Downtrodden Cougars look for consistent effort

By Howie Stalwick | For The Olympian • Published November 07, 2008

• Comments (0)

PULLMAN – Washington State cornerback Romeo Pellum is partially blind in one eye, but he can plainly see one of the biggest faults of the hapless Cougars.

"The more points we get scored on us, the more the intensity goes down," Pellum said. "We just need to stay together as a team as the game goes on and don't worry about the scoreboard, and I think we'll play a lot harder."

Pellum added, "We just need to finish. Finish, finish, finish."

The Cougars don't start very well, either. Heading into Saturday's game with Arizona, WSU has been outscored 114-24 in first quarters and 119-30 in second quarters. That's a 233-54 difference, compared to 210-57 in second halves, when opponents have routinely shown mercy and flooded the field with reserves.

Overall, the Cougars have given up four times as many points as they have scored (443-111). They've already set a Pacific-10 Conference record with 350 points allowed in league games; they rank third in overall points allowed behind the 1981 Oregon State Beavers (469) and the 1970 Cougars (460); and their average of 5.5 points scored per league game puts them on pace to score the fewest points in conference play since Oregon State scored 49 in seven Pac-8 games in 1974.

With four games left to play (three in the Pac-10), look for the all-time points allowed record to fall today. Arizona won by 15 against a California team that beat WSU by 63; won by 21 against a UCLA team that beat WSU by 25; lost by seven to a USC team that beat WSU by 69; and lost by one to a Stanford team that beat WSU by 58.

If that doesn't explain why Arizona is favored by 41 on Dad's Weekend at WSU, consider the fact that the Wildcats have the added incentive of needing just one more win to become bowl eligible. Arizona also has the advantage of coming off a bye week that gave the team an extra week to prepare for WSU.

"Our kids know how to count," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "They know how many wins they need to get to a bowl game."

The Wildcats can run the ball, throw the ball and stop opponents from doing either. They average 37 points for and 18 against, compared to WSU's averages of 49 and 12, respectively. The Cougars give up 275 rushing yards per game; the Wildcats yield just 295 total yards per game.