Washington State looking for new QB; you wanna tryout?

[BigMcCauley55]

The Washington State Cougars appear to have replaced their no-huddle, hurry-up offense with a huddle, hurry-and-get-back-to-the-sidelines offense.

The Cougars have at least temporarily ditched their preferred no-huddle attack so redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Lobbestael can huddle to gain more time to decipher the task at hand. However, WSU has scored just 17 points in Lobbestael’s two starts.

Do not read anything into the fact that the Cougars are holding open tryouts for quarterbacks this afternoon. Injuries have left the Cougars with just three healthy quarterbacks, so coach Paul Wulff invites any WSU student interested in serving as the scout team QB to turn out today at 3 p.m. at the Rogers Field practice facility.

Acceptable proof of a recent physical and proper medical insurance must be turned in by candidates at the football office in Bohler Addition prior to working out.

Wulff laughed when he said he’s received “some unbelievable e-mails” from wannabe quarterbacks.

“There may be 50 people interested,” Wulff said, “but if five to eight of them actually have the appropriate paperwork done, I’d be surprised.”

Lobbestael’s job as the No. 1 quarterback is safe for now, but WSU produced just 177 total yards Saturday in a 28-3 loss to UCLA.

“We’re just struggling to make plays,” Wulff said. “Marshall got a little rattled early in the game.”

“I felt like I was trying to do much,” Lobbestael said. “I felt I calmed down more throughout the game, but it took me too long. It took me way too long.”

Wulff said the Cougars did not appear to suffer any injuries that will sideline players this week.

The 1-5 Cougars visit 2-3 Oregon State (3:30 p.m., FSN) next Saturday before 3-1 USC comes to Pullman on Oct. 18 (12:15 p.m., FSN). The Beavers, who beat then-No. 1 USC on Sept. 25, and the Trojans soundly beat WSU last year and will be prohibitive favorites this time around. WSU hasn’t started 1-6 since 1976. The worst WSU start was 0-8 in 1967. WSU’s worst season record was 1-10 in 1970 (except for 0-0-1 in 1898). The Cougars moved up one spot to 103rd in the CollegeFootballNews.com rankings of all 119 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-A). The lowest-ranked team left on WSU’s schedule is No. 82 Hawaii. The Cougars finish their 13-game season at Hawaii on Nov. 29.