Talk Is High Caliber, Game Figures to Be

Now that game day has finally arrived, everyone involved with the 89th Rose Bowl can take a deep breath and relax.

No more grumbling. No more angry faxes and e-mails. No more schizophrenic news conferences where three coaches show up for two teams.

Tournament of Roses officials can only hope the action between Washington State and Oklahoma on the field this afternoon is half as entertaining as the preceding machinations.

Or, as Washington State kicker Drew Dunning said: “We just want to get to the game instead of all the talking and speculation.”

The game promises to be a good one, matching the No. 7 Cougars against the No. 8 Sooners, who are making a rare and unexpected visit to Pasadena for this New Year’s Day classic.

There is no shortage of football drama with Cougar quarterback Jason Gesser trying to recover from a late-season ankle injury and facing the vaunted Oklahoma defense.

But before fans witness that battle, they have been treated to several off-the-field twists and turns better suited to a soap opera.

The hi-jinks began in early December when bowl championship series rules diverted Ohio State and Iowa to other bowl games. Tournament of Roses executives, deprived of their customary Pacific 10 vs. Big Ten rivalry, clearly were disappointed.

Their reaction had everything to do with tradition and nothing to do with Big 12 champion Oklahoma, which gladly accepted an invitation and sold 27,500 tickets. Still, some people in the Sooner Nation took it personally.

University President David L. Boren distributed a fax to Oklahoma media suggesting bowl executives “get over their provincialism and join the rest of the country ... Don’t forget that Will Rogers, while living in California during the Great Depression, said ‘The migration of Oklahomans to California has raised the IQ of both states.’ ”

Offensive line coach Kevin Wilson added: “We’re not chopped liver.”

Rose Bowl executives moved quickly to soothe hurt feelings. Then came Washington State’s turn to inject some controversy.

Days before the Cougars headed south to begin practice, Coach Mike Price made a surprise announcement that he was leaving the school after 14 years to coach at Alabama.

His team was mad. Boosters were even angrier, flooding the athletic department with e-mails when Price said he was sticking around for the Rose Bowl.

Even Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops observed this wasn’t the kind of thing that gives players an emotional boost.

“They would probably get more excited if he was retiring,” Stoops said. “ ‘Win one for the coach who is going to Alabama’ probably doesn’t mean as much.”

Again, emotions cooled as the game drew closer, but at recent news conferences there has been the unusual sight of Price and defensive coordinator Bill Doba, his successor, sharing the coach’s podium.

“It’s been a long couple of weeks,” Doba said. “I’m really looking forward to just coaching football.”

Speaking of football, today’s game figures to hinge on Gesser and his big, talented receivers against Oklahoma’s nationally ranked defense.

The Sooners’ reputation for smothering opponents suffered with loses to Texas A&M; and Oklahoma State -- they had particular difficulty against the deep pass -- but linebacker Teddy Lehman recalls that his squad has surrendered three points or fewer in each of its previous two bowl games.

“Whenever we’re challenged to play well, we crush people,” Lehman said. “That is what we’re going to do in this game.”

Washington State’s ability to pass could be predicated on establishing the run and pulling Oklahoma out of zone coverage. If the Sooners have to cheat their safeties closer to the line, the secondary could be exposed.

A big day from Jermaine Green and the other Cougar running backs would also take some steam out of Oklahoma’s blitzes and help Gesser, who by his own estimate is only 80% recovered.

When Oklahoma has the ball, the Sooners will try for a balanced attack with a significant contribution from Quentin Griffin.

The tiny back -- only 5 feet 7 -- rushed for 188 yards in a 29-7 victory over Colorado in the Big 12 championship game last month. He also can produce as a receiver out of the backfield.

“He’s most dangerous about five steps after he gets the ball,” Cougar linebacker Mawuli Davis said. “That’s when his vision sets in. That’s when his feet get moving.”

The Cougars answer with the nation’s seventh-ranked run defense, a squad led by Outland Trophy winner Rien Long at tackle. They want to force Oklahoma to rely on the pass.

Sooner quarterback Nate Hybl has hardly been spectacular this season. But he has only eight interceptions -- four of them in a forgettable afternoon against Texas -- and likes to point out that his performance on third downs and in the red zone has been solid. “I take care of the important stuff,” he said.

Add one more element to the game-day forecast: Washington State has a reputation for reverses, reverse passes and other trickery.

A bizarre touchdown would be fitting for a bowl game that already has offered so much in the way of unexpected amusement. The developments have come so fast and furious that the usually emotional Price has made an effort to rein himself in.

“I’m not going to allow myself to fall into that trap,” he said. “We have to go into this game cool, calm and collected.”

At least until the final gun. Then the soap opera can begin again.

“I’ll let myself think about it after the game,” Price said of his imminent departure. “I’ll be a blubbering idiot for a few days.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

HISTORY

Oklahoma in Bowl Games

1939 Orange--Tennessee 17, Oklahoma 0

1947 Gator--Oklahoma 34, North Carolina St. 13

1949 Sugar--Oklahoma 14, North Carolina 6

1950 Sugar--Oklahoma 35, Louisiana St. 0

1951 Sugar--Kentucky 13, Oklahoma 7

1954 Orange--Oklahoma 7, Maryland 0

1956 Orange--Oklahoma 20, Maryland 6

1958 Orange--Oklahoma 48, Duke 21

1959 Orange--Oklahoma 21, Syracuse 6

1963 Orange--Alabama 17, Oklahoma 0

1965 Gator--Florida St. 36, Oklahoma 19

1968 Orange--Oklahoma 26, Tennessee 24

1968 Bluebonnet--SMU 28, Oklahoma 27

1970 Bluebonnet--Oklahoma 24, Alabama 24, tie

1972 Sugar--Oklahoma 40, Auburn 22

1972 Sugar--Oklahoma 14, Penn St. 0

1976 Orange--Oklahoma 14, Michigan 6

1976 Fiesta--Oklahoma 41, Wyoming 7

1978 Orange--Arkansas 31, Oklahoma 6

1979 Orange--Oklahoma 31, Nebraska 24

1980 Orange--Oklahoma 24, Florida St. 7

1981 Orange--Oklahoma 18, Florida St. 17

1981 Sun--Oklahoma 40, Houston 14

1983 Fiesta--Arizona St. 32, Oklahoma 21

1985 Orange--Washington 28, Oklahoma 17

1986 Orange--Oklahoma 25, Penn St. 10

1987 Orange--Oklahoma 42, Arkansas 8

1988 Orange--Miami, Fla. 20, Oklahoma 14

1989 Citrus--Clemson 13, Oklahoma 6

1991 Gator--Oklahoma 48, Virginia 14

1993 Hancock--Oklahoma 41, Texas Tech 10

1994 Copper--BYU 31, Oklahoma 6

1999 Independence--Mississippi 27, Oklahoma 25

2001 Orange--Oklahoma 13, Florida St. 2

2002 Cotton--Oklahoma 10, Arkansas 3

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Washington State in Bowl Games

1916 Rose--Washington St. 14, Brown 0

1931 Rose--Alabama 24, Washington St. 0

1981 Holiday--BYU 38, Washington St. 36

1989 Aloha--Washington St. 24, Houston 22

1992 Copper--Washington St. 31, Utah 28

1994 Alamo--Washington St. 10, Baylor 3

1998 Rose--Michigan 21, Washington St. 16

2001 Sun--Washington St. 33, Purdue 27