Pigskin Pete
College Football Arrives
Early This Season

          By Fred Delkin

     Hooray! We're getting an early start to college grid play, with Oregon State opening at Stanford Thursday, 8/28, Oregon hosting Washington 8/30 and all other Pac10 members 
opening that same Saturday, with the exception of UCLA, which hosts Tennessee on Monday, 9/1.

Our forecast for the opening battles:

OSU at Stanford : the Beavers will be favored, but Stanford has new life under 2nd year head coach Jim Harbaugh, and QB Tavita Pritchard, the Tacoma kid who engineered the 2007 incredible upset of USC, returns.  OSU has a recent history of starting slow and we smell another upset in Palo Alto.  STANFORD by 3.

Washington at Oregon : the Northwest's biggest rivalry gets its earliest-ever start in a night game at Autzen.  The Huskies' QB Jake Locker is an established star, while the UO signal-calling position is unsettled.  However, the Ducks have all the other veteran tools to delight the home crowd.  OREGON by 10.

Oklahoma State at Washington State : it won't be an auspicious start for new WSU coach Paul Wulff, with the visitors having a veteran squad that has been bowling the past two years.  The Cougars are thin and green and the game is in Seattle.  OKLAHOMA COWBOYS by 7.

Michigan State at California : the Golden Bears deserve their rating as a member of the top tier 
of 2008 Pac10 teams.  The visiting Spartans don't have enough to offset Cal coach Jeff 
Tedford's offensive skills backed by QB Kevin Riley.  Strawberry Canyon should have a 
celebration.  CAL by 14.

USC at Virginia : the host Cavaliers simply don't have enough weapons to threaten Trojan dominance.  The Pac10 titlists should romp, with awesome talent on both sides of the ball. SC by 28.

Northern Arizona at Arizona State : Big Sky also-rans will add no grey hairs to ASU coach Dennis Erickson's thatch.  This will be a rout.  SUN DEVILS by 35.

Idaho at Arizona : another mismatch that shouldn't have been scheduled.  The host Wildcats have a veteran offense that should run wild in this one.  ARIZONA by 35.

Tennessee at UCLA : Ricky Neuheisel's coaching debut at his alma mater will not be a 
pleasant day in the Rose Bowl for the Bruins.  The visitors are an SEC power, while the hosts 
are lacking in veterans.  TENNESSEE by 21.

We stand by our earlier forecast of SC, Arizona State and Oregon as the top Pac10 title contenders, an opinion now echoed by coaches and media votes.  We thoroughly disagree with the results of Big Sky conference mentors and writers voting, which forecast Portland 
State as no better than sixth place in 2008.  The Vikings have far more coaching expertise than other league members and the Glanville/Davis mentoring duo now have their own recruits and 
have had the time to indoctrinate their squad in the wonders of the Run-and-Shoot.  The 
November visit to PGE Park by Montana just may snap the Grizzlies' Big Sky dominance 
which has earned 10 straight titles and chronic national playoff contention.

Roses & Raspberries: would somebody please convince Brett Favre (and Fox news 
anchor Greta Von Susteren) to please retire.  Quit while you're still far ahead, Bret....a 
passel of posies to Beaverton's Columbia Sportswear for sponsoring a contender in the 
Tour de France cycling classic in the local company's first such adventure.

© 2008 Oregon Magazine