Counting down to WSU’s first game
COUGARS
Three weeks from today, the Washington State Cougars will take the field against Oklahoma State to start the 2010 season. After a week of practice, the Cougars will see where they're at today when they take the Martin Stadium field for a 2 p.m. scrimmage. We'll be there. We'll be here afterward. Between then and now, we have links and notes. Read on.
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• Washington State: We had our report from yesterday's second practice up last night. That included a version of story that ran in today's S-R. ... Jon Wilner in San Jose has this to say about WSU. ... Otherwise, I couldn't find any other free WSU-centric information. ... So what will WSU try to accomplish today? Simply put, it's a midterm. Where does everyone stand, what have they learned, what needs work. After today's test, the coaching staff and players should have a better idea what to work on. ... If you come, you should watch the battle at middle linebacker, the play of the offensive line, the new receivers, the different abilities of the running backs, the way Jeff Tuel runs the offense. ... I'm not sure the two starting defensive tackles, Brandon Rankin and Bernard Wolfgramm, will participate as they've missed most of the week. Others, like Jared Karstetter and Gino Simone, may be limited. But many of the players fighting for playing time, like the middle linebackers Mike Ledgerwood, Hallston Higgins, C.J. Mizell and Darren Markle, who has received more reps inside the past couple days, should be out there.
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• Around the Pac-10: ESPN.com's Ted Miller rates the conference's quarterbacks. ... Though he is talking about Cal and Stanford, Wilner could be writing about almost any school right now (see this from Bob Condotta). ... Washington: With some scholarships available, Steve Sarkisian hands out a handful. ... These running backs have scholarships. ... Oregon State: The up-and-down nature of practice is illustrated here. ... Oregon: Intensity is the watchword in Eugene as well. ... Quarterback is the watched position in Eugene as well. ... Cal: The Bears may be solving their cornerback problem. ... Stanford: Yes, who will replace Toby Gerhart is still the big question. ... USC: No, Reggie Bush didn't apologize. ... There's a battle at cornerback. ... UCLA: The Bruins haven't been happy with the offensive line for a while. They are getting happier. ... Arizona State: Vontaze Burfict is starting to assert himself. ... Arizona: When the Wildcats got to camp, they really go to camp. ... Nothing about being a center is a snap.
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• That's it for this morning. We'll be back after today's scrimmage with more. Until then ...
