August 17, 1998
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Defense ruled as the Washington State football team staged their first scrimmage of the fall Monday afternoon and that's just what head coach Mike Price expected.
"I would be very concerned if our defense wasn't playing well," Price offered after the workout. "Right now I am concerned about the defense because of the two guys who got hurt (Monday)," he added, referring to linebacker Tupo Tuupo and cornerback LeJuan Gibbons.
Tuupo suffered a sublexation of the left shoulder, while Gibbons sprained his right knee. Mark Smaha, WSU's director of athletic medicine, said the two injuries would be re-evaluated Tuesday. Also on the injury list are Dante Minners and Lamont Thompson, both hobbled with groin pulls, and Miguel Meriwether, nursing a pulled hamstring. Two players who have been ill for several days, tight end Love Jefferson and defensive tackle Gary Holmes, are expected back at practice Tuesday morning.
"The offense was sputtering the whole scrimmage," Price observed and the numbers backed up his opinion.
Alex Tinsley's 56-yard scoring run provided the only touchdown of the scrimmage, while Rian Lindell added a 27 yard field goal early in the workout.
In addition to Tinsley's 65 yards on two rushing plays, newcomer Kevin Brown carried five times for 10 yards and Adam Hawkins gained 14 yards in two carries.
"All the backs ran good," Price offered. "Tinsley made a nice run and both DeJuan Gilmore and Jason Clayton ran well."
"I don't know why we didn't complete passes," Price said after watching five quarterbacks combine for a 18-for-36 performance that netted 139 yards, but also three interceptions.
Paul Mencke, Steve Birnbaum and Brian Paul each had a pass picked off. "We have to work harder on our pass offense. We also didn't use Nian Taylor as effectively as we can," Price added after watching the only returning starter as a wide receiver get blanked in the scrimmage.
"It was important for us to watch a lot of players today," the tenth year WSU coach said. "We want to know who can go over the middle and lay out for a catch and who's afraid to go over the middle."
Defensively Price said his club can play even better. "I like the way (coordinator) Bill Doba and the staff are using their personnel. We have some guys who can hit on defense, no question about that. They are flying around, but I think they can improve."
Birnbaum, directing WSU's first string offense, had the most passes, completing 6-of-15 for 34 yards, but Paul picked up the most yardage, 60 yards while completing 4-of-9. Mencke threw well, hitting four of his six passes for 34 yards, while freshman Jason Gesser completed three of his four throws, but gained just nine yards.
Leaford Hackett was the top receiver, hauling in four passes for 36 yards, while Clayton pulled in two throws for 44 yards.
Rushing - Thielbahr 3/6, Hawkins 2/14, Arzu 1/-3, Gesser 1/-6, Gilmore 3/9, Clayton 4/0, Brown 5/10, Tinsley 2/65, Hackett 1/-5, Birnbaum 2/-13, J.White 1/4.
Passing - Mencke 6/4/1/34/0/17, Gesser 4/3/0/0/6, Birnbaum 15/6/1/34/0/24, Paul 9/4/1/60/0/27, Baurichter 2/1/0/2/0/2.
Receiving - Zubedi 2/20, Thielbahr 1/8, Matthews 2/8, Hackett 4/36, Clayton 2/44, Brown 2/13, DeBose 1/6, Woody 1/4, Arzu 1/2, J.White 1/-4, Davis 1/2.
Scoring Summary - Lindell 27 field goal, Tinsley 56 run (Lindell kick).
Interceptions - N. Brown, Matthews, DeMakas.
