WSU falls hard against Utah in 6th straight loss
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Reggie Dunn returned a kickoff 100 yards for the third time in two weeks and John White rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns as Utah defeated Washington State 49-6 Saturday.
The loss was the sixth straight for Washington State (2-7, 0-6 Pac-12), assuring coach Mike Leach of his first losing season.
Utah (4-5, 2-4) has won two straight.
White also caught an 18-yard TD pass as Utah scored on five first-half possessions and led 31-0 at halftime.
Dunn opened the second half with his school-record fourth career 100-yard return. He had an NCAA-record two 100-yard kickoff returns last week.
Utah freshman Travis Wilson completed 17 of 21 passes for 171 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.
Washington State's Jeff Tuel was 23 of 45 for 232 yards, with a 5-yard TD pass to Kristoff Williams on the game's final play. Tuel was intercepted, fumbled and sacked six times.
The Utes are 11-0 when White rushes for 100 yards. He had 96 by halftime, and carried the ball just three times in the second half before taking a seat in the blowout victory.
White's 47-yard run around right end gave Utah a 7-0 lead with 9:04 left in the first quarter. He broke two tackles on the play, including one at the 30-yard line that gave him a clear path down the sideline.
Utah took a 14-0 lead on Wilson's 5-yard TD pass to Max Moala with 3:46 left in the first. The big play in the drive was Wilson's 24-yard pass across the middle to Anthony Denham, who held on despite a high hit by Casey Locker that knocked Denham's helmet off and drew a 15-yard personal-foul penalty.
White's 2-yard touchdown run pushed Utah's lead to 21-0 with 12:07 left in the half. Four minutes later, Utah led 24-0 after Reggie Topps' interception set up Coleman Petersen's 20-yard field goal - his first in six games. Wilson's 18-yard TD pass to White gave Utah a 31-0 lead at the break.
At halftime, Utah held a 285-116 edge in total yards, 141-15 edge in rushing yards and 7-minute edge in time of possession.
Nothing went right for the Cougars and Tuel, who set a school passing mark with 43 completions last week as Washington State took it down to the wire against nationally ranked Stanford.
Tuel completed three of his first five passes for 41 yards Saturday, but was just 1 of 9 for 6 yards the rest of the quarter.
Washington State crossed midfield three times in the first half, with one possession ending on a missed 49-yard field goal by Andrew Furney and two failed fourth-down plays. Tuel threw behind Marquess Wilson on fourth-and-12 from the Utah 37. And on fourth-and-1 from the Utes' 34, Trevor Reilly batted down his pass at the line.
Leach pulled Tuel in the third quarter and inserted Connor Halliday, but Tuel finished the game, engineering the late TD drive to avoid a shutout.
The Utes dominated on defense despite missing top cornerback Ryan Lacy, who did not dress because of an undisclosed injury.
The Cougars started 0 for 9 on third-down conversions and 0 for 2 on fourth down.
Utah held a 453-255 advantage in total yards, limiting the nation's 120th-ranked rushing attack to minus-4 yards.
Marquess Wilson entered the game with 184 career receptions and needed 12 to set the school record of 195. He finished with five catches for 73 yards.
The loss was the sixth straight for Washington State (2-7, 0-6 Pac-12), assuring coach Mike Leach of his first losing season.
Utah (4-5, 2-4) has won two straight.
White also caught an 18-yard TD pass as Utah scored on five first-half possessions and led 31-0 at halftime.
Dunn opened the second half with his school-record fourth career 100-yard return. He had an NCAA-record two 100-yard kickoff returns last week.
Utah freshman Travis Wilson completed 17 of 21 passes for 171 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.
Washington State's Jeff Tuel was 23 of 45 for 232 yards, with a 5-yard TD pass to Kristoff Williams on the game's final play. Tuel was intercepted, fumbled and sacked six times.
The Utes are 11-0 when White rushes for 100 yards. He had 96 by halftime, and carried the ball just three times in the second half before taking a seat in the blowout victory.
White's 47-yard run around right end gave Utah a 7-0 lead with 9:04 left in the first quarter. He broke two tackles on the play, including one at the 30-yard line that gave him a clear path down the sideline.
Utah took a 14-0 lead on Wilson's 5-yard TD pass to Max Moala with 3:46 left in the first. The big play in the drive was Wilson's 24-yard pass across the middle to Anthony Denham, who held on despite a high hit by Casey Locker that knocked Denham's helmet off and drew a 15-yard personal-foul penalty.
White's 2-yard touchdown run pushed Utah's lead to 21-0 with 12:07 left in the half. Four minutes later, Utah led 24-0 after Reggie Topps' interception set up Coleman Petersen's 20-yard field goal - his first in six games. Wilson's 18-yard TD pass to White gave Utah a 31-0 lead at the break.
At halftime, Utah held a 285-116 edge in total yards, 141-15 edge in rushing yards and 7-minute edge in time of possession.
Nothing went right for the Cougars and Tuel, who set a school passing mark with 43 completions last week as Washington State took it down to the wire against nationally ranked Stanford.
Tuel completed three of his first five passes for 41 yards Saturday, but was just 1 of 9 for 6 yards the rest of the quarter.
Washington State crossed midfield three times in the first half, with one possession ending on a missed 49-yard field goal by Andrew Furney and two failed fourth-down plays. Tuel threw behind Marquess Wilson on fourth-and-12 from the Utah 37. And on fourth-and-1 from the Utes' 34, Trevor Reilly batted down his pass at the line.
Leach pulled Tuel in the third quarter and inserted Connor Halliday, but Tuel finished the game, engineering the late TD drive to avoid a shutout.
The Utes dominated on defense despite missing top cornerback Ryan Lacy, who did not dress because of an undisclosed injury.
The Cougars started 0 for 9 on third-down conversions and 0 for 2 on fourth down.
Utah held a 453-255 advantage in total yards, limiting the nation's 120th-ranked rushing attack to minus-4 yards.
Marquess Wilson entered the game with 184 career receptions and needed 12 to set the school record of 195. He finished with five catches for 73 yards.
WSU tried to swing for the fences by hiring a "big name" coach whom they conveniently neglected to consider was available for a reason - nobody wanted him. A coach who hates his players is not the basis upon which to build a successful program. Every game they keep Leach puts the program back by two games. The only question now is when WSU will realize that. Three years of Leach puts the program back six years. It's a disaster in the making and the WSU athletic director gets to decide how long the disaster will last.
To everyone saying they 'couged it' first find out what that means. A loss, even a blowout, is not couging it. Get your facts straight first.
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Leach uses a system that needs to protect its QB and he inherited a O-line that Paul Wulff was building to move and protect a QB on the run. His recruits next year are pocket protection guys that will allow our 4 star recruit QB to stand in the pocket and find any of the open guys. Do a little research before you blame Leach for a poor performance.
 @eclector Coug'd it!  Facts?  is there a set definition for it, no!  It's used to mock and make fun of the team, it's use can encompass a variety of different factors.
It's one thing to lose. It's another thing to lose after hiring a disgraced coach. Makes no sense to me. Fire the guy who hired Leach after you fire Leach.Â
@caphillkid You are referring to the incident with James at Tech which he has since admitted is a fabrication. Also you are referring to the AD Bill Moos who helped build Oregon before moving to rebuild Montana. Since he has arrived at WSU they have installed a million dollar video board at Beasley, built a $65 million upgrade to Martin that was under budget, and helped improve overall student athlete grad rates.
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Again, do a little research Jesus Christ..
Mike Leach........WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?????????
So much for the Apple Cup. It would take divine intervention for the Cougs to beat dawgs at this point. Divine intervention is out of the question for fear of a "separation of church and state" lawsuit.
They are really bad....Is the school cursed?? The coach has won before, but not matter who they bring in they suck. It's embarrassing.
Ok, with 5 losses the only bowl game you're going to have is the Chips Bowl At Home while you watch better teams play for titles. So why is the 6th loss that big a deal. Leach undoubtedly knows he's fired next month anyway.
How many more games until Leach steps down to coach at a winning school?
Did they not put the final score in the article or did I just miss it? Â Now I have to open up a brand new tab and go look on ESPN....
Lets not be to hard on northwest sports fan now, after all mediocre and pathetic are the standard up there..
Go Ducks!
aww.. my cougs are cougin it big time. Now I know why I stopped following football.
Ouch! Time for the coach to let the players go who either don't want to win or put in the effort to. It's a time of rebuilding for WSU. The coach and his philosphy of winning should attract athletes who also share in this vision.Â
@HallandOates It would also help if they had a coach who was a winner. Leach is not that guy... any more than Winningham was at UDub. The talk a great philosophy but it doesn't show up on the field.
Utah? Seriously? Utah??? These are supposed to be the "no effort" games. And 49-6? OMG.....they Couged it big time!
@thetruthhurts "....These are supposed to be the "no effort" games..."
The Cougs (and the Huskies, for that matter) won't know those types of games for seasons to come.Â
WOW!! A new standard for "Cougin" it"? Disgusting display of football today by WSU....should be part of a new league....the Pathetic 12...more nominees TBD.
 @Controlled-Insanity I would like to nominate Colorado to join the Cougs in the Pat12.