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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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WSU near-perfect in 59-7 win

COUGARS

That was total domination. Nothing else. Count me one of those surprised by the depth of it. Read on.

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• I'm not a bandwagon type of guy, not the square-wheeled negative bandwagon or the well-oiled, easy-to-jump-on winner's bandwagon. It also takes me a while to accept change. So I wasn't ready to declare this Washington State team the best thing since 7-grain bread. And I'm still not. But today's win was impressive. No way around it. The Cougar offense looked as good as it's ever looked in my memory going back more than 25 years. And the defense is starting to develop a nasty, aggressive streak that bodes well for most of the teams the Cougars will play. But still, I'm restrained by the quality of the opponent. Idaho State was 1-10 last year. UNLV was 2-11. ... It might still be too early to look ahead, but next Saturday will be much more of a test. A 2-0 San Diego State team. On the road. If Washington State plays like it did this week next, I might just think about jumping on. ... The play of the game? Marquess Wilson running down the left sideline early in the second quarter, closely guarded by Sidney Hodge. Marshall Lobbestael's throw was to the outside and Wilson could only go after it with his left arm – Hodge had a hold of the right. Wilson reached up, tipped the ball up and hauled it in for a 21-yard gain. Impressive. ... We're not going to go into Lobbestael's night too much now, because it's the main thrust of my game story. ... John Blanchette took care of examining the Cougars' defense, which didn't give up a score even if WSU kicked away its chance for a shutout. ... And then there is an eclectic mix of items in my notebook. ... If you want highlights, here they are, courtesy of WSU's athletic video department ...

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• That's it for tonight. I'll be back in the morning with more. Until then ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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