Live chat at 1 p.m., plus links
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- We have plenty to talk about, so as usual, there will be a live chat on the blog at 1 p.m. to answer all of your WSU-related questions. Now, on to the links.
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Tuesday meant participating in the Pac-12 coaches conference call (say that three times fast), after which we wrote about the strong opening week for the conference's new starting quarterbacks. There is also a summary of Mike Leach's segment of the call on the blog, as well as some notes from last night's practice. This CougCenter practice report is worth reading for the comment about "Carptenter" alone. Some good stuff here from Jeff Nusser on Leach's history with quarterback changes (spoiler: he doesn't like making them). Howie Stalwick writes about John Johnson, WSU's associate athletic director who is a finalist to become Montana's next athletic director. Bud Withers rates the Pac-12 teams in order of worst to best on their season-opening efforts, slotting WSU at No. 9. Here's an AP story. ... On the Eastern Washington front, our fine EWU reporter Jim Allen has a feature on an EWU defensive tackle who plans to go into coaching some day.
Around the Pac-12 ... So yeah, there was a tiger at Washington's practice yesterday. ... An Arizona player is putting in double-time. ... Some of Arizona State's coaches are facing their former boss this week. ... Cal needs its defensive line to get healthy this week. The Bears still can't defend the pistol offense. ... Stanford's best defensive player is ready to get back on the field, but the Cardinal have concerns on offense, too. ... This isn't the kind of news the UCLA basketball team needs. The Bruins football team is moving past its week one win and preparing for a tougher task. ... And this isn't the kind of news the USC football team needs. The Trojans didn't get happy news when the polls came out, either. ... A Pac-12 notebook from the inimitable Bill Oram, as well as a story about Utah searching for explosives (or something) from the Salt Lake Tribune. ... Colorado is using its most recent loss as motivation, after apparently wasting during the summer all the motivation it gained from all of its losses last year. ... An Oregon freshman saw plenty of reps at tailback in the Ducks' opener. ... Mike Riley, you sly dog, you.
Stop by at 1 p.m. to ask questions and receive answers to those questions.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple