Choate, Padron and Friday links
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- Forget the construction crews grinding away on last-minute preparations for the new premium seating facility (and press box!). The true sign that a football game is being played at Martin Stadium tomorrow? I couldn't drive on Fairway Lane yesterday, the road between Beasley Coliseum and the main Beasley parking lot, because RVs and motor homes were setting up there for the weekend's festivities. Yep, there's a football game here tomorrow. We have links related to that, so read on.
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For today's newspaper, we wrote about Kyle Padron, Eastern Washington's quarterback who has already helped defeat the Cougars once in his career. On the blog, we updated our pick 'em contest, passed along some Pac-12 power rankings, answered five questions for Jim Allen and shared the news -- told by linebackers coach Jeff Choate to the Spokesman-Review, and nobody else -- that Cyrus Coen will be starting over Eric Oertel tomorrow at SAM linebacker. Josh Wright has a good story in today's S-R about former WSU receivers coach Mike Levenseller. ... CougCenter wrote a bunch more words about Eastern Washington, this time focusing on its defense.
Around the Pac-12 ... Washington's quarterback doesn't care about the heat in LSU. The Tigers have a bunch of future pros on their roster. ... Here's a preview of the Arizona State vs. Illinois game. ... Arizona has a linebacker with a cool name. ... Jim Mora wants to change a lot of things about UCLA's program, including its address. ... USC can recruit on the other coast, too. ... California will be missing its top offensive lineman this week. ... More on a Stanford nickel back. The Cardinal also regains its best linebacker this week. ... Mike Riley is in favor of random drug testing. John Canzano opines on the subject from an Oregon perspective. The Ducks' offense is faster than ever. ... Colorado keeps getting younger and younger.
One Pac-12 team is in action today, with Utah traveling to Utah State for a 5 p.m. game on ESPN2. Make sure to get your picks in before then.
That's it for this morning.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple