Jim Mastro’s strong Nevada ties

There are many connections between the two teams that will face off tomorrow. Linebacker Reggie Coates just transferred from Nevada to Washington State and his new position coach, Ken Wilson, originally recruited him to Reno. Wilson’s son still plays for the Wolf Pack as a long snapper.

Running backs coach Jim Mastro was also on the UNR staff with Wilson and when head coach Chris Ault stepped down in 2012 Mastro was his Ault’s first choice to replace him.

Ault and Mastro – the architects of the Pistol offense – are the subjects of our story for today’s paper .

And now for something completely different.

More links are after the jump.

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— Receiver River Cracraft was mostly a bystander for the third consecutive practice , but he’s officially still expected to play on Friday.

— There will be standing room only, if that , for WSU’s home game against Oregon.

— Bud Withers ranks the Pac-12 schools after week one .

— One of the state’s most highly-regarded recruits says he’ll stay home to play for the Huskies.

— Arizona’s Terris Jones-Grigsby recalls his first memory of playing football .

— Todd Graham wasn’t happy with the effort Arizona State practiced with on Wednesday.

— California’s running backs don’t take too kindly to seeing a quarterback lead the team in rushing.

— The Buffaloes are anxious to get a win .

— Oregon expects Michigan State to air it out on Saturday.

— Oregon State needs Caleb Smith to improve his focus .

— Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey is applying the lessons he learned from his famous father .

— UCLA’s Steven Manfro is out for the season after tearing an ACL.

— USC’s Cody Kessler missed practice after having a toe procedure but will play this weekend.

— Utah’s Parker Erickson has been nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship .