Cougars receivers can’t catch break
PULLMAN – Washington State quarterback Alex Brink could be looking at a different corps of receivers Saturday than what he’s become accustomed to over the first six weeks of the season.
Star wide receiver Jason Hill is 50-50 to play because of a shoulder sprain, and without any progress today Hill could be ruled out of action against No. 10 California. Even if he does play, head coach Bill Doba said the senior probably wouldn’t play all four quarters as he usually would.
“It just depends,” Doba said. “Sometimes they heal up. It’ll probably be a game-time decision. I doubt if he could play the entire game.”
WSU plans to modify Hill’s shoulder pads to try and make things easier for the wideout, but unless the shoulder heals more in the coming days it would be nearly impossible for him to play. Hill, who caught six passes for a career-high 240 yards and three touchdowns against Cal last season, watched Tuesday’s practice in street clothes.
Brink would love to have his most-feared wide receiver on the field, but it’s the loss of two other potential pass-catchers that seems to have him most worried.
Although Doba said tight end Cody Boyd’s ankle sprain may not be as bad as initially feared, the senior is out for this week and possibly the week after against No. 18 Oregon. No. 3 tight end Ben Woodard, a key player in goal-line and two-tight end sets, is out for about four weeks with a knee sprain.
The loss of those two players limits the Cougars offense and forces Jed Collins into the starting role. While Collins has started to catch more passes in recent weeks, at 6-foot-2 he’s far from the safety blanket the 6-8 Boyd provided for Brink.
“We were getting in a pretty good rhythm as far as where he plays and how he runs routes and where he likes the ball,” Brink said of Boyd. “It was a little frustrating that it happened at this time.
“We can do a lot of similar things with Jed. He’s obviously not as big height-wise of a matchup problem for people, but he’s got great hands. He’s a physical route-runner so he creates separation from people. And he’s got pretty good burst for a guy his size.”
Senior Jesse Taylor, another tight end, practiced after missing the last three games (knee).
Cougs pass on TV
For a brief time Monday, it appeared WSU might get some television coverage for this weekend’s game, but it almost certainly would have been for the Bay Area only.
The school was approached about having a cable broadcast for the game, but doing so would have required moving the kickoff time back from 2 p.m.
That notion, apparently, did not sit well with WSU administrators who had already announced the 2 p.m. start time as official and who were cognizant of homecoming weekend festivities that could have been disrupted.
“If (fans) know ahead of time that it’s going to be a 7:30 game so they can make arrangements, that’s a different thing,” said Doba, asked about the lack of television coverage. “But to throw that out there on a Wednesday or a Tuesday, I don’t think is fair to the people, our season-ticket holders who support us.”
Notes
Safety Michael Willis, who missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury, practiced with a no-contact jersey. … Mead’s Andy Mattingly also returned to practice after sitting out a week with a concussion. … Quarterback Arkelon Hall, fully recovered from a broken leg suffered in training camp, is running the scout team while transfer Kevin Lopina has been out sick for the past two weeks. Cole Morgan remains the third-string quarterback.