COUGARS

Washington State will head to Martin Stadium this afternoon for a scrimmage that will have more game-like elements than the first live hitting the Cougars did last week. But before we can look forward toward that, we have to look back to yesterday, so read on.

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• Washington State: We've told you before but we'll remind you again. Follow us on Twitter at vinceg55. It's worth it. Yesterday afternoon we tweeted – yes, I know, Twitter, tweeting, all those terms are a little odd, but you play the hand you're dealt – the link to the video of Oregon football player Cliff Harris' traffic stop. It was really interesting on about a-half-a-million levels. For more on that, you can check out this Ted Miller take and the Oregon section below. ... The other interesting item from yesterday is the Yahoo.com report on the Miami football mess. ... But that's all off-the-field crap. The story we're supposed to be covering here is Washington State football. We did our preview of the defensive line today, with Travis Long speaking for the group. Seems like new assistant coach Todd Howard is pretty happy with his charges. ... We also had this short story on athletic department finances and how they will affect the university. ... Braulio Perez summarized practice for Cougfan, something we did on the blog as well. ... There were a couple questions asked about the linebackers, one we'll cover in our story for tomorrow's paper. The other, concerning Eric Oertel, is easy to answer. He was running with the third group until he hurt his hamstring, an injury that has plagued him before. He's out indefinitely.

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• Around the Pac-12: Not a lot about the conference at large today. ... Washington: The Huskies scrimmaged and, like WSU's first live action, the youngsters got a lot of the time. ... Oregon State: Freshman Brandin Cooks is expected to bolster the Beavers' receiving corps, as is Terron Ward. ... Oregon: The football in Eugene was overshadowed by the television report about Harris' traffic stop from the summer – and coach Chip Kelly's response. Remember, though, next time you hear about quarterback Darron Thomas going "100 miles per hour" at practice, it's just a cliché about how hard he's playing, not a description of his driving. ... Today's practice will be closed. ... California: A freshman that played with a couple WSU recruits is turning heads at the Bears' preseason camp. ... Cal practiced at AT&T Park for the first time yesterday. The Bears will play their home games there. ... Stanford: Another Whalen may start for the Cardinal and, get this, they are not related. ... Colorado: There has been a lot of bad news from Boulder, but one position seems to be in good hands. ... Utah: The Utes scrimmaged and either the offense struggled or the defensive was superb. ... USC: Matt Barkley let a receiver know what he thought of a dropped pass. ... UCLA: Quarterback Richard Brehaut missed practice with a sprained left foot, leaving Kevin Prince to run the offense. That's OK with this guy. ... Arizona State: Defensive end Junior Onyeali wants to have a breakout year. He had a breakout game against WSU last season. ... Arizona: Cornerback Jonathan McKnight is a video star.

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• That's all for this morning. We'll be back after the scrimmage this afternoon with a summary. We're also looking at the linebacker spot in tomorrow's S-R. Until then ...

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