COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES TO WATCH : Washington (0-1) at Brigham Young (1-1)

A week ago, this looked as if it would be the most attractive game of the weekend. It matches last season’s No. 1 team against last season’s No. 2 team. But both lost last Saturday--BYU to UCLA, and Washington to Oklahoma State. “I told my players to forget about this one and let’s start another streak,” BYU Coach LaVell Edwards said after the loss, which ended a 25-game winning streak. Although Washington usually has one of the nation’s best defenses, the Huskies allowed Oklahoma State 31 points. Coach Don James doesn’t see much hope for improvement against the explosive Cougars. “I think you could have a very experienced defense and give up a lot of yards against that offense,” he said. Two Washington starters, fullback Rick Fenney and linebacker Joe Kelley, are questionable after suffering injuries last Saturday.

Pittsburgh (1-0)

at Ohio State (0-0) Try to figure this one. Ohio State Coach Earle Bruce is furious because Pittsburgh already has played a game this season, opening two weeks ago with a 31-30 victory over Purdue. “I think it’s lousy that under the rules anybody can get a head start,” he said. “It’s not fair. It gives Pittsburgh a tremendous advantage.” But Pittsburgh center Barry Pettyjohn said Ohio State has the advantage. “They have an advantage because they’ve seen us play a game,” he said. “We haven’t seen them.” Neither side can argue that Ohio State would feel better if it had Keith Byars, the nation’s leading rusher in 1984, healthy for this game. He broke a bone in his foot last week and probably will miss two or three games. His replacement is John Woolridge, a 5-11, 190-pound junior who is quicker but not as powerful as Byars.

Maryland (0-1) at Boston College (1-1) A familiar name will be in Boston College’s starting backfield. Flutie is the new tailback. That’s not Doug but his younger brother, Darren. Flutie, who began the season as a wide receiver, will start in place of injured Troy Stradford. Coach Jack Bicknell said Flutie, a 5-9, 169-pound sophomore, “can do everything Stradford did, and almost as well.” Not everyone agrees. “I don’t think I can do half the things he can do, really,” Flutie said. Maryland, which has national championship aspirations, lost its opener to Penn State, 20-18. To cheer his dejected players after the loss, Maryland’s 21st straight to the Nittany Lions, Coach Bobby Ross said he reminded them that other national championship contenders--Nebraska, BYU, Washington and Illinois--also had lost.

LSU (0-0) at North Carolina (1-0) Even though North Carolina won, 21-19, Navy’s Napoleon McCallum gained 166 all-purpose yards--rushing, receiving and returns--against the Tar Heels last Saturday. This week, they face double trouble in LSU’s Dalton Hilliard and Garry James. “We know darned well we can’t stop them,” North Carolina Coach Dick Crum said. LSU Coach Bill Arnsparger said recently that he needs to find an edge to beat the Tar Heels. Has he found it yet, he was asked this week. “No,” he said. “Try me at 1 o’clock on Saturday.”

Arizona State (0-0) at Michigan State (0-0) John Cooper, who had a 57-31 record in eight seasons at Tulsa, will make his debut at Arizona State. “The closer it gets to game time, the more confident I get,” he said. “Nothing is going to keep us from winning. They might be a better football team than us, but I don’t want to hear any alibis if we lose.” George Perles, beginning his third season as coach at Michigan State, said it has been hard to prepare for Arizona State. “It’s difficult when you open up against a new coach,” he said. “We have to go to Tulsa to see the things he did offensively. We have to go to Tennessee to see the things their new defensive coordinator (Larry Marmie) did. We have to look at the Arizona State films for a look at their personnel. Then, you try to come up with a game plan they might use.” He does know one thing: “Arizona State has more skilled athletes than we do.” That’s what they all say.

Washington State (1-1) at Arizona (1-0) Only three weeks into the season, Washington State could virtually be eliminated from the Pac-10 race if it loses at Arizona. This is the Cougars’ third straight conference game. After opening with a loss to Oregon, they beat Cal last Saturday. But they had to come from 19 points behind in the fourth quarter to win, 20-19. In their RPM backfield, the R has had more success than the P and M. Quarterback Mark Rypien leads the Pac-10 in passing. Running backs Rueben Mayes and Kerry Porter are 7th and 10th, respectively, in rushing. Arizona had a more difficult time than expected in a 20-13 victory over Toledo last Saturday. “The tendency when you play Washington State is to try to outscore them,” Arizona Coach Larry Smith said. “But I’m not sure that’s all there is to it.”

Cal (1-1) vs. Oregon State (1-0) at Portland Under new Coach Dave Kragthorpe, Oregon State already has won half as many games as it did all last season. The Beavers are calling their offense “Air Express” after a 43-28 victory over Idaho in the opener. Freshman quarterback Erik Wilhelm completed four touchdown passes to wide receiver Reggie Bynum. Those were 4 of Wilhem’s 27 completions. “In three years, Wilhelm will be a great quarterback,” Kragthorpe said. “He might be the best OSU has ever had before it’s over.” Of Bynum, who was All-Pac-10 last season, Kragthorpe said, “He is an electrifying receiver.” Overshadowed was fullback Darvin Moore, who gained 130 yards in 18 carries. Cal Coach Joe Kapp said the loss to Washington State was a heartbreaker. “What took place in the final few minutes was we continued to do the same things we had done earlier, and they just put it together,” he said.

San Jose State (1-1) at Stanford (0-0) Coach Jack Elway is undefeated in this game since 1981. He won the first three as coach at San Jose State before switching to Stanford last season and winning again. Elway is another coach who is bothered because his team’s opening-day opponent already has played. While waiting for the Cardinal season to start, Elway said he saw both of San Jose’s games, a 48-21 loss to Cal and a 32-3 victory last Saturday over New Mexico State. “San Jose will be pumped up against us,” Elway said. The Spartans always were when Elway coached them against Stanford.