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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Grip on Sports: At least the state’s college football teams are (mostly) doing well

Dante Pettis’s sixth career punt return for a touchdown got the Huskies headed in the right direction in their season-opener Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in Piscataway, N.J. (Mel Evans / Associated Press)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Let’s do this. Let’s focus on what’s working and avoid what isn’t. Which means, in the Northwest this week, we should probably be talking about college football and leave the professional sports in the cooler. Read on.

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• Pete Carroll was actually disappointed with his offensive line. But he was surprised too, so take the disappointment with a grain of seasoning salt. The Mariners may end up happy to finish at .500. And the Sounders’ offensive attack looks as if Darrell Bevel is moonlighting as their coordinator.

So much for the guys who make money playing sports in the state.

The guys whose reward is attending college classes (and I thought that was the punishment, especially Frank Lentricchia’s Shakespeare ones) are doing pretty well, outside of Cheney.

Look at the records.

The Pac-12 schools are 4-0, though it took an unexpected fourth-quarter Washington State comeback to avoid 3-1.

Whitworth has the best record in the Northwest Conference at 2-0 . Central Washington has the best record in the GNAC at 2-0 . Heck, if Eastern was off to its usual start, this state could very well be perfect. In college football. And scenic volcanoes.

The four schools with unblemished records should probably keep them that way this weekend. And Eastern better break into the win column against Fordham, or this could be a long season.

• It wasn’t hard to see who was winning the battle up front Saturday night in Pullman. And it wasn’t the big guys in the crimson jerseys. At least not when the Cougars had the ball.

It was obvious to the alum in the 18th row. It was obvious in the press box. It was obvious to Mike Leach. And his opinion actually matters.

He used a good chunk of his time in front of the media yesterday to encourage them to play better. In his own inimitable style.

Heck, last year, with the Cougars 0-2 after the Boise State game, Leach took the whole team to the woodshed, verbally. Compared them to a JC softball team. It was his way of calling them soft. WSU then ran off eight consecutive wins.

He did the same thing yesterday, though it was only the O-line he called soft.

Maybe he feels that’s enough. Or maybe he’s actually happy with the play of his receivers, running backs, linebackers and everyone else.

Nah, that can’t be true. What college football coach is ever really happy?

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WSU: Speaking of the Cougars, Leach also said Luke Falk would start Saturday against Oregon State. That would be a good thing. Falk is 116 of 157 passing against the Beavers. That’s 73.9 percent, good even by his high standards. Those 116 completions have resulted in 1,293 yards, 16 touchdowns and, most importantly, three wins. Our Theo Lawson has two stories from Leach’s media availability, one on Falk and one on the offensive line. … Theo also has his first look at Oregon State, a news story about Peyton Pelluer being named Pac-12 defensive player of the week and the even better news the game against Nevada on Sept. 23 will kick off at 3 p.m. … The Times’ Stefanie Loh covered Leach’s press conference by phone and covers the same two subjects, Falk and the offensive line. … Looking back at the Boise State game one last time, BSU coach Bryan Harsin wouldn’t comment on the health status of Brett Rypien, the former Shadle Park star quarterback knocked out of the WSU game in the first quarter. He did, however, talk about the botched punt that helped the Cougars overcome a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Around the Pac-12, pretty much everyone has moved USC to the top of the conference power rankings, with UW falling a spot. … Oregon State heads to Pullman for its conference opener reeling a bit. … The Huskies face Fresno State this week. The Bulldogs were kicked around by Alabama last week. … Oregon hits the road for the first time under Willie Taggart, facing Wyoming. … California has lost its best running back for the season due to a leg injury. … Colorado expects to be undefeated when Washington visits in two weeks. It hopes ESPN will bring GameDay along as well. … Utah has some things to fix. … The Pac-12 admitted its officials missed an egregious targeting call in the first half of UCLA’s game with Hawaii. … USC faces Texas while some folks look back at a game the NCAA says was really never played. … Arizona State isn’t playing well. That’s not going over well on social media. … Arizona isn’t very good either and the Wildcats’ coach knows they have to “get better in a hurry.”

EWU: The long road to New York beckons for Eastern. Jim Allen has a look at the Eagles’ opponent this week as well as a look back at Cooper Kupp’s weekend. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Arizona coach Jerome Souers will make his 20th season in Flagstaff his last. … Southern Utah’s big road win earned some Thunderbirds honors. … Idaho State’s big loss to Utah State earned some reflection. … North Dakota has lost a couple players to injury. … Despite the margin of the UW defeat, Montana is still confident. … A Montana State linebacker is playing as well as anyone in the Big Sky. … Portland State plays a non-conference game this week against conference foe UC Davis.

Whitworth: The men’s soccer team picked up a win.

Indians: Vancouver took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Northwest League championship series with a 2-1 win over Eugene.

Mariners: Ariel Miranda has hit a wall. The left-hander didn’t get out of the second inning last night and the M’s lost 5-3 in Texas. A wild-card berth is looking increasingly unlikely. … Jarrod Dyson’s season is over. … The M’s picked their minor league players of the year.

Seahawks: Carroll is always optimistic. He didn’t sound that way yesterday talking about the offensive line. Though he did say it will be better, so I guess that is the optimistic take. Or a realization it can’t be any worse. After all, the 49ers are next. … The Hawks were forced to make adjustments Sunday, some due to circumstances outside their control.

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• I am pretty sure today is the last we will see this year with my favorite temperature. I am a low-80s guy. I like it when the sun is warm enough to make your body smile a bit standing on the back deck. The 80s do just that. But, to quote a better writer than I, “summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” See Professor Lentricchia, I did learn something in your classes. Until later …