Glenn Kasses

In the first weekend with multiple Pac-10 games this season, many eyes will be fixed on perhaps the most surprising team thus far, 3-0 Arizona State, when it hosts a team that's disappointed to come in at 1-2 in Oregon State. The Sun Devils have beaten Mike Price's UTEP team plus two Big Ten foes in Northwestern and Iowa. Last week's win against the Hawkeyes came in stunning fashion – a 44-7 blowout. That win has vaulted Arizona State into the AP poll, where they check in at No. 22.

PULLMAN — Two more days, no more answers for Washington State at quarterback. Starter Josh Swogger, who partially tore the posterior cruciate ligament in Saturday's win against Idaho, was able to participate in much of practice on Tuesday but remains questionable at best to play in the Pac-10 opener at Arizona this week.

PULLMAN — A week ago, Josh Swogger got pulled in the third quarter for all the wrong reasons. This week, he got taken out again in the third quarter — for all the right reasons. Swogger threw four touchdown passes in just more than 32 minutes of play to give Washington State an insurmountable 35-0 lead against Idaho. Alex Brink came in to finish off the rout and by game's end, the Cougars had a 49-8 win under the lights in front of 34,858 in Martin Stadium.

PULLMAN — Kyle Basler has probably seen more of the field than he'd like in the Cougars' first two games. With the offense struggling at the start, Basler has already punted 17 times in 2004. But that hasn't stopped the junior from smiling. Basler gets made fun of from time to time for his occasionally goofy grin, but he doesn't seem to mind — too much.

PULLMAN — You can buy a hamburger at a fast food joint for less than a buck. In his freshman year, though, one cost Washington State's Aaron Johnson a lot more than that. Johnson came to WSU as a tight end, but with a stern warning from head coach Bill Doba.

PULLMAN — If there were one thing Washington State coach Bill Doba didn't want to have surrounding his team, it was a question about the identity of his starting quarterback. So he and his staff named one, just two days after saying the Cougars would watch both in practice this week and then pick either Josh Swogger or Alex Brink to start against Idaho on Saturday.

While almost no one expected Oregon to escape its non-conference schedule unscathed, few thought the damage would come so soon. The Ducks, selected in the preseason to finish third in the Pacific-10 Conference, dropped their season opener to Indiana 30-24 on Saturday, largely a result of seven turnovers.

SEATTLE — Lost in the offensive struggles of Saturday's game was a first-rate effort by the Cougars defense. A week after allowing New Mexico's DonTrell Moore 167 yards on the ground, Washington State held the entire Colorado offense to 125 yards. Running back Bobby Purify, who ran for 193 against Colorado State the week before, had 53 at Qwest Field. Purify did have one long touchdown run in the first quarter of 65 yards, but it was called back on a holding penalty. "The scoreboard keeps you from being pleased about anything, to be honest with you," WSU defensive coordinator Robb Akey said. "I am proud of the way that those guys battled their tails off. We fixed some of the issues from last week. We gave up a bunch of yards rushing last week and a bunch of yards in general last week. We did a better job of handling those situations."

PULLMAN — Washington State defensive end Adam Braidwood cuts an imposing figure with a shaved head, lengthy chin hair and a massive tattoo on his left biceps and shoulder. But the junior, in his first season starting for the Cougars, is actually one of the more talkative players on the team – although he tries to claim otherwise. Braidwood, a criminal justice major who hails from Delta, British Columbia, took a moment to talk about his tattoo, his native land and his post-collegiate plans with The Spokesman-Review.

PULLMAN — Alex Teems will tell you that he talks a lot and jumps around when you get him going. Then he stops talking.

The Colorado Buffaloes played a football game on Saturday. It was, some might say, the easiest thing they had done in months. "It was obviously a long offseason for us," offensive tackle Sam Wilder said. "Everybody was talking about how excited they were to go in and play a game. After the game, there was a real sense of relief in the locker room."

PULLMAN — That Washington State broke its school record for season-ticket sales after three straight 10-win seasons isn't a surprise. But selling every single season ticket available? That's another story. The Cougars have sold 15,447 season tickets for the 2004 season, and that's all they had allotted. In fact, WSU originally had 14,815 seats reserved for season tickets — the previous school record was 12,815 from last year — but started saving more when initial demand was so high.