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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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WSU ready for homecoming


COUGARS

As I was driving around last night, I noticed the town was, well, rocking, if I can use a '70s term. And yet, as the night wore on, the number of sirens I heard were at an all-time low. Maybe the cold weather kept everyone a little saner – and indoors. Anyhow, they should all be ready for homecoming. To help you get set, everything I could find is on the link. Read on.
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• Washington State: All of our game day items appeared here yesterday, so I'm linking that. The edited version of the story is also available. ... Freelancer Howie Stalwick has this advance and the Times' Bud Withers put together this statistical preview. ... The Arizona Republic beat writer, Jeff Metcalfe, had this nice blog post. ... Finally, I wanted to share with you some recruiting thoughts. It looks like there is some help on the way for the defensive line. Two players who signed with WSU last February but couldn't make it into school, Brandon Rankin and Quayshawne Buckley, seem to be on track to get into school in the spring semester. Buckley is waiting to hear his test results – that was kept him from qualifying – and is confident he did well. Rankin is on track to finish his classes. In case you don't know, Rankin is 6-foot-5, 260-pound junior college defensive end who has earned a four-star rating from Scout.com and will have two years left. Buckley, a 6-4, 270-pound defensive lineman, earned three stars as a high school senior last year. ... WSU has a few recruits in town today, including junior college quarterback Jordan Rodgers, younger brother of Green Bay's Aaron. Why bring in a JC quarterback? My guess is to ensure depth at the position if Marshall Lobbestael decides Jeff Tuel is the starter and wants to play somewhere else. With Kevin Lopina graduating, if Lobbestael were to leave this spring, Tuel would be the only scholarship quarterback on the roster this spring (though David Gilbertson is progressing well enough he could earn a scholarship at some point).

• Around the Pac-10: Ted Miller of ESPN.com opens his mailbag. ... Buster Sports' Nick Daschel has his player ratings. What, no Reid Forrest? ... Washington: The series with Arizona always seems to mark some sort of turning point for UW. ... By the way, the Huskies received an acknowledgement the officiating at Notre Dame sucked. That, and a quarter, will get you, well, nothing. ... There are some similarities in coaching styles between Mike Stoops and Steve Sarkisian. ... Oregon State: Will Stanford's special teams be special once again? ... Oregon: WSU's legacy: The Ducks are beaten up headed into Pasadena. ... Cal: Bears say bye. ... Stanford: The road beckons. How will the Cardinal respond? ... USC: Another Mitch Mustain story. He might have received more ink and pixels than any third-string quarterback in college football history. Anybody have that stat? ...UCLA: The Bruins are looking for win number four. But spread offenses like Oregon's have been their Waterloo recently. Sound familiar? ... Arizona State: The Sun Devils have struggled here recently. ... Arizona: The Wildcats are worried about the UW crowd.

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• That's it for this morning. We'll be back before the game with a quick preview. Until then …



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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