From Pullman--The Pac-12 coaches had their Tuesday teleconference today. Since the Cougars are taking a bye-week break this was our only opportunity to speak with coach Mike Leach until Thursday's practice. Continue reading for a transcript of what Leach had to say:

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(Is WSU's low passing-efficiency numbers reflective of a flaw in the Air Raid offense?)

It's reflective of that's a flawed stat and I really don't know too many people who understand it. Furthermore, the NFL's got a different one to measure their pass efficiency. Occasionally I'll ask around or ask a guy how if he understands how that's calculated and very seldom do I run into somebody that does.

(Having just played Oregon, were there any areas you picked up)

I think there's a lot of places. There's always a lot of places. It was a very explosive game, of course Oregon's very fast. As you play Oregon, everything you do they can reel plays in quicker and of course you have to react quicker. It was very explosive and I thought we played real hard -- there's always places you can sharpen up. I think we could be better with our eyes in the secondary and I think we need to protect the football a little more. I think that for some of it, Oregon makes. Oregon hits you in the mouth and you throw one up, that stuff might happen.

(What's your bye week schedule?)

We'll get started, basically take the Thursday we play and count back. So the Thursday we play Arizona State counts as a Saturday. We'll just plug in our schedule backing off from there. So this Thursday we will practice and the days leading up to it we're out recruiting and watching film, that type of thing. Self-scouting ourselves and then later in the week we'll get into the Arizona State stuff.

(With eight-straight games, did you see any fatigue?)

Yeah a little bit. Just like you mentioned we played more straight than anybody else. Even though our record's not what we'd like it to be, our losses, the combined record of the teams we lost to is 25-3. We've had a tougher schedule, tougher situation really than any other team I'm aware of. But you take it as it comes and try to roll through and steadily improve as you go.

(What challenges does a Thursday game present for recruiting?)

I think it's difficult to get recruits in but I think it's an exciting time to play at night on Halloween.

(Have you been in contact with Kliff Kingsbury and what qualities help him?)

We keep in touch quite a bit, text back in  forth. I saw him in Key West this summer. He's always been a sharp guy, he's really smart. When he left college he was the Academic All-American MVP. Smart guy, knowledgeable coach. I knew he would coach, his father coached and when he did I knew he'd do a good job.

(How much does playing in West Texas help him?)

I think it probably helps him, everybody knew about him and Kliff started at quarterback for me for three years so I'm sure that had to have helped.

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