HEDDER: Pac-10 Notes
SUGHED: DECK:
Editor's note: this is the final part of a two-day series of Pac-10 Conference notes.
Oregon seeks another Pac-10 upset
Arizona State Sun Devils
The Sun Devils enter this weekend's game against UCLA with a quarterback controversy. Despite what head coach Bruce Snyder says, it's painfully obvious that incumbent freshman Jeff Krohn is feeling heat from senior Ryan Kealy, who was reinstated last week after serving a suspension for driving under the influence.
According to Snyder, the competition has brought out the best in both signal callers.
"Since I've reinstated Ryan, Jeff has had some of his best practices," he said. "It's good for Jeff. I think there was relief to know that the weight wasn't totally on his shoulders."
Kealy, who has had five knee injuries throughout his football career, may replace Krohn during the course of the game if the timing is right.
"Right now, I'm going to play Jeff," Snyder said. "The objective is to win the game, and I'm going to try to do that."
Snyder also downplayed the fact that his daughter, Paige, works in the UCLA Athletic Department.
"She really appreciates the involvement of the athletic department," Snyder said. "But we won't talk all this weekend."
Oregon Ducks
A week after defeating then-No. 8 UCLA at home in Autzen Stadium, the Ducks will play host to No. 6 Washington.
UO head coach Mike Bellotti puts little value in the ranking-system this early in the season.
"I don't worry about whether people call it an upset," he said. "Most people looked at UCLA ranking and called it an upset. Right now, rankings are all guesswork."
Dug into a hill, the 41,698-person stadium has become notorious in recent years for its intense crowd noise.
"I feel like it's the toughest place to play in the nation," Bellotti said. "There are educated, emotional, intense fans and they make it a tough place to play."
The Ducks found their running back last weekend in junior Maurice Morris, who has run for 472 yards on 91 carries so far this season.
"He's still learning on every play," Bellotti said. "Every day, he learns more subtleties about the offense and what he can do. I expect him to get bigger, stronger and faster. He enjoys carrying the football and commands a presence."
Southern California Trojans
San Jose State came to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum last weekend and gave the Trojans all they could handle. Even though Southern Cal pulled the game out in the final moments, the Spartans apparently exposed USC's underbelly in the loss.
"San Jose State is a pretty good football team," USC head coach Paul Hackett said. "You play the Pac-10 to find out where you stand."
Hackett and the Trojans will head to Corvalis, Ore. this weekend to take on the Beavers and senior running back Ken Simonton, who the Trojans will have to stop in order to win.
"Can you afford to pack it up against Simonton and let the quarterback and receivers beat you?," Hackett said. "Simonton has great ability and experience."
Hackett said that the Trojan offense would need to improve to compete against the upstart Beavers.
"We're running better than I thought we would," he said. "(Junior quarterback Carson Palmer) is improving game by game, although I think he missed some big throws against San Jose State."
Saturday's game will mark the Trojans' first game in 2000 on artificial turf, something Hackett is not entirely happy with.
"Now we've got to go up there and play on AstroTurf," he said.
UCLA Bruins
A week after losing to Oregon in Eugene, Ore., the No. 15 Bruins will return to the Rose Bowl Saturday to take on Arizona State. They will do so with a new quarterback - Cory Paus - who will return to UCLA after missing time with a separated throwing shoulder. His replacement, left-handed Ryan McCann, will return to the bench.
"Cory Paus has been released to play," UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said. "He appears ready to go and he will start against ASU. If he's healthy and ready to play, he'll play until the game's decided."
Toledo said that Paus has a better understanding of the Bruins offense.
"Paus knows the operation of the offense better," he said. "We tried to simplify (the offense) to execute it. When you simplify it too much, it becomes easy to defend. That's what happened to us."
Toledo appears to abide by a widespread football adage - a quarterback can not lose his starting job due to injury.
"You can't lose your job because you're hurt," Toledo said.
According to Toledo, the Bruins have apparently put last weekend's debacle in Eugene behind them.
"That's the best part abut college football kids - they forget real fast," he said. "They're going to try to atone for what happened last week."
Arizona Wildcats
With the Wildcats heading to Palo Alto, Calif. this weekend, they will compete against a Stanford team that is 11-1 in its last 12 Pacific 10 Conference games. The last team to accomplish such a feat was Arizona, who won 11-straight conference games in 1997 and 1998.
According to head coach Dick Tomey, a winning streak can only take place under certain circumstances.
"It takes a lot of confidence to win at this level," Tomey said. "I think that one of the most important things that you have to do is to win the close games, and Stanford has won a lot of them in the last year."
The Wildcats and their trademark double-flex eagle defense will attempt to stop Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis and a receiving corps that includes senior DeRonnie Pitts.
Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham has focused on the Wildcats' defensive scheme.
"The first thing you have to do is manufacture your offense because they have explosive players on defense," he said. "You start out looking at them on defense."
