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Before Saturday's Washington-Oregon State game turned into the most controversial Pac-10 game this season, it was somber.

UW quarterback Jake Locker lay on the ground for 15 minutes, not moving, after helmet-to-helmet contact with Oregon State's Al Afalava.

"All of a sudden life stood still there," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said.

Locker was taken off the field on a stretcher and rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis, Ore. He returned to the sideline in the fourth quarter wearing a neck brace.

Amazingly, he might play Saturday.

"We're not ruling him in or out," UW coach Tyrone Willingham said. "What I'm saying is I like the progress that I've seen from him."

Willingham said the results of Locker's medical exams show nothing alarming besides the initial diagnosis of a stinger and a strained trapezius muscle. "Just a little stiffness," he said.

Locker did not practice Tuesday, although Willingham said he would see "how we involve him" in practice today.

"I anticipate he'll be moving along much better probably than people expected," the coach said.

The Locker injury, however, spurred a nasty end to the first half. Four players were ejected, three from Oregon State and one from Washington.

Riley said that two OSU players who were ejected — defensive back Bryan Payton and special teamer James Dockery — had retaliated to a Washington hit. The third, Brandon Hughes, was trying to break up a fight, Riley said. Riley said guard Ryan Tolar — the UW player kicked out — "was trying to tear Al Afalava's head off."

All four ejected players — the only ones ejected from a Pac-10 game this season — will miss the first half of Saturday's games.

Also during the fracas, Washington defensive tackle Wilson Afoa punched running back Yvenson Bernard in the head, Riley said.

"I'm proud of our leadership that for the most part we kept things contained," Willingham said. "Yet we still had that fire to protect one of our fallen teammates."

Willingham admitted the circumstances made for an emotional game.

"The first one is one of concern," he said. "Then it's obviously one of, the emotions run the gamut. You have some outrage that's flowing through your football team."

The game was so emotional that on Monday the conference reviewed the ejection calls, a controversial fumble and the helmet-to-helmet hit.

The Pac-10 ruled no other players would be penalized from the fighting. In the release, commissioner Tom Hansen said videotape could not prove that Bernard was punched.

The Pac-10 also was publicly reviewing a Bernard goal-line fumble with about three minutes left but continued the investigation by examining coaches' game film Tuesday. Bernard was clearly down, but the play was ruled a fumble. An OSU touchdown would have sealed the game by putting the Beavers ahead by 13; instead, Washington returned the fumble 38 yards and had a chance to win the game by one.

"It appeared his knee had touched the ground before he lost the ball," Hansen stated in the news release.

The commissioner also said that "we believe the helmet-to-helmet contact on the hit on Locker was inadvertent."