Quotables: WSU's Paul Wulff and Kevin Kooyman

Washington State coach Paul Wulff's opening statement:
"We feel we're a very young football team, but we have a quite a bit of experience. I think you'll find a dramatic improvement in our football team. You'll see a surprise team this year out of Washington State. We've been building this football team the right way."

Wulff on Jeff Tuel: "Of course, we're very high on Jeff. Jeff came in a year agho, this teme he was about 190 pounds, he's now 214-215 pounds. He's gotten bigger and stronger. Unlike a lot of freshman who came in last year and came in and January, Jeff came in August. We threw him to the wolves. Heading into his second year, I feel Jeff is every bit where those (former WSU stars) were."

Wulff on the East Coast Pac-10 swing: "All the head coaches, you find out they're actually pretty good guys. We had some good bonding time out there. Just to be able to be there physically and get eye-to-eye contact with the media, I think they were excited by that. They felt honored. Wow this is a unique opportunity for them, to have us in their backyward. We're nowhere near where we need to be, but without question, we gained respect."

WSU defensive end Kevin Kooyman on being picked 10th for the third straight year: "The last two serasons have been pretty rough. We've been picked 10th the last two years, and this year. You have to ignore it. This year, we're going to shock some people. We don't care about the rankings. It's more of a distraction, and you have to ignore it."