Game day on the Palouse: WSU vs. MSU

COUGARS

It’s another game day in the Palouse, the first of the 2010 season. To open, Washington State will face Montana State, a Big Sky Conference foe that has never defeated the Cougars in seven tries. The weather is expected to be clear and cool for the 4 p.m. kickoff. We have everything else you’ll need to prepare for another football Saturday on the link, so read on.
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• Washington State: We have our advance story on today’s game, along with our new Saturday feature, the 2-minute drill , in this morning’s Spokesman-Review. … We also had some notes and a couple WSU-related links on our post last night if you missed them. … Freelancer Howie Stalwick had his advance in the News Tribune and other papers around the Northwest.

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• Around the Pac-10: This really isn’t conference related, but with all the discussion this week about Boise State and its place in the college football hierarchy, I thought I would pass along Chris Dufresne’s college football column in today’s LA Times. … Washington: One loss hasn’t dented coach Steve Sarkisian’s optimism. … A scouting report on today’s game. … After their road loss to open the season, the Huskies expect to protect the home field. … Oregon State: The Beavers have a bye today, but ESPN.com’s Ted Miller had this interview with assistant coach Mark Banker. … Oregon: Maybe the best Pac-10 non-conference game is in Knoxville today, when the Ducks invade Neyland Stadium for a showdown with Tennessee, led by inexperienced quarterback Darron Thomas. … When this contract was signed , the teams were in different places among college football’s elite. … Cal: The Bears’ freshman wide receiver Keenan Allen burst on the scene last week against UC Davis. … But this week’s test is a lot tougher. … Stanford: The Rose Bowl has not been kind to the Cardinal over the past 14 years. … USC: The Trojans have a lot of questions to answer against Virginia today. … UCLA: Stanford has posted some results the Bruins would like to emulate. … Arizona State: Will the Sun Devils be looking past NAU to Wisconsin?. … Arizona: The Wildcats hope today’s contest with The Citadel will be a guarantee game in more ways than one.

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• That’s all for this morning. After we arrive at Martin Stadium a few hours before game time we’ll post some more pregame thoughts, then begin our Twitter updates at vinceg55. So follow along. Until then …