SPORTS
Saturday, September 7, 2019
East Oregonian
B3
PAC-12 FOOTBALL
No. 22 Washington St again flexing offensive muscle
By NICHOLAS K.
GERANIOS
Associated Press
Now that Washington
State coach Mike Leach has
settled on Anthony Gordon
as the starting quarterback,
the No. 22 Cougars are look-
ing to answer some ques-
tions at outside receiver.
The problem is not a
dearth of talent. It’s too
much available talent.
Senior Calvin Jackson Jr.,
junior Tay Martin and fresh-
man Rodrick Fisher are bat-
tling for the two starting
jobs available at the outside
receiver position.
“Don’t have a clear-cut
plan with that,” Leach said
this week as the Cougars
prepared for their game Sat-
urday against Northern Col-
orado. “Part of it is those
guys are kind of playing
keep away with us just a lit-
tle bit. One guy looks like
he’s the best player. Then the
other player beats him out.
Then the other player beats
him out. And so it goes.”
Fisher caught a 41-yard
touchdown pass from Gor-
don on the first drive last
Saturday against New Mex-
ico State, a game the Cou-
gars won 58-7. “I thought he
played fast,” Leach said. “He
doesn’t waste any time play-
ing slow.”
Gordon, who beat out
Gage Gubrud to make his
first start for the Cougars,
completed 29 of 35 passes
for 420 yards and five
touchdowns, tying Luke
Falk for the team record for
most touchdowns in a first
start. He was named Pac-
12 Offensive Player of the
Week.
The Cougars (1-0) turn
that offensive prowess this
week on Northern Colo-
rado (0-1) which gave up 382
yards in a 35-18 loss at San
Jose State last week.
Bears coach Earnest
AP Photo/Young Kwak, File
Washington State quarterback Anthony Gordon (18) throws
a pass during the first half of the team’s NCAA college foot-
ball game against New Mexico State in Pullman, Wash., on
Aug. 31.
Collins Jr. felt his team
could have done much
more. “We could have kept
running the ball because
they couldn’t stop it,” Col-
lins said. “It’s one of those
games you could have won
and should have won but
we can learn a lot from it.”
Other things to know as
Washington State prepares
to host Northern Colorado of
the Big Sky Conference:
WHO’S NO. 2?
While Gordon is the start-
ing quarterback, a question
has emerged about whether
Gubrud or Trey Tinsley is
the backup. Both played
against New Mexico State.
“It appears to me they’re
pretty neck and neck,”
Leach said. “I think they’re
pretty close.”
Gubrud is a graduate
transfer who played a lot at
Eastern Washington, while
Tinsley has been with the
Cougars since 2016 but has
gotten little playing time.
Gubrud, who threw a
late touchdown pass against
New Mexico State, became
the first player ever to throw
a touchdown pass both for
and against the Cougars.
He threw eight touchdown
passes against the Cougars
while he was with Eastern
Washington.
BEARS QB
Northern
Colorado
quarterback Jacob Knipp
has suffered season-ending
injuries three times in his
college career.
But the sixth-year senior
is back leading the Bears.
The 6-foot-4, 213-pound
Knipp is considered one of
the better quarterbacks in
the FCS and has dreams of
playing in the NFL.
He said pro scouts “just
want to see me string a
stretch of games together
and stay healthy.”
NUMBERS GAME
Washington State piled
up more than 600 yards of
offense against New Mex-
ico State, the eighth time the
Cougars have topped that
mark under Leach. ... Wash-
ington State has shut out
four opponents in the past
six years, tops in the Pac-
12. Stanford and Washing-
ton have two shutouts each
in that time. ... Washing-
ton State is 119-21 against
current members of the Big
Sky Conference. This is the
first time the Cougars have
played Northern Colorado.
Hawaii aims for 2nd straight win over Pac-12 facing Beavers
By KALANI TAKASE
Associated Press
HONOLULU — Oregon
State coach Jonathan Smith
expected plenty of growth
from his team coming
off a 2-10 record last year
and one game hasn’t done
anything to change those
expectations.
The Beavers (0-1) will
look to rebound from a sea-
son-opening 52-36 loss to
Oklahoma State when they
face Hawaii at Aloha Sta-
dium on Saturday.
The Rainbow Warriors
(1-0) are seeking their sec-
ond win against a Pac-12
team in as many games.
They survived a 45-38
shootout against Arizona
two weeks ago and are com-
ing off a bye week.
“I think there’s been
attention to detail, I think
there’s been urgency and
we talked about that,” Smith
said of the practices since
the loss to the Cowboys.
“These kids will respond,
they’re going to battle. One
game won’t define a sea-
son — we talked about that
— it’s always a big deal the
first game because there’s so
much lead-up time, there’s
like six or eight months lead-
ing up to this first game, so
yeah, it’s a big thing, but it’s
a long season and it won’t
define us,” Smith said.
The Beavers defense will
face another prolific offense
in Hawaii.
The Rainbow Warriors
prefer to air it out, as evi-
denced by their 436 passing
yards against Arizona.
“It’s a different scheme,
starting really with their
pace of play,” Smith said.
“Oklahoma State wanted to
get back on the ball and snap
it and go; these guys aren’t
trying to do that. This is an
effective offense, though.
Yeah, they throw it, but they
run it effectively, too — I
think they ran it over 20
times against Arizona —
so we’ve got to be able to
defend both.”
Hawaii coach Nick
Rolovich, whose team is a
6½-point favorite Saturday,
said the Beavers will be a
formidable opponent.
“They were in all (their)
AP Photo/Amanda Loman, File
Oregon State running back Jermar Jefferson (22) tries to
avoid Oklahoma State safety Malcolm Rodriguez (20) during
the second half of an NCAA college football game in Corvallis
on Aug. 30. Oklahoma State won 52-36.
football games last year.
They just weren’t able to pull
out as many wins as they
wanted, but I think they’re
proven. I think they’re on
the right path and they’re
going to be as challenging as
we could have asked for, to
be honest with you, because
they’re extremely efficient
offensively. They put you in
a lot of binds, they’re smart
coaches, they set you up,
they’ve got good receivers
with speed and height and
with the running back com-
mittee they’ve got, they can
use three or four guys and
not miss a beat,” Rolovich
said.
RECRUITING
MISHAP
The Beavers made news
during the summer of 2018
after Rolovich tweeted out
photos of recruiting mate-
rial that was mailed by Ore-
gon State to the Hawaii cam-
pus and addressed to several
players who were on the
Rainbow Warriors roster.
Oregon State self-reported
the incident and received a
secondary violation from
the NCAA.
At his news conference
Monday, Smith said the
issue forced the program to
audit its recruiting process
but that the mishap is in past.
“We just looked into our
protocol a ton of exactly
how we’re getting things
out and we actually imple-
mented some things so that
that thing didn’t take place
again, so we’ve got a fail-
safe of about two or three
checks,” Smith said.
FAMILIAR FACES
Oregon State assistants
Legi Suiaunoa (defensive
line) and Kefense Hyn-
son (wide receivers) and
special teams coordi-
nator Jake Cookus each
spent time on the Hawaii
coaching staff before join-
ing the Beavers. Suiau-
noa and Hynson were with
the Rainbow Warriors for
two seasons (2016-17) and
were part of Rolovich’s
inaugural staff. Cookus
oversaw the special teams
for Hawaii under former
coach Norm Chow in 2015.
Hawaii linebackers coach
Mark Banker had two stints
as an Oregon State assis-
tant, including 12 seasons
as defensive coordinator
from 2003-14. Oregon State
transfer Isaiah Tufaga made
three starts at linebacker and
appeared in nine games as a
freshman for the Beavers
in 2018 but must sit out this
season due to transfer rules.
SERIES HISTORY
Oregon State has won the
last four meetings against
Hawaii and leads the series
7-3. The teams last met in
2014, when the Beavers won
38-30 at Aloha Stadium to
improve to 5-3 against the
Rainbow Warriors in Hono-
lulu. Hawaii’s last victory in
the series came on Christ-
mas Day 1999 — a 23-17
win over Oregon State in the
Oahu Bowl. Smith was the
starting quarterback for the
Beavers in that game.
WOMEN’S U.S. OPEN
Serena Williams faces 19-year-old Andreescu in U.S. Open final
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer
NEW YORK — Get-
ting to Grand Slam finals
has not been the hard part
for Serena Williams since
returning to tennis after
having a baby.
It’s what comes next
that’s been the problem.
Despite repeated inju-
ries, despite a lack of
proper preparation, Wil-
liams keeps putting herself
in position to earn a 24th
major championship, which
would equal Margaret
Court for the most in ten-
nis history. Williams gets
her latest chance at the U.S.
Open on Saturday, when
she will face 19-year-old
Bianca Andreescu of Can-
ada for the trophy.
This will be Williams’
fourth final in the past six
majors. But she is 0-3 in
those others, losing against
Angelique Kerber at Wim-
bledon in July 2018, to
Naomi Osaka at Flushing
Meadows in September
2018 — who could forget
that one? — and to Simona
Halep this July.
“There’s so many dif-
ferent emotions in finals,”
Williams said after her
6-3, 6-1 semifinal victory
over No. 5 Elina Svitolina.
“It just brings out so many
highs and lows, nerves and
expectations. It’s a lot.”
The difference this time,
according to Williams’
coach, Patrick Mourato-
glou, is that she should feel
better about her game now.
Unlike for those past three
finals, she is healthy, she
is in good shape, she has
been able to put in the right
amount of work.
AP Photo/Adam Hunger
Serena Williams, of the United States, reacts after a shot to
Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, during the semifinals of the U.S.
Open tennis championships Thursday in New York.
And
therefore,
he
explained, it’ll be easier for
her to deal with the emo-
tions and pressure in this
final than in those others.
“If you feel weak or not
as strong as you wish you
would, it’s more difficult
to beat the pressure. When
you don’t move well, you
can’t be as confident as you
should be because if your
‘A’ game doesn’t work, you
don’t have any other option.
And for me, that’s what
happened,” he said Friday.
“It’s a totally different sit-
uation now because now
she can move. If she needs
to play the rally, she can
play the rally. ... So there
is no panic if she misses
a bit more than usual. No
problem.”
Mou r atoglou’s
conclusion?
“It’s difficult for us to
realize because she was
in three finals, so you feel
she’s ready. But she was
in the three finals because
she’s the best competitor
of all time,” he said, “not
because she was ready.”
The match against Osaka
quickly devolved after Wil-
liams argued with chair
umpire Carlos Ramos about
a warning over receiving
signals from Mouratoglou.
Eventually, as things esca-
lated, Williams was docked
a point for breaking her
racket, then a game for call-
ing Ramos a “liar” and a
“thief.”
“Obviously there’s a lot
of things that I’ve learned
in the past,” she said, “but
I just have to go out there
(and), above all, most of all,
just stay relaxed.”
It might help that she
got a look, if a brief one, at
Andreescu just last month
in the final of a tuneup
event in Toronto, in front of
the youngster’s home fans.
Williams was trailing 3-1
when she retired from the
match, citing back spasms.
That might have helped
Andreescu, too, of course.
Andreescu has been
a revelation this season,
going 33-4, including 7-0
against top-10 opponents,
and hasn’t lost a completed
match since March 1. She
was sidelined by injuries
for part of that time, partic-
ularly to her right shoulder.
She has a varied style, an
in-your-face attitude — her
coach, Sylvain Bruneau,
called her a “street fighter”
— and an ability to come
through in the clutch, going
13-3 in three-setters this
year.
Just one year ago,
Andreescu was losing in
qualifying in New York.
Now she is the first woman
since Williams’ older sister,
Venus, in 1997 to get all the
way to the final in her U.S.
Open main-draw debut.
This is only the fourth
major tournament of her
career.
“I definitely was not sur-
prised,” No. 15 Belinda
Bencic said after her 7-6
(3), 7-5 semifinal loss to
Andreescu. “I don’t think
anyone should be.”
What about Andreescu
herself? Is she shocked by
this sudden success?
Well, yes and no.
On one hand, this is all
a bit dizzying for some-
one never before even past
the second round at a Slam,
which is why she kept ask-
ing, “Is this real life?” after
her quarterfinal win. On the
other, she says she’s been
visualizing this since she
was 16 and wrote herself
a fake check with what a
U.S. Open champion earns
— and has updated the fig-
ure as the real top prize has
climbed to $3.85 million
(about $5 million in today’s
Canadian dollars).
That the final comes
against Williams makes it
all the more special.
“I remember always tell-
ing my team I would have
always wanted to play her
right before she retires,”
said Andreescu, who was
born the year after Williams
won her first Grand Slam
title at Flushing Meadows
at age 17. “I’m really look-
ing forward to it.”
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