Emotions will run high Saturday

The story of his life and death is already well-known, but another chapter will be added when Pat Tillman’s jersey is retired at halftime of this weekend’s Arizona State-Washington State game.

Tillman, the former Sun Devil and Arizona Cardinal who left the NFL to join the military, was killed in action in Afghanistan. To honor his memory, the Sun Devils have been wearing a patch with Tillman’s initials this season and have re-named the tunnel from which they enter the field for the former safety.

WSU head coach Bill Doba said his team will also wear a sticker in commemoration of Tillman’s life on Saturday, having consulted with both Arizona State and the Tillman family before making the uniform addition this week.

“It’s a huge deal to see that,” said WSU tight ends coach Robin Pflugrad, who was on Arizona State’s staff when Tillman was playing there. “He’s more the guy that would have said, ‘Hey, I don’t want this jersey to be up there with the other three or four. I want someone else to be wearing it. I want somebody to go out and practice hard every day to earn the right to wear it.’ “

Neither team will be on the field for the ceremony since it will be conducted at halftime, but both head coaches have already brought up Tillman’s name in their respective locker rooms.

“We have talked to our team a lot about him, of course,” Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter said. “I know Pat is looking down on us right now, and the No. 1 thing he would want us to do is take care of our business in the game.”

Battling for the bowls

With two weeks left in the regular season, the Pac-10 still has three teams qualified for a bowl game. But that number is guaranteed to go up by one this weekend as the conference’s two 5-4 teams, UCLA and Oregon, square off at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.

Both teams have a date with their primary in-state rival coming up after this game, adding an extra incentive to clear the bowl eligibility problem up this week, so it won’t be an additional burden come Rivalry Week.

“Because of all the drama and pageantry surrounding rivalry games, and throw out the records, it just doesn’t matter,” said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, whose team, after UCLA, has to face an Oregon State team that needs two wins down the stretch to qualify for a bowl. “Certainly we would like to win seven games, but for us right now it’s one step at a time. For your own frame of mind and confidence and comfort zone going in, it’s certainly better to have it in your pocket already and then go to battle and know that’s an added pressure for the kids gone the last game.”

UCLA may need the sixth win this week even more than Oregon after missing a golden opportunity to do so last week at home against Washington State. The Bruins have to play No. 1 USC in its last game, a game in which they are certain to be a big underdog.

One under the belt

First-year Arizona head coach Mike Stoops has downplayed the importance of his team’s first Pac-10 win of the year.

The Wildcats beat Washington 23-13 in a game to climb out of the Pac-10 basement. Arizona is alone in ninth, and the Huskies are still winless in the conference.

“They’re small victories, and we want to go a lot further than this,” Stoops said. “Offensively we still continue to struggle in a lot of facets of the game, and that’s probably the story of most of the year as you look at it. We feel like we’re getting better in a lot of areas, but there are still things we need to work on.”

Notes

UCLA is hoping to have both running back Maurice Drew (sprained ankle) and tight end Marcedes Lewis (bruised tailbone) back after they got hurt Saturday against WSU. Head coach Karl Dorrell said Drew is still questionable, but that the injury was not as serious as the team first thought. He said Lewis is probable to play and is already feeling better. … Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said wide receiver Keith Allen is doing fine after dropping a fourth-down pass late in the fourth quarter against California that would have put the Ducks in range for a game-winning field goal. “I’ve said very emphatically that one play never loses a game for you,” Bellotti said, adding that the support of teammates has helped the fifth-year senior since Saturday’s game.