Pac Ten Alley

College football is back in full force, and once again we take a walk down the coast to see what our neighbors are up to this week.

Oregon picks up some much needed late JC help at linebacker

JC transfer student Tyrell Irvin arrived on campus yesterday and has registered for classes. Irvin, a 6'1", 220lb. 4 star linebacker from Mt. San Antonio JC in California. Several teams showed interest in Irvin including, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Colorado.

Addicted to Quack takes in a practice.

Went to practice again today. This time it was at noon, when the starters and 1 and 2-deeps work. Whee! I got to meet very many players, such as JJ, Roper (talked to as we were leaving the field for about 4 minutes), Jerome Boyd, J-Will, Morgan Flint, Nick Reed, and dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum CHIP KELLY WOOOO!! Chip was awesome.

Jon Wilner visits the Stanford camp.

I don’t expect any of the contenders (Tavita Pritchard, Alex Loukas and Jason Forcier) to win the job this month and keep it for three more months. But what the Cardinal needs now is separation. It can’t spend the next four weeks dividing practice reps between the three contenders — that wouldn’t prepare anybody for the season.

Tuesday Training report from Tuscon.

The Arizona Wildcats’ defense dominated Tuesday’s practice. Safety Brandon Tatum and cornerback Trevin Wade intercepted passes during 7-on-7 drills. Defensive end Ricky Elmore and defensive tackle Solomon Koehler had sacks during 11-on-11s; Elmore also tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage. Tight end Rob Gronkowski continued to shine, grabbing more than a dozen passes in team drills. True freshman David Douglas and redshirt freshman Devin Veal showed soft hands.

California's Jahvid Best seems to be fully recovered.

As former Cal stud Marshawn Lynch would have put it, tailback Jahvid Best is stupid fast. His credentials include a 10.31 in the 100-meter, a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash and a 7.6 yards-per-carry average during his freshman season.

The Beaver Blog is playing what did you do last summer?

It's always football season in Corvallis! To give us an inside perspective on Beaver football, we meet up with the Beavers' wide receiver, punt returner -- and holder -- Taylor Kavanaugh to see what he did this summer.

USC's Mark Sanchez has been watching Me TV

Sanchez is expected to start for the Trojans against Virginia in three weeks, but in the meantime spent all summer watching the three games he started in place of John David Booty last season.
"I know every play in all three of those games," Sanchez said Tuesday. "I'll look back and criticize myself when I'm watching and I think about limiting turnovers. But it really wasn't that bad when I look back at it.

The goal at ASU is the Rose Bowl, since USC is going to the BCS championshiop game that slot may be open.

The ultimate destination seems within reach this season. The Arizona State Sun Devils no longer have to squint to see the Rose Bowl and the spoils of the Bowl Championship Series. This time it's clearly in focus. "The next step for us is, we're trying to win the Rose Bowl and the national championship," senior safety Troy Nolan said. "Coach brought in some new players. We have a lot of returning players. I think we have the pieces."

A familiar tone at UCLA, ring any bells Husky fans? I wonder if he is still giving out popsicles?

"These coaches are a lot more demanding," Bruins senior receiver Marcus Everett said. "(Offensive coordinator) Norm Chow demands we execute and practice at a fast tempo, and demands perfection, and that shows a lot. (Neuheisel) is a different type of coach. He's personable. He's definitely a player's coach. He jokes around with us, but when it's time to get serious, he does.

Paul Wulff is now in the building at WSU.

Welcome to a new era of WSU Football! Paul Wulff's lads hit it hard today, with morning and afternoon sessions, and the official "flipping of the program" begins. We'll stay on top of things for the first stages of the new era, as things will get pretty interesting beginning today.

BYU loses a center for the first part of the season.

After Tuesday's practice, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall confirmed that the projected starter at center, junior Tom Sorensen, will likely require surgery on his shoulder. Mendenhall said he would exepect Sorensen to be out 4-6 weeks

These aren't Barry Switzer's Sooners, or are they?

Oklahoma freshman WR Josh Jarboe wide receiver was kicked off the team Friday, after a video posted on the Internet showed him rapping about guns and shooting people. That came after Jarboe had pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft by receiving stolen property and bringing a gun to school in May in his home state of Georgia.

Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen is in potential trouble again.

While it's always the point in time where you wish the college offseason would end, when it gets this close, people start going crazy and just desperately trying to fill the time before the first inaugural kickoff. Case in point: The Big Lead tossing up some pictures of Jimmy Clausen, Brian Smith and James Aldridge participating in Beer Olympics and Notre Dame apparently taking steps to investigate it.