Roundup: Gary Andersen and Oregon State part ways
Shocking news out of Corvallis, where Oregon State and football coach Gary Andersen agreed to mutually part, the university announced Monday. You can read John Canzano’s take on Andersen walking away by clicking on the preceding link. Cory Hall has been named interim head coach, and that link is put together by The Oregonian/OregonLive to give you background info on the Beavers’ head man for the next six weeks of action.
Washington State football coach Mike Leach believes the late-kickoffs issue could be solved by expanding the College Football Playoff to 16 or more teams (USA TODAY Sports). I’ve been calling for 16 for years – all 10 FBS conference champions plus six at-large bids. And you could still play those other bowl games for the rest of the .500 or better teams.
Stanford running back Bryce Love is second in the USA TODAY Heisman Network survey, trailing Penn State’s Saquon Barkley. Washington State QB Luke Falk is fourth.
Kareem Copeland of the Associated Press writes that Utah is looking for answers at quarterback following Saturday night’s loss to Stanford. With Tyler Huntley still out and Troy Williams not spectacular against the Cardinal, Cooper Bateman will be getting a look in practice this link.
Interesting question posed by Jeff Metcalfe – is the 2017 2-3 Arizona State football team better than the 2016 5-1 Sun Devils? For their sake, hopefully that’s the case, because the Sun Devils continue their meat-grinder of a schedule with consecutive games against Washington, Utah and USC.
Brian Howell writes that Colorado needs to get more explosive plays out of the passing game. It’s pretty surprising that the longest touchdown pass to a receiver so far this year is 31 yards considering the talent the Buffs have at that position.
According to an ESPN Insider report done by John Gasaway, USC men’s basketball is the most experienced team in the country heading into the 2017-18 season (USCTrojans.com on the link). The Trojans return their entire starting five and lose only two players from last year’s team, and neither of them played a whole lot.
Kyle Boone of CBS Sports considers Arizona’s Dylan Smith to be the third-best transfer in men’s college basketball. Smith, who comes to Tucson via UNC-Asheville, is joined on this list by Butler-Bulldog-turned-New-Mexico-Lobo-turned-Oregon-Duck Elijah Brown and former Kentucky Wildcat Marcus Lee, who is playing at Cal.
In case you missed it, Washington women’s soccer coach Lesle Gallimore won the 250th match of her career with the Huskies’ 1-0 win Sunday at Oregon (The Seattle Times).
UCLA’s Milan Iloski was named Pac-12 Men’s Soccer Player of the Week after notching a goal against Oregon State and an assist against Washington (UCLA won both games 1-0).
Wanna learn how Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers makes everyone around him a better player? You’re in luck with this Sports Illustrated article then. The former Golden Bear led the Pack to another last-minute comeback victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Click to watch Oregon football coach Willie Taggart give a scouting report on Stanford in his weekly press conference.