So, as you probably already know, Oregon State was picked to finish sixth…USC first. Nothing new on that front. Most years OSU will be picked in the middle of the road and hopefully will exceed expectations. I am comfortable with that.
By the way the media has picked the conference champ eight years in a row, but that’s not that impressive as the Trojans have won six consecutive conference championships. Watch Mike Riley discuss his team by clicking here.
Quotes from the players and coaches can be found at Pac-10.org.
Dave Softy of KJRAM in Seattle has an interview with Mike Riley that you can download.
Here’s a few links and a tad bit of commentary on some of the stories from Thursday:
- With Washington coach Tyrone Willingham on the hot seat this year he says that high school kids hesitant to verbal to the school. That can only benefit Oregon State, along with Oregon and Washington State, who heavily recruit the Evergreen State’s high schools.
- First year UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel has big expectations for UCLA saying that the Bruin program will match USC’s success in the up coming years. “When we catch them,” said Neuheisel of USC, “and I say when we catch them, we will not only have caught the leader in the (Pac-10), but we’ll be amongst those programs who can rightfully challenge for the big prize.”
- The Ventura County Star had a good read about the injuries that forced many of the big time players to miss last season. Amazingly, Sammie Stroughter was not mentioned once.
- Bud Withers of the Seattle Times had an informative team by team recap.
- The Los Angeles Daily News also had some notes with half of the article focusing on a strong non-conference schedule for all Pac-10 squads. Here is the East Valley Tribune’s take on the subject.
Mike Riley had this to say about his team’s non-conference schedule – “I like those kind of games for our team. It’s a major challenge, but it’s worth it to play games like that. It can only ready you for games in your league. And those kind of games are what you have to play to build a program.”
- The LA Times chipped in with some notes of their own to having this to say about the Beavers, “Isn’t it time to acknowledge that Oregon State is not the same program that once suffered 28 consecutive losing seasons?
Mike Riley’s Beavers went 10-4 two years ago, notably upsetting a very upset USC, and last year finished 9-4. Yet, Oregon State was only sixth in this year’s media poll.
Oregon State, astonishingly, finished behind No. 5 UCLA, a team that may have to hand out fliers on campus to assemble an offensive line.
“We’re still in some aspects digging out of the past,” Riley said. “I could care less. I kind of like it.”"
- As discussed in an earlier post, Pac-10 officials will be cracking down on helmet to helmet hits, pretty much no matter the intent. That got USC coach Pete Carroll fired up, along with the nine other Pac-10 coaches as many of those types of hits are incidental.
- Other new rules changes include: No horse collar tackles – it will be called as a penalty every time and that is GREAT news for James Rodgers who was repeatedly robbed of several touchdowns by horse collar tackles, a face mask is always 15 yards, no more 5-yard incidentals and field goals are reviewable.
- Time clock changes are as follows: a 40-second play clock begins ticking after a play ends, replacing the 25 seconds allowed after officials spotted the ball. If the clock is stopped during the last two minutes of each half, it will remain so until the ball is snapped.
- Lots of good information in the OregonLive blog.
- It is interesting that the brother of Bryan Payton, who quit the OSU football team several weeks ago,, Jeremy has left the ASU football program. The big difference between the twos situations though is that Bryan doesn’t have a degree while Jeremy does.
