Player Notes

AUG. 31, 2023 5 AMThe coach who likes to parse questions no longer is giving anyone a hard time.The coach who often interrupts is patiently waiting for everyone to finish.The coach who usually engages only on football topics is open to discussing anything.His dog’s torn knee ligament. His player’s pet alligator. His own attention deficit disorder.It was only about two weeks ago that a reporter who ...

August 31, 2023 1:30 pmThe No. 11 Texas Longhorns and Rice Owls face off on Saturday afternoon to kick off the season. We expect big things from Texas in the game mostly because of what we expect this season.The game presents different opportunities for both the offense and the defense. Offensively, we need to see consistency. For that, we need the offense to show it can execute plays over and over ...

August 31, 2023 1:53 pmWhile many programs across the country are just happy to know who their starting quarterback is, Texas fans have gotten to a point where they want to know who the backup is.When speaking to the media on Thursday, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was asked who would be the first guy off the bench at quarterback. A question that Sarkisian had initially put off until Thursday hoping ...

Aug 30, 2023 Updated 10 hrs agoThe Pac-12’s final season features three new coaching staffs and hundreds of new players via the traditional recruiting process and the transfer portal.We cannot begin to evaluate every arrival but have identified 15 with the potential to materially impact the course of the season for individual teams and the conference at large.Note: The following list does not include ...

By Matt Stahl |The youngest of Alabama football’s three candidates for starting quarterback in 2023 is Ty Simpson. The redshirt freshman threw just five passes for the Crimson Tide last season before entering the competition for the starting job with Jalen Milroe and Tyler Buchner this offseason.Nick Saban still hasn’t named a starting quarterback for Saturday’s season opener. When about Simpson’s ...

MADISON – How will Luke Fickell fare in his first season as Wisconsin’s head football coach?History isn’t always an accurate barometer but in this case Fickell has history on his side.Fickell is UW’s fourth full-time head coach since Barry Alvarez stepped down after the 2005 season.Bret Bielema followed Alvarez and coached for seven seasons. Gary Andersen followed Bielema and coached for two seasons. ...

Maybe it was the Cougars’ 24-point underdog status against unbeaten and No. 1-ranked UCLA. Or maybe it was simply budget issues.In any event, the columnist who normally traveled with me to Washington State road games was grounded. And I was assigned to fly solo to Los Angeles to cover what most of those in a Rose Bowl crowd of 59,000-plus believed would be a third straight loss for the Cougars, who ...

UW Huskies Football Insider, Seattle SportsFor the record, I’m already in the hole.Yes, I foolishly missed my prediction for USC in its Week 0 opener against San Jose State (we made our picks on Ep. 66 of Say Who, Say Pod). While the Trojans won comfortably, they allowed four touchdowns and took their foot off the gas late in a 56-28 victory.No. 10 UW Huskies face early test vs Mountain West favorite ...

Michael Penix Jr.’s imperfection is an attribute.It’s not a weakness.It’s a weapon.Ryan Grubb and Rome Odunze saw this inside the Rose Bowl, on a night both would otherwise rather forget. In a 40-32 prime-time loss to UCLA on Sept. 30, 2022, Penix cratered in a calamitous second quarter — completing 4 of 13 passes with a pair of picks. The Bruins outscored UW 17-3 in the quarter and entered the locker ...

STAFF WRITERAUG. 31, 2023 5:30 AM PTThe Three Amigos. A modern triumvirate. A three-headed monster.Call it whatever you want, but what’s been described as a friendly competition is about to take a dramatic turn. Starting Saturday night, UCLA’s top three quarterbacks no longer will battle it out exclusively in the comfort of closed practices.A Rose Bowl crowd and a national television audience will ...