COUGARS

One thing you don't need this week is a coat. It's warm in Tempe, not as much as it could be, but pretty darn warm. We don't have to worry about that, though. But we have other things to cover, so read on.
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• As I write this, Washington State's opponent for next week, the Cal Bears, are getting their claws pulled off in Corvallis, losing 21-0 (now it's 28-0) to the Beavers. And Kevin Riley, really the only quarterback Cal has, left the field on a cart with his knee in a brace. This could get ugly. ... As for the Cougars, we want to update some injury situations. ... Chima Nwachukwu is set to play and he'll play cornerback with all the injuries there. Anthony Carpenter won't play as he's been unable to bounce back from a concussion suffered last week. Daniel Simmons did, but he'll need some rest today. Aire Justin didn't practice all week due to a concussion as well, so he's not available. While Nolan Washington will play, he'll have one arm wrapped to protect his wrist and thumb. ... With Justin out – he had been a shot-in-the-arm on punt and kickoff returns – James Montgomery will move into the kick return role with Isiah Barton, while Barton will probably return punts. ... The defensive side will also welcome back Casey Hamlett and Steven Hoffart, so there is more depth up front. ... At linebacker, as far as I know Mike Ledgerwood didn't make the trip and Eric Oertel will not be suiting up with a hamstring, so there isn't a lot of depth there. ... The offense seems to be healthy, minus the folks out for the year. The receivers, offensive line, running backs and quarterbacks all seemed to make it through the week without any problems. ... For the Sun Devils, quarterback Steven Threet is listed as the starter, so he must be OK from his concussion. ... And that's about it for now.

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• There's about two hours to kickoff. We'll be back at halftime with a quick post and we'll be tweeting some at vinceg55. Until later ...

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