Hill held in check

AUBURN, Ala. – In the week leading up to Saturday night’s game, Auburn cornerback David Irons had said people would learn who could play after his match-up with Washington State wide receiver Jason Hill was through.

While both will be All-America candidates this season, the final boxscore would suggest that Irons strutted out with much more to brag about.

Aided all night by safeties rolling over to double-team Hill, Irons and fellow cornerback Jonathan Wilhite essentially took Hill out of the game.

Four times the Cougars tried to throw deep to Hill, and three of those shots resulted in pass breakups by either Irons or Wilhite. Hill drew a pass interference flag the fourth time, but he finished the game with four catches for just 18 yards, including the Cougars’ first touchdown.

“It was tough to find a rhythm,” Hill said. “They have a great scheme over there on defense, and it showed. We left a lot of plays on the field, but they made some plays as well.”

Never one to shy away from his own confidence, Hill insisted that Auburn’s success in bringing the double-team, and not its individual players, had more to do with his lack of productivity.

“(Irons) and Wilhite, they were OK,” Hill said. “I’m not going to take anything away from them. But I think I face better corners in the Pac-10. Like I said, their scheme just caught up with us.”

But Hill is almost certain to face double-teams all season long, and unless quarterback Alex Brink can get the other receivers going – something he was not able to accomplish Saturday night – it could be rough sledding for the Cougars’ passing game.

And it’ll be that much tougher for Hill to get open.

“Early in the game we weren’t finding the inside receivers, Chris Jordan and stuff in the middle,” Hill said. “And then it was kind of too late.

“It wasn’t all Alex. It was me, too.”