Air Raid crashes in Corvallis

Both teams looked out of sync, had inspired defensive performances and lamented too many mistakes in postgame interviews, but it was No. 14 Oregon State which walked away with a 19-6 win in front of a record crowd at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore., against Washington State on Saturday.

Once again, Washington State faced a ranked opponent who wasn't playing its best, and once again the Cougars looked completely lost in the third quarter in defeat.

In an attempt to get the punchless offense going, Washington State coach Mike Leach started Connor Halliday, subbed in Jeff Tuel, brought Halliday back in and finally ended the game with Tuel. As maddening as it had to be for Leach to third and fourth-guess himself as Oregon State defensive back Jordan Poyer picked off three passes on the day, the ineptitude of the offense was even more aggravating to hopeful Cougar fans, who likely watched their postseason hopes drift away like so many of Halliday's passes.

It wasn't just the loss, however, that left Cougar fans shaking their heads. It was the familiarity of it all: the interceptions, the sacks, the missed redzone opportunities, the inability to produce in the third quarter and, lastly, the feeling afterward that maybe the game was never really all that close.

This year was supposed to be different. Those were Paul Wulff problems. Those went away with him.

At least, that's what Coug fans had hoped.

Through six games Washington State's Air Raid offense looks like it went the way of the Wright Brothers first attempts at flight. The Cougars are 100th in the nation in scoring (21.8), and have yet to win a Pac-12 game.

Three things we learned

• QB-less

A postseason bowl bid was predicated on the offense producing points in bunches. Washington State fans and coaches alike assumed that was possible because Tuel and Halliday were viewed as game-changing quarterbacks, but through six games it appears that isn't the case as the team leads the nation in interceptions thrown (12).

Halliday forces the ball into his receivers and stares down his reads, leading to interceptions. Tuel, on the other hand, waits too long to get rid of the ball and is sacked too often.

Both issues were addressed by Leach in the postgame news conference, but that doesn't mean they will soon be solved on the field.

It's quite possible Leach may not have a go-to signal-caller until he is able to bring in his own man and develop him.

• Emerging defense

With so many young players rotating in and out of the lineup, it only makes sense that a half season of experience has been a huge help to this group.

Defensive lineman Ioane Gauta reeled in an interception, safety Deone Bucannon tallied 11 tackles and the young linebacking corp limited Oregon State to just 100 yards rushing on 40 attempts.

That's a giant improvement from what we saw two weeks ago when the Cougs hosted Colorado.

• Cougs have an All-American

No, not Marquess Wilson. Aside from his 51-yard grab on Saturday, he had just three catches for three yards. It's been an up-and-down season for the possible first-round draft pick - both in terms of his numbers and his attitude.

But outside linebacker Travis Long has been nothing short of brilliant on the football field this season, racking up 7.5 sacks through six games and forcing a few interceptions with his pressure quarterbacks.

Long was an all-league guy a season ago, but now he's made the leap.

Three things we knew

• Oh no O-line

The offensive line gave up at least two sacks against two or three-man pressure. That's not only unacceptable, it's embarrassing. Oregon State defensive end Scott Crichton came into the contest as one of the top pass rushers in the conference, so predictably he was able to add three more sacks to his total - all against Tuel.

This group has been the biggest letdown of the season. They can't block pass rushers, open up holes for the run and they don't seem to be showing any signs of improvement.

This is not a bowl season for the Cougars, and that failure starts with the big men up front.

• Air Raid unbalanced

Washington State is now ranked the second-worst team in the country in terms of rushing yards per game (41.3) and total yards (248). To put those numbers into perspective, the third-worst rushing team in the nation, Idaho, averages almost twice as many yards per game as the Cougs.

Leach's Air Raid seeks to throw the pass early and often, but even he admits becoming balanced is imperative for the offense to be consistent.

Right now, the Cougs are without an offensive line that can block or running backs that can create big plays on their own.

That's a recipe for disaster.

• Can't catch a break

We already knew that the Cougars would struggle against elite teams - even during an off night. That became clear against No. 2 Oregon a week ago.

What we didn't know was that even above average teams, like Oregon State, could stomp Washington State while not playing their best ball.

Oregon State coach Mike Riley, running back Storm Woods and quarterback Sean Mannion all talked about how they played sloppy football on Saturday. Still, the Beavers won by two touchdowns.

Washington State is going to have to take advantage of opponents' off days if it hopes to win again this season. So far, its failed miserably to do so.

Three things to expect

• Questions at quarterback

Leach pulled Halliday twice, and was clearly frustrated with Tuel's propensity to get sacked. Notoriously tight-lipped on all things depth chart, Leach is unlikely to name a starter publicly until the offense takes the field this Saturday.

• Changes

A postseason bid looks hopeless, so it stands to reason the Cougars are a loss or two away from getting some of their younger players a few more reps. Washington State would never say that out loud, but it's coming soon.

• A fired-up Cal squad

All week talk around the Pac-12 was that Jeff Tedford would be out at California if it lost to No. 25 UCLA on Saturday. Instead, Cal rolled the Bruins 43-17, and it looks like a team ready to prove the Pac-12 wrong.

Frankly, WSU's most winnable game left this season - on paper - is this Saturday's game hosting Cal.

If the Cougars lose to the Golden Bears this week, a nine-game losing streak to close out the season is in play as a real possibility.

Andrew Nemec can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 231, or by email to anemec@dnews.com.