Alex Brink to end Washington State career with passing records, no bowls

11/21/2007 4:05 AM

By JOHN K. WILEY
Associated Press Writer

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) -In his college career, Alex Brink has passed for 10,514 yards and 71 touchdowns, joining only six others in Pacific-10 Conference history to reach such heights.

His numbers have surpassed such Washington State University stars as Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser. But they all went to bowl games. Brink won't.

``There's no doubt you always want to be the guy to take the team to a national championship, or (who) has all the wins and whatnot. It didn't work out and that's OK,'' Brink told reporters this week. ``I wouldn't trade any of it. Obviously, it would have been great, but there's no regrets at all.''

His 310.8 yards passing per game this season places him at the top of a talented, but injury-prone class of Pac-10 quarterbacks. Yet the Cougars have scored fewer than 25 points per game this season, placing WSU ninth in the conference in scoring offense.

Brink holds WSU career records for net yards passing and TDs, as well as pass attempts (1,411) and completions (821) - surpassing Gesser in every category.

But the Cougars have struggled to find a consistent rushing attack to match Brink's passing prowess and the defense has been porous in recent years.

The 6-foot-3, 207-pound Brink, who has started 39 games since taking over midway through his freshman season, said being shut out from postseason play was his biggest disappointment.

So the annual Apple Cup game against Washington (4-7, 2-6 Pac-10) on Saturday will have to serve as the Cougars' bowl. WSU is also 4-7 and 2-6.

With victories in 2004 and 2005, Brink became the only WSU quarterback to record back-to-back victories against the Huskies. No Cougars quarterback has ever beaten the Huskies three times.

Cougars coach Bill Doba has had Brink on his team for all five years he's been head coach.

``If he could beat the Huskies three years out of four, that would be a pretty good achievement too,'' Doba said.

``He's an excellent quarterback. He's a field general. He's like another coach on the field,'' the 67-year-old coach added. ``He's a great example of a student athlete.''

A member of the National Honor Society at Eugene, Ore.'s Sheldon High, Brink maintains a 3.8 average out of a possible 4.0 at Washington State. He will graduate in December with a sports management degree he hopes to use to become general manager of a professional baseball team.

``I know that, personally, I went out and prepared, and our coaching staff prepared us, so that we always had a chance,'' the confident Brink said.

He got his first start in the seventh game of his freshman season - a 38-19 loss to Oregon State in Martin Stadium - after Josh Swogger suffered a broken foot.

Brink is 16-23 at Washington State, but last Saturday's 52-17 WSU loss to Oregon State ended the Cougars' slim homes of a bowl bid, leading Brink to say, ``Well, I guess this next weekend's our bowl game.''

Washington defensive coordinator Kent Baer, who must come up with a plan to contain Brink this week, said he is impressed by the quarterback's maturity.

``Anytime you play a veteran quarterback in this league you've got your hands full because they've seen it all,'' he said.

``He is one of the all-time career leaders in the Pac-10 Conference, which there has been a lot of great quarterbacks in this league,'' Oregon State coach Mike Riley said after Brink threw for 314 yards, and an uncharacteristic six interceptions, in this season's loss to the Beavers. ``But he has had a tremendous career.''

Looking to the Apple Cup, Brink said, ``We're going to prepare as hard as we ever have and get ready to go out and win that one. I certainly want to go out on a good note and I know the rest of these people do too.''