Live chat on eve of kickoff, plus links
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FROM PULLMAN -- In about six hours, the Washington State football team will board a charter flight to Utah, where they begin the Mike Leach era on Thursday night. First, we have links to hold you over until then, plus a live chat coming up this afternoon.
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First, a note that we'll be chatting live on the blog at 1 p.m. today, with some time to go for a little longer than usual if the demand is there. We have a couple of stories in this morning's newspaper. One is a mini-profile of BYU quarterback Riley Nelson, who entered college the same year I did and is finally BYU's unquestioned starter as a senior. We also chipped in this Pac-12 notebook, with a focus on new kickoff rules. Here's our report from last night's practice, as well as a summary of Mike Leach's comments on the coaches' call yesterday. And I answered five questions about Thursday's game for Brandon Gurney of the Deseret News, and he returned the favor with a blog post we'll have up later today. ... Howie Stalwick has a feature on John Fullington. ... Bud Withers picks the Cougars to finish last in the Pac-12 North, though he says that doesn't mean they won't make a bowl game. ... The Pac-12 Blog writes about Mike Leach's business trip to Provo. ... Here's the AP's preview of the game. ... BYU: Jeff Call of the Deseret News writes about WSU's Air Raid attack. The Salt Lake Tribune writes that WSU's receivers will test BYU's secondary. Here's a story about the WSU coaching staff getting the band back together. Leach is adding to LaVell Edwards' legacy.
Around the Pac-12 ... Arizona is still shuffling players around. ... Arizona State has a chance to take control of its home market. ... Plenty of information in the Mercury News' Stanford preview. ... California hopes to fare better against Nevada this time around. ... A feature on Stanford's new starting quarterback, Josh Nunes. ... The LA Times calls USC the nation's No. 1 team. ... Matt Barkley's giant face has been covered over in Westwood. Jim Mora is ready for his first game as a college head coach. ... Utah is hoping Jordan Wynn quiets any doubts about his ability to win games. The Utes ain't exactly facing the Patriots in their opener. ... Some notes out of Colorado as the season approaches. ... Oregon's (now) backup quarterback might be leaving. Or he might not. No, he's not. OK. ... Oregon State is starting a freshman at center for the first time in a long while. ... Washington will rely on a pair of running backs to replace Chris Polk this season. Withers also has a story about new starting quarterbacks in the Pac-12.
That's it for now.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple