PACIFIC 10 FOOTBALL / DAN HAFNER : Quick Test for Washington State

Mike Price figures to find out in a hurry what kind of a team he has at Washington State. The Cougars, without departed quarterback Drew Bledsoe, face powerful Michigan at Ann Arbor in the season opener today.

“The best thing about it,” said Price, who led the Cougars to a 9-3 record last year, “is that it only lasts about three hours.

“We have changed from a high-scoring team to a defensive team. We have nine starters back from the team that was 18th-best in the nation on defense.”

The best hope for the Cougars against a team ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press poll is for the Wolverines to be looking ahead to Notre Dame next week.

“There’s two ways to go into something like this,” Price said. “You can enjoy it and go play your hearts out. Or, you can go out and play safe and get trounced. We’re going to go out, enjoy it and hopefully, learn something.”

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Stanford Coach Bill Walsh doesn’t put much faith in trying to fire up a team for one football game.

Will the Washington Huskies, Stanford’s opponent today in Seattle, be inspired by the two-year Rose Bowl ban by the Pacific 10 Conference, the subsequent resignation of Coach Don James and remarks, later retracted, by Walsh? Walsh told a Stanford alumni group in the spring that the Huskies ran a “dirty program.”

“I’m not sure those things will be a factor,” Walsh said. “In the first place, they are always ready to play at Husky Stadium. They almost never lose there.

“The outcome of this game is much more likely to hinge on whether we execute and retain our poise.”

Walsh said he had never figured out how to get a team fired up in a situation such as this.

“I know that Knute Rockne was famous for getting his team fired up, but I suspect that Rockne had superior players,” Walsh said.

“I remember when I was coaching the 49ers in a game with the Denver Broncos. We had never won in Denver. So, we stressed this all week. You know what happened? A tremendous wind came up in the second half and we lost in overtime. So much for emotion.”

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Senior Steve Stenstrom could be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, Walsh says. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder is a key reason Stanford won its last four games last season, capped by a convincing victory over Penn State in the Blockbuster Bowl.

“We are counting on Steve to continue the progress he showed in the last four games,” Walsh said.

“He is the leader. If we give him protection, he will be an outstanding quarterback.”

Pacific 10 Notes

Washington is ranked 12th, Stanford 15th. . . . The Huskies, for the third year in a row, open against a Pac-10 opponent. In 1991, they beat Stanford, 42-7, and last year they trounced Arizona State, 31-7. Next season they will open at USC. . . . Although the Pac-10 ruled Beno Bryant ineligible for the opener, the Huskies still have one of the best running backs in the nation in Napoleon Kaufman. The junior tailback from Lompoc needs 62 yards to become No. 10 on the Huskies’ all-time list.

Arizona, the conference favorite, opens tonight at home against Texas El Paso. Dan White makes his debut as quarterback. It should be a soft landing for White because the Miners beat only Utah while losing 10 games last season. In fact, White might not get a severe test until his third game, Sept. 18 at Illinois.

Arizona State, another team with Rose Bowl aspirations, opens at home against Utah. Although they lost to Texas El Paso last season, the Utes were 6-6 and beat Oregon State, 42-9. The game will mark the return of Mario Bates, the Sun Devil running back who gained 441 yard before being sidelined because of a knee injury in the third game last season.

Both Oregon schools will open today on the road. Oregon will be at Colorado State in the first meeting between the teams. Oregon State, which hopes to improve on last season’s 1-10-1 record, will be at Wyoming. Coach Jerry Pettibone of the Beavers goes with a new quarterback, Ian Shields, in hopes of improving the passing game.