Mike Washington inspected his Hawaii uniform in a jubilant locker room.

“;I hope this stuff comes out,”; the senior slotback said following the Warriors' 24-10 victory.

A drenching of pink Gatorade came courtesy of Andy Mattingly. The Cougars' defensive lineman gruffly escorted Washington over a table and through a jug of the energy drink on the Warriors' sideline early in the fourth quarter.

In the end, though, the Warriors came away clean behind scoring plays from Washington and sophomore wideout Greg Salas. While the Warriors struggled in moving the ball late against a toughened WSU defense, Washington and Salas came up huge in helping to clinch a berth in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Salas got the Warriors off to an effective start when quarterback Greg Alexander hit him across the middle for a 19-yard TD that capped the Warriors' longest drive of the season.

Salas hesitated after catching the ball in stride, curled back and sliced between the WSU safeties to put the Warriors up 7-0 on their first drive of the game, a season-best 97 yard series.

“;We wanted to come out fast, because we knew they were riding high off the Washington win (last week),”; Salas said. “;We knew they're not gonna lay over for us. We definitely wanted to come out fast and make a statement. We did that, (the offensive movement) kind of fizzled away (late) but we got the win.”;

He tied a career high with seven receptions and shattered his previous single-game yardage mark by going for 131, his first game of 100-plus yards.

Washington made the play offensive coordinator Ron Lee called “;the turning point of the game.”;

Washington State crawled within 17-10 on a score midway through the third quarter. On the ensuing drive, Alexander took a sack to get pushed back to the WSU 44, but it was at that moment Washington's eyes lit up at the Cougars' coverage.

“;We knew we needed a big play. We call that play, 'Somethin' Big,' Washington said. “;I saw the defense with the pre-snap read—I was thinking touchdown from the way the defense was playing me. So I just ran my route and executed, (beat the) second safety, by the time I looked around Greg threw that thing out there and I just had to make a play.”;

He caught the ball in stride and sprinted in untouched up the middle for the 44-yard TD—a career-long catch—and gave Hawaii a solid two-possession lead in what would be the final score of the game.

“;That play was run to perfection and it worked out great,”; Salas said.

Later in the quarter, Washington was punished by Mattingly for making a 26-yard reception that brought the Warriors deep into WSU territory.

It turned out he didn't mind so much, despite getting tossed head-over-table.

“;Oh yeah, it was refreshing. I got it in my face, my gloves, down on my legs, my body, my feet,”; Washington said with a grin. “;I'm just humble and blessed that I didn't get hurt, 'cause it was kind of crazy.”;