season, but today's miscues raised the bar on incompetence.

Twice Leinart fumbled after being hit by Cougar defenders and twice Hansen's henchmen inexpicably botched the call. The first was ruled an incomplete forward pass. The second, a fumble caused by blitzing Pat Bennett, was ruled no fumble because Leinart allegedly was down when the ball popped out. Both of these loose balls were recovered by WSU. The first errant call led to a Trojan field goal, and the second deprived the Cougars a prime scoring chance because they recovered the ball inside the USC 10 yard line.

The other call that had the Cougar Nation uttering a collective "What the hell?!" took place in the third quarter with the Cougs down by just 12 and holding the ball on the Troy 18. A Trojan defensive lineman was obviously in the neutral zone when WSU center Mike Shelford snapped the ball. Further, the USC defender may have even made contact with Shelford as he was snapping the ball. The snap was fumbled by the Cougs, but no worries, it was an obvious dead ball foul against the defense, right? Not with this group of striped Sopranos. Trojans' ball and, as it would turn out, game over.

Did this inept officiating change the outcome of today's contest? Hard to say. But there is no doubt it influenced it in a way that belies the final score.

Sour grapes? For sure. But lest you think I'm blind to the talent that is USC, or the missed tackles, or the head-scratching play of the Cougar offensive line, I assure you, I'm not. (Nor am I blind to their miscall on the Cougs' final score.)

And while I'm always heartbroken by a Cougar loss, I'm disappointed over this one for all the wrong reasons.

We--Trojans and Cougars, alike--wanted to watch the best the Pac-10 had to offer--two of the top 10 teams in the nation-- go head-to-head today. We didn't need the guys in stripes getting in the way.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 11/02/03

USC smokes Cougs; Third-ranked Trojans pound Wazzu, take control of the Rose Bowl race

DALE GRUMMERT LOS ANGELES -- As Keary Colbert neared the goal line after catching a pass midway through the fourth quarter, he sensed linebacker Scott Davis diving for his feet, and he suddenly kicked his legs upward, one after the other, in a manner that suggested Traveler, the USC horse.

This little burst of electricity was striking, because it seemed far beyond anything Washington State could muster this late in the game, this far into their comeuppance.

The Cougars met their match Saturday evening, failing to counter USC's powerful and deceptive line play in a 43-16 decision that creates a three-way tie atop the Pac-10 Conference standings.

The nationally third-ranked Trojans (8-1, 4-1) bolstered their hopes for a national title while dealing the final blow to those of sixth-ranked Washington State (7-2, 4-1). The Cougars must now focus strictly on a Pac-10 race whose complexion had changed earlier Saturday with UCLA's first conference loss.

In terms of rankings and implications, this was one of the most prestigious regular-season games in Washington State history, and the Cougars held their own for three quarters, trailing 29-16 early in the fourth.

They followed a season-long pattern of strong defense, mistake-marred offense and bursts of effective passing. But the Trojans were clearly superior to any of their previous opponents.

"USC is a great team," WSU defensive tackle Jeremey Williams said. "They're solid on both sides of the ball. I wouldn't be surprised if they're in the Sugar Bowl."

The Sugar Bowl in New Orleans will decide the national title Jan. 4.

The USC defensive line more than lived up to its lofty billing, collecting five quarterback sacks and 12 tackles for losses as the Trojans held Washington State to negative-25 rushing yards.

Cougars center Mike Shelford, who took the field in the second quarter after being sidelined for more than a month with a bruised nerve, said the USC front four kept the Cougars off-balance by repeatedly changing their tactics.

"Once we got used to one thing, they'd start coming with something else," he said. "They had so many twists and mixes and blitzes. They pretty much kept pressure on us the whole time."

Actually, the blitzes were infrequent. All five of USC's sacks came from defensive linemen: two by Kenechi Udeze and one each by Omar Nazel, Mike Patterson and Shaun Cody.

"We really did count on them," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "These guys really did a great job. It's the best way to play ball, when you can rush four guys and mix the defenses."

The Cougars' most critical mistake occurred midway through the third quarter, when Shelford snapped the ball before Matt Kegel was ready, causing a fumble recovered by USC's Jason Leach at the USC 19-yard line.

That snuffed a WSU threat that might have cut the difference to five points. Instead, the Trojans marched 81 yards for a 29-10 lead on Matt Leinart's 13-yard pass to Mike Williams.

Kegel and Shelford both said they thought USC had jumped offsides before the fumble, and that may have caused the communication lapse.

"I thought I heard Kegel say go, and I snapped it," Shelford said. "It was my fault."

The Cougars struck back with a 72-yard drive capped by Jermaine Green's 1-yard TD plunge.

But their next possession ended with another Kegel fumble, on a fourth-down sack by Cody.

Not much later, Colbert scored on his horse-evoking 13-yard catch-and-kick. It was followed by the real USC horse, which circles the field after every Trojan touchdown -- five times on this day.

"They'll have to get a new horse," WSU coach Bill Doba said. "They about wore that one out."

For Kegel, who threw for 291 yards, this was probably the most excruciating in a sequence of painful games. He left the game for two second-quarter possessions with a sprained knee, and was repeatedly hit after releasing the ball.

He completed all six of his passes in a 72-yard drive midway through the first half, hitting Devard Darling for a 5-yard score and a 7-3 lead.

But the rest of the half was a struggle. The Cougars sorely missed Troy Bienemann, the deep-snapper who had stayed in Pullman with a back injury. His replacement in that role, sophomore Riley Fitt-Chappell, whisked two snaps over Kyle Basler's head in the second quarter, giving USC a safety and setting up Ryan Killeen's second field goal of the game.

Then came Kegel's injury on a sack by Omar Nazel.

By this time, the Cougars were thankful for whatever crumbs they could gather, most notably Drew Dunning's 49-yard field goal, which almost grazed the cross bar as it blooped over. Their 15-10 halftime deficit seemed like a triumph.

It was short-lived.

Washington State                    0        10        0        6        --16
Southern California                  3        12      14      14        --43

First Quarter
USC--FG Killeen 30, 6:19.

Second Quarter
WSU--Darling 5 pass from Kegel (Dunning kick), 14:57.
USC--Dennis 24 run (Killeen kick), 10:35.
USC--Team safety, 9:26.
USC--FG Killeen 21, 5:31.
WSU--FG Dunning 49, 3:09.

Third Quarter
USC--Smith 55 pass from Leinart (Killeen kick), 8:57.
USC--Williams 13 pass from Leinart (Killeen kick), 3:58.

Fourth Quarter
WSU--Green 1 run (pass failed), 12:25.
USC--Colbert 13 pass from Leinart (Killeen kick), 7:22.
USC--White 3 run (Killeen kick), 2:55.

A--82,478.

                                        WSU                    USC

First downs                         22                        20
Rushes-yards                  30(-25)                 31-222
Passing                               345                       214
Comp-Att-Int                 34-57-1                18-32-0
Return Yards                        40                       42
Punts-Avg.                         3-40                     3-51
Fumbles-Lost                      4-3                       2-0
Penalties-Yards               15-115                    5-52
Time of Possession            34:26                    25:34

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Washington St., Smith 10-20, Coleman 1-13, Green 4-8, Bruhn 2-7, Swogger 1-5, Lunde 1-2, Kegel 9-(minus 16), team 2-(minus 64). USC, White 12-149, Dennis 7-53, Bush 7-15, Williams 2-9, Leinart 2-(minus 2), Hancock 1-(minus 2).

PASSING--Washington St., Kegel 28-47-1-291, Swogger 6-10-0-54. USC, Leinart 17-31-0-191, Williams 1-1-0-23.

RECEIVING--Washington St., Lunde 10-117, Darling 7-81, Boyd 5-49, Harvey 4-28, Moore 2-29, Martin 2-19, Jordan 2-12, Smith 2-10. USC, Colbert 9-80, Williams 4-43, Smith 2-60, Guenther 2-26, Hancock 1-5.

I had a discussion with a long-time Cougar freind, Rich W in dallas regarding how far the Cougs would drop in the polls because of this loss. He thought it would be to #15 or so. He explained that no one knows who the Cougs are, so they tend to climb slowly and drop quickly. Rich offers this headline as testimony to his theory.

*********

The Star Telegram (Dallas-Ft.Worth, TX) - Posted on Sun, Nov. 02, 2003

Trojans too much for Huskies By Josh Dubow The Associated Press LOS ANGELES - Matt Leinart, LenDale White and the rest of the Southern California Trojans showed there's no doubt who is the best team in the West. Now they hope to have a chance to show they're tops in the nation as well. Leinart threw three touchdown passes, White ran for 149 yards on 12 carries and No. 3 Southern Cal smothered sixth-ranked Washington State 43-16 Saturday. "It was a great night," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "All kinds of guys made special plays. It was really a fun night of football." In what was billed as one of the biggest Pac-10 games in years, USC (8-1, 4-1) used its big-play ability to break open a close game in the second half. The Trojans, fourth in the BCS standings, must hope the dominant victory impressed the poll voters and computers that help determine the top two teams in the country to play for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl. They got a big boost when No. 2 Miami lost 31-7 to Virginia Tech, leaving Oklahoma as the only major undefeated team. "We don't want to focus on that," Leinart said. "We just have to keep winning and let those other things fall into place." Leinart threw for 191 yards, Mike Williams caught a TD pass and threw a spectacular pass of his own and Hershel Dennis scored on a 24-yard run as USC scored at least 40 points for a school-record fourth consecutive game. The Trojans moved into a tie for first in the conference with the Cougars (7-2, 4-1) and UCLA. The Trojans had too many offensive options for the Pac-10's top defense to handle. Keary Colbert had nine catches for 80 yards and a touchdown and freshman Steve Smith started off the second half with a 55-yard touchdown catch that made it 22-10. "We're playing the best football we've ever played," defensive lineman Omar Nazel said. "Our offense is amazing to watch. Compared to last year we might be better." Williams also had the most memorable play of the game. He took a lateral from Leinart in the left flat and tried to pass but nobody was open. Williams then scrambled across the field, sidestepped a defender and hit a wide-open Gregg Guenther for a 23-yard gain. Leinart then hit Williams on a 13-yard slant to make it 29-10. Ryan Killeen's 30-yard field goal opened the scoring for USC on a drive aided by three penalties. Carroll said this year's team is even better than the one Carson Palmer led to a 11-2 record and Orange Bowl win last season. "We're a much more balanced team," he said. "Our guys up front can really come off the football and create space for the running game." BREAKDOWN WHY SOUTHERN CAL WON A balanced offense helped key the easy victory. Matt Leinart threw three touchdown passes and LeDale White rushed for 149 yards on 12 carries. WHY WASHINGTON STATE LOST The Cougars finished with minus-25 yards rushing -- although they would have had 29 except for two botched punt snaps in the first half. Their 15 penalties for 115 yards didn't help either. NOTABLE • The Trojans won their 13th consecutive home game and moved into a tie for first in the Pacific-10 with the Cougars and UCLA. • USC is off to its best start since opening 10-0 in 1988. The only blemish came Sept. 27 in a 34-31 triple-overtime loss at California. No. 3 USC 43 No. 6 Washington St. 16 Washington St. 0 10 0 6--16 USC 3 12 14 14--43 First Quarter USC--FG Killeen 30, 6:19. Second Quarter WSU--Darling 5 pass from Kegel (Dunning kick), 14:57. USC--Dennis 24 run (Killeen kick), 10:35. USC--Team safety, 9:26. USC--FG Killeen 21, 5:31. WSU--FG Dunning 49, 3:09. Third Quarter USC--Smith 55 pass from Leinart (Killeen kick), 8:57. USC--Williams 13 pass from Leinart (Killeen kick), 3:58. Fourth Quarter WSU--Green 1 run (pass failed), 12:25. USC--Colbert 13 pass from Leinart (Killeen kick), 7:22. USC--White 3 run (Killeen kick), 2:55. A--82,478.   WSU USC First downs 22 20 Rushes-yards 30(-25) 31-222 Passing 345 214 Comp-Att-Int 34-57-1 18-32-0 Return Yards 40 42 Punts-Avg. 3-40 3-51 Fumbles-Lost 4-3 2-0 Penalties-Yards 15-115 5-52 Time of Possession 34:26 25:34 Individual statistics Rushing -- Washington St., Smith 10-20, Coleman 1-13, Green 4-8, Bruhn 2-7, Swogger 1-5, Lunde 1-2, Kegel 9-(minus 16), team 2-(minus 64). USC, White 12-149, Dennis 7-53, Bush 7-15, Williams 2-9, Leinart 2-(minus 2), Hancock 1-(minus 2). Passing -- Washington St., Kegel 28-47-1-291, Swogger 6-10-0-54. USC, Leinart 17-31-0-191, Williams 1-1-0-23. Receiving -- Washington St., Lunde 10-117, Darling 7-81, Boyd 5-49, Harvey 4-28, Moore 2-29, Martin 2-19, Jordan 2-12, Smith 2-10. USC, Colbert 9-80, Williams 4-43, Smith 2-60, Guenther 2-26, Hancock 1-5.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 11/03/03

MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: DALE GRUMMERT ... Angelenos savor a return to form

LOS ANGELES -- It has been a recurring theme of Washington State's conference football season that its opponents, directly or indirectly, have experienced some type of jarring or unusual event in the days preceding the game. The backdrop has never been quite routine.

Two days before the Cougars played Oregon, the Ducks were declared "dazzling" on the cover of Sports Illustrated, only to lose four of their next five games.

Seven days prior to the Cougars' game against Arizona, the Wildcats fired their coach.

Three days before WSU faced Oregon State, the Beavers learned of the death of a well-loved former coach, Dee Andros, whose name is synonymous with the school's football program.

And a week before the Cougars' game at USC on Saturday, wildfires in southern California began a wide-ranging assault that would kill 20 and destroy more than 3,400 homes.

USC players and coaches were perhaps not deeply affected by the fires. Yet no one who lives here could fail to be touched by them, if only because smoke from the blazes spread for hundreds of miles. As residents describe it, you couldn't walk down Melrose Avenue without eyes and throat stinging.

"There are some hurting people out this way," USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow said Wednesday. "It makes you realize football is just a game."

By the time the Cougars arrived in town Friday, on the late afternoon of Halloween, temperatures had fallen and most of the smoke in the city had cleared. In the outlying areas, however, firefighters continued their exhausting campaign.

Then, around 8 p.m., it started to rain -- lightly at first and then more briskly. Within 30 minutes, it was falling in grand unremitting torrents, as if in answer to a multitude of prayers. Traffic on the freeways was snarled. Trick-or-treaters cut short their rounds. The costumed zanies on Sunset Boulevard were doused.

And everyone seemed to realize the implications: The worst was over. When the downpour subsided a bit, there was a new bounce in people's step. One imagined Gene Kelly hoofing down Vine Street. "What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again."

The next day, the sun returned and the city seemed refreshed.

I have no idea how all this affected USC's Homecoming football game that afternoon and evening, before 82,478 at L.A. Memorial Coliseum, if indeed it affected it at all.

I can only say that USC played with sense and vigor and its fans responded joyfully.

The Cougars, in losing 43-16 and being eliminated from the national title race, played a fairly typical game for them -- through three quarters anyway.

Their defense mustered more stubbornness than their offense deserved. Their linemen hopped offsides with uncanny regularity.

Their passing game produced moments of brilliance and moments of remarkable toughness. Receivers Scott Lunde and Devard Darling clung to their middle-of-the-field catches like hunters caught in a blizzard.

The backup punt-snapper, no doubt adrenaline-charged for this matchup of top-10 teams in a nearly packed stadium, is probably kicking himself for whipping two snaps over Kyle Basler's head. But he perhaps remembers that the injured teammate he replaced had made the same mistake last year at Ohio State.

The difference was USC. By leaps and bounds, this was the best team the Cougars had played this year.

The blend of power and speed embodied by receiver Mike Williams, the alarming jukes of Reggie Bush, the bursts of power by Herschel Dennis and LenDale White, the quick release of quarterback Matt Leinart, and especially the irrepressible pass-rush of USC's defensive linemen -- these were things the Cougars hadn't experienced since their last visit to this area, against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl last January.

It was the sort of performance that USC fans once expected as a matter of course, after winning eight national titles during a 50-year span ending in 1978. Now, after a decade of fluctuating fortunes, the Trojans have the talent and the opportunity to win another.

Beating the Cougars, odd as it may have once seemed, was a big step in that direction. Trojan fans watched it happen with what seemed a new appreciation, with little trace of their old hauteur. They did Washington State the favor of looking rather apprehensive before the game, and buoyant afterward.

One couldn't help feeling glad for them. USC has won a lot of football games and perhaps isn't in desperate need of another.

Yet this region needs all the consolation it can get.

NOTES -- Matt Kegel underwent an MRI on his sprained right knee Sunday, and coach Bill Doba expects the quarterback to be ready for the Cougars' home game against UCLA at 4 p.m. Saturday. Tight end Cody Boyd is doubtful with a hip bruise and linebacker Al Genatone is questionable with an ankle injury. Doba expects to have the services of tight end and long-snapper Troy Bienemann, who missed the USC game with a back injury.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 11/04/03

Cougs tumble to 15th in BCS

Tribune and wire reports Washington State's loss was USC's gain.

The Cougars tumbled to No. 15 in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings Monday, two days after their loss to USC, which climbed to No. 2.

So the Trojans have a clear path to the Sugar Bowl, thanks in part to Miami's first regular-season loss in more than three years.

The Trojans trail only unanimous No. 1 Oklahoma.

"I suspect that this ranking shows the respect people have for our program and the way we're playing," Trojans coach Pete Carroll said. "We hope to continue to play like we have. If we do, good things will happen."

The Sooners (9-0), the only undefeated team from a major conference, got every first-place vote in the polls and was the top pick by all seven computers used in the BCS standings.

The standings are used to determine which teams play in a national title game. The teams that finish 1-2 in the final BCS standings on Dec. 7 will play for the championship in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.

The formula uses the AP media and USA Today/ESPN coaches' polls, seven computer rankings, strength of schedule, losses and a bonus-point system for quality wins.

The Sooners have a 1.0 for poll average, 1.0 for computer-rank average, 0.24 for strength of schedule and zero for losses for a 2.24 total. USC was second with 7.02 points.

The Trojans (8-1) are off this week and close the seasons with three unranked teams: Arizona, UCLA and Oregon State.

"Our focus is on the remaining three games we have on our schedule," Carroll said. "I don't pay much attention to the polls and the predictions and all that. And I really don't fully understand the mechanisms of how the BCS rankings are determined."

Miami fell two spots to No. 4 with 10.26 points following a 31-7 loss to Virginia Tech that snapped a 39-game regular-season winning streak. Florida State remained in third place with 9.52.

If Oklahoma wins its remaining three regular season games and the Big 12 title game, it is guaranteed one of the two spots in the Sugar Bowl. The other spot is still up for grabs, although USC has the inside track.

"I've got enough problems without having to worry about anybody else," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said.

Following Miami are the other three major one-loss teams: Ohio State (11.47), Virginia Tech (12.47) and LSU (14.92).

Despite falling to sixth in the AP poll and seventh in the coaches' poll, Miami remained in second place among the computers with a 2.83 average.

"If we win the games, we're going to be fine," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "We'll be where we want to be."

TCU, major college football's only other undefeated team, moved up three spots to No. 9. The Horned Frogs are hurt by having the 98th toughest schedule out of 117 teams.

TCU will need to be in the top 12 to be eligible for one of the lucrative BCS games and the top six to guarantee a bid. There has been pressure from schools outside the big six conferences to improve access to the BCS bowls -- Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose.

The BCS was started five years ago to create a national title game without playoffs. Champions of six conferences -- the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC -- qualify for a BCS game, and two at-large teams are selected to fill out the field.

The BCS standings will be released each week for the remainder of the season.

The seven computer rankings are operated by Anderson & Hester, Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, The New York Times, Jeff Sagarin's USA Today and Peter Wolfe.

Next up ... UCLA