WSU's Leach doesn't say who'll start at QB in Apple Cup
Washington State coach Mike Leach took time on Sunday to explain how and why he makes good Thanksgiving gravy.
He failed to give any explanation as to who will be his starting quarterback the day after Thanksgiving when Washington State hosts rival Washington in the Apple Cup, not yet ready to make a decision about whether Jeff Tuel or Connor Halliday will get the nod against the Huskies.
"They both have done some good things. They both have a level of inconsistency. Some of it has been musical quarterbacks and some of it has been my fault," Leach said during a conference call. "But by the same token we try to get on the guy that is hot and that has been tough to identify."
Tuel and Halliday played in Washington State's 46-7 loss to Arizona State on Saturday, the Cougars eighth straight loss. After putting a scare into UCLA a week earlier with a massive second-half rally that fell short, the Cougars (2-9, 0-8 Pac-12) struggled in the desert against the Sun Devils and for the second straight road game that got out of hand in the opening minutes.
Tuel completed 8 of 16 passes for 63 yards, while Halliday was 13 of 33 for 173 yards. Both threw interceptions and Halliday had the only touchdown with a 54-yard TD pass to Kristoff Williams in the final minute of the game.
"I think we played hard, we just had some guys out of position at some times, didn't execute and the game just kind of got away from us," Washington State running back Carl Winston said.
The Cougars continued their maddening trend of playing competitively against the top of the Pac-12, only to follow up with a dud against others. The Cougars played even with Oregon and flustered Oregon State earlier in the season, only to follow up with a lackluster effort at home against California. Washington State was on the verge of an upset at Stanford, then responded by getting blown out at Utah.
And just last week, after all the unwanted attention from claims of abuse by former wide receiver Marquess Wilson, the Cougars staged a strong second-half rally that fell short 44-36 against UCLA.
Their answer to another strong performance against a top-tier squad? Washington State trailed 18-0 after one quarter and 46-0 after three quarters to the Sun Devils.
"It's definitely hard, kind of like (we) have mood swings," Washington State defensive back Deone Bucannon said.
Washington State needs a victory over the rival Huskies to avoid going winless in conference play for the second time in the last four seasons and to avoid yet another nine-game losing skid to close out a season. The Cougars lost their final nine games of the 2009 season, also the last time they were winless in conference play.
Even for being a program that has seen more struggles than successes in the past, going winless in conference play has been rarity. In the past 40 years, Washington State has been shutout in conference play only three times (1975, 1998, 2009).
While beating Washington wouldn't provide a remedy for all the problems the Cougars have faced in Leach's first year with an underperforming record and Wilson's claims, it would give at least some solace of optimism heading into the offseason.
"I'm kind of looking forward to it," Leach said. "... I think they're already motivated. I think the biggest thing need to focus on is our effort, our work, our development."
He failed to give any explanation as to who will be his starting quarterback the day after Thanksgiving when Washington State hosts rival Washington in the Apple Cup, not yet ready to make a decision about whether Jeff Tuel or Connor Halliday will get the nod against the Huskies.
"They both have done some good things. They both have a level of inconsistency. Some of it has been musical quarterbacks and some of it has been my fault," Leach said during a conference call. "But by the same token we try to get on the guy that is hot and that has been tough to identify."
Tuel and Halliday played in Washington State's 46-7 loss to Arizona State on Saturday, the Cougars eighth straight loss. After putting a scare into UCLA a week earlier with a massive second-half rally that fell short, the Cougars (2-9, 0-8 Pac-12) struggled in the desert against the Sun Devils and for the second straight road game that got out of hand in the opening minutes.
Tuel completed 8 of 16 passes for 63 yards, while Halliday was 13 of 33 for 173 yards. Both threw interceptions and Halliday had the only touchdown with a 54-yard TD pass to Kristoff Williams in the final minute of the game.
"I think we played hard, we just had some guys out of position at some times, didn't execute and the game just kind of got away from us," Washington State running back Carl Winston said.
The Cougars continued their maddening trend of playing competitively against the top of the Pac-12, only to follow up with a dud against others. The Cougars played even with Oregon and flustered Oregon State earlier in the season, only to follow up with a lackluster effort at home against California. Washington State was on the verge of an upset at Stanford, then responded by getting blown out at Utah.
And just last week, after all the unwanted attention from claims of abuse by former wide receiver Marquess Wilson, the Cougars staged a strong second-half rally that fell short 44-36 against UCLA.
Their answer to another strong performance against a top-tier squad? Washington State trailed 18-0 after one quarter and 46-0 after three quarters to the Sun Devils.
"It's definitely hard, kind of like (we) have mood swings," Washington State defensive back Deone Bucannon said.
Washington State needs a victory over the rival Huskies to avoid going winless in conference play for the second time in the last four seasons and to avoid yet another nine-game losing skid to close out a season. The Cougars lost their final nine games of the 2009 season, also the last time they were winless in conference play.
Even for being a program that has seen more struggles than successes in the past, going winless in conference play has been rarity. In the past 40 years, Washington State has been shutout in conference play only three times (1975, 1998, 2009).
While beating Washington wouldn't provide a remedy for all the problems the Cougars have faced in Leach's first year with an underperforming record and Wilson's claims, it would give at least some solace of optimism heading into the offseason.
"I'm kind of looking forward to it," Leach said. "... I think they're already motivated. I think the biggest thing need to focus on is our effort, our work, our development."
Whatever happens, sure we probably will lose, but its still better than being a husky. Go Cougs
As bad as the Cougs are playing right now...I am not sure it matters!GO DAWGS!Â
Ryan Leaf! He won't feel a thing!
Why is Leach really going to show up?
Earth shattering news to Mike Leach it really doesn't matter. your cougs are terrible.
It's not their players, it's their coaching.
It's not their players? Brilliant post.Â
An already bad WSU offensive line lost 2 starters in the middle of the season and they're now down to 6 healthy linemen total. They can't execute basic blocking assignments on special teams, let alone the more complicated offensive schemes Leach likes to run. Next season will be a better barometer for WSU's progression under Leach. He'll have to bring in some JC help on the offensive line and 2 of the 3 QB's on the roster will be guys he recruited. I feel bad for the upperclassmen this season, but clearly Leach is using them as sacrificial lambs and making them an example to the younger players. We'll see if it pays off or not.Â
Cougs get blown out in the Apple Cup by a huge margin are the players telling their AD Bill Moos that Leach needs to go? Going to be an interesting drama filled Apple Cup. Will the Cougs show up and play like they did against UCLA, or will they just roll over like they've done majority of their season.
Put he Pirate Cap'n in as QB! He might play better at that position than as head coach. Or, since he's seems to want to talk gravy, make him head chef!
Does it matter Mike?
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I mean, it's not like you've wonders for the program... This choice will change something?