Cougars' season, Brink's career end on high notes
Neil Pierson/Columbia Basin HeraldWSU receiver Charles Dillon (2) snares a second-quarter pass over Washington defensive back Darin Harris during Saturday's 100th Apple Cup game in Seattle.
Cougars 42, Huskies 35
SEATTLE - Andy Mattingly - tattoos, bald head and all - was waving a giant, crimson flag like a madman. Cory Evans and Kevin McCall were directing the marching band as it played the fight song. And Cougar players, coaches and fans were breathing one huge sigh of relief.
That was the scene on Saturday evening at Husky Stadium as the Washington State Cougars earned a 42-35 victory over the Washington Huskies in the 100th Apple Cup.
For Mattingly, a sophomore starting his first Apple Cup, the moment was priceless.
"I grew up watching this rivalry game and it means so much to me to win the game," Mattingly said. To go out and win, especially in Seattle, that's the best feeling ever."
The Cougars' third victory over the Huskies in four years meant a lot to everyone, but no one more than two embattled leaders - senior quarterback Alex Brink and head coach Bill Doba.
Brink, who has passed his way to the top of many Cougar career records but failed to lead the program to a bowl game during his four-year tenure, ended it with an exclamation point - 27 completions on 40 attempts, 399 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Doba, who is just one game above .500 in his five-year stint, isn't entirely sure of his future. The school planned a Monday press conference to discuss it, but if Doba doesn't return, it was as good an ending as he could've hoped.
"We got beat last week 52-17 and 90 percent of the teams in this country would've quit, but they didn't," Doba said. "They didn't because it's Apple Cup - that had a little bit to do with it."
Trailing 35-28 after Washington quarterback Jake Locker scored from 1 yard out with 12 minutes, 18 seconds to play, WSU (5-7 overall, 3-6 Pac-10 Conference) didn't panic.
Brink found wide receiver Brandon Gibson streaking through the middle for a 40-yard score with 7:29 remaining. Then Brink directed an 84-yard scoring march in less than two minutes, hitting a wide-open Gibson from 35 yards with 31 seconds remaining.
UW returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield, but Locker's final heave to the end zone was intercepted by Alfonso Jackson.
Locker, starting his first Apple Cup as well, played well in defeat. The redshirt freshman passed for 224 yards and one score, and ran 14 times for 103 yards and two scores.
The 77 combined points and nearly 1,000 yards of offense were something Brink wasn't surprised about.
"Knowing how much Jake's come on late in the year, I had no doubt they had the ability to put up yards like that," Brink said. "I knew our offense really refocused this week and made it a point to go out and put points up on the board."
Locker did struggle with accuracy, completing just 12 of 35 passes. And the first of his two interceptions, which went to Mattingly off a deflection, ended a prime scoring threat in the third quarter.
UW (4-8, 2-7) set the tempo early on, however. Louis Rankin caught the opening kickoff, found a seam in the middle and raced down the right side for an 89-yard TD that gave the Huskies a 7-0 edge just 15 seconds in.
WSU's offense didn't click right away, going three-and-out on its first three series, and the Huskies increased their lead to 10-0 as Ryan Perkins hit a 35-yard field goal.
Brink got untracked later in the first, tossing a 41-yard score to tight end Devin Frischknecht. But Locker and the Huskies immediately responded, going 55 yards in eight plays and restoring a 10-point cushion as Locker raced 23 yards around the left end.
The Cougars, however, scored the final two touchdowns of the half. Chris Ivory, who rushed 14 times for 114 yards, capped a five-play, 86-yard drive with a 25-yard burst. With just 34 seconds left in the half, Brink through a perfect out route to Frischknecht at the goal line for a 19-yard score.
WSU continued its momentum shift in the third quarter. The Huskies elected to go on fourth-and-3 from the Cougar 35, and linebacker Greg Trent sacked Locker.
Gibson made a toe-dragging catch on the sideline moments later to convert third-and-15 for WSU. On the next play, Jeshua Anderson beat his man deep down the right sideline, hauling in Brink's pass for a 28-yard TD and a 28-20 Cougar lead.
UW's Luke Kravitz had a career-long 42-yard kickoff return seconds later to set up the Huskies in Cougar territory. But Mattingly was the right man in the right place, intercepting Locker's pass that squirted out of the hands of tight end Michael Gottlieb.
A 50-yard Reid Forrest punt pinned the Huskies at their own 10 later in the third. But it took UW just four plays to score, with Marcel Reece catching a 63-yard bomb from Locker. Reece caught the ensuing two-point conversion pass, and UW had forged a 28-28 tie with 5:14 remaining in the period.
No Cougar defender was within 10 yards of Reece when he caught the TD.
The Huskies went to the ground on their next drive. The march took 16 plays - the final 15 of which were runs - and scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1 when Locker dove in off right tackle.
"Our kids just kept battling and battling," Doba said. "The coaches had a great game plan for them, and this group of seniors, all four years, have gotten clobbered one week and battled back the next. They've got great character."
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