Washington State WR Tavares Martin suspended for Colorado game
Washington State will be without leading receiver Tavares Martin Jr. against Colorado on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, Washington State coach Mike Leach said Martin was suspended for a violation of team rules. Martin’s father told the Seattle Times that his son got angry and missed a practice. Martin Jr. has since apologized, he said.
“He was a little angry, saying things hadn’t gone his way the last couple of games. He broke a team rule and needs to be punished for that,” said the receiver’s father, Tavares Martin Sr. “He just made a mistake, and he had to pay a price for it. It was a miscommunication between him and the coaches. He was upset. He said he felt like he should have been more involved in that game.
“There were a lot of things that took place in the Cal game. T.J. also understands that you lose as a team and you win as a team.”
Martin is Washington State’s leading receiver. The junior has 37 catches for 502 yards and seven touchdowns. After going three-straight games with a touchdown catch, Martin has five catches for 57 yards over the last two games.
He had three catches for 38 yards in Washington State’s 37-3 loss to Cal, a game where the Cougars committed seven turnovers. One of them was an interception that happened after a shovel pass from Luke Falk bounced off running back James Williams’ hands and helmet.
“If a shovel pass hits a guy in the face you ought to catch it,” Leach said Tuesday. “It hit him right in the face. So, yeah. I mean, I bet I could toss you a shovel pass and you’d catch it 99 times, you know. And I’d bet you out of the one time you didn’t catch it it wouldn’t bounce off your helmet, fly up and some guy make a diving catch. Might, but I don’t think so.”
Without Martin, freshman Renard Bell becomes Washington State’s leading receiver. Bell has 21 catches for 389 yards and his 18.5 yards per catch leads the team.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
