SEATTLE — All week the pressure had been building on University of Hawai'i running back Alex Green.

With each teammate he hit up for the tickets to yesterday's game and each family request he sought to satisfy, the burden grew.

"I had been begging guys for their tickets to give to my family," Green said. "So I had to show them something. I had to at least score."

Green got his score, all right, a 44-yard burst in the second quarter that put the Warriors up 35-0 en route to a 38-20 pounding of Washington State at Qwest Field.

Finishing with 59 yards on nine carries, a 6.6-yard per carry average to lead UH in rushing, it was a breakout showing. And, something of a command performance, too. Green, who grew up in Portland, Ore., said he had "at least 20 people at the game. I got as many tickets as I could, but some (family and friends) still had to buy theirs."

Green, a junior college transfer, debuted last week against Central Arkansas, but except for some flashes of the form that had enticed UH to give him a scholarship, didn't have much to show for it statistically with 17 yards on five carries.

"It was my first (NCAA Division I) game last week and I had first-game jitters," Green acknowledged. "But I knew this week would be different. I had put in a lot of hard work. I was focused and I was confident. I was ready to go."

Green said, "the line has been blocking well for us and what we have been working on in practice worked perfectly. They opened up the hole and all I had to do was go."

And after he hit the end zone on his run, Green stopped and pointed into the stands. "That was for my little girl (Harlym Alexis)," Green said. "She was here and I was so happy because I hadn't seen her in a while. She's 1, turned 1 June 1st, so I told her this was for her."

And, of course, the teammates who had made his cheering section possible.