Touchdown machine

PULLMAN - Washington State entered this season with basically zero returning contributors at wide receiver, and it was a priority early for quarterback Josh Swogger to find dependable pass-catchers.

It hasn’t taken long.

Wideout Jason Hill, a sophomore from San Francisco, already has eight touchdowns this season, the most of any player in the Pac-10.

Hill has 17 catches on the year, so he’s almost at 50 percent on taking receptions in for a score this season. While that pace may be unrealistic in the long term, it has helped give WSU the big-play threat it was looking for in 2004. Hill took some time this week to talk with The Spokesman-Review about playing a Stanford team that’s close to home, all these touchdowns and his end zone routine.

S-R: Is there a little extra incentive playing a team from your neck of the woods?

JH: Nah, I was never really a Stanford fan. It doesn’t mean much. It’s just another game where I have to do well.

S-R: It would be kind of fun to send them home talking about you though, wouldn’t it?

JH: Yeah, well it’s on TV down there, so my family will get to watch it. That’s motivation for me, because usually our games aren’t on TV down there.

S-R: Now what’s going on with you and all these touchdowns this year?

JH: I’m having fun. I’m letting everything come to me, not asking for things, asking for more catches. I’m just letting things come to me.

S-R: So what’s better, getting more catches or not as many catches and scoring touchdowns like this?

JH: You know what, I love scoring touchdowns, but really, I’d rather get the win. It kind of hurt to get two touchdowns and not get the win.

S-R: Two catches and two touchdowns last week against Oregon, that’s a pretty good ratio.

JH: Yeah, but you know what? I would have liked it to be four or five. But that’s the way it goes.

S-R: Do you feel like you have to get in the end zone every time you catch a pass?

JH: I always feel like that. It’s actually showing in my numbers now, so it feels pretty good.

S-R: I know the coaches really pounded it into your brain to hand the ball to the referee after you score a touchdown this year. How tough was that?

JH: I think it’s fun. A lot of people get a kick out of slamming the ball, talking trash. I think it’s fun. That’s my way of expressing myself. A lot of people do it other ways. But I think handing the ball off is a fun way to do it.

S-R: OK. Could you at least pitch it to the ref, or do you have to hand it to him?

JH: Hand it, hand it, hand it. Yeah, I like things handed to me, so I hand things to other people.