SB Nation Seattle - Washington State vs. Oregon State: Cougars fall to 0-3 in conferencehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48997/seattle-fave.png2012-10-08T18:33:35-07:00http://seattle.sbnation.com/rss/stream/32171692012-10-08T18:33:35-07:002012-10-08T18:33:35-07:00Mike Leach: Some of my seniors play like zombies
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<figcaption>James Snook-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire</figcaption>
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<p>Washington State Cougars coach Mike Leach wasn't happy with some of his seniors following another Pac-12 loss.</p> <p>Washington State Cougars coach Mike Leach had some harsh words for his seniors on Monday, comparing them to zombies instead of football players.</p>
<p>The Cougars remain winless in the Pac-12 at 0-3, following a 19-6 loss against the Oregon State Beavers. The Cougars are 2-4 overall, but Leach hasn't seen the fire he wants in all of his veteran players.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://sportspressnw.com/2012/10/leach-some-cougars-seniors-empty-corpses/">Via Sports Press NW</a>, Leach pointed out that lack of consistency in playing quality among his seniors is making it harder to keep some of them on the field.</p>
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<p>"Some of them, quite honestly, have an empty-corpse quality," he said. "It's not pleasant to say or pleasant to think about, but it's a fact, which is why it's been necessary to have the youth movement we've had. We play a bunch of (redshirt) freshmen and true freshmen because we get a higher effort level out of them."</p>
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<p>Leach acknowledged that it's hardly all of seniors on the team. He gave praise to senior wide receiver <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/78187/gino-simone" class="sbn-auto-link">Gino Simone</a>, who led the Cougars with 83 receiving yards against Oregon State. Unfortunately, not all of the seniors have been following his effort, as Leach likened them more to extras from The Walking Dead than football players.</p>
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<p>"Some of [the seniors] have been great and some of them have been very poor. Some of them have had this zombie-like, go through the motions, that's how it's always been and that's how it'll always be."</p>
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<p>The Cougars return home to try and claim their first Pac-12 victory against the Cal Golden Bears on Saturday. Cal is coming off of a 43-17 victory over the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/ucla-bruins" class="sbn-auto-link">UCLA Bruins</a>.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-st-cougars/2012/10/8/3476600/washington-state-cougars-mike-leach-empty-corpsesPeter Woodbrook2012-10-08T06:57:12-07:002012-10-08T06:57:12-07:00Washington schools freefalling in North Division
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<figcaption>Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire</figcaption>
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<p>The Huskies and Cougars each lost this past weekend and are now in the bottom half of the Pac-12 North standings.</p> <p>The Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars fell further down the Pac-12 North standings this past weekend with each team logging a conference loss.</p>
<p>The Huskies (3-2) proved Saturday that the No. 2 ranked Oregon Ducks were too much for them to handle with the final score being 52-21 in Autzen. With the loss, Washington now sits in fourth place in the North Division at 1-1 and will be looking to get back on track against a tough USC Trojans squad this week at home.</p>
<p>The Cougars (2-4) are the only winless team in the North following their 19-6 loss to Oregon State last week. WSU will try to avoid falling to 0-4 in the conference when the Cal Golden Bears head into town Saturday evening.</p>
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<h3>Pacific-12 Conference Standings</h3>
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<p class="updated">(updated 10.7.2012 at 12:50 AM MST)</p>
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<thead class="super-head"><tr>
<th>North</th> <th colspan="2">Conf</th> <th colspan="2">Overall</th>
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<th></th> <th>W</th> <th>L</th> <th>W</th> <th>L</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody>
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<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/oregon-ducks">Oregon Ducks</a></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>6</td>
<td class="td-last">0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/oregon-st-beavers">Oregon St. Beavers</a></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td class="td-last">0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/stanford-cardinal">Stanford Cardinal</a></td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>4</td>
<td class="td-last">1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/washington-huskies">Washington Huskies</a></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td class="td-last">2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/california-golden-bears">California Golden Bears</a></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td class="td-last">4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/washington-st-cougars">Washington St. Cougars</a></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
<td class="td-last">4</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<table class="standings zebra sbn-pte-table" cellspacing="0">
<thead class="super-head"><tr>
<th>South</th> <th colspan="2">Conf</th> <th colspan="2">Overall</th>
</tr></thead>
<thead><tr>
<th></th> <th>W</th> <th>L</th> <th>W</th> <th>L</th>
</tr></thead>
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<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/arizona-st-sun-devils">Arizona St. Sun Devils</a></td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td class="td-last">1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/usc-trojans">USC Trojans</a></td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>4</td>
<td class="td-last">1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/colorado-buffaloes">Colorado Buffaloes</a></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td class="td-last">4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/ucla-bruins">UCLA Bruins</a></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>4</td>
<td class="td-last">2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/utah-utes">Utah Utes</a></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td class="td-last">3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/arizona-wildcats">Arizona Wildcats</a></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td class="td-last">3</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2012/10/8/3473122/2012-pac-12-football-standingsCody Ulm2012-10-07T17:14:05-07:002012-10-07T17:14:05-07:00Beavers not great, but good enough
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<p>It may not have been pretty, but the Oregon State Beavers were able to improve to 4-0 with their 19-6 victory against Washington State on Saturday.</p>
<p>SB Nation's Oregon State blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/10/6/3466884/beavs-contain-cougars-19-6">Building the Dam</a>, acknowledged it may not have been the Beavers' best performance of the season, but they were still happy to come away with the victory.</p>
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<p>This was not OSU's best game of the season, but it is nice to know OSU can put in a bad performance and still feel in control against poor teams.</p>
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<p>The OSU defense was stout against the Cougars, but the Beaver offense struggled. After playing well during the first three games <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113717/sean-mannion">Sean Mannion</a> had what Building the Dam called "possibly his worst game of the season." While Mannion struggled, the defense picked him up, led by Jordan Poyer.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/77812/jordan-poyer">Jordan Poyer</a> was the clear cut player of the game with three interceptions. I can't figure out why quarterbacks would choose to throw his way, especially on quick throws which happened twice.</p>
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<p>The game may not have won Oregon State any style points, <a href="http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/10/6/3466884/beavs-contain-cougars-19-6#119970093" target="_blank">but as one reader said</a>, "that was an ugly win, but hey as they say a win is a win."</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2012/10/7/3471122/oregon-state-washington-state-2012-reactionMark Sandritter2012-10-07T16:53:31-07:002012-10-07T16:53:31-07:00Cougar defense shows signs in loss
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<p>When Mike Leach arrived at Washington State, many expected the Cougars to have a high-scoring offense this season. On Saturday against Oregon State the offense struggled, scoring just six points, but the defense was surprisingly strong.</p>
<p>Over at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-vs-oregon-state/2012/10/7/3468746/wsu-vs-osu-ioane-gauta-travis-long-stats">CougCenter</a>, SB Nation's WSU blog, Jeff Nusser praised the defense for the strong showing which proved to be true from both a visual and statistical standpoint.</p>
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<p><b>4.51 - </b><i>Yards per play allowed by the defense. </i>It obviously felt like the defense was having a very good day, and this more or less confirms it. While yards per play isn't a tell-all stat, it's a nice rudimentary indicator of offensive and defensive effectiveness. </p>
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<p>The loss was a big blow for the Cougars' bowl hopes, but as Nusser noted, it was another positive development for the defense.</p>
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<p>It's exciting to see the defense build off of what was, at times, a very strong performance against Oregon the week before. </p>
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<p>While the defensive performance was encouraging, the quarterback play was a major issue for the Cougars. Starter <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/114012/connor-halliday">Connor Halliday</a> threw three interceptions while backup <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/78188/jeff-tuel">Jeff Tuel</a> came in to throw one of his own. Interceptions have been a problem for Halliday this season as Nusser noted.</p>
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<p>I don't really have a whole lot of other insight to offer, other than to say that if you were of the opinion that Halliday's interceptions weren't that bad, they really are. And if you were of the opinion that it really was that bad, well, it is. </p>
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<p>The Cougar defense will look to continue it's strong play when WSU hosts California on Saturday. Whether or not WSU quarterbacks can avoid costly interceptions remains to be seen. </p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2012/10/7/3471050/oregon-state-washington-state-2012-reactionMark Sandritter2012-10-06T18:40:59-07:002012-10-06T18:40:59-07:00WSU vs. Oregon State final: Beavers win 19-6
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/oregon-st-beavers">Oregon State Beavers</a> took care of business on Saturday afternoon, grinding out a 19-6 win over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/washington-st-cougars">Washington State Cougars</a> in Corvallis to remain undefeated.</p>
<p>With the Cougars failing to convert on an opportunity to make it a three-point game in the closing stages, Oregon State took the ball on a 12-play drive to put the game away at 19-6. Beavers quarterback <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113717/sean-mannion" class="sbn-auto-link">Sean Mannion</a> was on point, leading the 86-yard scoring drive by throwing 5-of-7 for 66 yards. The drive was finished with a 1-yard dive by <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113722/tyler-anderson">Tyler Anderson</a>.</p>
<p>That score came just after Washington State drove 72 yards and deep into Beaver territory. But at the 15-yard line, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/78188/jeff-tuel" class="sbn-auto-link">Jeff Tuel</a> threw two incomplete passes, and the Cougars settled for a field goal, making it just 13-6. Tuel entered in the second half to replace <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/114012/connor-halliday" class="sbn-auto-link">Connor Halliday</a>, who was largely ineffective.</p>
<p>Mannion finished the day going 24-41 for 250 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions, as the Beavers outgained the Cougars, 377-254.</p>
<p><b>Box Score Hero: </b>Cornerback <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/77812/jordan-poyer">Jordan Poyer</a>, Oregon State. The dynamic corner and return man nabbed three interceptions on the afternoon, doing his part to keep Washington State off the board.</p>
<p><b>Rankings Ramifications:</b> While the performance itself wouldn't necessarily merit upward movement, a few teams ahead of Oregon State have fallen (namely TCU), so the Beavers should move up at least a little.</p>
<p><b>But Did They Cover? </b>Oregon State was favored by 15 and did not cover.</p>
<p><b>For More On This Game </b>visit <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cougcenter.com/">Coug Center</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.buildingthedam.com/">Building The Dam</a>.</p>
<p><b>Next Week's Schedule: </b>Oregon State takes its undefeated record on the road to BYU, while Washington State will host Cal.</p>
<p><a data-size="large" data-show-count="false" class="twitter-follow-button" href="https://twitter.com/SBNationCFB">Follow @SBNationCFB</a></p>
<p>This story was <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2012/10/6/3466662/oregon-state-washington-state-2012-results-score">originally published on SB Nation.com</a>.</p>
<p><a title="Check out the SB Nation Channel on YouTube" href="http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=sbnation"><img onclick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'SBN YouTube Integration', 'HTML Article Insert - Grey']);" style="margin-left: -15px" alt="Check out the SB Nation Channel on YouTube" src="http://assets.sbnation.com.s3.amazonaws.com/youtube/youtube-article-insert.png"></a></p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2012/10/6/3466700/wsu-vs-oregon-state-final-beavers-win-19-6Brett Hein2012-10-06T16:46:25-07:002012-10-06T16:46:25-07:00Beavers lead Cougars 6-3 at halftime
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<p>The Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars traded field goals in the second quarter in Corvallis, giving the Beavers a 6-3 halftime lead.</p>
<p>Oregon State appeared to be headed to take a larger lead late in the quarter when <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37435/anthony-watkins">Anthony Watkins</a> intercepted Cougars quarterback <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/114012/connor-halliday">Connor Halliday</a> and returned it all the way to the WSU 19-yard line. But Oregon State could not convert it into a touchdown, as <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113717/sean-mannion">Sean Mannion</a> had several passes batted down at the line. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/136048/trevor-romaine">Trevor Romaine</a> put through a 24-yard field goal for the 6-3 lead.</p>
<p>The Watkins interception came just after WSU defensive lineman <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/161417/ioane-gauta">Ioane Gauta</a> picked off a Mannion pass and got the Cougars well into Oregon State territory. But Halliday returned the favor two plays later.</p>
<p>Washington State kicker <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/114027/andrew-furney">Andrew Furney</a> hit on a 24-yard field goal of his own earlier in the second quarter to get the Cougars on the board.</p>
<p>Overall, Oregon State leads in total yards 140-122, and the teams have already combined for five turnovers.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2012/10/6/3466390/wsu-oregon-state-score-updateBrett Hein2012-10-06T15:49:46-07:002012-10-06T15:49:46-07:00Beavers lead 3-0 after one quarter
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<p>The Oregon State Beavers lead the Washington State Cougars, 3-0, after one quarter of play at Reser Stadium in Corvallis. OSU has dominated the game, driving the ball down the field with ease. The Cougar defense has held near the redzone to keep the score close.</p>
<p>The Beavers got on the board in their first possession, driving 41 yards in six plays. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/136048/trevor-romaine">Trevor Romaine</a> knocked in the 30-yard field goal to start the scoring. </p>
<p>The Washington State offense has struggled to get anything going. Quarterback <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/114012/connor-halliday">Connor Halliday</a> has been off on many of his passes. He threw an interception on WSU's second drive. That interception set up the Beavers deep in WSU territory, but the Cougar defense held on fourth down and OSU didn't add to its lead.</p>
<p>The WSU defense made big play near the end of the first. With the Beavers driving, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/114015/deone-bucannon">Deone Bucannon</a> intercepted <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113717/sean-mannion">Sean Mannion</a> to end another Oregon State drive in Cougar territory. WSU converted a third down to maintain possession on the ensuing drive and has the ball on its own 16, facing a 2nd and 7 to begin the second quarter.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2012/10/6/3466214/wsu-vs-oregon-state-score-update-beavers-lead-3-0-after-first-quarterCraig Powers2012-10-06T08:54:38-07:002012-10-06T08:54:38-07:00Can WSU knock off the upset specialists OSU?
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<p>SB Nation's team blogs take a look at the keys to the game as Washington State tries to spring the upset on No. 14 Oregon State.</p> <p>The Oregon State Beavers have surprised many this season on their way to a 3-0 start that included two wins over top 25 teams. This week, however, the No. 14 Beavers are the upset target as they go up against the 2-3 Washington State Cougars.</p>
<p>To prepare for Saturday afternoon's matchup in Corvallis, SB Nation's two team blogs, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cougcenter.com/">CougCenter</a> for Washington State and <a target="_blank" href="http://buildingthedam.com/">Building The Dam</a> for Oregon State, fielded three questions from each other.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/10/4/3457866/q-a-with-the-coug-center">Jeff Nusser from CougCenter discussed</a> the quarterback situation for Washington State, their defensive woes and the running game in their new offense under first-year head coach Mike Leach. On the quarterback rotation between <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/114012/connor-halliday" class="sbn-auto-link">Connor Halliday</a> and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/78188/jeff-tuel" class="sbn-auto-link">Jeff Tuel</a> he said:</p>
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<p>As practice started this week, Halliday continued to take the practice reps with the No. 1 offense, so there seems to be no doubt that Leach has settled on sticking with Halliday. And I think that's a testament to Halliday's growth, which was especially evident on Saturday – although he still threw an interception, there were far fewer of the blatantly bad decisions he's become sort of infamous for.</p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-vs-oregon-state/2012/10/5/3456834/wsu-vs-oregon-state-how-did-sean-mannion-get-so-good">Building The Dam's Andy Wooldridge spoke about</a> the growth of Beavers' quarterback <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113717/sean-mannion" class="sbn-auto-link">Sean Mannion</a> and the issues in the secondary for both teams. On Mannion's development he said:</p>
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<p>As corny as it sounds, Mannion appears to have done exactly what you would want any player to do between his first and second seasons. He always had the arm strength, which is why he got the game to begin with. To his credit, he saw the same shortcomings in his game that everyone else did, reading the defense and making good decisions quickly, throwing accurately, and avoiding big mistakes, and spent the winter, spring, summer, and fall camp working on improving on them.</p>
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<p>The game kicks off from Reser Stadium at 3 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-st-cougars/2012/10/6/3464364/washington-state-vs-oregon-state-2012-previewJohn.Wilkinson