The first game of the year was against Washington State University and the highly regarded defense of Bill Doba, featuring Mkristo Bruce. Irons torched the Cougars for 183 yards on 20 carries and one touchdown, in a 40-14 Tiger victory. Soon after that game, Kenny suffered from a broken index finger that prevented him from planting his hand over the ball. Some say that Irons should have sat out until he was full speed, but instead, he played through the injury.