Cougs set goal to start finishing
PULLMAN – Washington State’s oft-repeated mantra this season has been about finishing, and for the most part the Cougars have done so well in opening the season at 4-2.
But when it comes to the WSU offense finishing drives … well, that’s another story.
The Cougars have been woeful in the red zone, especially in recent weeks, and it can easily be argued that their inability to score touchdowns from in close cost them an upset win over USC and nearly cost them a road win at Oregon State as well.
“It’s a nightmare,” head coach Bill Doba said. “We need to get hard-nosed. You can fool people and trick and all that, the quarterback pass and all that stuff, but sooner or later you’re going to have to line up and roll up those shirtsleeves and take that guy on across from you 1-on-1 and get something good. That all comes with maturity and a little bit of confidence.”
WSU seemingly has neither as it has scored touchdowns on 14 of 27 red-zone opportunities this season. Of those 14 touchdowns, only four have come from the running game.
Against Oregon State, the Cougars had a first-and-goal on the 3-yard line on two occasions, settling for a field goal once and then missing a field goal the second time.
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why we’ve struggled down there,” quarterback Alex Brink said. “It seems like we’ve been so close. We get one of them down there, we threw it three times against OSU.
“We just can’t get that last block or cut, or whatever it is to get in the end zone. … We need to establish a little bit of an identity of what we want to do down there. One time we ran it three times. One time we threw it three times.”
Apprised of Brink’s comments about the lack of an identity, Doba agreed. The head coach cited youth on the offensive line – two sophomores and a freshman are starting at guard and center – as well as inexperience in the backfield – again, a sophomore and a freshman are getting the bulk of the carries – as a primary reason why things haven’t gone well.
“You just have to be a little more physical down there,” Doba said. “You have to get yards when you run it in there.”
WSU is seventh in the Pac-10, scoring on 74.1 percent of its red-zone trips. But with a shaky kicking game, failing to score touchdowns much more than 50 percent of the time has left the Cougars feeling queasy when they ought to be most confident.
“We’d like to have certain plays we can go to down there and count on to get us touchdowns, which we’ve found a couple,” Brink said. “But we’re still looking for some more.”
Notes
Wide receiver Jason Hill practiced in a yellow no-contact jersey Wednesday, his first session since spraining a shoulder against Oregon State on Saturday. Hill ran a handful of pass patterns in individual and team drills, and passing by a group of reporters afterward, the senior said, “I feel great. Y’all write that down.” The wideout is still questionable to play against Cal, but Doba sounded a more optimistic note after seeing Hill practice. “(Tuesday) he couldn’t hardly move the thing. (Wednesday) he got loosened up,” Doba said. “(But) they’re not going to let him wear that yellow shirt Saturday.” … Safety Michael Willis again practiced in a no-contact jersey. The sophomore is also rebounding from a shoulder injury.