Pac Ten Alley

Just two more days till kickoff, and we start with a little good news from Montlake. Ty say's that Byron Davenport will travel with the team and have a 6o% chance of playing on Friday. It looks like he has practiced on Monday, and Tuesday and participated in just about everything they could throw at him.

Willingham did essentially rule out DE Darrion Jones, and PK Erik Folk from making the trip.

LB Chris Stevens had his left thumb in a hard cast, though he seemed to be playing with it, going through the paces of early practice. Hard to know how serious that may or may not be.

Sixty-six to 74 players will travel, but one of those unlikely to make the trip is freshman Marquis Persley. Despite being one of the team's six healthy, and able cornerbacks, Willingham doesn't believe Persley is ready.

Nathan Ware of the PI Dawg Fan Blog has a few comments on the upcoming game of what he expects to see.

Yes, I expect Syracuse to pass more than they normally would. In general, they like to pass around 20 times per game. I would expect that number to be closer to 30 in this game. The Orange will attack Washington with QB Andrew Robinson, TB Curtis Brinkley, and WRs Taj Smith, Mike Williams, and Rice Moss. That's a solid, yet unspectacular, group of skill position players. Put it this way, this is least impressive QB-TB-WR combo Washington will face all season (maybe Stanford has less firepower, maybe).

Pac Ten Alley

Well it is that time again to take a walk down the coast to see what our Pac Ten neighbors, and out of conference opponents are up to.

Syracuse's #1 TB is banged up for the opener

Syracuse University starting tailback Curtis "Boonah" Brinkley is not 100 percent, though he insists he'll play against the University of Washington on Friday night at the Carrier Dome.
Brinkley made his comments Monday night during the final media opportunity with Syracuse players before the opener. "Am I 100 percent? We'll see on Friday," Brinkley said. "I'm going to be out there. I don't know how much. But I'll be out there, though."

The No. 23 Boise State Broncos open their season Thursday in Bronco Stadium against former Big Sky rival Weber State. The Broncos take the nation's longest winning streak, 13 games, into the game.

Less than a week before home opener against Weber State, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen finally — after nearly six months of waiting — picked a starting quarterback to lead the Top 25 Broncos out of the gate. His name: Taylor Tharp. Tharp is no newcomer to diehard Bronco fans. He’s entering his fifth and final season and has been around since the Ryan Dinwiddie regime that kickstarted the Boise State program into what it is today. But before Friday, his greatest claim to Bronco fame came against Idaho in 2005 when he replaced a struggling Jared Zabransky and sparked a 70-35 whipping of the Vandals.

The Ohio State Buckeyes don't necessarily slow down when they're breaking in a quarterback.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel says there is an evolution to every quarterback. In that case, Todd Boeckman is just now crawling out of the primordial ooze. Boeckman is expected to be named the starter today for the opener against Youngstown State on Saturday. The fourth-year junior has thrown 10 career passes, all in mop-up duty.

The UCLA Blog tells it like it is about Pete Carroll.

According to Bruins Nation, noted humanitarian and USC football coach Pete Carroll attended a service at the Agape Spiritual Center, one of these Oprah-friendly nouveau religious centers for those who like their religion without crushing guilt, obligation, or judgement. You call them New Age, we call them total pussies. (Lapsed Catholics say what!)

USC is really stretching the envelope bringing in Idaho to play in it's opener. Why, was Azusa Pacific busy?

Considering USC hasn't played Idaho since the start of the Great Depression – and the Vandals will be led by a first-year head coach – it might appear the Trojans lack information on this Saturday's opponent.

AZ Central brings us their 2007 review of Arizona State.

The arrival of Dennis Erickson brings a renewed sense of hope to the ASU fans. For many, what the program accomplishes in '07 is critical, but for others, it's where the program goes long-term that really stirs the emotions.

The Duck's open up with the Houston Cougars.

Dennis Dixon was the starter going into spring, was the starter coming out of spring, was the starter going into fall camp, is the starter coming out of fall camp," UO coach Mike Bellotti said Monday. "And he's performed very, very well. He's improved in some areas. So far his decision-making has been very, very good in the scrimmage situations."

BYU is flapping it's collective lips at Arizona.

There is nothing wrong with believing in yourself, and being up front, but on game week it usually is not smart. BYU has had several players talk openly about beating Arizona and taking on preseason All-American Antoine Cason in Saturday’s opening season game at BYU.
It makes for good copy. “I have been preparing for a guy like (Cason) for 2 1/2 years,” BYU receiver Austin Collie told the Salt Lake City Tribune. “Is it intimidating? Not really. I know I can play football. He is a great corner and a talented kid, but we are not threatened by him in any way, shape or form.”

My old Minnesota college football watching buddy Darrin Nelson likes what he see's at Stanford.

After former Stanford star Darrin Nelson, now a senior associate athletic director at the school, watched the team's scrimmage Thursday, he said of new coach Jim Harbaugh, "He's brought something that's really important - that's that the players respect him. It seems like they want to play for him. "I'm not quite sure Walt (Harris) had that. I think Walt had that initially. But as the seasons wore on, I think that kind of went away. I think Jim has that now. Whether he keeps that or not, it's up to him. But I think he has the kind of coaching style where he'll be OK."

The Beaver's open up with Utah.

"Now we've got Utah. They've been a top program now for a few years. They hit the national spot light. They present a number of problems with their offense, their versatility, personnel groups, their formations; their backup quarterbacks become the 12th man as a running back, an extra guy to run the football. I think we'll see the gamut of things and probably some new stuff from them as they've developed."

California opens up with Tennessee at home with revenge on their mind.

Cal figures to try to do some things differently against Tennessee this time around. One change that coach Jeff Tedford already has decided on is the role that Craig Stevens will play. "He won't be on kickoff returns," Tedford said. The Bears' chances of beating the Volunteers in their season opener last season took an immediate hit when Stevens suffered a concussion on the opening kickoff. Stevens is an All-Pac-10 tight end who could have provided a boost to Cal's stagnant running attack in that game. The Bears also open the 2007 season against Tennessee, Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

The Cougar blog renews for another year of it's "We Hate Brink" program.

First of all, props to my good friend Brinkhater. His "senior thesis" on why he adopted the moniker should be on the short list of best post of the year. Very, very good view as to why he's "hated Brink at hello" (great line btw). That said, for all the hatred and disgust towards the young man, isn't it somewhat amazing that we're sitting here on the verge of a QB set to break every passing record in the WSU media guide?? How did we get here? Why does Brink have such a polarizing effect on WSU fans? It's not an easy answer is it?

EX UW kicker Michael Braunstein better watch out because Hawaii has a Lou Groza candidate. Wow, imagine the intrigue we missed at the end of the year with Mike taking his act to Ohio.

University of Hawai`i place-kicker Dan Kelly was named today to the Lou Groza Preseason Watch List as one of the premier college kickers in the country. Kelly, a 6-3 right-footed kicker, is 23-of-32 in field goals over his two year career. Last season, he booted 13-of-17, including 9-of-11 from 39 yards and in.