'Frauds': WSU coach Mike Leach tears into players after loss to Cal

Washington State head football coach Mike Leach gestures to his team after a penalty call. Washington State head football coach Mike Leach gestures to his team after a penalty call. Photo: Chris Pietsch / Associated Press Photo: Chris Pietsch / Associated Press Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close 'Frauds': WSU coach Mike Leach tears into players after loss to Cal 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Washington State coach Mike Leach ripped his players after the team's 33-20 loss to the Cal Bears on Saturday night.

According to Spokesman-Review beat writer Theo Lawson, reporters were kept waiting while Leach spent over half an hour tearing into the Cougars.

"Security guard outside of #WSU’s locker room apologizes for not letting us in the press conference room yet: 'Sorry guys, the coach is laying into them,'" Lawson tweeted.

And then Leach went public with his comments.

"We definitely regressed," Leach said in the postgame press conference. "Somehow, it's got to be meaningful enough to the players, and as coaches we've got to make it meaningful. We pretend it's meaningful and we'll pretend to try hard. As soon as it gets difficult, then we wilt."

He was even more direct in his postgame radio appearance on Washington State IMG Sports Network, Cougfan.com reports. When asked how he could get players to "believe" in his message, Leach responded: "Well, that’s a great question because we as coaches think about that, talk about that, all the time. And somehow we’ve failed to reach the group. Our team leaders in the group; they’re either frauds, or they haven’t reached the group either."

The win ended Cal's four-game skid and set career highs for quarterback Devon Modster. Modster went 16-of-24 for 230 yards and four touchdowns, one of them on the ground.

"I would say it was average," Modster said of his night. "A couple throws I should have made, a couple reads. I just think it was more of a great team win. We can all improve on this."

The Cougars started and ended the game on low notes. WSU quarterback Anthony Gordon, who came into the game leading the nation in passing yards and touchdowns, had his first toss of the night intercepted.

In the fourth quarter, any hopes of winning quickly faded thanks to sloppy mistakes by the Cougars. Safety Tyrese Ross was flagged for a late hit out of bounds and, on the same play, a WSU coach was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Bears scored 20 points in the second half to seal the victory.

The Cougars have now lost five of their last six games. They host Stanford next week. Cal hosts USC.

Katie Dowd is an SFGATE Senior Digital Editor. Contact: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd