It's amazing what a 4-0 start will do for the kinds of narratives surrounding your team. Remember just a few weeks ago when we were worried that the Cal defense was going to keep getting torched as badly as they did last year? That's—mercifully—behind us now. But a 2-1 start with a loss to Portland State doesn't have quite the same effect. Washington State still has everything to prove after a dismal 2014.
They're sort of a known quantity on offense under Mike Leach, and their defense has been decent so far. But until they beat a competent team (and it could be a while, they'll be underdogs in all the rest of their games), they'll have to deal with lingering questions from last year's campaign.