QB or not QB?
That is the question teams face
PULLMAN – You can never have enough depth at quarterback.
That point was hammered home again last week in Eugene and Los Angeles, where two Pac-10 teams tossed formerly third-string – or fourth-string – quarterbacks into the fray and came up with big wins.
None was bigger than Oregon’s conference win over Washington.
The Ducks were already without designated starter Nate Costa, out for the season with a knee injury. Then second-stringer-turned-starter Justin Roper suffered concussion-like symptoms in the second quarter and didn’t return.
In stepped Jeremiah Masoli, a transfer from San Francisco City College. With Roper unavailable after a first-quarter hit – Ducks coach Mike Bellotti thinks he’ll be able to play Saturday against Utah State – Masoli was 9 of 17 for 126 yards and two touchdowns as Oregon defeated Washington 44-10, scoring 30 unanswered second-half points.
“Jeremiah made a ton of mistakes,” Bellotti said, “but he made a ton of plays, too.”
Asked after the game if he deserved to be the starter, Masoli told the Oregonian, “It’s a question, we’ll see. We’ll see with this week of practice.”
Masoli, however, didn’t take every snap after Roper’s injury.
Chris Harper, fourth on the depth chart recently, also played in the second half. The freshman didn’t throw a pass but he finished as the Ducks’ second-leading rusher, gaining 60 yards on 12 carries.
Talk of the country
Last week, UCLA was the talk of Los Angeles, what with the in-your-face ad in the L.A. Times. This week, after Monday’s 27-24 overtime upset of Tennessee, Rick Neuheisel and his Bruins are the talk of the nation, actually jumping to 23rd in the Associated Press poll.
Maybe it was the overtime aspect. Maybe it was the ESPN coverage. Maybe it was the story line, with an SEC team traveling to the West Coast to face UCLA and Neuheisel, the NCAA’s favorite target. But most probably it comes from the Two-Face nature of formerly third-string Bruins quarterback Kevin Craft’s play.
Gene Wojciechowski, writing for ESPN.com, compared Craft’s four-interception first half to a Pop Warner game at halftime – unfavorably. But Craft’s 18-of-25, 193-yard, one-touchdown, zero-interception second half made Wojciechowski swallow his words.
“In the second half,” the columnist wrote, “Craft looked like UCLA’s answer.”
And in L.A.?
L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke was sold.
“Talk about your homecoming parades,” Plaschke wrote. “Rick Neuheisel led one through the center of the college football world Monday night, clanging and thumping and twirling.”
Around the conference
USC was pretty impressive in its 52-7 road win over Virginia on Saturday, but impressive enough to jump into first in both polls? Guess so. The Trojans have a bye this week before their Sept. 13 showdown with now-No. 3 Ohio State, so, knowing polls, they’ll probably drop a spot or two. … Oregon State has to bounce back quickly after its loss to Stanford last Thursday. The Beavers travel to Happy Valley to face Penn State, led by legendary coach Joe Paterno. But Paterno, tied with Bobby Bowden for the most wins by a college coach (373), missed a chance to hire Mike Riley in 1975, when the OSU coach was trying to break into the profession. Seems Riley, on the advice of his dad, sent a letter to Paterno trying to get a grad assistant job, but never heard back. … Speaking of Paterno, OSU safety Al Afalava told the Oregonian “some of the guys were saying, ‘like, man, after the game – win or lose – we’re gonna go get his autograph.’” … Washington coach Tyrone Willingham saw very little positive in the way the Huskies played Saturday in their Oregon loss, saying on the Pac-10 conference call “The team has a feeling of letting each other down and our fan base down. We all share that. And to me, those are all very positive things that drive us to go forward.” … Despite scoring 70 points against Idaho, despite playing what coach Mike Stoops told reporters was “as clean a game as I have ever been involved in,” Arizona’s coaches dwelled on the mistakes the Wildcats made. “There will be a lot of things, I promise you that,” offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes told the Arizona Republic. “On the first play of the game, the ball hits us in the chest and we drop it.”
Cougar news and notes
On a day when Washington State started to get some of its injured players back, a big one may have been lost. Starting left guard Andrew Roxas went down in a heap on the first team play of practice, grabbing his right knee. He was helped off the field and taken by cart into the training room. “We’re going to re-evaluate him but it doesn’t look good,” coach Paul Wulff said. “It looks like he injured himself. One of those accidents that happen, somebody fell down and fell into him.” Roxas, a 6-foot-2, 282-pound sophomore, started just one game last season but moved smoothly into the starting lineup this year. With Roxas’ status questionable, Steven Ayers, who started at left tackle against Oklahoma State, moved into the guard spot. … Ayers’ move was made possible by the return of regular starting tackle Vaughn Lesuma, making his first practice appearance in pads since a back injury sidelined him midway through fall camp. Lesuma said his back was much better and he expected to play Saturday. … In more line news, starting right guard Brian Danaher strained a gluteal muscle and sat out the last part of practice. B.J. Guerra moved into the guard spot. … Reserve defensive tackle Toby Turpin hurt his left thumb last Thursday at practice but still played Saturday. Afterward it was determined he was suffering from gamekeeper’s thumb (a ligament injury), forcing surgery Monday. He’s expected back quickly. Starting defensive tackle A’i Ahmu is also limited with a left shoulder sprain. … The Cougars did receive some good news on the injury front, however. Besides Lesuma’s return, punter Reid Forrest kicked throughout the special team part of practice. And Jeshua Anderson was running patterns at nearly full speed, though he was not involved in contact. Whether the two will play Saturday is still uncertain. … There were new lines on the Rogers Field turf Tuesday, red line markers running east-west, allowing a full 100 yards for special teams practice.