Cougs return to square one

PULLMAN — If there were one thing Washington State coach Bill Doba didn’t want to have surrounding his team, it was a question about the identity of his starting quarterback.

So he and his staff named one, just two days after saying the Cougars would watch both in practice this week and then pick either Josh Swogger or Alex Brink to start against Idaho on Saturday.

“Josh Swogger is going to be our quarterback,” Doba said. “He earned that position in the spring. He earned it also in the preseason.

“If he’s struggling then we’ll put in Alex Brink. And Alex Brink, if he does well, will finish the game. If he doesn’t, we’ll go back to Josh, of course. And if Alex does well and finishes the game, the next week Josh Swogger will be our starter. And that eliminates the quarterback controversy and all that.”

Well, sort of.

Swogger was named a team captain in the offseason. The Cougars spent much of their training camp talking about how Swogger had established himself as a team leader. So it was somewhat of shock to see him pulled just five-and-a-half quarters into the season, especially after he had helped lead the team to a season-opening victory in New Mexico.

In fact, Doba admitted that in hindsight he would have given Swogger more of a chance against Colorado before switching to Brink. (The Cougars re-installed Swogger shortly thereafter, only to take him out again for good in the third quarter.)

“It wasn’t all Josh, you know,” Doba said. “Sometimes the receiver is supposed to run seven and make his break, then he runs three and makes his break and the window closes. It’s everybody.”

Quarterbacks coach Timm Rosenbach, who had radioed down to Doba to make the change on Saturday, sat down with both quarterbacks on Sunday night and explained how the team was going to go about assigning playing time in the future.

For the sophomore captain, that talk went a long way in reassuring him, especially with his confidence seemingly shaken badly by the Colorado loss. Swogger ended up just 6 of 27 for 77 yards, but he appeared to play reasonably well in his first stint, despite the poor passing numbers.

“It’s nice just to have the coaches behind me,” Swogger said. “I feel like whoever’s in is going to have the team behind him, but now that the coaches are behind me it’s all that much better.”

“I had a sick feeling after that game and I think a lot of people did,” Swogger said. “I did think about that all weekend, that maybe they didn’t think I’m the guy. After Sunday, talking to Coach Rosenbach and Coach Doba, they all reassured that I was the guy. The confidence is there.”

Rosenbach said he didn’t regret the decision to make the switch on Saturday, and that it would be — or at the very least, could be — beneficial in the future to have an experienced backup. Brink went 12 of 23 for 251 yards in the loss.

“We knew going into this that Alex was going to have to play. I don’t want to play (USC), and Josh Swogger gets hurt and Alex Brink has to come in having never played before,” Rosenbach said.

“I have to do my best as a position coach to read where they’re at during the course of the game and make the decision (as to who) gives us the best chance to win. I think Josh is our starter because he gives us the best chance to win. I think Josh needs to play and learn how to play through some things when the time permits itself for that to happen. If I don’t feel like the time permits itself for that to happen, we would make a change.”

Brink handled the return to backup status diplomatically, and his coaches have emphasized how well the two continue to get along.

While the redshirt freshman said he, like anyone, wants to play, Brink acknowledged that there can only be one quarterback on the field, and for the moment, that man is Swogger.

“I’m disappointed because I’d love the opportunity to play. But I know there’s going to be chances for me to play later in the season and I’m not worried about it,” Brink said.

“I felt like I did some good things on Saturday. I know I made some mistakes and I think that definitely went into the coach’s decision, and, with Josh being a captain and the leader of this team, I think that it’s right that he be the starter on Saturday.”

Both coaches discussed the need to have the quarterback feel like one mistake will not cost him playing time. That message appears to have seeped through to Swogger.

“I’m young and I’m going to make mistakes. But he’s not going to yank me just for making mistakes,” Swogger said. “I think we’re all on the same page now.”

But whether it translates into more consistent and productive play remains a question, even for those most closely associated with the situation.

“I don’t have a crystal ball,” Rosenbach said. “It’s going to start off: He could be hotter than heck, he could be cold, he could be middle of the road. As a player that’s been there, it doesn’t stay that way forever. So you’ve got to go with the flow of the game and see how it goes.”