Arizona's chances of breaking a 10-year bowl drought could depend on the deep ball.

The Wildcats, coming off a 5-7 season, are clearly looking to spread the field with more deep throws than ever.

In the team's second year in the spread offense, Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama is out to bring the deep threat more into the equation.

That was obvious as the Wildcats' four- and five-receiver sets went down the sidelines with regularity and with effectiveness this spring.

"That's my game," Tuitama says when ever asked about the prospects of utilizing his strong arm more.

The Wildcats' young defense is still a work in progress with only three starters returning from a year ago.

The group looks faster and more athletic, but raw and...

UA loses its best friend (Rivals.com)
Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:45:00 PDT- Even in advancing years, Stubby Ashcraft had the face of a little boy at a firecracker stand.

Arizona football's spring practice concludes (CSTV U-WIRE)
Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:01:05 PDT-With another spring in the books for the Arizona football team, the Wildcats' identity for next season is still...

Spring game statistics (Rivals.com)
Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:23:00 PDT- Arizona concluded its spring practice with a typical outing -- 462 yards in offense in a 76-play Spring Game...

Arizona football looks for consistency (CSTV U-WIRE)
Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:41:05 PDT-Last year Wildcat fans wondered what the new spread offense would look like. This year the mystery is how...

Arizona State is not sticking with the status quo—not hardly.

The Sun Devils will have a drastically different look for the 2008 season despite finishing 10-3 last year and tying for first in the Pac-10 standings.

Why change what obviously worked? Simple. Arizona State is trying to be even better, and one way is to spread the field out more offensively and start sending the proverbial kitchen sink at opponents while on defense.

"We were pretty vanilla on offense last year," ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. "You could tell what we would be doing much of the time. I think to have more things and not be so generic will help us out, getting guys open and keeping defense honest."

Arizona State's offense was good enough to average 400 yards and 32 points...

Arizona St. QB Carpenter to have surgery on thumb (AP)
Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:06:51 PDT-Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter will have minor surgery Wednesday on the thumb on his throwing hand. "I should be good to go in a couple weeks," Carpenter said on Tuesday. "It doesn't worry me. I should be throwing right around the beginning of June." Carpenter, a senior, hurt his thumb handing off to teammate Keegan Herring in the California game last October.

Defense takes control in Spring Game (Rivals.com)
Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:33:00 PDT- Thomas Weber's 46-yard field goal on the final play of the Spring Game helped Arizona State's white-clad...

ASU Depth Chart (Rivals.com)
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:22:00 PDT- Here is the official Sun Devil depth chart through the midpoint in the team's Spring Football schedule.

Cal spent the spring doing more than just trying to find itself a quarterback. The Golden Bears also searched for team chemistry and a cohesiveness that was missing when they lost six of seven games in the regular season last year.

The chemistry might have been established, but the quarterback issues will have to play out for a while longer.

"(Coach Jeff) Tedford has changed his tone. It's more of a team-oriented approach now," Cal linebacker Zack Follett told the Contra Costa Times. "Last year a lot of our leaders were stars who were young. They didn't provide leadership. No disrespect to any of those guys, but sometimes when you have star athletes, it's hard to be a coach of those kinds of players."

Tedford made changes.

Cal RB Slocum makes most of time in the spotlight (CSTV U-WIRE)
Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:01:05 PDT-Maybe the events that crippled the Cal football team's running back corps going into spring ball were really...

There is some rebuilding going on in Eugene.

With tailback Jonathan Stewart going to Carolina with the 13th pick of the draft and with quarterback Dennis Dixon heading to Pittsburgh as a fifth-round pick, the Oregon offense is in a transition stage, and coach Mike Bellotti is looking at things in the spring that will give him answers in the fall.

With Stewart gone and with sidekick Jeremiah Johnson still recovering from knee surgery, junior college transfer LeGarrette Blount got a chance to shine in the spring, and he did just did just that. His 32-yard touchdown run was one of the highlights of the spring game.

Even with the players heading for the NFL, there is talent on this Oregon roster, and once the Ducks settle on a quarterback, things should get even...

The Wednesday Inside Scoop (Rivals.com)
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:35:00 PDT- The Carolina Panthers decided that two No. 1 draft picks in 2008 were more important that one first rounder in...

Ducks to hold intra-squad game Saturday (Rivals.com)
Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:24:00 PDT- EUGENE – The University of Oregon will signal an end to its formal off-season football workouts Saturday...

Oregon football's one-man wrecking crew ready for business (CSTV U-WIRE)
Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:41:04 PDT-LeGarrette Blount certainly wasn't flying below the radar on his way to becoming a Duck.

Oregon State was hit and hit hard by graduation losses, but young guys who got a chance to play and the return of two "old" stars on offense has Mike Riley optimistic about the 2008 season.

Riley knew he would be getting guard Jeremy Perry back from a broken leg that knocked him out for the season in the first game last year. The coach didn't know he'd be getting wide receiver/punt returner Sammie Stroughter back until word came in mid-March. Stroughter had been give a medical redshirt after playing in three of the first four games last season before going down for the year with a kidney injury.

"The entire team is excited to have Sammie back," Riley said of Stroughter, who missed last year's opener because of a personal grief situation, played in three games and then...

Spring practice hits the halfway mark (Rivals.com)
Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:33:00 PDT- Better weather means the opportunity to step out of the comfy confines of the Merrit Traux Indoor Center and...

OSU receiver Sammie Stroughter given one more year to play football (CSTV U-WIRE)
Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:21:05 PDT-After a year filled with a sub-par passing game, the return of a healthy and hungry Sammie Stroughter has been...

Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard is still being remembered for sparking the Cardinal's big upset of USC last year, but that has not guaranteed him of a starting job when the season opens against UCLA.

Pritchard has the most experience of the players fighting for the position, but last year is last year. At least that is the message coach Jim Harbaugh is trying to get across.

"Of our accomplishments in 2007, first and foremost is that we have begun to change the football culture to one that appreciates competitive, winning football," Harbaugh said. "We have identified leaders on our squad, and these leaders will be examples for returning players and those who will be joining our team."

Pritchard might very well start under center, but Michigan transfer Jason...

The high the Bruins started to feel with new coach Rick Neuheisel quickly turned into a depressing low when quarterbacks Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan were carted off the field on the same day.

UCLA probably will head into fall workouts with JC transfer Kevin Craft, highly regarded recruit Nick Crissman and possibly Kevin Prince in contention for the starting quarterback job in the season opener against Tennessee.

This is not exactly what offensive coordinator Norm Chow thought was going to be the scenario when he was hired.

"I have full confidence in Norm Chow. I have full confidence in the kids to give everything they've got," Neuheisel said. "We're going to find a way to play that position well."

Cowan is out for the season after suffering cartilage and...

Welcome to the Bruin Walk (Rivals.com)
Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:54:00 PDT- Welcome to the "Bruin Walk" and as long as it is enjoyed by the readership it will be a weekly endeavor.

UCLA quarterback Cowan to have knee surgery, miss season (AP)
Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:49:56 PDT-UCLA quarterback Patrick Cowan will have knee surgery and miss the 2008 season, the latest in a long string of quarterback setbacks for the Bruins. Cowan, who had edged out the also-injured Ben Olson for the starting job this spring, was carted off the field on Thursday after injuring his left knee while scrambling, and will have surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament.

UCLA's quarterback woes continue (AP)
Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:06:55 PDT-UCLA quarterbacks Pat Cowan and Ben Olson are hurt again after struggling through injuries last season. Each had to be carted off the field at spring practice, Cowan with a left knee injury and Olson with a broken bone in his right foot. Both of Thursday's injuries were flukes -- neither occurred because of contact.

Neuheisel focuses on UCLA's need for offensive progress (CSTV U-WIRE)
Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:21:04 PDT-The UCLA football team's Friday scrimmage at Spaulding Field turned into an indicator of the progress the...

Washington coach Tyrone Willingham wasn't willing to offer predictions after his team completed spring practice.

"We've got to get into ballgames," he said. "That's where you decide everything is in ballgames. Practice is nice—we are growing and learning, and obviously I think we are getting better. But it's the ballgames that count."

The next ballgame will count more than Willingham might like. The Huskies will open the 2008 season Aug. 30 at Oregon, a team that has beaten UW by 20 points or more each of Willingham's three seasons as coach. Another similar defeat would be a brutal setback as Willingham heads into what looms as a make-or-break season as UW's coach.

But cautious optimism might be the best route to take.

Washington's Garcia out with serious foot injury (AP)
Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:32:21 PDT-Washington center Juan Garcia will be out indefinitely after injuring his foot during a recent scrimmage. Coach Tyrone Willingham made the announcement on Monday, and said Garcia would be further evaluated this week. Garcia was a second-team, all-conference selection last year, starting every game at center for the second consecutive year.

Freshman receivers ready to make an impact (Rivals.com)
Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:20:00 PDT- The 2008 redshirt and true freshman receivers are a talented group that have had the privilege of working out...

First-year Washington State coach Paul Wulff is setting high goals for the long term.

But next year?

He says he's mostly concerned with first becoming a team.

"When I say that, I'm not talking about wins and losses," he told the Spokesman-Review. "I'm just talking about being a great team to each other and forming a tight bond."

Wulff wasn't sure at first that he'd have enough of a team to hold a spring game, and he initially canceled the scrimmage in favor of another practice. But come game day, Wulff changed his mind and the Cougars held a scrimmage.

Still, the quandary indicted some of the personnel issues the Cougars are facing, reasons WSU is likely to be picked near the bottom of the Pac-10—if not at the bottom—heading into the...

Cougar Offense Rolls Again (Rivals.com)
Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:21:00 PDT- In the third and final scrimmage of the year under new head coach Paul Wulff, the Cougar offense continued on...

Cougs Get Offensive (Rivals.com)
Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:46:00 PDT- The second spring football scrimmage under new head coach Paul Wulff is in the books and whereas the first...