PULLMAN, Wash. - Five plays. Two touchdowns. Sixty-nine seconds.

It looked as if University of Idaho coach Nick Holt's worst nightmare was going to unfold before his eyes at Washington State University's Martin Stadium Thursday night.

There have been times of late when the Vandals might have buckled in the wake of such an inauspicious start. This time, they buckled up and fought back. They lost 38-26 to the Pac 10 Cougars but it wasn't anything like some of their losses out of last year's 3-9 season.

"We came back and made it a game," Holt said. "There were some really good things out there but you can't let them get 14 nothing on you. You just can't - not with anybody.

"It could have got ugly but that shows you the improvement of our football program and our team. I'm very proud that our kids are resilient and relaxed and started to play."

They needed that resilience in light of the Cougars' sizzling start.

The trouble started when Jerome Harrison took the first play from scrimmage and went 80 yards to score in just 12 seconds. It continued when Antwaun Sherman fumbled the kickoff and gave the Cougars the ball at the UI 19. Two Alex Brink passes and another Harrison run - this one a four-yard scamper into the end zone - and WSU sported a 14-0 lead 69 seconds into the game.

"We missed a couple of tackles; got cut down like a bunch of trees," Holt said. "That's what happens when you don't tackle very well."

Then the change in character began to show in the Vandals. A 73-yard, 10-play drive - capped by a nine-yard scoring pass from Michael Harrington to Eddie Williams - gave evidence of a team ready to battle.

Holt had praise for the play of both quarterbacks and the receivers - particularly junior college transfer Daniel Smith, who hauled in 10 passes for 103 yards.

He was disappointed in the secondary, which allowed Brink to complete 17 of  29 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns, and wants to see more productivity out of the running game, which netted only 86 yards. Jayson Bird had 70 yards on 23 carries; Rolly Lumbala had 35 on 10.

While junior college transfer Steven Wichman completed 13 of 23 passes for 143 yards and one TD compared to six of nine for 37 yards and one TD for Harrington, Holt said both had their moments.

"They're a give and take with both guys," Holt said. "We just have to iron things out from here."

After UI's first score, the teams traded possessions before the Loren Langley connected on a 26-yard field goal with just 12 seconds left in the first for a 17-6 WSU lead.

The Vandals stalled on their next series and the Cougars again were on the march when Jason Martin thwarted it when he intercepted an Alex Brink pass in the end zone.

It was then Steven Wichman's turn to drive the Vandals. With a blend of passes mixed with the steady running of Jayson Bird and Rolly Lumbala, Wichman drove the Vandals deep into Cougar territory. The drive stalled, however, at the WSU 6 and the Vandals settled for a 24-yard Barrow field goal with 6:37 to go before half.

After again trading possessions, it was senior linebacker Cole Snyder's turn for the big play with an interception that gave UI the ball at the WSU 11. Barrow was called on again when the offense stalled. He hit another 24-yarder to bring the Vandals to within 17-12 - a score that held up through halftime.

WSU was the first to score in the third quarter when Brink hooked up with Michael Bumpus for a 26-yarder with 9:37 to play and 24-12 WSU lead.

The Vandals scored their second touchdown when Wichman capped a 54-yard drive with a five-yard pass to Smith with 5:27 left in the third. Barrow's kick made it 24-19. It was DeAngelo Ramsey's 42-yard punt return that gave the Vandals the near-midfield position to start the drive.

The trading of TDs continued with the Cougars responding on their next series when Jason Hill beat Reggie Jones down the right sideline to grab the long pass from Brink and trot into the end zone for the 31-19 lead at the 3:54 mark of the third.

Early in the fourth, the Cougars scored again when Brink found Hill in the right corner of the end zone after WSU had been pushed back to the UI20 after an offensive pass interference call negated a TD on the previous play. With 13:19 to play, WSU laid claim to a 38-19 edge.

Idaho wrapped up the scoring on Bird's six-yard run, which capped an 11-play 65-yard drive with 5:01 left in the game.