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Special didn’t deliver

WSU wide receiver Brandon Gibson catches the Cougars' final touchdown of the game. (Christopher Anderson The S-R / The Spokesman-Review)
By Glenn Kasses glennk@spokesman.com
WSU wide receiver Brandon Gibson catches the Cougars' final touchdown of the game. (Christopher Anderson The S-R / The Spokesman-Review)

PULLMAN – Special teams play has not been a Cougars strength this season, and Saturday night it became a Cougars killer.

On two separate occasions Washington made big plays on special teams that helped to break Washington State’s back.

The Cougars appeared to seize momentum early when senior Eric Frampton, having a standout season, intercepted a Carl Bonnell pass and ran 43 yards into the end zone to give them a 14-7 second-quarter lead minutes before the half.

But WSU, worried that its defensive players were fatigued from the interception return, kept them off the field for the ensuing kickoff, which Marlon Wood promptly returned 87 yards to the WSU 13-yard line, setting up an easy score that let the air out of WSU’s tires.

“(They were) gassed so we put backups in,” WSU head coach Bill Doba said. “We learned a lesson there, I guess.”

In the third quarter, the Huskies seized control of the game for good with a blocked punt for a touchdown, giving them a 28-17 lead and stunning the Martin Stadium crowd. A number of Huskies managed to break through the line of scrimmage on the punt, but linebacker Chris Stevens got the block and the recovery in the end zone after the ball bounded backward a few yards.

Following the game, the Cougars were clearly exasperated that special teams errors had cost them so dearly when the offense had managed to score 32 points against a team that had previously struggled to score.

“Whenever I’d look up, right after we came off the field for a punt or when we scored on the kickoffs, it seemed like they always got those extra yards that really helped them out in the long run,” Cougars tight end Cody Boyd said.

At the least, WSU seems to have solved its kicking woes as Romeen Abdollmohammadi had another solid day. The junior walk-on booted a 32-yard field goal and was perfect on three extra points as well.

But on kickoffs he was limited to squibbing the ball in the second half because Doba was so concerned about giving up another big play.

“It killed us,” the coach said.