Pac-10 Football Preview: Cougar's defensive woes major concern

As if there wasn’t enough pressure on him heading into his fifth season at Washington State, head coach Bill Doba added defensive coordinator to his job description this summer.

He will have direct control over a unit that yielded 36 points per contest as the Cougars dropped their last three games of 2006 to Arizona State, Arizona and Washington to fall out of bowl contention.

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Asked how things will be different this season with him in charge, Doba defused the question with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor.

“How’s it going to be different?” Doba asked. “Well, we’re going to stop people this year.”

It will take more than charm for Doba to get himself off the hot seat after three consecutive non-winning seasons.

Mediocre football used to be the norm at WSU. But after a three-year stretch in which the Cougars went 30-8 capped by an upset of Texas in the 2003 Holiday Bowl, expectations have risen in Pullman.

It’ll be up to quarterback Alex Brink to lead the team back to a bowl game and help take the pressure off his coach.

Brink, a senior, has thrown for more than 2,800 yards in each of his two seasons as a starter and has thrown 43 touchdown passes. And he’ll have a pretty good target in senior Michael Bumpus, who had 60 catches last year despite being slowed by a high ankle sprain.

Brink needs 1,736 yards to move past Jason Gesser, Drew Bledsoe and Ryan Leaf and into the top spot for most passing yards in a WSU career.

He’s one of nine quarterbacks in the conference to return this fall after starting their team’s finale last season.

“It’s going to make it tough on those defensive backs with John David (Booty) from USC and Nate Longshore at Cal,” Brink said. “I’m looking forward to playing some of those guys. It’s going to make for an exciting season.”

Unless your job is to stop opposing offenses.

“It puts a lot of pressure on us,” said Doba. “You better have a couple corners who can cover (opposing receivers) so you can put some heat on those guys.”

The Cougars may start three first-year players in their secondary this season.

Washington State

2006 record: 6-6, 4-5 in Pac-10

Head coach: Bill Doba (25-22 in four seasons)

Returning starters: 14 (seven offense, five defense, two kickers)

Five guys to eye: QB Alex Brink (Sr., 241 of 396 for 2,899 yards with 19 TDs and 10 INTs), WR Michael Bumpus (Sr., 60 catches for 558 yards and one TD), DL Ropati Pitoitua (Sr.), OL Bobby Byrd (Sr.), S Husain Abdullah (Sr.)

Schedule: Sept. 1 at Wisconsin, Sept. 8 vs. San Diego State in Seattle, Sept. 15 vs. Idaho, Sept. 22 at Southern California, Sept. 29 at Arizona, Oct. 6 vs. Arizona State, Oct. 13 at Oregon, Oct. 27 vs. UCLA, Nov. 3 at California, Nov. 10 vs. Stanford, Nov. 17 vs. Oregon State, Nov. 24 at Washington

Will succeed if: Senior quarterback Alex Brink can put up enough points to carry the team a la Ryan Leaf.

Will fail if: The defense, and especially the inexperienced secondary, is as bad as expected.

This is the second of nine stories previewing the Pac-10 Conference’s football teams.