WSU’s rout of UNLV, the morning after

• Washington State: We talked about it a little last night. There is a lot of bandwagon jumping going on, but for once in the past 1,000 days, it’s people loading down the Cougars’ Peterbilt instead of the other way around. If the next few weeks don’t go as well, think there might be a few broken ankles? (That’s a jumping off reference if you weren’t sure.) But instead of looking ahead, we’ll just examine WSU’s performance from Saturday (if I were still giving grades, everybody but the special teams would have gotten an A). … Now on to the links … We have our game story along with a notebook , the statistics and our keys to the game. … John Blanchette’s column mainly covers the defense. … The same from Bud Withers, who also has this notebook and a short summary of the game in the Times. … Freelancer Howie Stalwick has his gamer , a notebook and a sidebar from yesterday’s rout in the News Tribune. … A summary from CougCenter, who I’m sure will be back soon with an in-depth look at the Cougars’ training staff and the technique they used to hydrate the players in Saturday’s heat. A source told me it was the Gatorade Stack, but on the surface it looked more like a Powerade Twist to me. (We kid because we really like those in-depth analyses.) … From Las Vegas, there is this game story , sidebar and scoring from the Review-Journal and a story in the Sun.

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• We have our usual Sunday summary of the postgame comments, made possible by the early start time.

• Coach Paul Wulff on the change in Washington State this year: “These players responded. We improved this week. To be quite frank, this football team has answered every challenge as coaches we’ve put on them, from the beginning of this last winter until now.” … “When you great programs, you have that continuity and you develop that trust, you develop that family, you develop the intensity and attitude. Those are our four covenants. That’s what we’ve been (instilling) in these players, that’s who were are, that’s the foundation of our program.”

• On the season’s start: “It helps (being 2-0). We knew we’ve been on the right track, even though on the outside people don’t understand that.”  … “It’s really one of the (most fun) things I get to watch, is to see them having fun.”

• On Saturday’s performance: “On offense there were a lot of good things in the first half. Defensively as well.”

• Defensive tackle Anthony Laurenzi on winning: “It’s definitely a lot nicer, especially since we were on the receiving end of it a couple years ago.”

• Offensive coordinator Todd Sturdy on the performance: “I knew we had the capability of executing at a high level. That was the plan anyway.”

• On Marshall Lobbestael: “I feel really blessed to have a fifth-year guy. Marshall’s played a lot of football here. He’s standing on a really good foundation.” … “My challenge to him this week was not to watch too much film. I told him to cut back on it, not to overprepare.”

• On what he told Lobbestael: “Be ready and go play. And smile once in a while.”

• Senior receiver Isiah Barton on his touchdown reception: “I wasn’t expecting the ball. I was double covered. I looked back, saw Marshall throw it to me so I was like ‘I’ve got to make a play.’ ”

• On the difference this season: “It feels good to put a lot of points on the board. Last year we weren’t doing that.”

• Offensive guard B.J. Guerra on the line’s improvement: “The want to, the will to be better. Just being tired of all the negatives we’ve had in the past.”

• On rallying around Lobbestael: “He’s always ready, he’s always prepared.” … “When you don’t get a lot of reps in a game-time situation, the guys around him have to bond together and make things easy for him.”

• Defensive coordinator Chris Ball on whether the defense talked about losing Jeff Tuel: “We’ve been in this situation before with the injuries. And there is no sense even bringing it up.” … “If you just move on and don’t make a big deal about it, the kids just seem to take care of themselves.”

• Lobbestael on winning: “It’s a blast to win. But we’ve got to stay humble and be ready for any adversity that strikes.”

• On what Sturdy told him: “He’s coached me for four years, I think that was a great coaching point by him. I tend to just get so focused and kind of worked up that the advice he was giving, just relax and have fun, was great advice.”

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• Around the Pac-12: ESPN.com’s Ted Miller hands out his helmet stickers . … Jon Wilner has some reactions . … The conference should be exciting, but might be short-lived . … Washington: The Huskies rode a big-play offense , built around quarterback Keith Price and a couple of young wide receivers , to earn a 40-32 victory over visiting Hawaii. . … Oregon State: In one of the strangest games I’ve seen in a while, the Beavers traded quarterbacks like kids used to swap baseball cards. And it didn’t work. Except to help Wisconsin roll 35-0. … Oregon: The Ducks routed Nevada 69-20 and in the process got a glimpse at their offense’s future . Meanwhile, two defensive stars returned to the field while others weren’t so lucky. … California: The Bears rallied to overcome Colorado 36-33 in overtime, something that might not have happened last season when Zach Maynard was watching . Which is what Bay Area fans get to do this year with their quarterbacks . … Stanford: The Cardinal started slowly, got a big defensive stand , then took off for an Andrew Luck-led 44-14 victory at Duke. … Colorado: Though the Buffaloes fell 36-33 in overtime to Cal, the Boulder fans got a glimpse of Pac-12 football. Even if it wasn’t a Pac-12 football game. … Utah: Not only did the Utes lose their first ever Pac-12 football game, they got a glimpse of Pac-12 officiating. The supposedly new Pac-12 officiating. … USC: Whatever the final score (and we’re going with 17-14 until the conference announces a change in the final of the Oregon/WSU basketball game from a couple years back), the Trojans are now atop the Pac-12 South, thanks in large part to the return of a prodigal son and a big block . … UCLA: The Bruins finally run down a 27-17 win over San Jose State. … Arizona State: Looking back at the Sun Devils win over Missouri from Friday night. … Arizona: With star Juron Criner out with an appendix, the other Wildcat receivers need to step up.