Mike Marcisz was the first. He was the loudest.

“Your face a little cold, Bo?”

Then, one teammate after another started piling on.

“I lost a bet,” the now shaven Bo Moos explained.

The ASU senior defensive tackle needed four tackles, one
for a loss against UCLA Saturday in order to keep his
beard. He finished with three tackles, one for a loss.
“Missed it by one.”

This week the stakes are higher.

“This week,” he said, “it’s a mohawk for a sack.”

If Moos sacks the quarterback at Washington State then
graduate assistant and assistant defensive line coach
Alvin Smith will get a mohawk. If Moos fails, then he will
be the one getting the new haircut.

“If it comes to the fourth quarter and I haven’t gotten a
sack yet they’d better not be taking me out of the game.”

Moos has a single sack on the year.

“We’ve been challenging each other all season,” Moos said
of the season-long back and forth with Smith. “Obviously
he was a great player at Oregon State. That’s kind of the
rivalry right there: Whose the better defensive tackle?
Alvin Smith or Bo Moos? And obviously we are each a little
bit biased when that question is asked.”

There is another incentive for Moos Saturday: family
bragging rights. Moos’ father, Bill, is the athletic
director at Washington State.

“This is the week we talk the least,” the younger Moos
said. “We kind of just use my Mom as the middle man in
terms of our communication with one another. He’s still
really competitive. He thinks they’re going to beat us.
Obviously, we don’t agree on that.”

However, they do agree on one thing: Bo’s safety.

“My Dad said if anyone chop blocks me they’re losing their
scholarship.”

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