COUGARS

Another interesting Saturday in Pullman and the rest of the Pac-10. Is there any other kind during football season? On a day when Washington State found a way to win, USC found a way to lose in the Northwest – again. By the way, how bad is the Big Ten when one of its best teams can't defeat USC at home and a Pac-10 school that was winless last season can turn the trick a week later? But that was just one part of a newsy day in the conference no one east of the Rockies cares about. Hit the link for the rest.
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• Washington State: It wasn't what you would call crowded in the press box Saturday and we were wondering if that says more about the state of WSU football or the state of the newspaper industry. A little of both maybe? Anyhow, we had our game story, a notebook John Blanchette and I collaborated on, the scoring and statistics and my grades. John also had his thoughts on the game and afterward in his column and Chris Anderson put together a nice slide show. ... Freelancer Howie Stalwick had this story in the Kitsap Sun and other papers along with a notebook in the News Tribune. ... A game summary from CougCenter. ... And Braulio Perez's story on Cougfan. ... From Dallas, the Morning News had this gamer.

• Around the Pac-10: ESPN.com's Ted Miller was in Seattle, like just about everybody but us, it seems, and filed a plethora of posts on the Trojans' rout, er, Washington's upset of USC. But he also found time to update the rest of the conference here and here plus hand out his helmet stickers. ... Washington: There's still a din coming from Seattle where I'm sure the UW students have yet to stop celebrating the upset, as well they should. Todd Milles of the News Tribune covered the surprising event with this gamer. ... The Times had this Bob Condotta game story along with three columns, from Steve Kelley, Jerry Brewer and Bud Withers. The News Tribune's John McGrath also chimed in. ... Oregon State: Last year's USC-beater, searching for a leader, got beat up by Cincinnati. ... Oregon: Just when you though the Ducks might be down and out, they end the nation's longest winning streak. ... Cal: I watched much of this game and I must say I haven't seen a game in a long time in which a visiting team got jobbed worse. Still, the Bears came through in the best way, with a win at Minnesota. ... Stanford: San Jose State wasn't much of a roadblock for the Cardinal in what may be the last Bill Walsh Legacy game. ... USC: The fan base is restless in LA, and the most successful coach in college football is on the hot seat believe it or not. ...UCLA: Hey, Rick Neuheisel and the Bruins are 3-0 after their victory over Kansas State. Think maybe it's time to rerun that newspaper ad from last year? ... Arizona State: The Sun Devils earn an easy win but it gets a lot tougher from now on. ... Arizona: The Wildcats can't get it done at Iowa and tight end Rob Gronkowski is done for the season. That noise you hear is a sigh of relief from strong safeties all over the Pac-10.

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• That's it for this morning. We'll be back later today with our look back on Saturday's victory. Until then …

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