A busy day around the Pac-10

COUGARS

Woke a little earlier than usual this morning and I’m glad I did. There are stories after stories today, some with a WSU bent, others, many others, from around the Pac-10. Hope you have some extra time as well. Read on.
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• Washington State: Our position preview this morning concerns the defensive backfield , a position a little in flux right now because of the ankle injury suffered by Brandon Jones earlier this week. It is what it is. … Former P-I newspaper columnist Jim Moore, now P-I online columnist Jim Moore, is flush with optimism as the WSU football season starts. … Former Cougar running back DeMaundray Wooldridge is giving the Idaho faithful some optimism of their own.

• Around the Pac-10: Even without Woolridge, who left WSU before I got the beat, the Cougars’ running back corps is ranked seventh in the conference by ESPN.com’s Ted Miller. … Buster Sports’ Nick Daschel cites research (now that will get him drummed out of the sports writers union; what are we, historians?) in saying UW is the nation’s No. 1 producer of NFL quarterbacks. … The Mercury News’ Jon Wilner has revamped his Pac-10 picks as fall camps wind down. … And Ken Goe of the Oregonian doesn’t feel it’s too farfetched to think Oregon and USC could both be undefeated when they meet in late October. … Washington: The Huskies are starting to get ready for LSU, according to Tacoma’s Todd Milles. … Bob Condotta writes about a change in the defensive backfield. Oregon State: We know Jacquizz Rodgers will be the starting running back, but who will be his backup ? … Oregon: The NCAA has finally cleared a Duck recruit. … Cal: The San Francisco Chronicle presents its Cal preview. Guess what Coug fans? WSU is in the lead. … Stanford: The paper also has its preview of the Cardinal, WSU’s first opponent a week from Saturday. … USC: Aaron Corp may be back at practice, but coach Pete Carroll wants to see more out of him. … UCLA: A true freshman is igniting the Bruins running game. … Arizona State: That noise from Tempe was just a huge hit in practice. … Arizona: The Wildcats will be starting a fifth-year offensive tackle who has overcome major injuries just to be on the field.

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• That’s it for this morning. The practice today, sans pads, will be at 4 p.m. We also will have our final position preview on the special teams for tomorrow’s paper. We’ll post both sometime this evening. Until then …