Easy pickings
PULLMAN — A week ago, Josh Swogger got pulled in the third quarter for all the wrong reasons. This week, he got taken out again in the third quarter — for all the right reasons.
Swogger threw four touchdown passes in just more than 32 minutes of play to give Washington State an insurmountable 35-0 lead against Idaho. Alex Brink came in to finish off the rout and by game’s end, the Cougars had a 49-8 win under the lights in front of 34,858 in Martin Stadium.
The sophomore captain threw almost no ugly passes against the Vandals in an efficient 12-of-19 performance, a far cry from his struggles in Seattle against Colorado. In that game, he went 6of 27 for 77 yards.
Three of Saturday’s TD passes — and 105 of Swogger’s 196 passing yards — went to sophomore Jason Hill, who tied a school record for scoring grabs in a game.
Hill was the lone offensive star for the Cougars the week before, catching six passes for 206 yards and a TD. Saturday’s performance was even tidier, as Hill took all three of his receptions into the end zone. That included a 76-yard screen that he caught on the left side and took all the way across the field before outrunning two Vandals defenders.
WSU (2-1) again got a stellar defensive effort, as the Vandals struggled to gain first downs all night. Even when they were able to move the football, timely turnovers helped the Cougars hold Idaho in check.
In the second quarter, the Vandals (0-3) got inside the Cougars 5-yard-line before Rolly Lumbala put the ball on the ground. WSU linebacker Scott Davis pounced on the fumble. The Vandals put the ball on the ground six times in the game, losing three of them to WSU. Idaho also turned the ball over on the game’s first play from scrimmage when Michael Harrington threw up a pass that cornerback Karl Paymah picked off.
Idaho finally got on the scoreboard with 17 seconds left with second-stringers on the field for both teams. Brian Nooy, in at quarterback for Michael Harrington in garbage time, hit Ryan Heacock on a slant and then found him again for a two-point conversion. The score was Idaho’s first in 139:08, going back to the first quarter of the Vandals’ game against Utah State the week before.
On offense, the Cougars were also helped by an effective running attack, the first time that can be said in the 2004 season. WSU gained 286 yards on 46 carries and punched it in for the team’s first three rushing TDs of the season. Chris Bruhn had more than 100 yards for the second time in his career — the first was against Idaho in 2003 — and finished with 129 on 16 carries. In relief, Allen Thompson ran for 71 yards and had two of the team’s scores on the ground.
In WSU’s first two games, the running game generated just 46 yards on 71 attempts.
WSU didn’t score on its first possession of the night, putting the first points on the board with 7:35 left in the opening quarter. But after that, the points came in an avalanche, aided by a fumbled punt that gave the Cougars just a 13-yard distance to go for the second score.
The second quarter belonged to Swogger and Hill, who connected for the final two of their three TDs in a span of 4:17. By then, the Cougars were able to let the running game take over as Idaho continually failed to make a dent in the Cougars lead.