Roaming With The Pac: August 11, Who’s Gonna Play QB?

*Back, fresh, and ready to roll, Pac-10 style.

Pullman, WA – New head coach Paul Wulff gave the Cougars a grade of C+ for their first week of efforts.  While the players may not be picking up the new playbook as fast as the coaches would like, they are definitely getting the hitting part down pat.  A little fire after the play is over, showing that a 10th-place prediction doesn’t mean much in the land of wheat.

Seattle, WA – The University of Washington may soon hire a new Athletic Director.  All we can say is, it’s about damn time.  Having been without a permanent hire since January, the Huskies need to find some stability in their athletic programs.  They currently have a head football coach who knows less about his starting QB’s injury than the kid’s father. Or at least Scott Locker is willing to share the information with the media, while the tight-lipped Willingham prefers to play dumb.  Also, moving over to the Sports Blogging Network in the next week or two is the UW Football Blog.

Corvallis, OR – Oregon State QB Lyle Moevao hooked up with WR Sammie Stroughter for a 70 yd. score in the Beavers scrimmage on Saturday.  With Sean Canfield sitting out, it’s looking more and more like Moevao will be the starter for the opener against Stanford.  Over at Building The Dam, they too, belive that Moevao is looking like a real Pac-10 Quarterback.

Eugene, OR – Big love for Oregon DB (what position does he really play? Safety? Rover? We don’t know, but want to.) Patrick Chung who Sporting News says might be the best defensive player in the country! It seems everybody in the conference is having QB problems, but Oregon’s QBs looked decent in their scrimmage Saturday.  It’s only 19 more days until the hated Huskies arrive in Eugene.

Los Angeles, CA – Huge turnout for USC’s practice last night. 1,000 people came to watch the QB battle because Mark Sanchez went and hurt his knee.  USC is also having some trouble getting all their recruits into school because of that damn NCAA Clearing House.

Los Angeles, CA – With UCLA starter Ben Olson getting hurt and subsequently being out eight weeks, the QB race is suddenly wide open again.  The coaches want to have a starter in place in exactly two weeks, so we’ll see who decides to take the reigns. 

Tuscon, AZ – No problems at QB for Arizona, where backup Matt Scott is getting all the work with the #2 offense. While they may be set at QB, their starting RB got ejected from practice for taking a swing at a teammate.  There’s good violence after the whistle, then there’s this.

Tempe, AZ – The nomadic Ryan McFoy may have finally found his place on the field, as a linebacker.  It has to be tough getting moved around like that, although forgetting your thigh pads will get you noticed.

Berekley, CA – After a week of practice and three days in pads, injuries at California are starting to add up.  It’s good to hear that RB Jahvid Best is finally returning to full health, something that Cal will need if it wants to finish near the top of the conference.

Palo Alto, CA – With a new defensive coordinator, the Cardinal defense returns 11 players who made starts last season and hope to improve on last year’s ninth-worst Pac-10 defense.  In recruiting news, Stanford has offered a scholarship to Joe Montana’s son.  Nick Montana is currently a junior who is competing for the starting QB job at Oaks Christian High.

Video Time: Washington State

Thought we would share some of the great videos we found out there on the old internet.  First, up this awesome video from the 2001 Cougar football team.  First saw this video on the WSU Football Blog.

The opening introduction by Keith Jackson is classic.  If you’ve never been to Pullman, then you don’t know how really out there it is.  This was a Cougar team that beat USC in OT on a field goal and was coached by Mike Price.  Enjoy the video, and Cougar fans, relive those memories with a smile on your faces.

Roaming With The Pac: August 5

*A daily look at what’s happening in the world of college football, west coast-style.

Ted Miller visited Arizona State’s practice and had some notes for us.  Looks like the depth issue at WR may not be as dire as first thought. [Ted Miller's Blog]

In his usual quick-hitting format, Scott Wolf tells us USC OL Daniel Campbell will not be attending USC, but rather he is enrolled at Hargreaves Military Academy in Virginia. [Scott Wolf]

Lots of good notes from the Husky’s first practice today from Bob Condotta.  Noteably, Jake Locker looked more accurate, the coaches were fired up, and suspended LB E.J. Savannah was watching practice.  Eat this coverage up Husky fans because starting tomorrow the media only gets to watch the firts 25 minutes of practice. [Bob Condotta]

Rudy Carpenter: Crybaby or Competitor?

“But I also think I’m an easy target since I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I get mad and fiery and do things quarterbacks don’t do. But I just want to win. I think it gets misconstrued that I’m a crybaby when I’m just competitive.”

First impression of Arizona State’s QB Rudy Carpenter: Relax.  The guy always seems to be pumping his fist, screaming, or generally, just acting annoying.  But, does that make him a jackass or just a really emotional player?

When you aren’t an Arizona State fan he looks like a jackass.  The kind of guy you want to get his head taken off by a safety on a delayed blitz.  From this article, he may just be a guy who really wants to win.  There is two ways to show your competitiveness.  One, is to act like Carpenter, you scream and gesture at the other team or slams his helmet to the turf after a bad play.  Two, is more like Brett Favre (since no one is talking about him these days), you show emotion, pump your fist, high-five but you do it with your teammates, not directed at the opponent. 

As a sports fan, we want our players acting in the second manner.  Nothing good can come from antagonizing the opposition, expect maybe a desire to drill you into last Saturday.  And if you slam your helmet, you better be sure you don’t make a teammate think your showing him up in public.  In Carpenter’s case, a receiver drops a pass and Rudy screams at him.  Does that help?  Does that make Carpenter a good or bad teammate?  

So, is he a crybaby you deserves to be pummeled, or is he a competitor showing his emotions? 

ASU’s Carpenter aims to shake reputation, build on legacy [East Valley Tribune]

Paul Wulff: Solid, Inspiring

New Washington State football coach Paul Wulff has been through a lot.  His mother disappeared when he was 12, most likely because his dad kidnapped and murdered her, then he held his wife when she died from brain cancer at 38.  These events has been chronicled before, but Bud Withers really does a beautiful job putting you in Wulff’s shoes.

Is there a guy you want to root for more in the Pac-10?  From starting out as an unpaid assistant at Eastern Washington to now coaching his Alma Mater, Wulff truly has succeeded in life.  Let’s just say this, if those events happened in our life, getting out of bed would be an accomplishment. 

As the late Randy Pausch taught us, the brick walls in life are there to keep out the people who really don’t want it.  Any brick walls setup in front of Paul Wulff have been blown up, just like USC linebacker Junior Seau in the article.

We were at the Cougar basketball game this December at KeyArena in Seattle with Wulff was introduced to the crowd at halftime, just a few days after being hired as coach.  He received a standing ovation, a much deserved standing ovation, yet he hadn’t coached a game.  If anybody is more qualified to change the attitude and culture of Cougar football please point him out.

Congratulations to Paul Wulff for not giving up and achieving his dream.  Now let’s win some football games. 

Wulff completes a long road home [Seattle Times]

Roaming With The Pac: August 4

*A daily look at what’s happening in the world of college football, west coast-style.

The UW Football Blog will be joining the Sports Blog Nation, and they offer us up their picks for the Pac-10. Congratulations on the move. [UW Football Blog]

Husky freshmen are preparing for their first day of college practice this morning, including highly-touted WR Chris Polk. [Bob Condotta]

It’s Bowl-or-Bust for Mike Stoops in Arizona, according to the University President. [Arizona Star]

Autzen Stadium has been renamed into……The House of Loud???  Good luck with that one Duck Fans. [Rob Moseley]

A training camp preview of the Stanford Cardinal. [Jon Wilner]

Oregon State expected starter Sean Canfield is building up his arm strength after surgery on his shoulder. [Cliff Kirkpatrick]