Notes from around the league and our coming opponents

Each week we are going to dip into the blogs of our opponents and update ourselves on what is happening as each team prepares for the season.

From the WSU Football Blog.... OG Andy Roof is out 4-6 weeks with a broken thumb. QB Brink hasn't been feeling well and the depth behind him seems questionable. Sedihawk and the guys here do a real nice job. Washington State's defense held the upper hand in the Cougars' first scrimmage of the fall, limiting the offensive units to just over 200 yards rushing and passing, while picking off two passes and recording four sacks. "Usually the defense is ahead but I didn't think they were that far ahead," offered head coach Bill Doba after the mid-afternoon scrimmage that was witnessed by a contingent of former players who returned to campus for WSU's annual pre-season reunion.

From Bruins nation the UCLA football blog.....WR Jamil Turner has a chance to break into the rotation as a possession receiver, and the coaching staff is giving him every chance to do so. TB Chris Markey looks strong, showing good patience to find the hole, then slashing through the line of scrimmage quickly. SS Chris Horton, if he stays healthy, could be a game-changing player because of his ability to always be around the play, and he is a big hitter. WR Junior Taylor isn't 100 percent, but he is working hard. His speed and cutting ability hasn't come all the way back from reconstructive knee surgery. QB Ben Olson is outperforming Pat Cowan, and he throws a 15- to 20-yard out with great accuracy.

Nothing of note as usual coming out of the California Football Blog, but the Bears did have their first double scrimmage and practice with James Montgomery making an good early impression.
Offensively, junior running back Marshawn Lynch had an impressive and powerful run through the defense early in the lat workout, while true freshman tailback James Montgomery showed a burst of speed through the hole for a 65-yard touchdown jaunt. Senior quarterback Joe Ayoob hooked up with junior receiver Lavelle Hawkins for a 75-yard connection, the longest play of the day, while sophomore Nate Longshore flicked a dart to junior Robert Jordan for a 25-yard gain.

Over at the Oregon Blog they have a review of the Duck offensive line where they are touting Enoka Lukas as an Outland Trophy candidate. Nice job as usual by the Wines family.

Casey over at the USC blog say's Boooty's work load is increasing at QB which means he will probably start over Sanchez to open the year. Freshman tailback Stafon Johnson rushed for 119 yards, fellow freshmen Anthony McCoy and Stanley Havili each caught a touchdown pass and quarterbacks John David Booty and Mark Sanchez each threw scoring passes to highlight the No. 3-ranked USC football team's 93-play intrasquad scrimmage that concluded the first week of fall pre-season practice on Wednesday (Aug. 9) on Howard Jones Field.
Johnson, who averaged 9.2 yards on his 13 carries, was one of three freshmen tailbacks who was impressive. C.J. Gable ran for 64 yards on 8 rushes (8.0 average) and also returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD. Emmanuel Moody added 28 yards on 8 attempts.

Jason at the OSU Blog had to miss the first scrimmage of the year to attend a wedding and that is big news. He should have a recap up later today. The receivers were shining yesterday at OSU and they seem to have a potent offense brewing again. JUCO reciever Shane Morales is a guy to keep an eye on.

Over at the Arizona blog which is entertaining they are picking Washington as the 10th best offense in the Pac Ten....surprise. We seem to have evolved into Rodney Dangerfield. The offensive line had a bit of a rough day on Saturday but it is hard to hold it against them. They are playing against a vastly improved Yaniv Barnett, a monster in Louis Holmes, an underrated player in Johnathan Turner, and a stud incoming freshman in Ricky Elmore, among others. All that and they are also not a complete line in terms of health. The offensive line did not play bad, but they also did not play their best in terms of passing coverage. However, they did play very well in terms of the running game. The running backs had what was one of their best days that we have seen and a large part of that is due to the holes that the offensive line created for them. The offensive line will go a long ways in determining how good Arizona is this season, and if the unit can become more consistent, Arizona's offense should be much better than last season.

The Tree's are focused on the opening of their new football stadium and concern that there isn't enough seats to satisfy everyone for the annual big game with Cal. Stanford Football held its first full contact practice on Friday afternoon at the Elliott Football Practice fields. The practice was highlighted by a spirited 18-play scrimmage to close out the day. Trent Edwards completed all four pass attempts for 39 yards during the scrimmage....During the "team" period, Edwards connected with Kelton Lynn on a perfectly thrown deep ball which resulted in 60 yard scoring strike.... During the "blitz" period, Mike Silva kept the defense's scoring streak alive by intercepting a Tavita Pritchard pass and returning it 40 yards for a score

Word from ASU is the offense is picking up where they were from last year which is bad news for coming opponents. ASU will put a lot of points on the board this year. The Devils are still up in the mountains practicing to avoid the heat in the valley.

Oklahoma continues to lose about a player a day due to grades, gambling, or NCAA infractions. Nice to see that they have elevated the program back the stature of the Switzer days. No word of gun running, or sexual assualts yet....stay tuned. A crowd estimated at more than 12,000 looked on Saturday night as Oklahoma completed its first major scrimmage of the 2006 preseason. OU head coach Bob Stoops said he was pleased with his team's direction after the 75-play workout. The Sooners' quick defense controlled much of the evening as several of the team's offensive standouts were used sparingly.

San Jose St is reeling from the loss of one of their players due to an apparent suicide in downtown San Jose. The Spartans under Tomey should be a lot better this year simply because of the coaching staff which is one of the better in the WAC.

They do a nice job over at the Fresno St blog and the big news there is the battle for the starting QB position. The Bulldogs ran 118 plays in Bulldog Stadium in front of a crowd of more than 2,500. It was the annual Bulldog Fan Preview, the first opportunity for fans to sneak a peek at the 2006 squad. "All in all, I was very pleased," said Coach Pat Hill following the scrimmage. "We didn't have any administrative penalties and didn't have to call a time out. For the first scrimmage, that's unheard of. I thought all three quarterback set a good tempo for the offense and did a good job leading. That's not easy for the first time out. We had some physical mistakes and some work to do, but from a mental standpoint, I was very happy."