Wulff's job could hinge on Apple Cup result

Washington State's bowl hopes were dashed by an overtime loss to Utah, but there is still plenty on the line in Saturday's Apple Cup game against archrival Washington.

Tops on the list is the future of WSU coach Paul Wulff.

There is passionate debate among Cougars fans about whether the fourth-year coach should be fired or brought back for the final year of his contract.

Wulff is just 9-39 at WSU heading into the final game of the season, but this year's team (4-7, 2-6 Pac-12) has shown a lot of improvement.

Asked Tuesday if Saturday's Apple Cup would be his last game as WSU coach, Wulff gave a variation on the same answer he has given all season.

"I don't think like that," Wulff said. "We've got a great young football team, and are getting better and better all the time."

Safety Tyree Toomer said players are well aware their coach's job is on the line.

"Of course you hear it, but I don't pay attention to it," Toomer said. "It's something you can't control. You just have to focus on the task at hand."

Wulff's fate ultimately rests in the hands of athletic director Bill Moos, who has said repeatedly that he will make the decision after the season.

This has been Wulff's best season at the helm of his alma mater, with only late losses to UCLA and Utah preventing the Cougars from becoming bowl eligible.

The loss of starting quarterback Jeff Tuel to injury on his first series of the season hurt the team, although Marshall Lobbestael and later Connor Halliday played well in relief. Washington State ranks ninth in the nation in passing with an average of 320 yards per game.

A win in the Apple Cup might be enough to ensure Wulff's return.

Wulff is 1-2 against Washington (6-5, 4-4) as head coach. Last year, a Jermaine Kearse touchdown reception with 44 seconds left lifted the Huskies to a 35-28 win in Pullman.

Statistics show how much WSU has improved under Wulff:

-The Cougars averaged 13 points per game in 2009, 30 this season.

-They gave up 39 points per game in 2009, 31 this season.

-They averaged 256 yards of total offense a game in 2009, 427 this season.

-The gave up 516 yards per game in 2009, 407 this season.

Wulff's quiet yet intense personality differs from the more ebullient characters such as Jim Walden and Mike Price who have won at the school.

His defenders point to a schedule this year that featured a nine-week stretch in which they played only one game in Pullman, against Stanford. They also point to plenty of recruiting success.

Wulff has turned off some WSU fans by continuously trashing the quality of players left by his predecessor, Bill Doba. He recently said in a news conference that the WSU team he took over in 2008 was "the worst BCS program in the country, by a long, long ways."

The fact that Doba's last team won five games, while it took Wulff three seasons to win five games, does not sit well with some critics.