[Quack Attack]

Cougars fall to Baylor, 45-17

Washington State fell to 0-3 with a 45-17 loss at Baylor. The game was moved from Saturday to Friday night because of Hurricane Ike.
By John Hillman

Special to The Seattle Times


ROD AYDELOTTE / AP

Baylor receiver Ernest Smith pulls down a first-quarter touchdown pass over Washington State's Tyrone Justin.

WACO, Texas — Washington State played a day early to avoid Hurricane Ike. But the Cougars couldn't escape Baylor freshman quarterback Robert Griffin.

Griffin ran for 217 yards, a Baylor record, and scored touchdowns on runs of 1 and 58 yards to lead the Bears to a 45-17 win over Washington State on Friday night at Floyd Casey Stadium. Griffin also threw for 129 yards and tossed a 27-yard scoring pass.
"We came out and beat Washington State, which is a pretty legitimate team," Griffin said. "We didn't just beat them, but we beat them pretty good."

The loss was the third straight for the Cougars and first-year coach Paul Wulff. "We just got outplayed, and we made too many mistakes," Wulff said. "We don't give ourselves a chance. It was a combination of them outplaying us and [our] mistakes."

The Cougars committed five turnovers — three lost fumbles and two interceptions thrown by quarterback Kevin Lopina, who started in place of Gary Rogers, WSU's starter the first two games.
The Cougars have been outscored 150-33 this season.
Griffin broke the Baylor rushing mark of 210 yards set by Jerod Douglas against Texas in 1994.

"I am surprised it is a record with all the great backs in school history," Baylor coach Art Briles said. "Robert is a gifted athlete, no doubt."
Wulff said Griffin's success was partly due to WSU breakdowns.
"We had a simple game plan on defense, but we weren't making the right calls up front and making the right adjustments," he said. "We worked on it all week." Wulff did give credit to Griffin.

Link to Full Story:

Cougars | Cougars fall to Baylor, 45-17 | Seattle Times Newspaper