Cougar football ignited a thunderous performance Saturday in their return to Martin Stadium.

           After an unexpected 0-2 start to the season, the Washington State Cougars came out hungry, capturing a lopsided 59-21 victory over the Portland State Vikings in front of a crowd of 30,874.

           The Cougar offense set a school record by putting up 706 yards total. The Cougs also broke the Pac-12 record for most passing yards by throwing for 630 yards.

           WSU redshirt senior quarterback Connor Halliday finished the game 41 of 62 for 544 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. The blowout victory provided redshirt freshman backup quarterback Luke Falk the opportunity to play, and he didn’t disappoint, completing both of his pass attempts for 86 yards and one touchdown, including an 84-yard touchdown toss to redshirt junior wide receiver Dom Williams.

           WSU Head Coach Mike Leach said he was pleased the team was able to parlay their performance in practice into a game setting.

           “The biggest thing is we had a game and it looked like what we see in practice every day so we gotta keep maintaining that and just focusing on single plays, individual plays, individual efforts, and individually competing each snap, which I thought they did,” Leach said. “Ya know I mean it’s not, nothing about it was perfect but there were a lot of good things and it very much resembled practice.”

WSU wide receiver Isiah Myers had the best game of his career hauling in 11 catches for 227 yards while scoring three touchdowns, which tied the school record for single-game receiving touchdowns. Myers said the press coverage of Portland State led to the big numbers.

           “I mean, their (system) is come up and press man,” Myers said. “I respect them for that but if you’re going to play a team that throws it 60-70 times a game and are successful, I mean bad things are going to happen for you.”

           Redshirt senior wide receiver Kristoff Williams did not play in Saturday’s game, when pressed about the absence Leach deferred from the usual no comment.

           “Williams was doing some very valiant and gallant things and it’s remarkably highly classified,” Leach said. “Shoot, if I were to tell ya, then I would jeopardize world peace so I’m not going to.”

           The Cougars found a running game for the first time this season. WSU’s offensive line had their way with the Portland State front-seven, paving the way for WSU running backs Jamal Morrow and Gerard Wicks, combined to run for 88 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries.

           Morrow said despite a strong game, the running game can do even more damage going forward.

           “We felt like we still left big plays on the field,” Morrow said. “You know we expect to get, ya know, 100 (yards) plus every game, you know, especially with a point of emphasis on running the ball so as we go along in the season we expect to get 100-yards a game.”

           WSU senior linebacker Cyrus Coen led the defense with 12 tackles and one sack. Leach said having Coen back on the field is huge for the defense.

           “Out of our linebackers I think he’s the toughest one, ya know, I think we might have a linebacker or two whine about it but none of them can whip (Coen),” Leach said. “I mean Cyrus is the toughest one, if they want to be the toughest one they got to figure out a way to whip Cyrus and none of them can whip Cyrus.”

           The Cougars now turn their focus to the number three ranked Oregon Ducks who come into Martin Stadium next Saturday. The 7:30 p.m. game can be seen on ESPN.