Washington State has won 4 Apple Cups.

The Ducks have rushed for 1600 yards or 267 per game in games against the Huskies over the last 2,500 days. 

USC has won 6 Pac-10 championships and 2 1 Heisman trophies.

Oregon State has won 5 bowl games, although they have lost at least 4 games each year. 

Cal has underachieved every season, but still hasn’t finished lower than the Huskies.

Boise State has won 2 BSC games.

Utah has won 2 BSC games.

The Huskies themselves have finished last in the Pac-10 4 times.  /bow down.

Ryan Katz is going to be really good: I can see why everyone in Corvallis is giddy about Katz, the kid definitely has NFL talent.  His arm is outstanding and he showed good touch on his deep balls.  He also moves well and has a natural feel for the pocket already.  His poise was great for a kid making his first start on the road against a very good defense.  He still has some polishing work needed as he looks down the field too much.  He needs to check down his receivers quicker and needs more accuracy on the intermediate throws.  The numbers could have been worse as TCU missed a couple of easy picks and didn’t pounce on that fumble on the second play of the game.  However his debut should be considered a big success and it wouldn’t surprise me if the talk of Pac-10 quarterbacks shifts from Jake the Fake to Katz and Andrew Luck by mid-season.

The game plan was mediocre: I loved that Riley aired it out on the first play and I really loved the fake punt (which if they can execute it that well on a consistent basis I would run that play on every down).  That’s where my loving of that game plan ends.  While going deep on the first play was a nice message sender, both that you are going to attack their defense and that  you have trust in your new quarterback, not giving Quizz a touch on the first series also was a message sender.  Quizz needs touches and to not get him one on the first series was a precursor for a non-productive day.  And how does a guy who caught 78 balls out of the backfield not get a swing pass or a screen thrown his way?  TCU did a great job of plugging up between the tackles and Riley failed to find another way to get Quizz involved.  The defensive “bend and then break” game plan was bad as well.  Rarely (if at all) did the Beavers stack the line to stop the run nor did they bring pressure to rattle the easily rattled Dalton.  Dalton was erratic without having much pressure, imagine if the Beavers tried rattling him after either of those two brutal picks he threw?  After his meltdown in last years Fiesta Bowl the Beavers should have at least given it a shot.

Final Take: The Beavers can’t walk away from this thinking, “we beat the spread!”.  That was a game they could have won and they came up empty.  It’s only the first game, and a non Pac-10 game at that.  If the Beavers are going win in Boise in two weeks they need to find a way to get Quizz going and to get pressure on Kellen Moore.  And if they have any aspirations of winning the Pac-10 they need to figure out how to stop the run or Arizona, USC, Washington and especially Oregon will walk run all over them.

*Obvious salty language*

Yeah boxers love the self-promotion, and know running their mouths draws buzz, and usually a big time check.

But this? Yikes man.

My opinion on this is that besides Floyd looking like an ignorant fool, it just cements in my mind, that he wants no part of Pacquiao. Pac would crush him, and by going all Ann Coulter/Mel Gibson/Archie Bunker/Strom Thurmond on Pac, he knows this fight is even further out from happening.

What ever happened to good old staged “fights” between boxers and talk of eating children?

View this photo (NSFW, I must say)

Think  of who it looks like…

If you need a hint, think cartoon characters…

And find the answer here.

Awesome.

From the school that brought you LeGarrette Blount!

Honestly though, that’s just what happens when a Cowboy tangles with a Duck. History has shown this to be true:

Last Year: 5-4 T5

The Good - Out of all the sophomore starting quarterbacks in the Pac-10 (and there is 8 of them) I believe Matt Barkley is the most talented.  Barkley had a 60% completion rate as a freshman last year, which is very good.  However he also completed a few too many passes to the other team with 14 interceptions.  If he’s able to cut back on that number of interceptions and make a few more plays down field all while keeping his same completion percentage then this offense will be very good.  New defensive coordinator (and coaches daddy) Monty Kiffin is one of the best defensive minds in football and should help shore up a defense that took a step backwards last year.  As always, USC will anchor their defense with a strong front seven, led by stud defensive tackles Jurrell Casey and Christian Tupou.  All 3 starting linebackers return to fill out what should be a formidable defense.

The Bad - USC is very inexperienced, particularly at wide receiver, offensive line and the defensive backfield.  Also, Head Coach Lane Kiffin is a bit of a question mark.  While his Tennessee team showed some promise last year, he still carries the stink of being with the Raiders on him.  It has yet to been seen whether Kiffin has what it takes to be a big time college football coach.

The Skinny - There’s not much seperation between the top 3 teams in the Pac-10 (USC, Oregon, Oregon State) and I wouldn’t be surprised if any of those three finish in first place.  All three are very talented, but have at least one major question mark.  USC is an exceptionally hard team to judge.  During most of the off season I had them on top of my Pac-10 powerpoll.  However I’ve had some second thoughts on them as Oregon & Oregon State both have something that the Trojans do not, a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line.  It’s no question USC has the most overall football talent than anyone else in the Pac-10.  But between having no bowl game, and having the unproven Kiffin as head coach I can’t pick them as Pac-10 champs. I wonder if Snoop will still be making an appearance now that Rose Bowls and National Championships are out of the question.

The Prediction: 6-3

John Canzano had this to say:

Kelly’s selection this week of sophomore Darron Thomas as his starter tells us that he’s back, and just fine. And if you’re a Ducks fan, or the kid who just received the keys to the franchise, this is comforting news.

It’s bold for Kelly to choose potential over experience and leadership.

George Schroeder also talked potential:

And in retrospect, when it became clear Thomas had pulled even with Costa — or moved slightly ahead — during the last few weeks, we should have given more weight to the idea that the coaches believe Thomas is just beginning to blossom.

But let’s be clear: What the coaches see in Thomas is upside.

Ken Goe and his awesome stache, “it’s about potential”:

I’m guessing the coaches decided Thomas, a sophomore, had a bigger upside than Costa, a senior.

I find it interesting that all three of these local guys had Costa being the guy before the decision was made.  And while none of them are saying that Kelly made a mistake per-say, they are all playing the potential card.  As if they were right all along that Costa is the better quarterback, but Kelly preferred upside.  I find this to be poor anaylsis.  Kelly understands as well as anyone what is at stake this season and he wouldn’t risk it on “potential”.  He picked the best guy for the job, period.  Don’t believe me?

Let’s check in with the national Pac-10 guru, Ted Miller:

Thomas won the job. I think a “tie” would have favored Costa. Kelly is not interested in upside. He’s not thinking about 2011. He’s got a veteran team that is the favorite to win the Pac-10. His choice of Thomas reflects only one belief: He is our best quarterback today.

Miller also provided the best line on the topic:

Many Oregon fans see Thomas as the next Dennis Dixon. When I said that to Kelly, he mostly scoffed. But he does that a lot. He’d probably scoff at Dora the Explorer.

¿Quién no burlarse de Dora?

My True West rod is the best fly rod I have ever owned. The details and performance are as good as I could have imagined. Having a rod custom made to my personal tastes and with the finest components available has made my fishing experiences extremely productive and enjoyable. Josh Bidwell, NFL punter for the Washington Redskins

If there’s anything worse than angry pervert taping innocent ballerinas at work, it’s ‘bicycle guy.’ Seriously, no one cool has ever rocked spandex bike gear, it’s just a fact. Lance the Goober was just outmatched in this fight, and no, no one wishes they “could work as fuck as hard as he can.” See Goober, this is why we buy cars and stuff, so we don’t have to work hard on our way to the supermarket to grab a gallon of milk.

In the eternal fight between angry pervert guy vs bike dude and goobers, angry pervert guy wins every time. I look forward to seeing this guys work on allure.com some day…

Last year: 6-3 T2

The Good - Sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck returns after a nice freshman campain where he threw for 2,575 yards, 13TDs and only 4 picks.  Returning with him is receivers Ryan Whalen and Chris Owusu along with 4 starters on the offensive line.  Stanford should be able to light up the scoreboard as Luck is a virtual lock to throw for 3,000+ yards.  Luck also is a good enough athlete to make you pay with his legs. He was 2nd on the team in both carries and rushing yards last season.  Coach Jim Harbaugh is one of the best coaches in the league and has done a very nice job turning Stanford around.  He’s a no nonsense coach and his teams always reflect his tough attitude.

The Bad (other than their hideous mascot) – As with most of the other teams in the bottom half of this preview,  (except Washington State, they are zero dimensional) Stanford is one dimensional.  Their defense was horrid against the pass last year, ranking 110th in the nation.  Things are so bad this year that stud fullback Owen Marecic will be playing iron man football lining up as one of the starting middle linebackers.  “I did go both ways in high school” (/snickers) says Marecic.  Marecic was a force at Jesuit, but this is not high school football, it’s the Pac-10.  Marecic having to play both ways exemplifies the lack of depth of talent Stanford has on the defensive side of the ball.  Stanford also has the problem of trying to replace Heisman candidate Toby Gerhart.  While Stepfan Taylor and Jeremy Stewart both seem solid, I don’t think teams will be game planning against them.

The Skinny - Stanford may be a little underrated here at 6 because there is not much difference between the 4th, 5th and 6th place teams this year.  However, with as bad as this defense is, Luck is going to have a lot of pressure to perform every week as Stanford will need to be in the upper 30s to 40s to win games.  This is not a good formula for winning football.  Last year having Gerhart gave Stanford the game changer they needed to compete for a Pac-10 title.  Without him this year the good defensive teams will be able to slow Stanford down.  They will win some shootouts and lose some shootouts.

The Prediction: 5-4