WSU rolls past UNLV, 59-7

PULLMAN — Bobby Hauck, the second-year football coach of the UNLV Rebels, says the Mountain West Conference has future NFL players at every position.

Unfortunately for Hauck, none of those players appeared to be wearing a UNLV uniform Saturday afternoon at Martin Stadium.

“We’re kind of where they were two years ago,” Hauck said after Washington State lambasted UNLV 59-7 in a nonconference mismatch.

For the second straight week, the Cougars dominated a young, rebuilding team. WSU had opened the season one week earlier with a 64-21 rout of Idaho State.

“The sky’s the limit,” said John Fullington, WSU’s sophomore offensive guard. “We can go anywhere we want if we just keep our heads on straight.”

The Cougars were on a roll Saturday before a crowd of 27,018:

• They scored on their first five possessions;

• finished with 610 total yards;

• gave up just 158 total yards;

• and led 59-0 before Tim Cornett scored on a 95-yard kickoff return with 5:29 left to play.

For the second straight week, fill-in quarterback Marshall Lobbestael played superbly. The fifth-year senior, subbing for the injured Jeff Tuel, completed 24 of 32 passes for career highs of 361 yards and five touchdowns before sitting out the fourth quarter.

“Guys were open and the O-line was giving me a ton of time and guys were running great routes,” Lobbestael said.

“He played phenomenal,” said senior wide receiver Jared Karstetter, Lobbestael’s roommate. Karstetter led the Cougars with six catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cougars have played football since 1894, and the only time WSU has topped this year’s 123 points in back-to-back games came way back in 1907.

That season — 12 years before the school’s sports teams adopted the Cougars nickname — Washington State scored 132 points (also in the first two games) in beating Eastern Washington 46-0 and Spokane’s Blair Business College 86-0.

Asked if he’s surprised the Cougars have scored 123 points, Fullington said: “I knew we were capable. We’ve been solid all fall, summer and winter.”

The Cougars, 2-0 for the first time since 2007, needed just five plays to score. Freshman running back Rickey Galvin bolted up the middle through a huge hole and zoomed 48 yards for his third touchdown of the season. He sat out the second half.

“The O-line, I feel like they just set the tone right away,” Lobbestael said.

WSU led 35-0 at the half. The Rebels, who gave up 499 yards last week in a season-opening 51-17 loss at Wisconsin, melted in low-90’s temperatures that probably topped 100 on the artificial turf.

WASHINGTON ST. 59, UNLV 7

UNLV 0 0 0 7– 7

Washington St. 14 21 10 14–59

First Quarter

WSU–Galvin 48 run (Furney kick), 12:38.

WSU–Karstetter 5 pass from Lobbestael (Furney kick), 6:37.

Second Quarter

WSU–Karstetter 19 pass from Lobbestael (Furney kick), 14:54.

WSU–Barton 21 pass from Lobbestael (Furney kick), 10:23.

WSU–Lintz 23 pass from Lobbestael (Furney kick), 7:00.

Third Quarter

WSU–FG Furney 46, 9:08.

WSU–Wilson 7 pass from Lobbestael (Furney kick), 3:59.

Fourth Quarter

WSU–K.Williams 57 pass from Halliday (Furney kick), 14:15.

WSU–Bontemps 10 pass from Halliday (Gauper kick), 5:42.

UNLV–Cornett 95 kickoff return (Kohorst kick), 5:29.

A–27,018.

UNLV WSU

First downs 9 32

Rushes-yards 34-98 39-139

Passing 60 471

Comp-Att-Int 11-20-0 29-38-0

Return Yards 0 24

Punts-Avg. 7-41.1 1-26.0

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1

Penalties-Yards 10-85 6-55

Time of Possession 29:07 30:53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–UNLV, Bradford 9-42, Cornett 10-42, Randle 8-15, Mi.Johnson 1-0, Herring 6-(minus 1). Washington St., Galvin 5-80, Winston 9-32, Mason 7-22, Barton 1-5, Mitz 7-5, Oertel 8-5, Team 1-(minus 2), Lobbestael 1-(minus 8).

PASSING–UNLV, Herring 11-20-0-60. Washington St., Lobbestael 24-32-0-361, Halliday 5-6-0-110.

RECEIVING–UNLV, Mi.Johnson 5-35, W.Vea 2-4, D.Davis 1-9, Vidal 1-6, Barefield 1-3, Payne 1-3. Washington St., Karstetter 6-66, Wilson 5-102, K.Williams 4-89, Barton 4-69, Myers 2-35, Eaddy 2-22, Galvin 2-17, Ratliff 1-32, Lintz 1-23, Bontemps 1-10, Winston 1-6.