Blogging with the Devils

With 21 speakers at the podium over nearly three hours, it is impossible to cram every pertinent utterance at Pac-10 football media day into a single story and notebook. Here are some of the goodies from Thursday that did not make it into the newspaper.

The conference returns seven starting quarterbacks, but — as commissioner Tom Hansen noted in his opening remarks — some of those first-stringers might not make it out of training camp atop the depth chart.

Perhaps the most intriguing QB battles are in the Bay area. At California, former star-in-waiting Nate Longshore and 2007 Armed Forces Bowl hero Kevin Riley are vying for the starting job, and the position jockeying at Stanford involves three riders.

After an inconsistent second half to the 2007 season, Nate Longshore’s grip on the starting quarterback job at California is no longer secure.

Longshore, a senior, was nagged by a sore ankle much of the second half of last season, throwing six touchdowns with eight interceptions down the stretch. He was relieved in the second quarter of the bowl game by Riley, who threw for 269 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Golden Bears to a 42-36 win against Air Force.

“We feel like we have a great situation at quarterback,” California coach Jeff Tedford said. “Nate has won a lot of games for us and is a talented guy, and Riley showed he can do the job. We’ll pick a starter the week of the first game, and we might need both of them this year. They both will get some game time.”

Tavita Pritchard — who called the signals in Stanford’s stunning upset of Southern California in 2007 — is being pushed by Alex Loukas, who had an impressive spring, and Jason Forcier, a transfer from Michigan, the alma mater of coach Jim Harbaugh.

“We have three guys we feel we can win with,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a competition in the truest sense of the word. The other players feel that competition, too. Every snap is important to them. I wish we had that kind of competition as every position, to be truthful.”

At Oregon State, Lyle Moevao and Sean Canfield will resume their QB duel from last season, with the job Moevao’s to lose. Life as a Beavers passer was made significantly easier by the return of Sammie Stroughter, perhaps the Pac-10’s most dangerous receiver and kick returner.

Stroughter missed much of the 2007 preseason dealing with weighty personal issues and played in just three games before suffering a kidney injury against Arizona State. He was granted a medical hardship by the Pac-10, which restored his senior season.

“Things tend to work out for the best, and this is one of those stories,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said.

Cornerback Brandon Hughes is Stroughter’s roommate.

“It’s always a great opportunity to practice against the best wideout in the conference,” Hughes said. “He’s a good guy. It was tough to see him go what he went through. Having him back is a blessing. I’m excited to have him back on the field, but I’m more excited to see him be a strong person again.”

Todd Doxey

There will be heavy hearts when practice commences at Oregon, which is still mourning the July 13 death of redshirt freshman defensive back Todd Doxey in a drowning accident.

“You really don’t know a guy until you see how they have touched teammates and the others around them,” Ducks coach Mike Bellotti said. “He will still be a part of our team. We still have an uphill climb on players dealing with it. I don’t want to say that it’s a rallying point, but players still have him on their hearts and minds.”

In injury news, Oregon running back Jeremiah Johnson (knee) and quarterback Nathan Costa (knee), California RB Jahvid Best (hip), UCLA quarterback Ben Olson (foot) Stanford tight end Jim Dray (knee) and Arizona State cornerback Terell Carr (knee) were forecasted to be ready for the season by their coaches.

Carr underwent surgery to repair cartilage earlier in the summer, ASU coach Dennis Erickson said.

Washington center Juan Garcia (Lisfranc sprain) will try to heal without surgery, coach Tyrone Willingham said. If an operation is needed, he will miss the season. Stanford offensive lineman Allen Smith (patella) is questionable for the season, and UCLA quarterback Patrick Cowan (knee) will miss the entire year.

Washington State coach Paul Wulff said that running back Dwight Tardy has been academically cleared to participate in fall workouts. The academic status of Oregon State defensive end Simi Kuli, a junior-college transfer, is a “waiting process we feel good about,” Riley said.

Arizona defensive end Johnathan Turner, who was arrested for sexual assault in May, remains on scholarship and is taking classes but is suspended from the team indefinitely.

Coach Dennis Erickson and quarterback Rudy Carpenter represented Arizona State at Pac-10 football media day in Los Angeles on Thursday, and here is what was said during their time at the podium.

The laugh tracks are not included.

OPENING STATEMENT (ERICKSON): Again, it’s a pleasure to be here and represent Arizona State, along with a guy who has been at Arizona State for a long time. I guess if you talk about a Sun Devil, you talk about Rudy Carpenter. You can talk about that football-wise, but if you’ve ever been to basketball or women’s softball games, about any game, he’s there. It’s great to have him here. He’s had a good summer. For me, it’s just great to be anywhere.

As far as our football team is concerned, when I signed a contract two years ago, they didn’t show me this year’s schedule. They showed me last year’s, when we played all of those games at home. I thought that was pretty good. I saw this year’s schedule, and it’s a little different than last year’s. We played those games at home that got us off to a good start. This year, we play Stanford in the second game, and Georgia, and USC and California on the road. It’s different than I anticipated, but that’s how it is.

We’re excited about this year. I look at our team, and the strength is Rudy at quarterback, but we have a lot of wide receivers back. We lost three starters on the offensive front. We have to replace those guys, and that’s an area we obviously have to get better. Our running back situation, with Keegan Herring coming back — he played extremely well — and Dimitri Nance, so that’s a strength for us.

Defensively, we have a lot of strength coming back. We lost Michael Marquardt at tackle, but we have both of our ends, Dexter Davis and Luis Vasquez, back. We lost Robert James at linebacker but have the others back. A key to our defense is a guy by the name of Troy Nolan, who started at safety last year and is a huge leader on our team. I look for great things from him. Omar Bolden is at corner.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Thomas Weber, a Lou Groza Award winner who missed only one field goal a year ago. I usually don’t coach kickers, but I did last year. When you have a weapon like that, you can do a lot of good things, so we are fortunate to have that. I’ll open it up for questions for Rudy or myself.

QUESTION: Your offensive line, obviously there were some struggles …

ERICKSON: Next question.

QUESTION: Give us an update on where that stands and how can it improve this year.

ERICKSON: We lost a great center in Mike Pollak. He will be difficult to replace. We will be young but athletic. I’m not a coach that’s convinced that you have to do this or that; you look at the strengths of your team and your players on offense. We’re going to throw the ball and get it off quicker and be in a little more four wideouts, things I’ve done over the years. I think I’ve run just about every offense. You try to take a little pressure off the offensive front, a little pressure of Rudy by doing that.

I think a lot of the sacks we had last year, a lot of it was play-action passes, so we were taking seven-step drops. We didn’t protect well up front, we didn’t protect well (with the backs). We didn’t get it off as quick as we should have, and Rudy will be the first to admit that. To me, it’s a temporary problem that I think can be solved. Getting rid of the ball in a quicker passing game should help.

One of my ex-quarterbacks is sitting here today, a guy who ran that stuff, Steve Clarkson. He played quarterback for me at San Jose State and now runs a quarterback camp. Everything he teaches, I taught him. So, thanks, Steve.

CLARKSON: I’ll send you the check.

ERICKSON: Please.

QUESTION: You tied for the conference championship last year. Could you talk about the race this year?

ERICKSON: You don’t pay attention to that. One thing about how they rate you — it’s over in about a week, because practice starts. Our league is so competitive. USC has set a high standard, and that’s the reality of it. Everyone in our league can beat anybody, and it’s been proven, year in and year out. That’s why it’s such a great league. To pick who will be second would be difficult. I guess we’ll find out starting next week.

QUESTION: I’m Steve Clarkson, a former pupil.

ERICKSON: You were pretty average, actually.

QUESTION: I’ll take that as a compliment.

ERICKSON: That is a compliment.

QUESTION: I have a question. You’ve worked with major universities, won national championships, and coached Heisman Trophy winners. Working with Rudy Carpenter, who is a senior and going into a tough conference where quarterback play is dominant, how does recruiting differ from being at Miami or the Pac-10? What are some of the tactics you use, and how do you portray that Arizona State will be here a long time?

ERICKSON: How many parts was that question? Wow. I’ll talk about Rudy, and the thing about him is that he has played a lot of football games and spends a lot of time in my office studying the game. He loves the game, and that separates him from a lot of quarterbacks. He understands the game and what is going on. You have a good quarterback, you have a chance to be successful.

As far as recruiting quarterbacks, that depends on how successful you are. When they watch Rudy on TV, if he’s successful, they will want to come and be part of the system.

QUESTION: Rudy, you guys had a great season last year and played in an emotional game on Thanksgiving. Even though you didn’t win, what did your team take away from that experience that can help you this season?

CARPENTER: It was a big-game atmosphere. We got a chance to play against USC on national TV and played them pretty well for a half. I think we’ll take that experience into this season and hopefully carry it over into the big games we’ll have against them and other teams this year. We have a tough schedule, so we’ll need that experience.

QUESTION: Georgia has not left the state to play a non-conference game in 40 years or something like that. What do you think of playing a big game like that, even though you have some games before that? What’s the challenge?

ERICKSON: Teams in the Pac-10 are starting to play games like that to get national prominence. If we want to get that prominence — USC has it, obviously — we have to do that. Oregon State is playing Penn State, we’re playing Georgia, UCLA is playing Tennessee. There are a lot of games like that. It’s great. I would like to play a game like that once a year — all of them at home, preferably. It puts you on a national stage against another great conference.

Obviously, (Georgia) is one of the better teams in the country. They are going to be ranked No. 1 or 2 with USC. It’s a huge game. We play Stanford the second game of the year, and that is a huge game because it is a league game. That’s a big game to me right now. But the opportunity to play a Southeastern Conference team is exciting, and it will be big for the people in Tempe.

The results of the Pac-10’s preseason football poll awaited reporters arriving at media day in Los Angeles on Thursday. Here they are, with — no surprise — six-time defending conference champion Southern California a near-unanimous choice:

1. USC (38), 389 points
2. Arizona State, 330
3. Oregon, 295
4. California (1), 274
5. UCLA, 204
6. Oregon State, 192
7. Arizona, 185
8. Washington, 139
9. Stanford, 76
10. Washington State, 61

No, the non-conformist who gave a first-place vote to California was not me. In fact, my crystal ball is very much in tune with the overall results — just flip UCLA and Oregon State, and you have my ballot.

The No. 2 slot is ASU’s highest preseason placement since the Sun Devils were picked second in 2003.

The preseason poll has correctly forecasted the Pac-10 champion in 25 of 47 years, including the last eight in a row. For those who think that the Trojans’ six straight years atop the preseason poll is getting old, consider that USC had an 18-year run in first place from 1965-82.

A resourceful Virtual Earth user has compiled a tour of Pac-10 football stadiums:

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Pac-10 football media day is on Thursday in Los Angeles. I will be there to provide coverage in the Tribune as well as blog when warranted.

The schedule of coaches and players at the podium, which — as usual — is based on reverse order of the previous year’s final conference standings:

9:35 a.m. — Washington: Tyrone Willingham; quarterback Jake Locker
9:50 a.m. — Stanford: Jim Harbaugh; center Alex Fletcher
10:05 a.m. — Washington State: Paul Wulff; wide receiver Brandon Gibson
10:20 a.m. — California: Jeff Tedford; center Alex Mack
10:35 a.m. — Arizona: Mike Stoops; quarterback Willie Tuitama
10:50 a.m. — Oregon: Mike Bellotti; defensive back Patrick Chung
11:05 a.m. — Break
11:15 a.m. — UCLA: Rick Neuheisel; defensive tackle Brigham Harwell
11:30 a.m. — Oregon State: Mike Riley; defensive back Brandon Hughes
11:45 a.m. — Arizona State: Dennis Erickson; quarterback Rudy Carpenter
Noon — Southern California: Pete Carroll; linebacker Brian Cushing

Texas and Southern California played a classic contest in the 2006 Rose Bowl, and the Pac-10 once had designs on the two schools being conference rivals. The Pac-10 figures to have no such aspirations now.

Judging from some of the talk surrounding Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen’s impending retirement, the conference is evidently about to be released from the shackles of the one-man prison holding it back.

Prime television contracts! Better bowl slots! Expansion!

I believe that the Pac-10’s pathway to better TV exposure — whatever that means — and bigger bowls is not as easy as Hansen’s detractors think.

I know, however, that expansion will not occur unless some sweet-deal schools emerge for the Pac-10. And unless Texas and Colorado secede from the Big 12 and belatedly reciprocate the interest the Pac-10 showed during the 1990s, that is not happening.

As Hansen told me two years ago and reiterated last year: “Not only is (expansion) not on the back burner, it’s not on the stove.”

Tom Hansen

Hansen did not come to this conclusion unilaterally. He works for 10 school presidents.

Brigham Young? Utah? Boise State? Sorry, adding any of those schools would not be a net gain for the Pac-10.

The conference resides in four of the top 14 TV markets in the country, with Los Angeles second, San Francisco/San Jose sixth, Phoenix 12th and Seattle 14th. As a result, the Pac-10 has few options to increase its average market size, thus raising the TV revenue take-home for each school — the biggest motivation a conference has to expand.

Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth, No. 5 TV market) and Colorado (Denver, No. 18) were ideal expansion candidates. Schools in the Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences — probably the only choices available to the Pac-10 — do not fit that bill.

Yes, Texas Christian of the Mountain West resides in Dallas/Fort Worth. However, in that market, the Horned Frogs are behind Texas (and perhaps Texas A&M) on the fan-base totem pole.

Also, a school’s reputation as a research institution has traditionally been important among conference presidents. That is a reason that San Diego State, which in the early 1990s made no secret of its desire to join the Pac-10, has not been seriously considered for an invitation.

Lastly, from a competition standpoint, why does the Pac-10 need to expand?

The football coaches seem to like the nine-game, round-robin Pac-10 schedule that decides a champion on the field, with no need for a conference championship game. Every school wants to play in the Los Angeles area at least once a year for recruiting purposes, and that would not be possible under a 12-team, two-division format.

As the Atlantic Coast Conference — and the sea of empty seats in Jacksonville, Fla., the last two years — have shown, a football championship game is no guarantee to be a smashing ticket-sales success.

Said Hansen, two years ago: “Our presidents have indicated that the conference is confident with who we are. Absent some very severe realignments elsewhere in Division I-A — which I don’t see at all on the horizon — we are pretty well settled in.”

I seriously doubt that has changed.

And it probably will not under a new commissioner.

The misery doesn’t seem to end for Sidney Lowe, and North Carolina State fans are rueing the days they yelled and screamed for Herb Sendek to hit the road. 

A sad day for North Carolina State coach Sidney Lowe, whose son, Sidney Lowe II, was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 months in a prison farm and five years probation for crimes which included robbery and kidnapping.

The elder Sidney Lowe was reportedly emotional in court while pleading for leniency, which is the last thing he wanted in an already tumultuous summer.

Lowe’s mother suffered a heart attack in late February.

The Wolfpack alumnus has been under fire from the moment he replaced Arizona State coach Herb Sendek. A 35-32 record (9-23 in the ACC) in two seasons will do that. 

Bill Cotton chose a baseball scholarship at ASU instead of playing college football in the mid-1960s. Former coach Bobby Winkles can thank former Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie Finley for that one.

A big-time Arizona State baseball legend passed away last weekend, and those who remember former catcher Bill Cotton do so with good reason.

Cotton’s health had been failing recently, and he died following a stroke. He was 60.

In addition to being a supreme athlete (he was a heavy football recruit), Cotton was best known around Tempe for his three-run home run in the 1969 College World Series championship game, which gave the Sun Devils a national title.

The Kansas City Athletics tried to sign Cotton out of high school. After Cotton balked, A’s owner Charlie Finley recommended him to ASU coach Bobby Winkles.

He was a second-team All-American and first-round pick of the New York Mets and bounced around the minors for a few years. The big leagues never called, so he went to work on the railroad.

After stints in Europe and New Zealand, Shawn Redhage has found a home and a couple of MVP awards in Australia, and now a spot on the Aussie Olympic Team for this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

Congratulations to former Arizona State forward Shawn Redhage, who made the Australian Olympic team and will compete in Beijing this summer.

The 6-foot-8 forward from Nebraska has made a nice career for himself overseas since he last helped the Sun Devils to the 2003 NCAA tournament. After a couple of stops in Europe, he’s been playing in Australia the past few years and finished his degree last year in construction science, one of the more difficult academic pursuits at ASU.

Brandon Jennings, 18, is going to Europe instead of Arizona, and that guarantees him absolutely nothing when it comes to the ultimate goal of the NBA. Not everyone should go to college, but not everyone is buying he’s the basketball version of Curt Flood.

It’s every cold-blooded American’s right to make money, 18-year-old former Arizona basketball recruit Brandon Jennings included.

He’s going to play in Europe next year, then try to be an NBA lottery pick in 2009. Since college is no longer an option, he’s wise to give it a whirl, and gutsy for at least attempting such a long and foreign move, even if it’s one year.

Where this circus needs to end abruptly, is the notion he’s “trail blazing” for future high-school phenoms who can’t go straight to the NBA because of the age-19 minimum requirement.

The rule is ridiculous and better be burned to cinders, but it can’t be touched until after the 2010-11 NBA season, when the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires. And rest assured, it will be a huge sticking point between the players’ union and the league.

Jennings is right when it comes to the rancorous rule, but he’s hardly the only one. Nonetheless, he’s being pedastaled as paving the way for those who don’t want to waste time going from the preps to pros, as if Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett come along more than once per decade.

“Trail blazers” don’t commit to a school, fail to qualify, and decide to look around in the interim for a better option.

However jaded the rules are, had he qualified at UA and played in the Pac-10, going to Europe instead of Tucson would have been nothing short of idiotic.

But he didn’t make it, so why is he a hero? Because he has a flaky entourage and a money monger (read: Sonny Vaccaro of sneaker fame) in his ear?

He’s not yet on a team, hasn’t gone through a practice, played a minute, or meaningful game on a foreign land with foreign culture and language. He’s 18 years old and 170 pounds going against 25-year-olds at 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds. All of whom have more experience.

He’ll make money, likely on endorsements or a sneaker deal by a corporation drooling at the thought of being on Jennings’ ground floor. Vaccaro can make that happen in a Madrid minute.

But he can’t make Europe like Jennings, who irked people with his attitude in high school and at McDonald’s All-American showcases. He can’t make Jennings, gutsy though he is for trying, tolerate foreign culture and European life.

He can’t make Jennings continue to do whatever he wants to his heart’s content, and he can’t make Jennings an NBA lottery pick.

If it works, the kid can laugh last. If not, he’ll have no one to blame but himself.

Here’s CNNSI.com writer Stewart Mandel’s take on the Pac-10 football prowess, and how Arizona State could narrow the gap (a little) on Southern California.

But, in explaining why ASU could be a contender, brings back that old academic argument, which, yet again, might raise the ire of Sun Devil followers:

“But to me, the Pac-10’s sleeping giant — as it’s been for more than 30 years — is Arizona State. It’s never ceased to amaze me how the Sun Devils aren’t a more formidable program. You would think selling a 17-year-old male on Tempe would be as easy as convincing a 5-year-old to eat a Happy Meal.”

“First of all, most recruits take their official visits in December and January. Have you ever been to Arizona in December or January? And have you ever seen that campus? Two words: The Library. And while Arizona coach Mike Stoops took heat last winter for referring to ASU as a “junior college” … let’s be honest: He wasn’t that far off. Academic restrictions aren’t one of the program’s bigger obstacles.”