Lewiston Tribune Online - 11/18/03

WSU opens bowls tickets to public

PULLMAN -- Tickets for Washington State's bowl game -- whatever it may be -- will go on sale to the general public at 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to a news release Monday.

The school will offer tickets to any of four bowls -- Rose, Fiesta, Holiday and Sun -- and buyers may request varying numbers of tickets for each game.

"As an example, a fan can order four tickets to the Rose Bowl, two tickets to the Holiday Bowl, two to the Fiesta Bowl, and six to the Sun Bowl," associate athletic director Pete Isakson said in the release. "If we earn the right to play in the Rose Bowl, that fan will only be billed for the four Rose Bowl tickets they ordered. All other orders will be discarded."

The Cougars won't know their bowl fate until Dec. 7. They are probably headed to either the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1 or the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 30.

The school said ticket-buyers may order via credit card by calling 1-800-462-6847 or 1-800-325-7328 or order on-line at www.ticketswest.com.

Isakson said a confirming e-mail or postal notice will be sent to each person placing an order.

Tickets will be sent to home addresses Dec. 18, with arrival no later than Dec. 23, Isakson said.

Donors, alumni and others who own "priority points" were mailed ticket order forms several weeks ago.

Seattle Times

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/08/03

Do-si-do: Cougars wind up with Texas

PULLMAN -- Washington State football coaches have been too busy harping on fundamentals to spend much time game-planning for the Holiday Bowl.

Which is just as well.

The Cougars aren't playing the team they thought they would play.

With the upheaval of the bowl picture caused by Kansas State's upset of Oklahoma, the Cougars learned Sunday their opponent in the Holiday Bowl at San Diego on Dec. 30 will be Texas.

Until then, Nebraska had been the most likely candidate. The Cornhuskers will instead play Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl.

Washington State coach Bill Doba said the Cougars had exchanged scouting video with Nebraska but hadn't spent much time studying it.

Returning to practice last Friday after two weeks off, the Cougars (9-3) have placed an emphasis on fundamentals and working with younger players. Even now that they know their opponent, they won't dive into game preparation when they resume practices late this week.

"If you start too soon, your kids get stale," Doba said. "We need to sharpen our base offensively and defensively, and start instituting our game plan at the end of next week."

Washington State quarterback Matt Kegel continues to be bothered by his sprained throwing shoulder, and is scheduled for an MRI Tuesday to check for cartilage damage. Suspended tailback Jermaine Green hasn't returned to the team and isn't expected to play in the bowl.

The Cougars had envisioned playing a Nebraska team ranked in the 20's and reeling from the dismissal of coach Frank Solich. Instead they will play the Longhorns, ranked fifth by the Associated Press and sixth in the BCS standings.

Doba said he welcomed the switch because playing a higher-rated team might boost his own team's final ranking. "It would probably get us near the top 10 if we can get a good showing or win that ballgame," he said. At the moment, the Cougars are ranked 15th by AP and 16th in the BCS.

The Cougars spent much of their season trying to wrest their second straight Rose Bowl berth. Their loss to Washington on Nov. 22 evidently knocked them out of contention for that honor, and the BCS shuffle Sunday means they would have been denied roses anyway: USC took that berth after being denied a spot in the Sugar Bowl, which will determine the national champion.

In any case, Doba suggested his team has fully reconciled itself to San Diego.

"As far as our fans and our kids, I think we'll have a better time, honestly, at the Holiday Bowl," he said. "It's a great city; it's a lot of fun."

He acknowledged, however, the difference in minimum payout: $2 million for the Holiday Bowl compared to $14 million for the Rose.

Meanwhile, did USC get robbed? Doba says yes. "I think they're deserving of that national championship game," he said.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/08/03

Sugar in the tank; BCS faces another brouhaha as top-ranked USC denied berth in Sugar Bowl and shot at national championship

Returning to its customary role on the national landscape as the sport most likely to conclude its season in utter unrest, college football at least did not disappoint those clamoring for a playoff system.

But it did seem to frustrate almost everyone else Sunday.

For all of its past transgressions, the six-year-old Bowl Championship Series may have backed into its biggest blunder yet with the exclusion from its national title game of Southern California, a team ranked No. 1 in both the coaches and the media polls.

The BCS computers, meanwhile, kept Oklahoma No. 1, despite the Sooners' 35-7 collapse against Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game Saturday night. That set up a flawed national title matchup in the Jan. 4 Sugar Bowl against Southeastern Conference champion and No. 2 LSU.

Besides angering USC and the Pac-10 -- the only major conference that has yet to field a team in the championship game -- the BCS system for the second time in three years has placed a team in the title game that failed to win its conference.

The possibility of the season ending with a split national championship is now a very real possibility -- and the type of controversy the BCS was formed to prevent.

In contrast to the days of mythical national champions and under-the-table deals negotiated between bowl games and schools well before the season ended, Big East Commissioner and BCS coordinator Mike Tranghese said the current system still is an improvement.

"I don't want to try to paint a perfect picture, because if you're a USC fan, you're very, very disappointed," Tranghese said. "But in the old system, (USC, LSU and Oklahoma) would have gone to separate bowls, so our system is better."

On the flip side of USC's anger is a return to glory for the Rose Bowl, which has its traditional Big Ten-Pac-10 matchup with USC facing Michigan on New Year's Day in a game with title implications. A Michigan win is the only way to avoid a disputed national championship.

The Big Ten found itself an innocent bystander in still another controversy Sunday, when the Fiesta Bowl opted to exercise a clause in its BCS contract allowing it to bypass ACC champion Florida State and take Big Ten runner-up Ohio State for economic reasons. The Buckeyes will play Big 12 champion Kansas State on Jan. 2 in Tempe, Ariz.

What was implied was that Florida State, a team whose fans do not traditionally travel well to distant bowl games, was not as profitable a pick as the Buckeyes. As a result the Orange Bowl was stuck with a rematch of a regular-season game Oct. 11 between Florida State and Miami, which the Hurricanes won 22-14. The teams also open next season against each other.

"It is what it is," said a seemingly perplexed Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.

In addition to Michigan and Ohio State, six Big Ten teams, including Northwestern, will be playing in bowl games: Purdue vs. Georgia in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando; Iowa vs. Florida in the Outback on Jan. 1 in Tampa; Minnesota vs. Oregon in the Sun on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas; Wisconsin vs. Auburn in the Music City on Dec. 31 in Nashville; Michigan State vs. Nebraska in the Alamo on Dec. 29 in San Antonio, and Northwestern vs. Mid-American Conference runner-up Bowling Green on Dec. 26 in Detroit.

Despite a 10-2 record and national headlines this season, Northern Illinois did not reach the MAC championship game and was left out of the bowl picture. But the Huskies will have to stand in line if they want to complain.

In a statement by Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen, he referred to the 2001 season, when Oregon finished No. 2 in both human polls but was not selected for the national title game. Nebraska, which failed to win its conference title that year, jumped past Oregon and No. 3 Colorado, only to be defeated by No. 1 Miami in the 2002 Rose Bowl.

After the 2000 season Miami was passed over for a title shot by a Florida State team the Hurricanes had defeated in the regular season.

Each year tweaks have been made to the BCS equation, and this year should be no different.

"When we left last year's meeting, we said we didn't want to make any more changes," Tranghese said. "But clearly what happened here will force us to go back and discuss it.

"We don't like to make it more complicated because we're trying to make it more understandable for the public, but if you're a USC fan, it's hard to understand why your team is not in the title game."

From USC coach Pete Carroll's perspective, however, he said his team is viewing the Rose Bowl as the national championship game.

"We're excited about this opportunity and we're going to make the most of it, and the system is what it is," Carroll said. "But there's obviously some kind of a problem there because the No. 1 team in the country isn't playing in that game. But we're still playing for the national championship regardless of what that other bowl is called."

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/11/03

Kegel should be ready to go; Tests reveal no major problem with shoulder of Cougar QB, so he'll likely start in Holiday Bowl

PULLMAN -- Medical tests on Matt Kegel's throwing shoulder showed no major cartilage damage, meaning the Washington State quarterback should be ready for the Holiday Bowl.

The Cougars also learned this week that place-kicker Drew Dunning has been named to an All-America team, and that backup linebacker Aaron Wagner is leaving the team.

Kegel had undergone a magnetic resonance imaging test to determine the cause of a "clicking" in the shoulder. Evidently, the problem isn't serious.

The senior has retained his starting role despite a host of injuries, the most significant being the sprain of his right shoulder Nov. 8. The injury limited his effectiveness in the Cougars' final three regular-season games, and he stepped aside in favor of backup Josh Swogger in the first half each time.

The Cougars (9-3) play Texas at 5 p.m. Dec. 30 in the Holiday Bowl at San Diego.

Washington State freshman receiver Chris Jordan will miss the bowl game as well as spring workouts after seriously injuring a knee in the Cougars' loss to Washington. He is expected to recover in time for next season.

Dunning made the first unit of The Sporting News All-America team, making it three straight years the Cougars have landed a first-teamer on at least one All-America team. The senior kicker converted 27 of 30 field goals this season.

Wagner, the sophomore from Lethbridge, Alberta, who had returned to the Cougars this season after a two-year Mormon mission, now plans to transfer to Brigham Young He had made a minor splash as a Cougar reserve linebacker in 2000, but this season didn't see the amount of playing time he and WSU coaches had expected.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/24/03

What's up with Virgil?; Enigmatic Williams has made inexplicable strides that both please and puzzle Cougars

SAN DIEGO -- He eludes interviews as deftly as a mafioso. He wears his hair in a thicket of coils, often tied into a brushlike ponytail. During a road game last season, then-Stanford wide receiver Teyo Johnson called him an "R&B thug," whatever that means.

It's easy to get the wrong idea about Washington State strong safety Virgil Williams. What exactly is the right idea? That's hard to say, except that he's an increasingly good football player and probably no thug, R&B or otherwise.

Washington State publicists last week distributed bound copies of 2003 press clippings of the Cougars, intended to aid the media covering the team's Holiday Bowl game against Texas next Tuesday. The Cougars' overachieving defense, of course, was well-represented. There were four articles about Jason David, one on Don Jackson, two apiece on D.D. Acholonu, Jeremey Williams and Erik Coleman.

And none on Virgil Williams, whose season stat line includes 54 tackles, four interceptions, three forced fumbles and two sacks.

Why? Not because the school isn't proud of Williams, a once-marginal student who finally, after 5 1/2 years of college, nailed down a degree in sociology last week.

Press clippings of Williams are scarce because interviews of Williams are infrequent. His avoidance of the media isn't programmatic, but it's creative. If he can give a reporter the slip without being openly rude, he will do so. In an age when some athletes spend their free time dreaming up novel publicity stunts, this fast and aggressive defender with apparent NFL potential seems utterly indifferent to his public profile.

In a recent interview, however, Williams was pleasant and humble. His answers were concise, elliptical, real-sounding. If his reticence left certain voids in the conversation, he filled them readily with peels of sympathetic laughter. At one point, WSU quarterback Matt Kegel, evidently on one of his low-key charity missions, entered the room and handed Williams a football to sign.

"Is Virge a hard dude to interview?" Kegel said.

"One of the hardest," the reporter said. This somehow pleased both players, who burst into laughter.

His teammates, his parents, his coaches -- all find Williams a little enigmatic, though most of them can track him down more easily than journalists do.

"I don't really know what makes Virgil tick," WSU secondary coach Ken Greene said, "but he ticks, and he ticks hard. He doesn't say much but he works his rear end off and he's the toughest guy on the field. Intrinsically he's shy, but he's as loyal as they come and I wouldn't trade him for anybody."

Greene has particular reason to be pleased with Williams. Last season, his first as a starter, the safety was reliable but low-profile. Greene, a new member of the WSU coaching staff, preached assertiveness to Williams, who responded by raising his interception total from zero last year to four, his sacks from zero to two, his forced fumbles from one to three.

"Coach stressed big plays," Williams said. "I just needed one, then they started coming. You get that monkey off your back."

Maybe you also shed some of the weirder scraps of opponents' trash-talk. Johnson's "R&B thug" remark last season during WSU's 36-11 win at Stanford, evidently referring to an R. Kelly song of that name, amused some WSU players and irritated others. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard on a football field," then-Cougars defensive tackle Rien Long said later. "We just told (Johnson), in all sorts of colorful ways, 'Get back in your huddle.' "

So puzzled was Williams by the comment that he has adopted it into his own trash-talk repertoire. It's nothing against rhythm 'n' blues, you understand. As a matter of fact, Williams used to like R. Kelly until the singer was charged with 21 counts of child pornography. "I don't mess with R. Kelly no more," he said. "He's nasty." Williams will take his thug-lyricism in Southern rap like Eightball, thanks.

If his reticence and appearance evoke a certain street ethos, he clearly didn't learn this from his parents. His father, Virgil Williams Sr., a former safety for Toledo, is a lieutenant-colonel in the Army and a strict disciplinarian. His wife Mary, studying to be a dental assistant, talks a blue streak and says the contrast between her son and her husband is "night and day." She and the elder Virgil each grew up in a family of nine, in a small town in Ohio. She is white, her husband black, and Virgil is the younger of their two children.

Military assignments prompted the family to move every couple of years. The younger Virgil Williams has lived in Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Virginia, two towns in Germany, Texas again, Michigan, Kansas and finally Tacoma, where he spent the last two years of high school. Since he left for college, the family has made three more moves, and now lives in Pennsylvania.

He was forever "the new kid," and Williams learned to express himself not verbally but on the athletic field, where the language is more or less universal.

After the Holiday Bowl, Williams plans to move to Los Angeles and, while making his bid for an NFL career, he will live with his girlfriend and their almost 2-year-old daughter, McKayla. Meanwhile, according to his roommate, WSU defensive back Alex Teems, a good portion of his monthly scholarship money is sent to L.A.

"I think his daughter is his No. 1 motivation, from what he says in meetings and what he talks about at home," Teems said. "I don't know why she wouldn't be. He's matured a lot. I think his daughter has changed his life around."

College football has been a long haul for Williams. While making a tackle during WSU preseason camp in 1999, he pinched a nerve in the shoulder area. "I knew something was wrong because it felt like I didn't have an arm," he said.

Typically, he tried to ignore the injury and conceal it from coaches. "Sometimes you'd like to slap him upside the head," his mother said, "but I was too far away."

He was sidelined with that pinched nerve for two seasons, before finally launching his comeback last year. Although he was listed as a senior that season, he applied to the NCAA for a medical hardship and a sixth year of eligibility.

The Pac-10 Conference approved the hardship but the NCAA was slow to follow suit. Spring camp came and went.

Mary Williams, living in Hawaii at the time, remembers phoning her son repeatedly in hopes of learning his fate: Was his collegiate career done or would he get another season? If the verdict came, would her son bother to tell her?

In May, she was five or 10 minutes into a routine conversation when he said -- and this was vintage Virgil -- "Oh, by the way. I got my sixth year."

"For the love of God," his mother thought.

NOTES -- The Cougars arrived in San Diego on Tuesday afternoon and were greeted at the airport by about 25 Holiday Bowl personnel. They did a quick walk-through at San Diego State, where they will stage their bowl practices. ... Two backups were on crutches. Nickel back Hamza Abdullah bruised a knee and is listed as probable for the game. Offensive lineman Patrick Afif underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Saturday and is termed questionable.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/25/03

WSU's San Diegans hoping to 'represent'; Cougs' Harvey, Anderson and Thompson are making most of Holiday Bowl venture

SAN DIEGO -- The fates have been less than charitable to the three San Diegans on the Washington State football roster.

Wide receiver Trandon Harvey, one of the San Diego area's most coveted prep recruits in 2001, has been held to 18 catches this season, tied for seventh-best on the team.

Tailbacks Allen Thompson and Lavell Anderson, too, are still waiting for their ships to arrive, and all three of these Cougars have been dogged by injuries. "We thought it was a curse or something," Harvey said.

But their lot is a bit sunnier these days, if only because the Cougars are playing a bowl game in their hometown. Washington State and Texas kick off at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium.

"To play a bowl game in San Diego is great," Harvey said. "You have family and friends rooting for you, and Wazzu fans coming here to your hometown. I'm overjoyed."

The three players find themselves playing travel guide for their teammates, recommending restaurants and hangouts ("check out Pacific Beach," Harvey said) and answering questions about the sights.

Visitors, especially those from outside the Southwest, are often struck by the diverse, generally Spanish-influenced architecture here, and Harvey has been scouring his memory to I.D. some of the more distinctive buildings -- the chapel at the University of San Diego, for example.

"They're very intrigued about the buildings here," he said of his teammates.

Another common question: Is it cool to cross the border into Tijuana?

"The Holiday Bowl people were telling us it's dangerous over there," Anderson said. "It depends on how you go down there. If you're sober, you can handle yourself. Sometimes it's not like that. People do some stupid stuff and the police take advantage of them over there."

Harvey missed most of last season with a knee injury, and his comeback this year lost steam with an early-season ankle sprain. Still, he has fared better than his close friend Thompson, with whom he attended Sweetwater High in nearby National City. Since starting one game at tailback in 2001, Thompson has seen nothing but hard luck. He has missed all of 2003 with a shoulder injury, though he accompanied the team to San Diego.

Anderson, from hardscrabble southeastern San Diego, has struggled with his own injuries while failing to fend off the junior-college transfers who typically usurp the Cougars' top tailback spots. He has carried the ball only four times this year.

Anderson will be a senior next year, while Harvey and Thompson are juniors. So they still have a chance to disprove the curse theory.

"Hopefully we can change things around and represent," Anderson said.

AN IFFY PRACTICE -- Cougars coach Bill Doba didn't seem terribly surprised by the team's rather sluggish practice Wednesday at San Diego State.

"It's our 13th practice without a ballgame -- it's kind of like the end of spring ball," he said. "They lose a little focus. A few too many dropped passes. After Christmas, we can lock it in."

It's also possible that players were a bit drained after their first night of exploring the attractions of San Diego on Tuesday.

"I don't know what they did," offensive coordinator Mike Levenseller said, "but they better not do it again."

The Cougars won't practice today. Beginning Friday, they will follow their normal four-day practice routine leading up to the game.

Coaches are still optimistic that quarterback Matt Kegel, who is still experiencing soreness in his sprained shoulder, will be close to full-strength by game day. He started the Cougars' final three regular-season games but gave way each time to backup Josh Swogger.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/26/03

Coming on strong at last; In the waning days of his WSU career; Scott Lunde has emerged as the impact Pac-10 receiver he was always determined to be

SAN DIEGO -- The friends and relatives of Scott Lunde should be hitting town in the next few days -- 50 or 60 of them, let's say. A vanload of his high-school buddies from Vancouver, Wash., will complete its beeline down Interstate 5. Lunde's mother, a flight attendant for Delta, will sit and wait for the next stray seat on a flight to southern California. Seats are scarce, but she'll make it to the game somehow. She always does.

Outside Qualcomm Stadium on Tuesday, when Washington State plays Texas in the Holiday Bowl, you might see a fan or two wearing a WSU jersey with "Lunde" printed on the back. Here and there, you might overhear snatches of the Lunde buzz.

He's got game, fans will say. Maybe they always knew it. Or maybe they learned it just recently, as Lunde was making 29 catches for 405 yards in the final five regular-season games of his senior season.

In either case, these people see something they like here -- something in Lunde's unaffected nature and something in the compelling arc of his story. He had come to Washington State in 1999 as a nonscholarship player of slender means, and he overcame obstacles within and beyond his control.

"It really is a tremendous story here in Vancouver for so many people who watched him," said his mother Marilyn Lunde, a flight attendant who has never missed one of her son's Cougar games. "He was an amazing receiver in high school, one of the top in the state. And, bam, he ended up being gone from everybody's radar. It was like, 'Whoa, what about Scott Lunde? How did he get forgotten?' And he had to claw his way to the top."

It's not as if the fellow lacked talent, or a football pedigree, for that matter. His grandfather had played for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1950s, and his uncle and his father had played major-college ball. "We're all sort of mutant athletes," Marilyn Lunde said.

But Lunde's talent is not the most obvious, measurable kind of talent. It declares itself gradually. When he makes several consecutive catches in rush-hour traffic, over the middle and 30 yards downfield, knowing he might take a helmet to the ribs just as the ball is reaching his hands -- this is when you get a glimpse of his talent.

Oregon State coach Mike Riley evidently saw it. After Lunde's junior year at Hudson's Bay High in 1998, the boy attended a football camp at the Corvallis school and (he says) came away with a scholarship offer. This seemed fitting because Lunde's uncle Chris, from whom the boy had received his middle name, had played for the Beavers in the early 1970s, several years before dying in a boating accident.

But Riley left the Beavers and was replaced by Dennis Erickson, and the scholarship dissolved into the mist. Lunde's mother still isn't sure when or why this happened, but her son believes Erickson, plotting a quick turnaround of the Beavers' long-languishing program, preferred junior-college receivers to prep recruits that season.

Resolved to play in the Pac-10 Conference, Lunde walked on at Washington State, where both his parents had graduated.

Thus began his long, highly charged relationship with Mike Levenseller, the Cougars' receivers coach and, beginning in 2001, offensive coordinator. Even scholarship players need a couple of years to master Levenseller's highly detailed approach to catching footballs, not to mention running routes and run-blocking, and the process is even more arduous for a walk-on getting fewer repetitions in practice.

After three years, Lunde had distinguished himself on special teams but was deeply buried on the receivers depth chart.

Then he flunked out. He says he had dropped two classes in an effort to avoid this calamity, but the paperwork somehow didn't go through. It was his second academic scrape at the school, and he was refused reinstatement. So he spent the spring 2002 semester living with an uncle and attending Spokane Community College.

He remembers attending the WSU spring game and sitting in the top row of bleachers, avoiding his teammates. He didn't want to be seen in this outsider's role, out of uniform. He waited until summer to greet his friends again, having revived his grade-point average and his eligibility.

After a strong performance against Ohio State in 2002, Lunde finally landed a scholarship. He made 30 catches that season for 364 yards.

But the real breakthrough came this season, in a home game Oct. 25, while the Cougars were still entertaining hopes for a national title. The opponent was an Oregon State team that had switched coaches again, bringing Riley back to replace Erickson.

Lunde's relations with Levenseller reached a boiling point in this game. In the first half, the receiver ran an incorrect route and the coach yanked him from the game. His emotions already stirred, Lunde lashed out at Levenseller and found himself benched for the rest of the half as the Cougars fell behind by 11 points.

After some soul-searching at halftime, Lunde made seven catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns, spurring the Cougars to a 36-30 win.

"That was a turning point in my career," he said. "Rarely do I let the quitter come out in me. So I was going to stick with it and be headstrong and not let things get to me."

Levenseller seems to realize there's a delicate relationship between Lunde's talent and his recalcitrance. When the receiver fails to listen, "I send a message by inviting him to the bench," the coach said. "It's because he's competitive. He's a real good competitor, maybe the best we have."

After the Oregon State game, Lunde's mother met Riley outside the Beavers' locker room. "I purposefully went over there to give him my best," she said, "and he just said he couldn't be prouder of Scott and the job he had done."

As for Levenseller, he "literally made my kid a man," she said.

After Lunde's second touchdown catch against the Beavers, putting Washington State ahead 33-28, the receiver jogged back to the sideline and happened to glance at the jubilant crowd of 35,000 at Martin Stadium. Whether you're Scott Lunde or whether you're one of his growing number of followers, this was a moment to file away in some inner scrapbook.

"For so long, I'd been cheering for everybody else," Lunde said. "This was the first time I'd looked up and seen everybody cheering for me. It was a good feeling."

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/27/03

Steve Hanks
Don Jackson has emerged as the Cougars' most effective ball-seeking defender. The senior linebacker has as a team-leading 91 tackles. eight of them for losses, including this sack of Oregon State quarterback Derek Anderson

Finding prosperity out west; After initially creating a stir at a California JC, Mississippi-raised Jackson has truly made a name for himself at Washington State

SAN DIEGO -- It's fitting that Don Jackson will end his collegiate football career in San Diego, because this is where it really began, rather accidentally, when the coach of a suburban junior college knew a gift horse when he saw it.

Jackson, a senior middle linebacker, has emerged in recent weeks as the leading tackler for Washington State, which plays Texas on Tuesday in the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium.

Raised in rural Mississippi, Jackson had never seen the western U.S. until visiting a friend who played at Grossmont College in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon. Jackson had played a year of junior-college ball in his home state, but was ripe for a change of scenery.

During Jackson's late-summer visit to Grossmont, football coach Dave Jordan allowed the visitor to work out at the school, and he liked what he saw. When the linebacker was preparing to leave, Jordan popped a scholarship offer. Jackson accepted and wound up making third-team junior-college All-America.

"We knew right from the start he would be a starter and a star for us," said Jordan, who attended the Cougars' practice Friday at San Diego State.

Limited by injuries as a junior at WSU last year, Jackson won a starting spot this season. He was considered one of the few question marks on a savvy defense, but now is one of the unit's most effective players. It's been a few years since the Cougars have fielded a middle linebacker with quite his combination of quickness and strength.

Jackson leads the team with 91 tackles, including eight for loss, and linebackers coach Leon Burtnett said Jackson and teammate Will Derting are among the hardest-hitting players he has coached in 38 years.

Jackson settled for second-team All-Pac-10 Conference, "but he was first-team on my list," Burtnett said. "I know the kid at Oregon State (Richard Seigler) started for four years, but I think Donny played really, really well for us."

Back in Natchez, Miss., Jackson didn't turn heads so easily. He was a junior in high school before he turned out for football. Before that, "I played in the street," he said. "Football was always in my heart, but my mind just wasn't right at the time. I was getting in trouble and stuff. But I wanted to make something of myself."

He adjusted to organized football immediately, but says his high-school coach was slow in relaying the recruiting letters he was receiving from colleges.

"I didn't know I was getting letters until I went to the coach's office," he said. "He gave me a stack of mail. I said, 'Is this mine?' I was really (ticked) about that. He wasn't a coach who looked after his players to see that they get to the next level."

Jackson grew up in a single-parent family of seven. He has a twin brother, Shon, who also excelled at high-school football but didn't approach it as seriously. There was no father in the picture, and Jackson spent much of his time in the home of a sister, Shirley Dickens, who is 11 years his senior.

She encouraged him to leave Mississippi.

"There aren't many opportunities around here," Dickens said by phone from Gloster, Miss. "I thought if he really put his mind to this game, he could go far in it. Don hesitated about it, but I insisted on him giving it a try. He visited and just stayed."

Jumping from rural Mississippi to southern California might have been more of a culture shock if Jackson hadn't decided to avoid culture altogether.

"When I first came here, I didn't talk to anybody for four months," he said. "Everything was different, from the weather to the people, everything. I had to sit back and take everything in."

He spoke by phone to his sister and "described everything," she said. "He hadn't been to too many states, mostly down in the South. It was like he was seeing the world."

Yet he clung to his single-mindedness. Jordan said he was "the most focused" player he has coached in 31 years at Grossmont.

"He's so focused that it doesn't matter where he's at -- he could be anyplace and play well."

Professional teams might not like Jackson's stature -- he's 6 feet and a compact 230 pounds -- and they probably knew little about him until this year.

On the other hand, he has developed a knack for impressing people quickly.

"The scouts evaluate you in your junior year," he acknowledged. "But I think if they look at film and see our games, somebody will give me a shot. Somebody will see I've got heart and I'm probably good enough to play at the next level."

NOTES -- Washington State coaches released players from team obligations on Christmas, and all except about 25 of them spent the holiday away from the team's hotel. About 35 of them participated in a nonmandatory team visit to SeaWorld on Friday morning. Today they will tour the U.S.S. Stennis, an aircraft carrier at Coronado Naval Base.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/28/03

Tribune/Kyle Mills
Isaac Brown has been an impact player throughout his WSU career, as his 22 1/2 sacks attest. He may also be one of the most quoted Cougars of all time.

Never at a loss for words; Put any question to WSU's Isaac Brown, and his response will be candid and analytical; so we gave him a few issues to chew on

SAN DIEGO -- Isaac Brown has seen action in every Washington State football game of the past four years, and has made 26 consecutive starts. Yet he has proven even more reliable in the postgame media scramble, as an athlete who can consistently render an analysis of the game and its implications to the Cougar season.

It's not surprising to learn he graduated this month in communications, and will try to break into broadcasting if he doesn't crack the roster of a professional football team in the next few months.

The senior defensive end from the Los Angeles area ranks third on the Cougars' all-time career sack list with 22 1/2, has twice received honorable mention on the All-Pac-10 Conference team, and is reputedly all-knowing on the subject of music.

The Tribune on Saturday gleaned a few Brownian observations after the Cougars concluded a practice for the Holiday Bowl, in which they play Texas on Tuesday. The interview took place in Brown's hotel room, and was interrupted briefly by teammate Adam Braidwood, who noted that Brown is "a Ninja by night -- he and I fight crime together."

Tribune: What teams should be No. 1 and No. 2 in college football right now?

Brown: That's a tough question. There are three teams with one loss. I don't think it should matter in your ranking what point of the season your loss came. USC, we played them and they're a great team. They lost to a team in Cal that is very explosive on offense. They would be 1 or 2. And playing against Oklahoma last year, and knowing what they have coming back, and watching them play all this year and dominating teams, I'd have to say they're 1 and 2. LSU falls somewhere -- I guess I would put them at 3.

That's why we should have a playoff. I think they should take the top 16 teams and kind of expand the BCS championship. Keep the other bowls, but those 16 teams play off for the title.

Oklahoma quarterback Jason White edged Pittsburgh wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald for the Heisman Trophy this year. If you'd had a Heisman vote, who'd have received it?

Larry Fitzgerald. At quarterback, you get the ball on every single play. You're given 40 chances to make something happen. You can always double-team a receiver to keep him from getting the ball. A good receiver averages six catches a game. With those six catches, what can you do with the ball? I saw the guy make one-handed catches with three defenders around him. That's just phenomenal. I think he's the best player in college football and he should have the Heisman.

On a college football team consisting of 85 scholarship players, how many of those players are being exploited by the system?

I feel college football is a free minor league for the NFL. Major-league baseball has a minor-league system, where they have single-A, double-A and triple-A, and they pay those kids, and their college education is taken care of. In the NCAA, if you look at powerhouse teams, they sell a lot of jerseys and they fill up the stadium. They're making the university a lot more money than the university is spending on those scholarships. All your stipend includes is money for room and board. It doesn't really include money for slight entertainment even. We don't even have money to go watch a movie. In some way, shape or form, everybody is being exploited. But at the same time I can only be grateful for what college football has afforded me, which is a Washington State education.

Tribune: If you were the czar of college football, what single rule would you change?

Brown: The celebration rule. I would make that rule less vague and take it somewhat out of the hands of the referees. You should maybe give a player three seconds or maybe five seconds of time to celebrate, because football is an emotional game. If it's a choreographed dance, I understand the penalty.

Tribune: Name the best opposing quarterback you've faced.

Brown: Either Carson Palmer or Joey Harrington.

Tribune: What is the classiest team you've played against?

Brown: Stanford a couple of years ago. It depends on the year and the guys you're playing against.

Tribune: And the least classy?

Brown: I would probably say the University of Washington, because of what's on the line. It's just a hatred there between the two schools. I've been in games where you knock the opposing guy down and you help them back up. You really don't see that in the Apple Cup.

Tribune: In other words, Washington State would be the least classy team in the Huskies' estimation?

Brown: I would almost be upset if we weren't.

Tribune: What's the best line you've heard on the football field?

Brown: After the whole Will Derting incident, a guy asked him if he was still drunk on the football field. That made us both laugh. It was somebody from Stanford.

Tribune: Who's the most underrated WSU player?

Brown: Erik Coleman. Even though he's starting to get his accolades, I don't think people know how important he is to our defense and to our team. He would probably be a first-round pick in the NFL draft if he were an inch or two taller. I think you'll be watching him play on Sundays.

Tribune: And the most underrated WSU coach?

Brown: I would probably say coach (Mike) Walker, the defensive-tackles coach. Rien Long came in as a tight end and ended up being and Outland Trophy winner. He also had guys like Tai (Tupai) and Jeremey (Williams) who were top-100 players coming out of high school, and he's also done wonders with them. All our coaches are phenomenal. Coach (Robb) Akey teaching me and D.D.(Acholonu) to play defensive end was not the easiest thing in the world either.

Tribune: What's the best CD ever?

Brown: That's hard. I listen to a lot of genres of music. What I think is a very good CD is the "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." Slow songs. Songs that have meaning. Songs that tell a story. Songs that have her religion in it, and her beliefs in it.

Tribune: And the best movie?

Brown: "Bad Boys." That's my favorite movie, but it's probably not the best. I just got finished watching "It's a Wonderful Life" with my mom over the Christmas vacation. I watch that movie every single year.

Tribune: Name three people, living or dead, you would like to meet.

Brown: Muhammad Ali. He gave up a world championship, and not only that but his freedom, for a cause he believed in. Probably John F. Kennedy. And I'd probably want to meet someone the world would characterize as a villain, like Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden. With the whole 9-11 attacks, I really want to know what was going on in their minds as that was happening. Killing innocent people -- I don't understand. I hope I would be calm enough to sit and talk with them. I probably wouldn't be. But I would want to meet them just to know what was going on in their head.

COUGAR NOTES -- Two more backups have sustained injuries. Cornerback Don Turner fractured a finger and defensive tackle Josh Shavies broke a bone in his hand. Both are doubtful for the bowl game. ... It was punter Kyle Basler's 21st birthday Saturday. Presumably he celebrated within certain limits: Team curfew was midnight. ... Among the former Cougars who have attended practice in San Diego so far are Tony Savage, Rod Plummer, Nakoa McElrath, Adam Holiday, Kevin Stephenson and John Hopkins. No sign yet of Ryan Leaf. ... Quarterback Matt Kegel, trying to recover from his shoulder sprain, has looked increasingly sharp in recent days.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/29/03

Tribune/Kyle Mills
Despite leading Washington State to a 9-3 record and its third straight bowl appearance, starting quarterback Matt Kegel has never fully won over Cougar fans. He'll take part in his last collegiate game Tuesday when WSU meets Texas in the Holiday Bowl.

One season in the spotlight: A more sentimental mood?; Never hugely popular at Martin Stadium, Matt Kegel seems more relaxed in southern California

SAN DIEGO -- To Matt Kegel, a bowl game must seem a sanctuary, an oasis of nonpartisanship. The hostility of the opposing fans and the hostility of the "friendly" fans -- these should cancel each other out. He can just play football.

The Washington State quarterback rarely talks about the uncivil treatment he has received from his team's fans, and it's difficult to guess exactly what form it takes, other than the boos and hostile remarks that can be heard on game day at Martin Stadium in Pullman.

But one can't help but imagine this fan behavior, as much as Kegel's succession of knee and shoulder injuries, contributed to the pained expression he often wore in the final weeks of the regular season.

That expression is gone now. The senior has seemed more relaxed, less like a caged animal, in recent weeks as the Cougars (9-3) have prepared for their Holiday Bowl matchup Tuesday with Texas (10-2). With his shoulder sprain healing, his passes have gained a new crispness and accuracy in the past few WSU practices at San Diego State.

The media here in San Diego, alas, don't seem to remember the 2002 Apple Cup, which appears to be the chief source of anti-Kegel sentiment in Pullman. San Diegans didn't see the Cougars blow a 10-point lead under his direction in that game, and they don't seem to care. That Kegel is 0-3 as a starter against the University of Washington somehow fails to register a flinch on the public indignation meter here.

The media seem more interested in Ryan Conley, the autistic student at Pullman High whom the quarterback has befriended in the past two years. According to a feature in the Oregonian last month, Kegel has served as a certified caregiver for Conley during the summers and has played a significant role in developing the boy's social skills and independence.

To the credit of Kegel and WSU publicists, the quarterback's interest in special education has never been turned into a promotional sideshow. Reporters didn't seem aware of it until a few weeks ago, though they knew Kegel always gave an especially warm reception to the brother of former WSU center Tyler Hunt. Robbie Hunt has Down syndrome.

Evidently, Kegel had done special-ed work since his high-school days at Havre, Mont., and his friendship with Conley began long before the quarterback became a WSU starter and was thrust into the public spotlight.

"He's not getting anything out of it but a friendship with that kid," WSU receiver Scott Lunde said. "I've known that kid since I lived with Matt (two years ago). He has an amazing memory. He can watch a game show and recite everything the host says."

It's another question whether a knowledge of this aspect of Kegel's character would have altered WSU fans' perception of him anyway.

"I don't think people wanted to see that side of Matt," WSU defensive end Isaac Brown said. "When you have somebody you dislike as much as people dislike Matt for some reason, you don't want to find the good in him. It's like finding the good in the local bully."

How did this happen? Are fans associating Kegel with his cousin, Ryan Leaf, whose public-relations skills were well-nigh disastrous? There seems no evidence of that association here in San Diego, where Leaf committed some of his worst PR blunders while quarterbacking the Chargers.

Kegel has an offhand manner that can be interpreted as cocky. He has an emotional volatility that can, at times, be seen as unseemly in a team leader. But so did his predecessor, Jason Gesser, who is remembered in Pullman as one of the school's best-loved quarterbacks.

Gesser took the helm of the Cougar offense when the program was struggling, and he had three years to direct a turnaround. Kegel, in his first year as a starter, has been expected to stay the course. Like Gesser, he has been riddled with injuries but, unlike him, he hasn't been glorified for enduring them.

Resentment toward Kegel can perhaps be traced to three years ago, when then-coach Mike Price made a habit of benching Gesser for one second-quarter series and inserting the backup. This afforded Kegel some experience that may have paid dividends early this season, but it also appeared to take Gesser out of his rhythm. Did fans blame Kegel for this?

"They've been on him the whole time and I don't know why," Brown said. "There's no need for it. You have to understand the backup quarterback in almost every single case is the fan favorite. But with Gesser, nobody ever wanted him to leave. I think Kegel was perceived wrongly. A lot of people booed him for no reason."

This season, "when he was in there, when he was healthy, things went right," Brown said. "When he was well, we were a better football team."

Kegel has completed 55 percent of his passes for 2,744 yards this season, with 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He seems a more fluid quarterback than he has in the past, and a more multi-faceted person. Teammates have noticed, even if fans haven't.

"The last four years, before Matt was able to play, Matt had to take a lot of heat, and I think it's built his character," linebacker Al Genatone said. "He wanted to go out there and prove something this year, that it wasn't a waste for him to stay here and play as a Cougar."

He wasn't the only Washington State player who had to wait.

"There have been times in our careers when I've been down, and he's struggled in his career as well," Lunde said. "He would say, 'Stick to it, stick to it.' Matt is a funny guy. He's a real sincere individual. He's been a real friend to everybody on this team."

It perhaps didn't help Kegel's popularity this year that WSU fans received a late-season glimpse of Josh Swogger, who relieved an injured Kegel in three consecutive games and dropped hints of brilliance.

"I feel bad for (Kegel) because he's kind of in the transition of great quarterbacks," Brown said. "Everybody thought Gesser was a great quarterback, and Swogger has shown his potential. So Kegel's kind of caught in between, and he's had only one year to work. I just wonder, if this were his junior or sophomore year, what would people be thinking about him then?"

Swogger, however, didn't play well in the Cougars' most recent game, a 27-19 loss to Washington. In a way, this may take some pressure off Kegel, who is scheduled to start. His backup is less an idealized figure than he was, say, after the Cougars' home game against Arizona State on Nov. 15.

In that game, Kegel started despite a painful shoulder injury, and handed the reins to Swogger when he deemed himself ineffective. The freshman rallied the Cougars to a 34-19 victory.

Because it was Kegel's final game at Martin Stadium, coaches directed him back to the field to take the final snap. Perhaps realizing Kegel's emotional nature, somebody asked what this last opportunity meant to him, but the quarterback played it down. This was one of the rare occasions when he has alluded to the hostile Pullman fans.

The last home game of his career? Under the circumstances, he said, it didn't mean all that much.

The Holiday Bowl, one imagines, will find him in a more sentimental mood.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/29/03

Longhorns look powerful yet crafty

SAN DIEGO -- When Washington State defenders study video of Texas, they see a team that wants to overpower you in all the traditional Longhorn ways, but often ends up snookering you.

These nouveau-Longhorns have a 6-foot-5 freshman quarterback from Houston whose combination of passing and scrambling ability lends unpredictability to their run-oriented offense.

Vince Young usurped the starter's role at midseason and has scampered for 948 yards while passing for 1,140. With a 6-0 record as starter, he figures to keep the Cougars guessing Tuesday in the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium.

"From what I've seen, when he drops back and there's no one open, he makes that decision quickly to get out of there," WSU free safety Erik Coleman said. "I don't think he's as comfortable in the pocket as other quarterbacks, but he has such great running ability that they can't lose when he runs the ball. They do have a lot of designed running plays for him."

How much pressure does that place on Coleman?

"Man, that puts a lot of pressure on me," he said. "It's very difficult to be in coverage and then have to honor the run from the quarterback, because he can still throw the ball if he's behind the line of scrimmage. It's going to be a tough challenge. Hopefully our defensive line and linebackers fly around like they have been all year and make the job easier on the secondary."

Young, however, is a rookie. He is completing 60 percent of his passes, but has thrown seven interceptions compared to six touchdown passes. Texas coach Mack Brown hasn't ruled out the possibility of inserting junior Chance Mock, the original starter this season and owner of a 15-2 touchdown/interception ratio.

Regardless of the quarterback, the Cougars will be wary of 6-4 receiver Roy Williams, who has caught 61 passes for 982 yards.

"He's a hungry receiver," Coleman said. "He's got all the tools -- the size, the speed -- and after he catches the ball he doesn't go down easily. He likes to fight for extra yards and he's a very fierce competitor."

The Longhorns also have an athletic offensive line that WSU linebacker Al Genatone compares to USC's, as well as a rugged 6-foot tailback in junior Cedric Benson, whose stat line is worthy of framing: 1,277 rushing yards for a 5.4-yard average and 20 touchdowns.

When he gets the ball, these are your father's Longhorns.

NOTES -- Texas, making its third Holiday Bowl appearance in four years, has returned 2,000 tickets from its allotment and owns the last 500 tickets available for the game. The ticket outlets at Washington State and San Diego are sold out. ... The Cougars conducted a practice that was closed to the media Sunday, then spent more than three hours at the San Diego Zoo. All of Texas' practices in San Diego have been closed aside from the first 15 minutes.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/29/03

COMMENTARY: BOB BARROWS ... Holiday Bowl '81: McMahon was a pain, the Mexican food was yummy

In 1981, the last time Washington State ventured to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl, Jim Walden was calling the shots as the Cougars' coach.

When WSU tackles the Texas Longhorns on Tuesday night, Walden will still be calling the shots -- only this time as the Cougs' color man in the radio booth.

And for Bob Robertson, WSU's venerable play-by-play radio voice for more than 30 years, this will also be another return to sunny southern California.

I have plenty of fond memories of the '81 Cougars, who earned the program's first postseason invitation since losing to Alabama 24-0 in the 1931 Rose Bowl.

Washington State, which has gone to the Rose Bowl twice in the past six years, nearly made it there 22 years ago. But the Cougars stumbled in their regular-season finale against Washington with the Pac-10 title on the line, losing 23-10 in Seattle.

But the Cougars, whose only other regular-season loss was to USC, had no complaints when Holiday Bowl officials decided to make it a real cat fight, pitting them against the Utah-based Cougars of Brigham Young.

What made it special was the fact that BYU was quarterbacked by a talented yet brash Jim McMahon, who at that time held or shared a horde of NCAA passing records.

While the matchup was intriguing it was the weeklong pregame hype that amused me the most -- Walden's wit, McMahon's braggadocio, BYU coach Lavelle Edwards' dry sense of humor and BYU athletic director Glen Tuckett's light-hearted comments. Tuckett had once played minor-league baseball for the Lewiston Broncs and later coached the BYU baseball team when it took part in several Banana Belt Tournaments in the 1970s.

In one news conference/champagne brunch held at the Stardust Hotel, Tuckett affectionately called Walden "the old Mississippi gambler" for his carefree QB days at Wyoming. Then Tuckett warned that McMahon and equally pass-happy WSU could turn 60 playing minutes into an eternity.

"When you see us play, bring your lunches because the game may last all night," Tuckett said. "I haven't gone out on the limb and tried to predict a winner before, but I'm confident this time that the Cougars will win."

Then Walden weighed in.

"Somewhere along the line, we're going to have to make them punt," he deadpanned. "And if we make 'em punt five times, we've got a great chance to win. But if we don't see the BYU punter, we're in deep trouble."

Edwards, who would guide BYU to a national championship in 1984, jumped in when a writer asked if he and Walden had any bets riding on the game.

"I know I could beat him in golf, but I'm not sure I can in anything else," Edwards said, to which Walden replied: "It snows all the time in Pullman, so we never get to play that much golf. I'd ask for a handicap, maybe one -- about one a hole."

Such banter went on for a good hour, seemingly always to return to BYU's high-powered passing offense and how any opposing coach could devise a plan to slow McMahon and company down.

"BYU is the only team in the nation that doesn't work on the long hike because it never punts," Walden said. "BYU may have the best punter in the world, but all he does is stand there on the sidelines next to Lavelle. We tried our best to find out how we could rush them on a punt, but we can't find them punting in the films."

Interestingly enough, BYU ended up punting eight times, the same as WSU. BYU held off a late WSU rally to win 38-36 in a game that lasted close to four hours and featured nearly 800 yards of total offense.

For all his talent, McMahon's lack of humility rubbed a lot of WSU players the wrong way in the days leading up to that Holiday Bowl, played on Dec. 18.

When the two teams were recognized aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier, Bill Cords, then the WSU associate athletic director, was awarded the Admiral's Trophy for his contributions to the program's success.

"Everyone is deserving of this award," Cords said to the applause of players and coaches from both teams as well as Navy personnel.

But when McMahon was selected for the same award for his school, he got up, thanked no one and blurted out, "I want to go out in a blaze of glory," after which he beat a hasty retreat to his seat.

"What a jerk," grumbled one of the WSU linemen. "He stinks."

"And notice that no one clapped for him," Cougar cornerback Nate Bradley was quick to point out about McMahon, who earlier in the week had griped about USC's Marcus Allen winning the Heisman Trophy.

Walden's team that year ran a two-quarterback system, alternating between Clete Casper and Ricky Turner, a two-edged sword that drove opposing defenses crazy at times, especially with a running back like Tim Harris breaking school rushing marks.

In a memorable Holiday classic, WSU fell behind 31-7 early in the third quarter when BYU defensive back Tom Holmoe intercepted a pass and rambled 35 yards to paydirt.

Down by 24 points, Walden's Cougars toughened on defense while the offense generated most of its 437 yards in the third and fourth quarters. Walden's club managed to pull within two points with less than five minutes to play and had possession of the ball at its own 40.

But Casper was thrown for a 10-yard loss and WSU wound up punting, never to see the ball again before a loud and boisterous crowd of 52,419.

Walden said the two key plays that hurt his club were Holmoe's interception and Casper's sack -- "Those (two) things were devastating."

After Walden left WSU for the coaching position at Iowa State, the program slowly accelerated to the point where today the Cougars and their followers expect to go to a bowl every season. In my eyes, Walden was the catalyst.

He was and still is a walking encyclopedia of the game of football as many who listen to WSU radio broadcasts have become well aware.

He's teamed with Robertson, one of college football's finest play-by-play men. In fact, I'd dare say the majority of Cougar faithful don't realize just how good an announcer Robertson is. Should you ever have the opportunity, as I've had (thanks to the Internet), to listen to other Division I college play-by-play men, you'd know what I mean.

For those who are heading south for the game, take a hint from a native Californian and dine out at the Casa de Pico Mexican restaurant. The establishment is located in San Diego's historic Old Town Bazaar Del Mundo where the Mexican food, especially the Pollo Fundido, and margaritas make for an exquisite outdoors meal. Add the strolling mariachis, and it doesn't get any better.

Perhaps, Tribune sports writer Dale Grummert will be able to enjoy such culinary delights as I did 22 years ago. Better yet, maybe his game account will be of a WSU victory.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 

A convivial rivalry; Texas, WSU coaches take turns extolling opponents' virtues on eve of Holiday Bowl tilt

SAN DIEGO -- To this point, Washington State is keeping its head above water in the Holiday Bowl. True, the game hasn't started. But there was a head coaches' news conference Monday, and Bill Doba didn't get verbally kicked around the room by Mack Brown.

So far, so good.

"That's a tough act to follow," Doba said after Brown, the nimble-tongued Texas coach, fielded questions about today's game, which starts at 5 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium. "That guy's been doing this for 22 years. He's pretty good at it."

Doba is a rookie, but he's a 63-year-old rookie whose quip-laden Indiana drawl stayed in the ballgame, thank you, with Brown's honey-dipped Tennessee brogue.

Doba did feel statistically challenged. His adversary seemed to have the numerical annals of college football at his fingertips -- a deck of cards he knew exactly where to cut.

Did you know, for example, Washington State is the winningest team in the Pac-10 Conference over the last three years? Brown did.

Where do the Cougars rank over the last 30 years -- compared to, say Texas? Never mind.

Did you know the Longhorns and the Cougars rank first and second in the country in quarterback sacks over the last four years? Yep. Texas has 162, Washington State 161. And you thought these teams had nothing remotely in common.

Indeed, kamikaze defense may be the theme that binds this otherwise hard-to-peg matchup of the Longhorns of the Big 12 Conference and the Cougars of the Pac-10. Washington State has pulled off 43 sacks this year, Texas 42. There's a good chance rain showers will pose an additional peril to the offenses.

Doba doesn't study stats. He's a video guy, and he noticed that No. 4 tends to multi-task in Texas games -- making catches, throwing blocks, trying to sabotage punts. That would be Roy Williams, the third phenomenal receiver named Williams the Cougars have faced.

"If they put No. 1 on him, I'd just give up," Doba said, alluding to the jersey number of USC's Mike Williams and Washington's Reggie Williams.

As for versatile freshman Vince Young, "I don't sleep very well thinking about that quarterback," Doba said.

If the Cougars hold their own on offense and defense, "I think it may boil down to special teams," the WSU coach said, "and we've got a pretty good punter (Kyle Basler) and kicker (Drew Dunning). Hopefully, we can outkick them. Outkick the Longhorns -- that would be a trick, wouldn't it?"

In any number of superficial ways, Brown and Doba are opposites. The Texas coach spent his entire assistant's career on offense. Doba clearly prefers defense.

Brown took a much more direct route to collegiate head-coaching, skipping the high-school preliminaries (where Doba devoted 15 years) and breezing through the college-assistant ranks (where Doba put in another 25 years).

Brown has called the shots for 19 seasons, at three schools, and this is his 12th consecutive bowl appearance. Doba is a dozen years older than his counterpart but gracefully doffs his hat at such accomplishments. For his own part, the WSU coach had been resigned to finishing his career as defensive coordinator until he inherited the top job this year.

Yet the two men struck the same tone Monday -- relaxed, fluent, Southern colloquial.

The Cougars, by the same token, will try to prove they belong in the same bowl game with Texas, though the Longhorns are 10 spots higher in the Associated Press poll (5th vs. 15th) and favored by 9 1/2 points.

Brown paid Doba the compliment of announcing a slight change in emphasis for the Texas offense, and naturally he reinforced it with a statistic.

"They're sixth against the run in the country," he said of the Cougars. "We cannot line up and run the football and beat Washington State. Bill's been one of the great defensive coordinators in this country. We know we'll have to be more balanced in this game than we've been in the previous games."

In truth, that's not saying a lot. The Longhorns' run/pass ratio last time out, in a 46-15 rout of Texas A&M, was 60/8. The Cougars will know they're in trouble if that happens again.

Doba sometimes concludes his teleconference sessions with the generally unnecessary request, "Clean up my grammar," a line that came to mind as Brown noted that his team is sharing quarters in San Diego with a convention of educators.

"There are 1,600 rooms in our hotel, and we've got 200 of them," he said. "The other 1,400 are full, and they're English teachers. Better than cheerleaders, but there's still a lot of folks there. Some of them try to help my English. I've had some good conversations on the elevators."

WSU Cougars.com - 01/01/04

Check out the Holiday Bowl Photo Gallery ... courtesy of the AP.

Cougfan.com - Posted Dec 30, 2003

DD, Tupai, Derting celebrate 8th & final sack (AP)

Cougs win Holiday Bowl!
A TOTAL team effort

By the staff of Cougfan.com

WASHINGTON STATE WAS firing on all cylinders in a whale of a game on Tuesday night at the Holiday Bowl. The Cougs shut down the No. 5 team in the nation for over three and a half quarters – and then held on for dear life. When it was all said and done, the Cougar defense was on the field, celebrating the final sack of the season and upending Texas 28-20 in the process.

Stellar performances for Washington State? How high can you count.

Matt Kegel, in a season full of gutty performances, pulled off his best one of the season. Kegel threw short. He threw long. He was on target over the middle. And he directed the offense with precision and skill to the tune of 360 yards.

Erik Coleman was simply phenomenal. The senior had 8 tackles, a forced fumble (that teammate Jason David gathered up for a touchdown), broke up three passes, partially blocked a punt and helped harass one of the best rushing teams in the nation into attempting 49 passes.

Jonathan Smith averaged 5.2 ypc, totalling 109 yards on 21 carries. Time after time, Smith took the handoff from Kegel out of the shotgun and ripped off large chunks of yardage.

Moving the chains, setting up the offense in short yardage situations and keeping the defense well rested on the sideline, Smith and Chris Bruhn were money all night long. Bruhn ripped off 44 yards on 10 carries.

Will Derting dominated; simply imposing his will at key junctures of the game. Derting, who is slated to move to MLB next year, had four tackles including a sack and two fumble recoveries. But his stats don't tell the full story of his performance, he had Texas quarterbacks running for their life.

And Don Jackson threw in another game of tackling with his face for good measure, tallying 10 sticks to share the team lead with Virgil Williams.

Sammy Moore had only two grabs but they were both huge, and they were both touchdowns. The first was on a picture perfect post route and delivered via an equally perfect rope by Kegel. The second was an even better throw by the senior QB – deep fade was thrown right on stride with Moore then tightroping down the sideline for a 54-yard score.

Moore also added an electrifying 52-yard punt return, aided in part by an absolutely decleater of a block by Adam Braidwood. It led to Smith’s 12-yard TD run off a direct snap as part of a 19-point 3rd quarter explosion by the Cougs.

Kyle Basler nailed seven punts for an average of 40.1 – particularly impressive given he deliberately took something off of several efforts in order to pin Texas deep. And he did. Texas had poor field position virtually the entire night. Basler had a long of 56.

The offensive line may have turned in their best performance of the season, and certainly in the area of run blocking. The Cougs opened holes that Smith and Bruhn exploited to the tune of 154 yards on the ground – The Cougs, with 157 total net yards, outrushed Texas - who ended with 131 net.

Together with TEs Troy Bienemann and Cody Boyd, the front five of Calvin Armstrong, Josh Parrish, Mike Shelford, Nick Mihlhauser and Sam Lightbody handled the vaunted Texas d-line for much of this Holiday Bowl.

And when the Cougs weren’t drive blocking and chewing up yardage on the ground, they were providing the protection needed for a quarterback that had two bad shoulders. Kegel was not sacked the entire game.

Coach Bill Doba and the staff at Washington State will always deflect praise and put it all on the players. But attention must be paid to their efforts, particularly on offense and on the offensive line.

Washington State ran nearly everything out of the gun, the extra time before the back hit the line allowed the front five to finish their blocks and open lanes. And by keeping Kegel in the shotgun, it allowed him to avoid most of the hits, not to mention the time to find the open receiver.

It was a great game plan. And it was well executed. VERY well executed. “This was a total team effort,” said coach Doba. “This was just a great team effort.”

So how important was this win? “It was huge,” said Doba. “It was huge to beat the No.5 team in the nation."

"I’d definitely say we deserve to be in the Top 10.”

Offense, Defense, Special teams. The Cougs beat the Longhorns in all three areas on this night. But this Texas squad wasn’t the No. 5 team in the nation for nothing. After a fluke tipped interception, Chance Mock found Roy Williams for a 30-yard scoring strike with 4:29 to play.. With under 5 minutes to go in the game, Williams had been held well in check by the Cougs' D with but 21 yards receiving.

On Texas’ ensuing possession, Williams hauled in a 46-yarder and suddenly the Horns were inside the Cougs 15-yard line. But D.D. Acholonu, who had a huge game, applied the pressure that caused Mock to fumble the ball away. Still, Texas had one more chance. But all hope for the Horns died when the Cougs defense shut down Texas one final time.

Fittingly, it was Acholonu with one final sack and tackle-for-loss to cap his Cougar career and ensure the victory. And with the Cougs 8th sack of the game, (and Acholonu’s third), ‘The Mailman’ delivered one final piece of mail; a Holiday card to the Cougar faithful.

We'll have the scoring summary up shortly ...

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/31/03

Cougalicious! Playing with confidence and panache, WSU busts enough big plays and makes some key stops to upset No. 5 Longhorns

SAN DIEGO -- As Washington State players and coaches studied video of Texas in the weeks preceding the Holiday Bowl, something began to dawn on them -- not about the Longhorns themselves but about their opponents.

"Looking at video," Washington State coach Bill Doba said, "I didn't see where they had played a defense like ours."

With that in mind, the Cougars played with confidence and panache Tuesday night and bagged one of their biggest quarries ever, beating fifth-ranked Texas 28-20.

That's not to say this was purely a defensive victory. The Cougars' performance might have been their most balanced of the season. How balanced? The Holiday Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player Award went to punter Kyle Basler, who pinned the Longhorns inside the 5-yard line four times.

Then there was wide receiver Sammy Moore, a game-breaker who had lain fallow for several games on end. He ignited a 19-point eruption in the third quarter and finished with two touchdowns and the Offensive MVP award.

Before a crowd of 61,102 at Qualcomm Stadium, along with an ESPN television audience, Washington State (10-3) achieved only its second win ever against a top-5 opponent, and its first since upsetting top-ranked UCLA in a regular-season game in 1988.

The Cougars also wrapped up their third straight 10-win season, a red-letter accomplishment for their 16 senior starters.

"It's got to be one of the biggest wins in school history," said WSU senior quarterback Matt Kegel, who threw for 203 yards and two touchdowns. "The biggest would probably be the wins that got us to the Rose Bowl. But we lost both of those (Rose Bowls). We just beat the No. 5 team in the country on national television. It's got to be in the top three."

Washington State defensive end D.D. Acholonu collected three quarterback sacks, including two on Texas' final two possessions as the Cougars clung to an eight-point lead. One of those sacks forced a fumble that halted a Longhorn scoring threat.

Sparked by Moore, the Cougars struck for three flamboyant touchdowns in the third quarter to rally from a 10-7 deficit to a 26-10 lead.

Moore opened the barrage by catching a 54-yard touchdown heave from Kegel, and a few minutes later he juked and stutter-stepped his way to a 51-yard punt return to the 26-yard line.

"One big play led to another," said Moore, who had been spectacular early in the season before going almost silent during the last several games.

"I've been wondering what's going on, but to tell you the truth, I've always known why I wasn't getting the ball, because (opponents) were trying to take away the outside receiver," he said. "That opened up plays for guys like Scott Lunde and Trandon Harvey."

Four plays after Moore's big punt return, the Cougars unveiled a surprising addition to their slimmed-down repertoire of trick plays. Kegel took his place behind center, then went in motion to a wide receiver spot. The ensuing shotgun snap was low, but tailback Jonathan Smith snagged the ball and bolted 12 yards for the score.

The third touchdown in his game-turning sequence came on Jason David's 18-yard fumble return, after tight end David Thomas had coughed up the ball while being tackled by Erik Coleman and Don Jackson.

The Cougars tacked on a safety in the fourth quarter when offensive lineman Jonathan Scott was called for holding in the end zone.

"We knew they were really good, and one of the top teams in the country," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "We didn't underestimate them at all. They would have been playing for the national championship if they hadn't lost their quarterback."

He was referring to shoulder and knee injuries that had knocked Kegel out of portions of a few late-season games.

Texas (10-3) pulled to within eight points with 4:29 left on a 30-yard pass from backup quarterback Chance Mock to Roy Williams.

The Cougars then kept things tense by going three-and-out, and Nathan Vasher returned Basler's booming punt 20 yards to the Texas 44. Mock threw 46 yards to Roy Williams to put the Longhorns on the 10-yard line.

But the Cougars, who had led the nation in takeaways heading into the game, came up with one final, critical theft. Hard-rushing Will Derting and Acholonu chased Mock into fumbling the instant before Acholonu completed the sack, and the ball skittered to the 36, where Derting recovered with 2:16 left.

Texas wound up with one more possession, which ended with another Acholonu sack at the Texas 46.

The Cougars' first touchdown came on one of the more striking passes of Kegel's career, a 12-yard rocket to Moore, splitting defenders Tarell Brown and Phillip Geiggar in the end zone.

That tied the score 7-7 with 59 seconds left in the first half, but Texas third-string tailback Selvin Young broke loose for 48 yards to set up David Pino's 39-yard field goal with four seconds on the clock.

The Longhorns had opened the scoring with a 1-yard plunge by Benson, capping a 15-play drive that included 11 runs. It featured a 3-yard first-down run by Tony Jeffery on a fake field goal.

The Cougars enjoyed good field position and gained 182 yards in the first half. But they tended to stall near midfield, and Geiggar made a center fielder's interception of a Kegel bomb in the first quarter.

Basler was the X factor. Twice in the first half, the sophomore backed the Longhorns inside the 5 on punts downed by Troy Bienemann. That gave the Cougars a chance to get their offensive and defensives acts together, which they did emphatically in the third quarter.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/31/03

Pregame 'snubs' fuel Coug D

SAN DIEGO -- As pregame snubs go, this must have been subtle. But Washington State defensive players evidently took exception to certain comments, or certain shrugs, by Texas players the day before the Holiday Bowl.

At a banquet Monday, according to Cougars cornerback Jason David, someone asked Texas receiver Roy Williams for an assessment of the WSU defense.

"He kind of smirked a little bit and said, 'Oh, they're pretty good,' " David said. "We kind of took that personally. They said a lot of stuff at the banquet that we kept in our heads the whole game. We made sure we let them know what type of defense we were."

The Cougars held Texas to 327 yards Tuesday night in their 28-20 victory.

"The way they were talking at that luncheon, it was like, 'You guys better watch your back,' " said WSU linebacker Will Derting, who registered a sack and a key late-game fumble recovery. "You can't say stuff like that. If you can back it up, great. But if you can't back it up, that just fires right back at you."

It was the Longhorns' third Holiday Bowl appearance in four years, and at times they seemed less enthused about the experience than the Cougars did.

"That's how we won the game," David said. "We played a lot harder than them toward the end of the game. We stepped up for the challenge."

David scored an 18-yard touchdown while returning a fumble caused by Erik Coleman and Don Jackson.

"Erik was all over the place tonight," David said. "He had a great big hit. I wasn't sure if it was a fumble or not, but I just wanted to pick it up and go to the end zone. It was just lying there, so I had to pick it up."

David, a senior, took particular satisfaction in the Cougars' third straight 10-win season.

"Any program, any school, no matter what division -- double-A, triple-A -- 30 wins is great for three years," he said

TICKET TURNAROUND -- The final score wasn't the only thing different about the Cougars' bowl adventure this season.

This time, they sold their tickets.

In fact, they clearly outdid Texas, whose fans are evidently weary of San Diego. The Longhorns sold only about 8,500 tickets, compared to the approximately 12,000 distributed by Washington State.

A year ago, WSU was held responsible for more than 7,000 unsold tickets for its Rose Bowl matchup with Oklahoma.

The school improved its ticket distribution system this year, allowing priority buyers in October to request tickets to any of several possible bowl games. The Cougars received about 10,000 requests for Holiday Bowl tickets during that stage, and about 17,000 for the Rose Bowl.

Texas returned 2,000 tickets from its Holiday Bowl allotment, and the bowl distributed them to charities.

DIDN'T NEED HIM ANYWAY -- Drew Dunning picked the right time to have a bad day.

The senior place-kicker, who had entered the game as the national leader in field goals per game, missed a point-after kick when it struck the left goalpost, had another PAT blocked, barely cleared the left upright on his first PAT and narrowly missed a 46-yard field goal.

AN INKLING -- Cougars wide receiver Sammy Moore said he had a feeling his recent dry spell would end against Texas.

"They played a lot of man coverage and they were looking to go to Devard's side," he said, referring to Devard Darling. "They weren't paying that much attention to me."

Moore scored two touchdowns on receptions and returned a punt 51 yards.

LOW VISIBILITY -- No expense was spared in the pageantry department. The pregame national anthem was played before a U.S. flag that covered the 100-yard length of the field. The halftime show, also with a patriotic theme, included an elaborate, not to say apocalyptic, fireworks display that left a cloud of smoke hovering over the field for the first few minutes of the third quarter.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 12/31/03

Cougars complete 10-win trifecta

SAN DIEGO -- They got their 10.

The No. 15 Cougars' 28-20 upset of fifth-ranked Texas in the Holiday Bowl gave WSU its third consecutive 10-win season, a feat unprecedented in team history.

It gave WSU a 1-1 record in bowls against Big 12 teams the past two years. Oklahoma beat the Cougars 34-14 in last season's Rose Bowl.

The record was set by teams led by gritty quarterbacks Jason Gesser and Matt Kegel, who played parts of each season with injuries, and strong defenses put together by coach Bill Doba.

"It was a great way for our seniors to end their careers here. These guys have battled the whole time," Doba said Tuesday night. "It's a big boost. It gives us our 10-win season and takes a bad taste out of our mouths (a loss to Washington). This win is huge for our program; to beat the No. 5 team."

WSU went 10-2 in 2001 and 10-3 in 2002.

The Longhorns were the highest-ranked team the Cougars have beaten since Oct. 29, 1988, when quarterback Timm Rosenbach led WSU to a 34-30 victory over No. 1 UCLA. Rosenbach is now WSU's quarterbacks coach.

"I'm on Cloud Nine," WSU senior defensive tackle Tai Tupai said of the 30 wins. "It's an honor to have that kind of recognition."

Senior defensive tackle D.D. Acholonu, whose sacks late in the fourth quarter thwarted two Texas scoring attempts, said the record leaves a challenge for underclassmen.

"We're leaving a lot of confidence to our successors," he said. "They'll be getting better and better."

Cougfan.com - Posted Dec 31, 2003

What They're Saying
Quotable quotes from the Holiday Bowl

By the staff of Cougfan.com

RELIVE THE GLORY of WSU's Holiday Bowl victory with post-game quips and quotes from pundits, coaches and players.

They won a big game on a big stage, beating a big-time program with a nationally ranked recruiting class.They did it with one guy from Okanogan and one from Elma in starring roles … They did it with a host of others, knocking off the No. 5-ranked team in the country. I don't know where to start, but I do know where I'm going to finish -- at the nearest cocktail lounge for a couple of late-night pops and several toasts to the Cougs. Throw the flag -- it's going to be an excessive celebration. What a game.
-- Jim Moore, Seattle P-I

It was over. The coulda-beens, the shoulda-beens of the heartbreaking losses at Notre Dame and Washington were gone. Washington State won a big one last night, and Cougars hearts were doing cartwheels.
-- Craig Smith, Seatle Times

This is one we'll be talking about decades from now. Bigger than the win over Nebraska in '77 or No. 1-ranked UCLA in '88. This was one for the Ages. It was Cougar football at its finest -- blasting and blitzing, quick-strikes, and passionate fans fueling the fire with a vocal onslaught from start to glorious finish.
-- John C. Witter, Cougfan.com

Washington State deserved to win its season finale. Texas didn't. The Cougars looked liked the BCS team they thought they were. The Longhorns didn't. The Cougars were ranked 15th; the Longhorns came in fifth. It looked vice versa Tuesday in Qualcomm Stadium. This was a case of one side beating the other between the chalk lines, and, less shocking maybe, beneath the headsets.
-- Kevin Blackistone, Dallas Morning News

This was more than good, it was something closer to scintillating. Since the Cougars joined the ranks of serious football-playing schools in the past couple of decades, they've beaten people like Houston, Utah and Purdue in bowl games, but nothing on the order of Texas. You beat Texas, fifth-ranked Texas, you beat them as a 9½-point underdog, it gets people's attention.
-- Bud Withers, Seattle Times

Surrounded by reporters, Sammy Moore was almost beyond words, so he just grinned and watched his Washington State teammates sing the fight song with a raucous crowd of Cougar fans in a corner of Qualcomm Stadium. "We were the only ones who believed in us," he said. "Us and those fans up there, and that's it."
-- David Andriesen, Seattle P-I

They didn't just beat the Texas Longhorns. WSU's defense beat Texas in a fashion that wasn't indicative of the final score. They made the No. 5 team in the country look like they'd just discovered the forward pass this week. Chance Mock and Vince Young combined to complete only 20-of-49 passes and were sacked seven times.
-- Craig Hill, Tacoma News Tribune

That guy ( Kyle Basler) was unbelievable. He was pretty much the difference in the ballgame, because we had to go so far to score.
-- Texas coach Mack Brown

It's safe to suggest that of the 30 victories the Cougars have banked these last three years -- that's three times 10 -- there has been none sweeter for Acholonu and the 18 other seniors who played their final game Tuesday. Or their underclass accomplices, for that matter.
-- John Blanchette, Spokesman-Review

A relaxed Texas coach Mack Brown took time this week to talk about his worst job ever — washing garbage trucks for minimum wage as a student coach at Florida State back in the early 1970s. Tuesday night, after the No. 5 Longhorns' stunning 28-20 loss to No. 15 Washington State in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, the one he holds right now probably didn't seem much better.
-- Mark Wangrin, San Antonio Express-News

Washington State threw a big crimson blanket over Texas in the third quarter and beat them senseless.
-- Ted Miller, Seattle P-I

At game's end, the Longhorns made a quick departure to the locker room. Meanwhile, the Washington State band serenaded the red-clothed fans with the school's fight song. Coach Bill Doba grabbed the microphone and screamed, "It's great to be a Cougar. " It wasn't a great night to be a Longhorn. Texas clawed back from a 16-point deficit — caused by turnovers and poor field position — only to be thwarted late in the game.
-- Suzanne Halliburton, Austin American-Statesman

"I told him [Mack Brown] he won the press conference and the luncheon, but I told him we were going to win the game."
-- WSU coach Bill Doba

The No. 15 Cougars did it by controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, chewing up yards on the ground, going up top a time or two, pinning the Longhorns five times inside the 15 (four times inside the 6) on punts, and, of course, by scoring a defensive touchdown.
-- Carter Strickland, Spokesman-Review

The fifth-ranked Longhorns, who closed the regular season with a six-game winning streak on the strength of a clock-consuming ground game, abandoned that plan of attack in the second half at Qualcomm Stadium in favor of a passing barrage led by backup quarterback Chance Mock. The fresh approach yielded little fruit in a 28-20 defeat that raised more questions than it answered about the direction of the Longhorns' offense.
-- Jimmy Burch, Forth Worth Star-Telegram

Cougfan.com - Posted Dec 30, 2003

HOLIDAY CHEER: Cougs corral 'Horns
Moore, Coleman, Basler star, but TOTAL team effort rules

By the staff of Cougfan.com

WASHINGTON STATE, playing perhaps its finest game of the season, fired on all cylinders in a whale of a game Tuesday at the Holiday Bowl. On a night with rain in the forecast, the only thing pouring was Cougar defenders into the Texas backfield. The biggest thing to fall from the sky was a 54-yard scoring bomb from Matt Kegel to Sammy Moore.

The Cougs shut down the No. 5 team in the nation for more than three quarters -– and then held on for dear life. When it was all said and done, the WSU defense was on the field, celebrating its final sack of the season and upending favored Texas 28-20.

In the process, the Cougars improved their season record to 10-3, becoming the first Pac-10 team in 70 years to string together three successive 10-win seasons. The victory also should propel WSU back into the Top 10, making them the first Pac-10 team in 30 years to finish in that rare club three straight seasons.

This bit of history was made possible by stellar performances up and down the Cougar roster. The defense was its usual attacking self; the special teams play was remarkable; and the offense was moving again.

How many heroes were there? How high can you count?

Matt Kegel, in a season full of gutty performances, pulled off his best one of the year. Kegel threw short. He threw long. He was on target over the middle. And he directed the offense with precision and skill to the tune of 360 yards, injured shoulders be damned.

Erik Coleman was simply phenomenal. The senior had 8 tackles, a forced fumble (that teammate Jason David gathered up for a touchdown), broke up three passes, partially blocked a punt and helped harass one of the best rushing teams in the nation into attempting 49 passes.

Jonathan Smith averaged 5.2 ypc, totalling 109 yards on 21 touches. Time after time, Smith took the handoff from Kegel out of the shotgun and ripped off large chunks of yardage.

Moving the chains, setting up the offense in short yardage situations and keeping the defense well rested on the sideline, Smith and Chris Bruhn were money all night long. Bruhn ripped off 44 yards on 10 carries of his own.

Will Derting dominated; simply imposing his will at key junctures of the game. Derting, who is slated to move to MLB next year, had four tackles including a sack and two fumble recoveries. But his stats don't tell the full story of his performance, he had Texas quarterbacks running for their lives.

And for good measure, middle backer Don Jackson turned in another game of tackling with his face, tallying 10 sticks to share the team lead with Virgil Williams.

Sammy Moore had only two grabs but they were both huge, and they were both touchdowns. The first was on a picture perfect post route and delivered via an equally perfect rope by Kegel. The second was an even better throw by the senior QB – a deep fade hitting the streaking Moore in full stride. All then the wideout tightroped the last few steps down the sideline to cash in the 54-yard score.

Moore also added an electrifying 52-yard punt return, aided in part by an absolute decleater of a block by Adam Braidwood. The return set up Smith’s 12-yard TD run off a direct snap as part of a 19-point 3rd quarter explosion by the Cougs.

Kyle Basler nailed seven punts for an average of 40.1 – particularly impressive given he deliberately took something off of several efforts in order to pin Texas deep. And pin them deep he did, all night long. Texas had poor field position for much of the game. Basler had a long of 56.

The offensive line may have turned in their best performance of the season, and certainly in the area of run blocking. The Cougs opened holes that Smith and Bruhn exploited to the tune of 154 yards on the ground – The Cougs, with 157 total net yards, outrushed Texas - who ended the game with 131 net.

Together with TEs Troy Bienemann, and Cody Boyd, the front five of Calvin Armstrong, Josh Parrish, Mike Shelford, Nick Mihlhauser and Sam Lightbody handled the vaunted Texas d-line for much of this Holiday Bowl.

And when the Cougs weren’t drive blocking and chewing up yardage on the ground, they were providing the protection needed for a quarterback that had two bad shoulders -- Kegel was not sacked the entire game.

Coach Bill Doba and the staff at Washington State deflect any praise directed towards them as they have all season long; they prefer the players receive the credit. But attention must be paid to their efforts, particularly on offense and on the offensive line.

Washington State ran nearly everything out of the 'gun against Texas -- the extra time before the back hit the line allowed the front five to finish their blocks. It also allowed the backs to see the lanes opening up.. And by keeping Kegel in the shotgun it afforded him the ability to avoid most of the hits, as well as the time to find the open receiver.

It was a great game plan. And it was well executed. Very well executed. “This was a total team effort,” said coach Doba. “This was just a great team effort.”

So how important was this win? “It was huge,” said Doba. “It was huge to beat the No.5 team in the nation."

"I’d definitely say we deserve to be in the Top 10.”

Offense, Defense, Special teams. The Cougs beat the Longhorns in all three areas on this night.

But this Texas squad wasn’t the No. 5 team in the nation for nothing. After a fluke tipped interception, Chance Mock found Roy Williams for a 30-yard scoring strike with 4:29 to play.. Until that point, with under 5 minutes to go in the game, Williams had been held well in check by the Cougs' D with a mere 21 yards receiving.

On Texas’ ensuing possession, Williams hauled in a 46-yarder and suddenly the 'Horns were knocking on the door inside the Cougs 15-yard line. But D.D. Acholonu, who had a huge game and a great finish, came flying in to apply the pressure that caused Mock to fumble the ball away. Still, Texas had one more chance. But all hope for the 'Horns died when the Cougs defense shut down Texas one final time.

Fittingly, it was Acholonu with one final sack and tackle-for-loss to cap his Cougar career and ensure the victory. And with the Cougs 7th sack of the game, (and Acholonu’s third), ‘The Mailman’ delivered one final piece of mail; a Holiday card to the Cougar faithful.

Scoring Summary

2nd QUARTER		SCORE
12:21	TD Texas CEDRIC BENSON 1 YD RUN (DAVID PINO KICK GOOD) 15 plays, 71 yards	7-0, Texas
0:59	TD Washington State SAMMY MOORE 12 YD PASS FROM MATT KEGEL (DREW DUNNING KICK) 8 plays, 66 yards	7-7 Tie
0:04	FG Texas DAVID PINO 39 YD FG 6 plays, 52 yards	10-7, Texas
3rd QUARTER		SCORE
9:23	TD Washington State SAMMY MOORE 54 YD PASS FROM MATT KEGEL (KICK FAILED) 1 play, 54 yards	13-10, Washington State
5:50	TD Washington State JONATHAN SMITH 12 YD RUN (DREW DUNNING KICK) 4 plays, 26 yards	20-10, Washington State
2:20	TD Washington State JASON DAVID 18 YD DEFENSIVE FUMBLE RETURN (KICK FAILED)	26-10, Washington State
4th QUARTER		SCORE
13:32	FG Texas DAVID PINO 19 YD FG 13 plays, 49 yards	26-13, Washington State
8:41	Safety Washington State TEAM SAFETY	28-13, Washington State
4:29	TD Texas ROY WILLIAMS 30 YD PASS FROM CHANCE MOCK (DAVID PINO KICK) 6 plays, 57 yards	28-20, Washington State

Lewiston Tribune Online - 01/01/04

Analysis- Dale Grummert: Smooth sailing at last

SAN DIEGO -- The play is called Smooth Draw, and it's been sitting in the deep freeze for weeks.

Before the snap, the quarterback suddenly leaves his crouch, like an airline pilot rising to use the rest room. Who's flying this plane? Oh, it must be the tailback, standing there a few yards behind center.

The QB motions to a wideout spot on the right side, and several pairs of defensive eyes are supposed to watch confusedly, expecting the tailback perhaps to lob toward the quarterback near the end zone.

Well, in this case, the shotgun snap to Jonathan Smith was low. Smooth Draw, during its weeks of cold storage, had developed a snag. But Smith pulled the ball from the turf and cursorily did his pump-fake toward Matt Kegel, as planned.

Then he snaked forward 12 yards for the touchdown, more or less handily, giving Washington State a 20-10 lead over Texas in the Holiday Bowl.

Wonderful play. The Cougars say it's been in the playbook all season, itching to come out. Why hadn't it?

Well, you know, things interposed. Kegel's injuries. An epidemic of turnovers and penalties. A general lack of offensive "yump," to use a term I heard in an old movie the other night.

Somewhere along the line, this Washington State football season grew a little uncomfortable. There was talk of a national title. There was the strong possibility of a return trip to the Rose Bowl. There was the absolute urgency to beat Washington for the first time in this millennium.

None of those three primary goals was realized, because the slightly uptight Cougars lost two of their final four regular-season games.

On Tuesday night, they found their way back home. They were 9 1/2-point underdogs. They didn't have a whole lot to lose. They contrived to feel disrespected by national opinion in general and the Texas Longhorns in particular. They found themselves in charted territory, and they played their best game of the season.

It was showtime. The Cougars have a number of born entertainers in their midst, and here they had landed a gig on national television -- off Broadway, perhaps, but only just. Of the approximately 900 bowl games not affiliated with the Bowl Championship Series, the Holiday was the only one serving up two top-15 teams: The Cougars at No. 15 and Texas at 5.

It was time for Sammy Moore to return to his natural habitat: ESPN highlight reels. It was time for Kegel to ask, plead, pray, for three or four more monster throws from his poor aching right shoulder.

It was time for Smooth Draw.

The name of this little pastry of a play, by the way, derives from Smith's nickname, Smooth. He is a senior, like 15 other starters in the Wazzu lineup. So the Cougars simply had to use Smooth Draw in the Holiday Bowl, just as you simply have to use a coupon for free doughnuts before it expires.

Smith, aside from his football talents, isn't a showman in the mold of Moore and Jason David, but even shy Smooth couldn't resist the shift in Cougar mood. After scoring on Smooth Draw, he posed and mugged before a clutch of ambivalent end-zone spectators (this was at the opposite end from the 12,000 Maniacs wearing crimson and gray) and he posed and mugged some more, until he drew a celebration penalty.

David, the Cougars' senior cornerback and smack-talker, did the same thing after scoring on a fumble return a few minutes later. The Cougars had declared this a day at the circus, and nothing was going to convince them it wasn't.

"I'm a senior --I've got to have fun," David said. "That's one thing I was looking forward to in this game, no matter what happened: Make sure I have a good time."

It wasn't just the showmen who played well. The Cougars' maligned offensive linemen did the dirty work admirably, allowing no sacks, clearing the way for Smooth's 110 rushing yards and drastically reducing their number of false-start penalties and other foibles.

David yapped at Texas receivers all evening. One of them turned to the 5-foot-8 cornerback and made a fist, though he thought better of swinging it.

As Texas began to rally from its 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter, 6-4 receiver Roy Williams seemed to take the case directly to David. He gave the cornerback a smack to the midsection as he accelerated for a 30-yard touchdown catch with 4:29 left.

Later he caught a bomb along the left sideline and almost literally hurled David and safety Jeremy Bohannon out of bounds. He looked like a Great Dane shaking off a couple of playful calicoes. But a moment later Williams, too, teetered out of bounds at the 10-yard line, and that's as far as the Longhorns advanced. Three plays later, pass-rushers D.D. Acholonu and Will Derting toppled quarterback Chance Mock and recovered his fumble.

So the Cougars won 28-20, and immediately people began to paint a context for this accomplishment.

It was the school's second win ever against a top-5 opponent. It secured the Cougars' third straight 10-win season. It came in a slightly more prestigious bowl than the Sun or Alamo or Copper or Aloha, to name the Cougars' four other bowl victories since 1988. It wouldn't be overstating to call this their most significant bowl triumph since beating Brown 14-0 in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1916.

By no means were Washington State players inclined to disagree with this context-painting. But did it have anything to do with their pregame mind set? No.

They weren't thinking about histories or legacies. They were thinking about cotton candy and Smooth Draws. That's why the evening went so well.

Lewiston Tribune Online - 01/01/04

Leaf stays out of sight

SAN DIEGO -- Matt Kegel says his well-known cousin kept a low profile as his old school played a bowl game in his adopted hometown.

Kegel, the Washington State quarterback, said Ryan Leaf made no appearances at Cougar practices or Holiday Bowl activities during the past week.

"He wanted to stay out of it and let me enjoy this experience without him being there," the senior said. "But he's always been the most supportive guy in the world, and I couldn't ask for a better role model growing up."

Leaf, the quarterback who led the Cougars to the Rose Bowl in 1997, lives in San Diego after retiring from his injury-shortened and controversy-laden career with the Chargers and other National Football League teams.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a sarcastic banner amid the Holiday Bowl crowd read, "Thanks, WSU, for Ryan Leaf. ... Love, San Diego."

Kegel threw two touchdown passes as the Cougars upset fifth-ranked Texas 28-20 on Tuesday night at Qualcomm Stadium.

He said his shoulder sprain proved tolerable.

"It felt pretty good," he said. "I took a couple of shots rolling out. As the game went on and on, it started to get a little tight. I don't know what's wrong. I might get it reevaluated."

Kegel said he hopes the win will enhance the Cougars' national profile.

"I don't think the country showed Washington State a lot of respect," he said. "I don't think we've ever been respected. Winning 30 games in three years is a huge thing. These other (WSU) teams were great teams too -- the '97 team that went to the Rose Bowl and these last two teams that won 10 games. And hopefully now, by winning this big game on national television, people will start to respect us nationwide."

SACK ROUTE -- The Cougars blitzed extensively and wound up with seven quarterback sacks, tying a Holiday Bowl record.

Washington State linebacker Will Derting, who had one sack, several hurries and two fumble recoveries, said he could predict when the Longhorns would snap the ball based on the quarterback's motions and signals. Nor did the Longhorns make significant changes in their blocking schemes as the game progressed.

"They would just bring backs on to block you," Derting said. "I've got 50 pounds on the guy, so I can hit him and shed him and go get the quarterback."

Virgil Williams made 10 tackles for the Cougars, and D.D. Acholonu had three sacks for 30 yards. Erik Coleman, Don Jackson and Tai Tupai recorded a sack apiece.

BROWN ON BASLER -- Texas coach Mack Brown said of WSU punter Kyle Basler, "That guy is so good. I don't know if he's a senior, but he's worth money to someone. He kept pinning us inside the 5 and we couldn't go 95 yards." Basler, a sophomore, was named defensive Most Valuable Player for the bowl.

-- Dale Grummert

Next up ... Another Great Recruiting Year!