ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Any one nervous over "Measuring Stick Saturday"?

I'm picturing you Cal fans, bleary eyed at 9 o'clock on Saturday morning, rubbing your rabbits' feet and doing some odd Berkeley mystical stuff to impress the college football gods.

I wonder if the mailbag next week will be filled with Pac-10 gloating or Pac-10 hand wringing -- and other folks gloating.

To the notes.

Mike from Tucson writes: If a running back rushes for 200 yards in a game to vault himself to second in the nation, and nobody talks about it, did it really happen?

Ted Miller: Yes!

You refer, of course, to Arizona running back Nic Grigsby, who ranks second in the nation with 162.5 yards rushing per game.

You and coach Mike Stoops share a view that Grigsby is ludicrously underrated -- Stoops really went off on the subject to me.

But Central Michigan and Northern Arizona do not a season make. Let's see if Grigsby gets 100 yards at Iowa. If he does, he will get plenty of credit.

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Bryan from Alamo, Calif., writes: Hey Ted, has there been any talk of the Pac 10 playing an annual opening weekend nonconference game in a neutral site (like the one in Atlanta)? I feel like the Pac10 could really benefit from the exposure. If so, where would they play on the west coast? Phoenix?

Ted Miller: Bryan, this just goes to show I'd never forget the Alamo.

This is sort of happening, though obviously not on the opening weekend, with Washington State playing Notre Dame in San Antonio, but the guess here is that will feel like a Notre Dame home game.

As for a West Coast neutral site opener, I have not heard anything. It's not as easy doing that on the West Coast as in the Southeast for a couple of reasons.

For one, an SEC-ACC matchup in Atlanta makes sense because programs in those conferences are within driving distance -- or a short flight -- of Atlanta.

That's not the case on the West Coast, particularly if you're talking about matching the Pac-10 with another BCS conference.

Setting up a game with the Mountain West or WAC, the most logical choices but hardly geographically perfect, would be a no-win for the Pac-10.

The only way to do it would be Notre Dame vs. somebody -- ND fans are everywhere -- but that wouldn't feel like a neutral site to the Irish because of travel.

Bottom line: I don't think the chances for such a game are particularly good.

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Ian from Seattle writes: If Jake Locker has a game like he did against LSU this weekend could he be considered a darkhorse Heisman candidate?

Ted Miller: Do you mean has a game like he did against LSU and the Huskies notch the upset?

If so, maybe.

The problem is serious Heisman Trophy candidates don't come from losing teams, and the Huskies need to win some games for Locker's impressive numbers to register among Heisman voters.

Of course, he could lay groundwork for a run next year.

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Luke from Oregon City, Ore., writes: Ted, I think you are spot on with your week 3 picks, except you picked the wrong team in the state of Oregon that will win on Saturday. I am willing to admit my bias towards the Beavers and hatred for the Ducks as I am an OSU alum and die-hard fan. The reason I think OSU will win is the noise Beaver nation will make at Reser stadium. I expect the volume to reach the 120 or so decibels recorded during last year's win over USC. We want to impress highly touted recruit Giovanni Bernard who is making his visit to Corvallis on Saturday. I think the noise will give Tony Pike and the Bearcats fast break offense trouble, hopefully, leading to mistakes. I am worried about Cinci being able to put some pressure on Sean Canfield, but Canfield has done a great job of checking down to Quizz, so I expect the Beavs to break a couple of big plays against the blitz.

Ted Miller: We shall see.

I have three questions for the Beavers, other than a slight worry about Jacquizz Rodgers bum ankle.

First, where is the Beavers pass rush? Just one sacks thus far for a team that typically gets after QBs.

Second, how will that rebuilt secondary do against Cincinnati's spread? The Bearcats four and five-receiver sets will stress the Beavers.

Third, the offensive line has been solid in run blocking but not great pass blocking -- see five sacks surrendered. And just about every defense ahead, starting with Cincinnati, will be better than Portland State and UNLV.

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Zachary from Chandler, Ariz., writes: What are your thoughts on the QB situation at Arizona after seeing both play against NAU? I like Scott except for his wind up throwing motion and I think Foles has a great arm and makes good decisions.

Ted Miller: I don't have a strong feeling yet because the Wildcats offense hasn't been tested. Or needed to do a whole lot because of how dominant the defense has been.

Let's see how Scott reacts at Iowa -- his first career road game is a doozy.

His ability to run has given him an edge over Foles thus far. I'm curious to see if Foles will see legit action at Iowa. If so, we can get a better measure of him, and whether his pure passing skills might be better than Scott's pass-run package.

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Jordan from the Bay Area writes: Watching the BSU game and being at the Purdue game, the one thing I notice is how Masoli doesn't look fluid at all.It looks like he stares down a receiver with his whole body pointing at him, then jump turns to the next and so on. It looks to me like the defense can easily watch his eyes (and his body) and know where he's going. Any idea why he's not 'just playing' like he was last year and appears to move like a robot?

Ted Miller: Good observation. I noticed that too and was bothered with myself that I didn't ask Chip Kelly that during the Oregon press conference Monday.

My guess is that if you noticed and I noticed it, then Kelly noticed it and it's been an issue at practice.

I don't know why Masoli isn't playing loose like last year. My bet is he's not yet confident in his offensive line and is still finding his rhythm with a new corps of receivers.

Let's see how he looks vs. Utah. If he and the offense both improve as much as they did from game one to game two, then things should be fine.

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George from San Francisco writes: Maybe it's because I'm a Sun Devil fan, and I've taken a little extra notice of this, but it seems like since the season has begun (and even leading up to the season) ASU has been the LEAST covered team in this blog, while UA has had a TON of coverage (I'd even say more than USC or Cal). What gives!!!

Ted Miller: Look at the schedule.

The Sun Devils opened with Idaho State. Then had a bye. This week, they play Louisiana-Monroe.

(Insert sound of crickets chirping).

I've got good news, though. Arizona State visits Georgia on Sept. 26. That game will get plenty of coverage. And if the Sun Devils manage to notch the upset, they will become a national story.

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Jamal from Houston writes: Ted,You need to answer some questions honestly. On a neutral field, pick 'em:(1) Texas v. USC; (2) Oklahoma St. v. Cal; (3) v. Florida v. USC; (4) Alabama v. Cal.I don't see how a Tebow led team with that defense could lose the USC team that played Ohio State. Similarly, I don't see how a Tedford coached team could feasibly avoid crumbling to a Saban coached team. Finally, for all the proclamation of Pac-10 strength, let's conduct an experiment. Let's remove the strongest team from each conference and then examine their depth. That means USC for the Pac-10, Florida for the SEC, Texas for the Big 12, Ohio State for the Big 10 etc. Can you honestly dispute that the Pac-10 then becomes the least relevant conference and least accomplished?The SEC without Florida has still won 3 BCS championships. The Big 12 without Texas has still 1 BCS championship. The Big 10 cannot same as much. Put it this way, if USC left the Pac-10 for the Big 12, would you still have a job? Would the Pac-10 be an AQ conference? Every championship, major non-conference win and recruiting title won by a Pac-10 team has been at USC. It's natural to be defensive about the conference, but you cannot ignore the facts. No one else outside of USC is relevant in the Pac-10. This is why the Pac-10 will never be rated higher than the 3rd best conference.

Ted Miller: Facts? Just about everything you contend is opinion.

Go get a Phil Steele guide. Pac-10 was ranked better than the SEC in 2002. Pac-10 was No. 1 in 2004. Big 12 was sixth in 2006.

These things go in cycles, though as we have said -- over and over -- the SEC has become the nation's best conference, on average. Our single contention is that the distance, on average, between the SEC and the Pac-10 is not as vast as some believe it. For example, I think the best two teams in the Pac-10 last year -- USC and Oregon -- would have beaten the two best teams in the SEC -- Florida and Alabama -- if they had been matched in bowl games last year.

You asked for my picks for this season.

Texas-USC? USC. Oklahoma State-Cal? Cal. Florida-USC? Florida. Alabama-Cal? Alabama by a field goal.

Without USC, the Pac-10 would then only have three perennial top-25 teams in Oregon, California and Oregon State. It also would only have five -- out of nine -- teams that have finished in the top-10 over the past decade.

What other conference can claim that 60 percent of its teams have finished in the top-10 over the past decade? Or that 100 percent had finished ranked in the top-25 at least once since 1998?

As for the present top-to-bottom depth, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Stanford and Washington are clearly trending up.

The root of questions about Pac-10 strength -- which I get piles of every week -- more often than not, is ignorance. Fans -- and some media -- just don't know the conference.

For example, Jamal, I bet you scoffed when I called Oregon State a perennial top-25 team. Look it up. And your homework is to find out how many Beavers were drafted last spring.

Jeff from Birmingham, Ala, writes: Hey Ted,This is off topic, but "the hoi polloi" is redundant. "Hoi" is Greek for "the," "polloi" for many, referring to the common mass of people. The correct reading is " ... catcalls from hoi polloi ..." even though it reads oddly.

Ted Miller: I hear you.

Only I don't want anything to read oddly. Then all the people who hate things that read oddly would write their angry missives.