Black's injury casts shadow over Cougars' running game

Bitter in defeat, players say Arizona State a tougher foe

PASADENA, Calif. - With Michael Black on the sideline, the Washington State running game was in the dark.

The Pac-10's second-leading rusher was forced out of the game on the Cougars' third drive of the first quarter with an injury to his calf. He could only watch the second and third quarters as the pain was too much for him to handle.

But with the outcome still up in the air in the fourth quarter, Black's gut told him to give it one last shot. On the Cougars' first play of the fourth quarter, he took a handoff into the line and was stopped for no gain.

"I tried to come back," Black said, "but I didn't have any nerves in my leg that responded. I couldn't run."

Although Washington State's offense is primarily pass-oriented, Black still led a rushing attack that averaged 157 yards per game during the season. With Black out, the Cougars' backfield blacked out too, mustering only 67 yards and placing an even greater load on the talented arm of quarterback Ryan Leaf.

"When you lose the best offensive player, it's tough," Leaf said of Black, who also caught 15 passes out of the backfield during the season.

Without a legitimate threat next to him in the backfield, Leaf had a much more difficult time handling the nation's best defense. Michigan continued to blitz relentlessly and showed confidence in just a five-man defensive front.

"Everybody in Washington knows he makes a difference," Washington State wide receiver Kevin McKenzie said. "Without a running game, you can't have a passing game."

Cast these votes for Nebraska: Perhaps a few were sore losers. Maybe they were caught up in the moment of having a Rose Bowl victory right there in their grasp. Or they might have been just telling the truth.

Regardless of their reason, several Washington State players didn't have a whole lot of high praise for Michigan.

"Michigan is not the best team we've faced," wide receiver Nian Taylor said. "Arizona State's defense is better than Michigan's. Michigan just got a couple of lucky plays on us."

In case that seems like a shot in the dark, the Sun Devils handed the Cougars their only other loss of the season, a 44-31 decision Nov. 1 in Tempe.

Wide receiver Kevin McKenzie said that Arizona State's "secondary is much better and much faster" than Michigan's, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation statistically, even though the Sun Devils allowed Washington State almost twice as many points as the Wolverines did.

"Michigan is thoroughly impressed with the way we played," Cougars defensive end Leon Bender said. "If we play them again, the outcome wouldn't be the same. I thought we were the better team on the field."

And of course, what would a controversial ending be without a conspiracy theory or two.

"If Michigan had been down, they might have got those two seconds back," wide receiver Shawn Tims said.

Ouch.

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