A silver lining for Cougs

PULLMAN – As the ball headed toward the uprights, there was a second of silence, almost as if the air was leaving the stadium.

As the ball passed through the uprights, Martin Stadium erupted.

Nico Grasu’s third field goal, a 37-yarder in the second overtime, lifted Washington State to an improbable 16-13 Apple Cup victory over Washington before 32,211 Saturday.

And lifted a 10-loss-sized weight off the Cougars’ shoulders.

“They believed,” said first-year WSU coach Paul Wulff, “and they made a lot of plays in the end.”

Making plays. It’s something Wulff has preached from the first day of practice. And something that has been in short supply in the 2-10 season (1-8 Pac-10), whether it is making the big tackle, the big run, the big pass or the big kick.

And they all showed up in WSU’s last home game of the season.

•The big kick: Actually, there were three of them, all by Grasu, the kicker who redeemed himself after losing his job two weeks ago.

Despite a couple of stutter steps before launching his first one as time ran out in regulation, he was perfect from 28 yards to tie the score at 10. Despite another stutter, he was perfect from 19 yards to give Washington State a 13-10 lead in the first overtime.

And, after Ryan Perkins’ second miss of the game (and UW’s third), a 37-yard attempt in the second overtime, went wide right, Grasu pounded the game-winner through from 37 yards out to turn the turf at Martin Stadium into a mass of crimson-colored humanity.

“I lost my mouthpiece, I lost my cleats, broke an arm, I think,” Grasu said after being swarmed under by his teammates and fans. “It was great though, just good for Cougar Nation.”

A nation that is celebrating its fourth Apple Cup win in five years, the first time that’s happened in a rivalry that began in 1900.

“There was a lot of pressure on our shoulders because of the season and how it went,” said sophomore Marcus Richmond. “No one thought the season would go like this. But people have said they don’t care how many games we win as long as we win the Apple Cup.”

•The big pass: Kevin Lopina has yet to throw a touchdown pass this year. After his second-quarter interception led to Perkins’ 35-yard field goal and a 10-0 Washington lead, his season total in that category is 11.

But he threw the biggest pass of the season, helping drop the Huskies to 0-11, 0-8 in Pac-10 play.

The Cougars trailed 10-7 when they got the ball back with 56 seconds left, with no timeouts and 80 yards from a possible win. If you’re wondering why Washington coach Tyrone Willingham decided to punt facing a fourth-and-3 from the WSU 36, the Cougars had exactly one 80-yard-or-more scoring drive in Pac-10 play.

It seemed a good bet.

But three plays later WSU was out to the 29. And the clock was ticking.

Lopina dropped back, looked right, where Daniel Blackledge and Jared Karstetter were and …

“We ran an out route with a go on the outside,” said Karstetter, who ran the go. “Lopina pumped the out route and the corner bit just long enough that I could get behind him.

“Just kind of went right up that seam.”

The ball was perfect and Karstetter made the catch, taking it to the Washington 18. A quick toss to the sideline picked up another 7 yards, a spike and Grasu was in the spotlight.

•The big run: Up until late in the third quarter, the Cougars had picked up a few first downs and 123 yards of total offense.

“Their ability to run the ball in the first three quarters,” Wulff said, “shortened the game and took away (our) opportunities.”

Stymied, WSU turned to the one play that had been successful, an I-formation stretch to the right side, with fullback Richmond and right tackle Micah Hannam asked to make the key blocks.

On a first-and-10 from its 43, they did.

Logwone Mitz, who had just four carries for 10 yards at that point, took a handoff from Lopina and headed right. Fullback Marcus Richmond led and shielded off cornerback Nate Williams.

“It was a nice feeling, just having my back to the sideline and hearing the crowd’s reaction, knowing (Mitz) was running free down the sidelines,” Hannam said.

“It was just daylight,” Mitz said. “I hit the hole as hard as I could … and I had what it took to get to the end zone.”

The 57-yard scoring run, WSU’s longest this season, gave the Cougars life – and kept them within field-goal range.

•The big tackle: Or, to be more precise, big tackles.

With the Huskies pounding the ball inside – they ran the ball 58 times for 224 yards – there were tackles to be made. Senior middle linebacker Greg Trent and safety Xavier Hicks led the way with 12 and 11, respectively, but four other Cougars had seven each.

And other than Willie Griffin’s 3-yard second quarter run, Washington never found the end zone.

“The defense kept us in it,” Wulff said for probably the first time all season. “We bent a little in the run game, but when we had to get tough, we did.”

“They were trying to run it right down our throat,” said co-defensive coordinator Chris Ball. “It’s amazing how big they are up front. … but our kids bowed up and made plays.”

Still, Griffin ran for a career-high 112 yards on 26 carries – he had 14 coming in – and quarterback Ronnie Fouch connected on 11 of 16 passes for 99 yards.

Yet the Huskies didn’t score after halftime.