WSU heads into the bye week off a win

For the first time this season, Washington State opens a week coming off a win. The Cougars will have some extra time to enjoy the win, and work on the issues that plagued them this season with a bye this week.

The Cougars head into the bye week coming off one of the best rushing performances in years. WSU racked up 228 yards against Idaho, the first 200-yard rushing performance since 2011, and the first 200-yard game against a FBS team since 2010. That 2010 rushing attack was led by Jeff Tuel. This time around, James Williams led the way. Which leads us to the trivia for the week ...

Q1: James Williams rushed for 123 yards on just 14 carriers. By doing so he became the 9th different WSU running back since 2000 to post a 100 yard game on 15 or less carries. Who are the other eight?

Q2: After losing to Nebraska, previously No. 22 Oregon could come to Pullman unranked. It would be just the third time since 2006 that WSU faced a non-ranked Oregon team. Who were the four starting quarterbacks from the previous two games?

*****

Football:

Pac-12 Week 3 bowl projections - Pac-12 Blog- ESPN
We’re dropping Washington State for now. Although the Cougars (1-2) won this week, they have three straight games after their bye week in which they face Oregon, Stanford and UCLA. Let’s say -- realistically -- they go 1-2 in that stretch and score an upset.

WSU-UI Notes: Leach and Petrino: like ships passing | Sports | lmtribune.com

PULLMAN - One of these years, Mike Leach and Paul Petrino will presumably satisfy convention and pull off a nice, normal postgame handshake.Again, though, it…

Questions and accusations swirl in WSU football program as felony arrests mount | The Spokesman-Review

With four felony arrests of Washington State University football players in the past month, the athletic department has suddenly found itself answering more questions about the hits players are delivering at parties than the ones they are supposed to be delivering on the football field.

Mike Leach questioned his team’s toughness, and the WSU Cougars rose to the occasion | The Seattle Times

In calling out his team for its lack of toughness, Mike Leach motivated them to rise to the challenge and play better