Until their senior year of high school, the athletic credentials of Mat and Dave Ball were much like their physical features -- nearly identical.

Now Dave Ball leads the nation in quarterback sacks and Mat is sometimes called "the other Ball."

But he's OK with that. He's back in the starting lineup with his twin brother, just as in the old days, and they're causing havoc from either side of UCLA's respected defensive line.

The Bruins (6-3, 4-1) try to retain a share of the Pac-10 Conference lead Saturday when they visit Washington State (7-2, 4-1).

UCLA publicists call Dave Ball "perhaps the best defensive end in the nation," and he's obliging them with 1.39 sacks per game this season, highest in NCAA Division I.

He's a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award and he's on the watch list for the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award.

Yet when Bruins defensive-line coach Don Johnson looks at the twins, he sees "two athletic, talented young men that are clones of each other."

"It's a little frustrating," he says, "because you see your equal and he's doing remarkable things and you look at yourself and say, 'Why can't I do that? Is there something wrong?' But at the same time it's fantastic to see your brother, one of your family members, leading the nation in sacks."

The Ball twins grew up in the small California community of Dixon, west of Sacramento, the sons of an electrical engineer and a second-grade teacher. They were twin posts for the Dixon High basketball team and bookend defensive linemen for the football team, piling up about 12 sacks apiece their junior season.

At UCLA, they are known for their wit and mischief. Now that Mat has shaved his beard, many people can't tell them apart without aid of their jersey numbers. Johnson, their position coach, has identified a distinguishing trait, and he doesn't believe they know what it is. "If they did, they would probably do something to alter it," he said.

The twins are roommates, best friends and fellow history majors. They finish each other's sentences. They do impressions of Ronald Reagan and make various other comedic references to the 1980s -- quite fondly, they say.

"When you're grown up," Mat Ball says, "there's a lot more responsibility and a lot more worries in your life. Basically, that period of time (the '80s) was a fun and loving family time, and that's why we reminisce about it so much."

For Mat, the stress of adulthood may have begun during his senior season of high-school football, when injuries broke up the Ball Brothers act. Mat missed four games with a broken hand, then returned to the field just in time to separate a shoulder. His brother carried on without him, and Mat has never quite caught up.

In his sophomore year at UCLA, the Bruins needed a backup linebacker and decided to convert Mat Ball. When he returned to defensive end the following year, he had to relearn the blind intensity required for that position. He had to forget the linebacker's luxury of peering over blocks to see what's happening in the offensive backfield.

While Dave was racking up 11 1/2 sacks as a junior, Mat was scrapping for crumbs as a backup.

This year is different. Mat has inherited the starting job vacated by Rusty Williams, and both twins are prospering -- on a relative scale.

Dave, who has 12 1/2 sacks, may find it easier to shine simply because of their positions. Mat plays the left side, where sacks are more elusive because right-handed quarterbacks have a better view of your approach. And Dave may have more mobility. Both players are 6-foot-6 but Dave is 11 pounds lighter at 269.

In any case, Mat still finds himself overshadowed, with his three sacks and 5 1/2 tackles for loss. Dave rollicked to 3 1/2 sacks in just one game, the Bruins' big 46-16 defeat of Washington a month ago.

"This year," Mat says, "I've forgotten about trying to be as good as Dave. I'm just trying be as good as I can be."

WASHINGTON STATE HAS a few injuries to contend with headed into Saturday’s game against UCLA. But the Cougs are also a fired-up team, ready to get after it following a disappointing loss last week down in Southern Cal. Also, a thing or two you might not have known about one of the Cougs’ leaders on defense.

Growing up fast; A tumultuous adolescence prompted Erik Coleman to develop the leadership qualities he provides WSU

Dale Grummert

PULLMAN -- From the moment he arrived on campus, Erik Coleman exerted a subtle influence on his teammates -- subtle because he spoke in understated tones and because he seemed to exude as much respect as he inspired.

He seemed ahead of the game somehow, not only physically stronger than the other freshman defensive backs, but more serious and astute.

Maybe this is what happens when a boy tries to fill a type of father's role at age 11, and when he later watches his mother hauled away to prison for six months during his senior year of high school.

Coleman, now a senior free safety, has been voted captain of a Washington State defense that is positing itself as one of the best in recent school history. He has intercepted four passes and is the leading tackler for the Cougars (7-2), who play UCLA on Saturday in Pullman in a showdown of two of the three Pac-10 Conference co-leaders.

"Ever since we were freshmen, that's one thing he showed -- that he can lead," WSU safety Hamza Abdullah said. "People looked to him for advice, for an example. I don't think you can teach that. You have to be born with that sort of leadership."

Coleman likes to think he developed it out of necessity, beginning when his parents were divorced when he was an elementary-school student in Spokane. His father moved to California and his mother, Cynthia Coleman, worked to raise three children alone. As the elder of two sons, Coleman felt he needed to assume something of a father's presence.

"We lived check-to-check -- it was an everyday struggle," he said. "We had to move out of houses because we couldn't come up with rent money. I grew up fast. I was always a big worrier. I always worried about all the things going on in my mom's life, trying to make sure everything was all right."

Then, during his senior year at Lewis & Clark High, something happened that still seems to puzzle him.

His mother, whom he describes as a constant source of strength for him, was sent to Geiger Corrections Facility in Spokane, on a six-month sentence for "theft of government property." She had pleaded guilty to embezzling about $97,000 from the Social Security Administration, where she had worked for several years.

Coleman seems to have only a hazy grasp of these facts. He knows his mother went to jail for "a felony -- something about money." He assigns no blame, and yet acknowledges this was an especially stressful time for him.

"It was a time when I was getting recruited by colleges, and getting ready to graduate from high school," he said. "It was the middle of basketball season. I didn't want to play basketball anymore because I was so stressed out about my mom. I can remember being so sad that I didn't want to do anything."

He visited his mother once a week at Geiger and meanwhile lived with the family of a friend. He had already given an oral commitment to the Washington State football program, and coaches there offered further support.

By this stage in his life, Coleman had discovered that participating in sports could fill the same function as listening to music. It could be a way of coping. He says he had a nasty temper as a child, and athletic coaches in Spokane gradually taught him how to channel his anger.

"I kept a lot of things inside, and every once in a while I'd just explode," he said. "Sports helped me to kind of direct that negative energy and turn it into positive energy."

During his mother's absence, then, he could resort to a well-practiced routine.

"I'd go lift weights, go run, just prepare for college and being a Cougar," he said. "It helped me in a big way. When I got here, I was more mature than the average freshman. I was able to play as a freshman, and it was an easy transition."

He appeared in eight games that season, while most of his classmates redshirted, and he captured a starting spot at cornerback the following season. When he moved back to his more natural safety position as a junior, he made 86 tackles and won All-Pac-10 honorable mention.

He underwent shoulder surgery and missed spring camp this year, but even then he managed to impress Bill Doba. "He really displayed great leadership qualities," the WSU coach said. "I mean, he was at every meeting, he was out on the field, in the secondary. He was actually like another coach out there."

Cynthia Coleman, meanwhile, has completed her six-month sentence, along with four months of home detention and three years of "supervised release." She was also ordered to restore the embezzled money.

Speaking by phone from Spokane, she said her troubles were related to a drug habit she has now overcome. "Since all this, I've been to treatment," she said. "It was a blessing for me, in a way."

She spoke proudly of her son's football career, describing herself as "his personal cheerleader." She spoke of his longtime dedication to developing his physical strength. She mentioned a photograph of 2-year-old Erik wearing a San Francisco 49ers uniform for Halloween. As she expressed regret for missing her son's high-school graduation, her voice faltered and she apologized. "I'm getting teary."

Coleman seems keenly aware of his mother's regrets.

"She missed my first (college) football game, and I know that was real hard on her," he said. "I felt bad for my mom. She didn't belong in a place like that. She was trying to help us out and get the bills paid. For her to pay that price -- missing all those things in my brother's and my life -- I know it was very hard for her. That's why I appreciate my mother so much. Man, she's a fighter. She's the strongest person I know. I look up to her a lot and I appreciate everything she's done for me."

In recent years, Coleman has begun to restore ties with his father, a truck driver who lives at Sacramento. They have discovered a shared passion for old cars. For a few months, the younger Coleman was the proud caretaker of his father's 1978 Cadillac Fleetwood Braughm.

"After this year, when he goes on to bigger and better things," said Abdullah, who is Coleman's roommate, "he'll get himself a few old cars and fix them up. And hopefully he'll take me for a ride in them."

Coleman sometimes retreats to the bedroom of his Pullman apartment and queues up a CD -- something soulful, maybe "Brown Sugar" by D'Angelo. He turns out the lights and just thinks. He thinks about football, about his past, about his future.

More and more, he says, one particular thought occurs to him during these sessions. It occurs to him how lucky he is.

Pac-10 possibilities still intriguing; Last week's losses aside, Bruins and Cougars remain at forefront of conference race ... at least until this evening

PULLMAN -- For weeks, Washington State and UCLA led the race for the conference title, side by side, sensing the likely approach of USC.

Now indeed it's a three-team race, and either the Cougars or the Bruins must recede into the pack today.

They play at 4 p.m. in probably frigid conditions at Martin Stadium, each trying to forget a disheartening loss last week.

Although the Cougars refrained from gabbing about it, they dearly wanted to scrap their way into the Sugar Bowl and a shot at the national championship: That would have broken new ground for the school.

Those desires were squelched by the Cougars' 43-16 loss at USC, and coaches are now trying to conjure up new frontiers.

An 11-win season, a third consecutive 10-win season, a second straight Rose Bowl bid -- these are still possible for Washington State, and all would be Cougar precedents.

"There's plenty to talk about," WSU coach Bill Doba said. "I thought their attitude Sunday (a day after the loss) was good. They were upset and angry, and not feeling sorry for themselves."

The return trip to the Rose Bowl is the most compelling incentive, and it became more realistic this week when USC climbed to No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings and positioned itself for a Sugar Bowl bid. If the Trojans go Sugar, another Pac-10 Conference team could slide into the Rose.

And if USC happens to lose one of its last three conference games -- don't hold your breath here -- a more direct route to Pasadena would be cleared for the winner of this Cougar-Bruin game.

Both clubs are trying to answer critics who attribute their success to soft schedules. The Bruins in particular have been denied respect, despite leading the Pac-10 Conference race from the start. And they damaged their cause last week with a 21-14 loss at Stanford.

"It seems like the magnitude of every game we play ... is going to be really intensified," Bruins coach Karl Dorrell said.

The Washington State defense took a hit to its pride last week at USC, playing sloppily in the fourth quarter of what some players had viewed as a clash of the two best defenses in the conference.

They'll try to restore their swagger against another Los Angeles school with similar strengths -- defense in general and D-line in particular.

The Cougars never need a special reason to blitz, but they have one anyway: Stanford used that tactic spectacularly against UCLA while getting eight sacks.

Both teams have concerns at quarterback. The Cougars expect to stick with Matt Kegel despite his slightly torn knee ligament, but won't hesitate to start Josh Swogger if the senior looks gimpy in warmups.

UCLA, by the same token, wants to start Matt Moore, but couldn't help inserting another sophomore, Drew Olson, in the fourth quarter of the Bruins' surprising loss at Stanford.

Neither quarterback has seen sustained success, but both are aided by the presence of junior Craig Bragg, who's on pace to become the school's all-time leading receiver.

The Bruins rank last in the conference in rushing, but Doba is impressed by freshman tailback Maurice Drew, who comes off the bench.

For the second straight year, the Cougar-Bruin game is being pushed ahead for ABC television. Last year it was pushed all the way to Dec. 7.

This time kickoff is simply being nudged ahead two hours, but the expected drop in temperature at sundown could play a role.

NOTES -- Scott Davis will start for WSU linebacker Al Genatone, still nursing an ankle injury.... Tight end Troy Bienemann has recovered from his back injury and will resume his punt-snapping role, which presumably will solve the problem that led to two errant snaps at USC. ... Officiating calls, it seems, both favored and disfavored the Cougars in their game at USC. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Pac-10 officials supervisor Verle Sorgen said a fumble, rather than an incomplete pass, should have been attributed to USC quarterback Matt Leinart on first-quarter drive that led to a field goal. But WSU tailback Jermaine Green should not have been granted a touchdown on a 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter. Sorgen said the video was inconclusive on a possible USC defensive offsides infraction that led to a pivotal WSU fumble.

One slippery situation; Cougars withstand hail of turnovers to keep pace in Pac-10

PULLMAN -- Someone asked Washington State defensive end Isaac Brown what he sensed about UCLA's mentality Saturday, and he said, "desperation."

These clubs evidently believed they had nothing to lose except the football -- and they lost that again and again while Washington State hashed out a 31-13 victory that gave the Cougars a half-game lead in the race for the Pac-10 Conference championship.

In a game discolored by 14 turnovers -- tidily divided into four fumbles and three interceptions for each team -- the Cougars capitalized on these blunders a little more efficiently while pushing their conference record to 5-1.

With two games remaining in the regular season, it may seem early to feel desperation, but Washington State and UCLA both needed this win to retain any chance of cracking the top 12 in the Bowl Championship Series standings and securing an elite bowl bid. The Cougars are ranked 15th at the moment.

"Both teams knew what was on the line, and we both played like that," Brown said. "We just happened to get better scoring chances than they did, and our offense played a little better than theirs did."

Adding to the air of antsiness was yet another shoulder injury to WSU quarterback Matt Kegel, who suffered a sprain this time to his throwing shoulder on a first-quarter hit by national sack leader Dave Ball. Kegel missed the rest of the game and his status is unknown for the Cougars' home game against Arizona State on Saturday.

That left the offense in the hands of second-year freshman Josh Swogger, who threw two interceptions but accomplished his most important task -- getting the ball to tailback Jonathan Smith, who rushed for 130 yards and caught four passes for another 85 yards.

The Cougars rushed for 146 yards, with the offensive line doing its best run-blocking since the season opener against Idaho.

"It hurts you when you look up at the board at the end of the game and you have, like, 40 yards rushing," center Mike Shelford said. "It definitely hurts your ego a little bit. Today we had some bad plays again on offense, but when you run for 150 yards, it builds up confidence for the rest of the year."

Kegel hadn't left the cupboard bare: The Cougars led 14-0 at the time of his injury. His swing pass to Smith went 47 yards and set up a 1-yard touchdown dive by Smith, and Kegel later fired a 32-yard scoring strike to Troy Bienemann.

"Our kids were ready," WSU coach Bill Doba said. "We came out strong and put 14 points on the board early. Then we kind of stalled again."

Kegel had entered the game with a sprained knee and a sore left shoulder. His right arm "was the only good limb I had -- and it's not good anymore," he said, nonetheless clinging to optimism. "If everything goes right, I should be ready to rock and roll by Wednesday."

Before a chilled crowd of 33,846 at Martin Stadium, the Cougar defense continued to control the tempo with its aggressive pass-rush and backfield alertness. The Bruins seemed to follow their cue. During one third-quarter stretch, four straight possessions ended in turnovers.

"We had too many penalties, too many turnovers," UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. "When you're already down a number of points, those combinations are hard to overcome."

Free safety Erik Coleman intercepted two UCLA passes, forced two fumbles and made 10 tackles, while Jason David added an interception and a fumble recovery.

The wackiest and most telling play came in the second quarter, when UCLA's Craig Bragg returned a punt 29 yards to the WSU 16-yard line but fumbled on a hit by Coleman. Jeremy Bohannon retrieved for the Cougars and bolted 72 yards to the 12, setting up a 12-yard TD run by Smith and a 21-6 lead.

"This gets us a step closer to a share of the Pac-10 championship and possibly a chance at a BCS bowl," Brown said. "All we can do is win. If we win out, hopefully they'll be kind to us in the BCS."

UCLA 0 6 7 0 --13
Washington State 14 14 0 3 --31

First Quarter
WSU--Smith 1 run (Dunning kick), 9:51.
WSU--Bienemann 32 pass from Kegel (Dunning kick), 8:48.

Second Quarter
UCLA--FG Medlock 46, 9:20.
UCLA--FG Medlock 32, 2:55.
WSU--Smith 12 run (Dunning kick), 1:56.
WSU--Smith 9 run (Dunning kick), 1:22.

First downs                    18                   14
Rushes-yards             42-145             49-146
Passing                          220                 177
Comp-Att-Int             18-42-3           8-22-3
Return Yards                   87                  165
Punts-Avg.                    8-47                 8-43
Fumbles-Lost                6-4                    4-4
Penalties-Yards           12-109               9-80
Time of Possession       30:01                 29:59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--UCLA, Ebell 12-105, Drew 23-80, Olson 2-(minus 3), Moore 4-(minus 18), team 1-(minus 19). Washington St., Smith 36-130, Green 3-19, Lunde 1-2, Swogger 6-1, team 1-(minus 2), Bruhn 2-(minus 4).

PASSING--UCLA, Moore 11-29-2-138, Olson 7-12-1-82, Lepisto 0-1-0-0. Washington St., Swogger 5-16-2-82, Kegel 3-5-0-95, Lunde 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING--UCLA, Bragg 5-72, R.Smith 5-60, Lewis 4-40, Ebell 2-21, Kezirian 1-24, Groves 1-3. Washington St., J.Smith 4-85, Lunde 3-60, Bienemann 1-32.

Ugly ain't so bad
Win over Uclans wasn't pretty, but Cougs' first place standing is

PULLMAN—There is ugly and there is ugly. And no matter if you watched this blunder bowl between No. 12 Washington State and UCLA from the relatively pleasant clime of Martin Stadium or the comfort of your sofa, there’s no denying the Cougars and Bruins provided a reel’s worth of lowlights today. We’re talking mirror cracking ugly here.

What They're Saying
An eyesore of frustrating ineptutude -- and that's the positive stuff

THE QUOTABLE QUOTES are flowing like diarrhea following that stinker of a game between the Cougs and Bruins. But a win's a win, and the Cougars are back up to No. 8 in the land. Here, we relive some of the glorious slop that was served up Saturday.

"It was an eyesore and an abomination. It was college football's version of the Jerry Springer Show a split-second before the aggrieved bride throws a chair over her sister-in-law."
John McGrath, Tacoma News Tribune

"There was only one thing as frustrating to Matt Moore as watching UCLA commit seven turnovers and lose the game. Seeing Washington State commit seven and win it, 31-13."
Robyn Norwood, Los Angeles Times

"On Broadway, when they announce the understudy, snooty patrons groan and head for the exits. In football, everyone braces for the car wreck and cannot look away. And, yes, there was some carnage out there on Cougar Boulevard, as you can imagine just by looking at Swogger's line: 16 passes, 5 completions, 2 picks, 82 yards."
John Blanchette, Spokesman-Review

"It's nice not to play real well and still win."
Head coach Bill Doba

"If Erik Coleman isn't voted first-team all-Pac-10, there is no God. Every time you looked up, he was in the middle of things --- forcing fumbles, picking off passes and tackling damn near every Bruin under that lunar-eclipsed moon overhead. In fact, Erik looked like he was from another planet the way he dominated out there. The guy was other-worldly. Period."
Pat Mitchell, CF.C Associate Editor

"Cue the season theme for Washington State: A big-time, BCS-bowl-worthy defensive effort that shook the Bruins into seven turnovers, but a herky-jerky, here-and-gone offense that made seven turnovers of its own."
Bud Withers, Seattle Times

"Just as all babies are beautiful to their parents, all victories are beautiful to winning coaches. That's why Washington State coaches were smiling proudly Saturday."
Don Ruiz, Tacoma News Tribune

"The pretending is over, and, for the most part, so is UCLA's season despite games with Oregon and USC remaining. It was buried under a pile of mental and physical mistakes, amid enough turnovers to last a season by an offense that that didn't just cross the line of ineptitude, but blasted past it to the level of embarrassment."
Brian Dohn, Long Beach Press-Telegram

"We just beat UCLA, 31-13, and you guys are going to write how bad we were. We're finding ways to win. I thought we were pretty damn good."
Mike Levenseller, WSU offensive coordinator

"Who's got the ball? At Martin Stadium, it's hard to tell. The answer changes frequently.
Dave Andriesen, Seattle P-I

"On an evening when the best show might've been in the sky -- it's a wonder the officials didn't penalize the earth 15 yards for eclipsing the moon. Washington State running back Jonathan Smith was a lone star who gave the Cougars the saving grace of ground control."
John McGrath, Tacoma News Tribune

"The touchdowns were quick and easy for Washington State, the rest of the game, make that most of the game, was painful and slow for just about everybody involved."
Carter Strickland, Spokesman-Review

MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: DALE GRUMMERT ... A perfect day for quarterback school

PULLMAN -- There are any number of perfectly rational explanations for the 14 turnovers that dominated the action Saturday in Washington State's game against UCLA.

First, Washington State quarterbacks coach Timm Rosenbach was big enough to admit he did a lot of crazy stuff when he himself played QB for the Cougars 16 years ago, and this created a karmic debt that has burdened all his successors.

Second, a lunar eclipse occurred at 5:06 p.m. -- or just about the time WSU safety Jeremy Bohannon willed Craig Bragg into squandering his 29-yard punt return and fumbling into Bohannon's hands, leading to the latter's 72-yard runback.

Bohannon's zodiacal sign is cancer, which, as we all know, is ruled by the moon.

Third -- and this might be the most logical reason of all -- each offense was led by a young quarterback, and one of them had attempted only 22 previous passes in his collegiate career.

The Cougars, in fact, basically dedicated this game to the education of Josh Swogger, as soon as it became clear that the world was not going to leave Matt Kegel's sore shoulders in peace.

Like a father nudging his son onto the rural Greyhound that will him trundle him off to college, the Cougars handed Swogger a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter and said, "Be good; and if you can't be good, be careful."

He spent the next three hours learning -- beginning to learn -- how to be a college quarterback.

He completed five passes in 16 attempts. He threw two interceptions. He and the center botched a snap. He threw a 34-yard rope to Scott Lunde that hints at fine, fine possibilities.

But when day was done, he looked down at Dad's nest egg -- that 14-0 lead -- and it had somehow grown by four points. He had received a free education.

And the Cougars moved a step closer to their third Rose Bowl appearance in seven years -- not just by winning 31-13, but by inculcating a few bits of knowledge to their No. 2 quarterback, who just might be No. 1 before long. Kegel is listed as doubtful for the Cougars' home game against Arizona State on Saturday.

After the Bruins' SUV-ish defensive end, Dave Ball, veered around Calvin Armstrong and flattened Kegel as he released a pass, spraining the senior quarterback's much-abused right shoulder, it was initially reported that Cougar trainers might stuff Kegel with fresh hay and push him back on the field.

But why? The Cougars held a two-touchdown lead, they had rediscovered their running game, and their wonderful defense was cleaning up every mess in the stadium.

Even if Kegel had been able to return in a limited capacity, this was a golden opportunity to rest his battered limbs and allow his freshman backup to vanquish his butterflies.

The first unusual fact about Swogger, from a Washington State perspective, is his origin: Youngstown, Ohio. Erstwhile head coach Mike Price (who watched Saturday's game from the press box) liked to think he recruited quarterbacks from anywhere in the galaxy. But it's a fact of college football that Midwestern players play for Midwestern teams.

In this case, one might have initially wondered why Price even bothered with this particular Ohioan, since Ohio State had plucked Maurice Clarett out of Youngstown while leaving Swogger alone. His other scholarship offers came from the likes of Cincinnati, Akron, Eastern Michigan and Louisville.

But Swogger fits the Cougar quarterback mold -- 6-foot-5 and 238 pounds -- and in conversation he gives an immediate impression of intelligence and composure. It seems possible he reminded Price of Drew Bledsoe in that way.

At 20, he's not quite a babe in the woods. He has already donned every type of "shirt" in college football -- he "grayshirted'' in 2001, meaning he delayed his initial enrollment until the second semester, and then he redshirted last year while running the scout-team offense.

This year, he was running No. 3 on the depth chart until backup Chris Hurd underwent knee surgery and took the season off.

If Kegel has something of a rabbity demeanor, Swogger is bearish and stolid. In practice drills, the older quarterback seems more athletic, but Swogger surprised his teammates a few times Saturday by dancing away from pass-rushers, just long enough to make a worrisome throw. Offensive linemen, accustomed to Kegel's tendency to flee forward when trouble approaches, are trying to adjust to Swogger's impulse to flee laterally.

"I'm proud of him," the coach said. "It was his first extended action. It's tough, man. I've been there. Some of that stuff that goes on out there may be payback for what I used to do.

"He's got a great demeanor about him. He doesn't let a lot of stuff rattle him, and he stays real calm on the sideline. It was a good job. Obviously it could have been better. He's going to have to go through growing pains."

Both of Swogger's interceptions came in the third quarter. The one he regrets is the second: While bailing from the pocket, he threw wildly down the middle for Troy Bienemann, and safety Jarrad Page made a diving stab.

"I should try not to throw to the middle of the field when I'm on the run," Swogger said. "They tell you that all the time. And in the game the adrenaline's going and you think you're Superman."

The Cougars need that self-assurance even if they don't need the blunders. This possible change in quarterbacks is just the latest blow for an offense that has sputtered for much of the season.

"We did move the ball well at times, and we did run the ball better than we have for a while," Cougars coach Bill Doba said. "We've just got to keep looking for the positive things to build that swagger on the offense."

At least I think he said swagger. Maybe it was Swogger. He's hoping the words are synonymous.

Bruins see both sides of Ball; Touted pass rusher and his relatively unsung twin brother anchor UCLA's defensive front

Growing up fast; A tumultuous adolescence prompted Erik Coleman to develop the leadership qualities he provides WSU

Pac-10 possibilities still intriguing; Last week's losses aside, Bruins and Cougars remain at forefront of conference race ... at least until this evening

One slippery situation; Cougars withstand hail of turnovers to keep pace in Pac-10

MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: DALE GRUMMERT ... A perfect day for quarterback school