The Final Score from Lincoln, Nebraska

UW 38

UN  51

The Final Score from San Diego, California

WSU 24

SDSU 42

Both the Huskies and the Cougars went into these games thinking they could win. Both of these teams left these games with a black eye and bruised ego. Both of these teams wilted played hard, heck the Cougars HAD THE LEAD going into the fourth quarter, and played close for most of the game. Both of these teams wilted under when their opponents applied the pressure (Ronnie Hillman’s FOUR TDs for the Aztecs and Taylor Martinez’s three total TDs for the Cornhuskers). Ouch.

WSU Cougars versus SDSU Aztecs

This is a game that many Cougar faithful thought they should win. This belief seemed to be confirmed by the Defense stuffing Ronnie Hillman on the Aztec’s first possession, which was followed by an 80 yard TD pass from Marshal “Rock Lobster” Lobbestael to Marquess “Freshmen All-American” Wilson. San Diego State responded with a two minute drive, capped by a 13-yard TD run by Ronnie Hillman. The Cougs promptly responded with a 48-yard field goal by Andrew Furney. Again the Aztecs responded with a Ronnie Hillman TD, ending the first Quarter. At this point Valhalla Bar & Grill was very uneasy, many of the Cougar faithful crowded in there were wondering (me included); “Are these guys the Cougars of the last three years? Or are they a new brand of Coug, a brand who will respond with a TD?”

Isiah Barton, Isiah Barton would catch a 23-yard TD pass from Marshal Lobbestael for the only score of the second quarter. The Score at the half was WSU 17-SDSU 14.

After the half the Cougs responded with a 78- yard TD pass to Marquess Wilson, actually Lobbestael threw the ball 20 (or so) yards and Wilson took it to the house. The defesne stopped the Aztec offense on their next possession. The Coaching Staff thought it would be a good time to go for the kill and block the punt; a dive and a roll later, San Diego State had a first down. They took advantage of the roughing the kicker penalty and scored on a 25-yard TD pass from sneaky-good quarterback Ryan Lindley to his Tight End, Gavin Escobar.  At this point, to me anyways, it looked like the defense decided we need to get the ball BACK into the hands of our offense NOW, they started going for the strip and not the tackle. From that point onward San Diego State simply dominated the Cougs. Hillman would end up running for four touchdowns and 191 yards. 

Despite throwing 368 yards and 3 TDs, Marshal Lobbestael reminded everybody why he was replaced as the starter. He tries to do too much and ends up causing more harm than good. There was a point in the second quarter where the pocket collapsed and Lobbestael moved out of it, good. Instead of throwing the ball away he took off, uhhhh; and then got tackled and promptly fumbled the football (although I still think his knee was down). Thankfully, the defense picked Lindley on the ensuing drive. And then you can’t forget his epic, pump fake fumble. Oh and his first interception, when he stared down Marquess Wilson on the streak*. At that point I got angry and stormed out of Valhalla’s Bar & Grill. I missed another Lobster pick and San Diego State TD.

If you would like to see the scoring and stat recap, look here.

The bottom line is this game stung. It hurt like no other. We could have won. We could have been 3-0, but we didn’t. This team had swag at the beginning of the game, by the third quarter they all looked lost. How will the Cougs respond? We find out in two weeks as they march into Boulder, Colorado against the Buffs (deep breath, deep breath).

*Staring down your WR is a no-no. But so is relying on a play (the streak to Wilson) too many times. Especially when it appeared  that your running game was working, Galvin was averaging 4.9 yards per-carry and Winston averaged 4.25 YPC.  The first interception was the third time I positively-identified a streak pass to Marquess Wilson. The first was the 80-yard TD pass and the second was a ball the Lobo put too much air under, midway into the second quarter. I have four or five more plays that I believe to be streak passes to Wilson that were incomplete passes. The defense had to suspect that the streak would be coming soon, and the defender had to be sitting on the route. I can only imagine the look on the defender’s face when he saw Lobo staring down Wilson.

I only saw the first quarter or so of the game. Then I went to Valhallas to watch the Cougs. And I was unable to receive a written recap from some one who did watch the Husky game. So if you would like to read a recap I suggest you take a look at this excellent AP article.