ESPN College Football

Tequila in his heartbeat; his veins burned gasoline
It kept his motor runnin'; but he never kept it clean

• Teddy Bruschi deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
• Instilling discipline at ASU is spelled out in Todd Graham's contract.
• Cal fans are predicting seven wins for the Bears in 2012.
• Tyler Hansen living the dream as a Bengals QB.
• A video breakdown of Oregon's spring game from the guys at FishDuck. Per usual, good analysis.
• Cliff Kirkpatrick continues his Oregon State spring tour with a look at the Civil War.
• Some updates to the original story on former Stanford wide receiver Chris Owusu.
• Some notes about USC's three football players/tracksters.
• Time to vote, Utah fan. How will the team finish?
• A Washington recruit might be backing off from his original commitment to the Huskies.
• WSU AD Bill Moos hints that the season opener against BYU could be moved to Thursday night.

Massive, athletic and smart, Jonathan Ogden is simply one of the all-time great offensive tackles, both in college and the NFL.

On Tuesday, his dominance in college was recognized with his selection to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Ogden, a fearsome sight at 6-foot-9, 345 pounds, was a four-year starter at left tackle for UCLA. In 1995, he received the Outland Trophy, was the UPI lineman of the year and was a unanimous first-team All-American. Oh, by the way, in track and field, he won the 1996 NCAA title in the shot put. And he was a history major.

After UCLA, the Baltimore Ravens selected him with the fourth pick of the first round of the 1996 NFL draft. In 12 seasons before he retired in 2008, he was selected for 11 Pro Bowls and was a nine-time All-Pro. In 2009, The Sporting News selected him for its All-Decade team (2000's). In 2010, the NFL made a list of its top-100 players of all time. Ogden ranked 72nd. He almost certainly will be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013 when he becomes eligible.

His No. 79 jersey has been retired by UCLA. He is only the eighth Bruin to earn that honor.

Hal Bedsole had 82 catches for 1,717 yards and 20 touchdowns -- for his career. Not exactly gaudy numbers by today's standards, but in the early '60s, those kind of stats were special. Also unusual was his size -- 6-foot-5, 221-pounds -- rare dimensions for a split end at the time. By today's standards, he'd be considered near prototypical.

In 1962, he set the school records for a single season in receptions (33), touchdowns (11) and yards (827). He was the first USC player to ever have a 200-yard plus receiving game (201 yards versus Cal in 1962) and he had five, 100-yard receiving games in his career. He earned first-team all-conference in 1961 and 1962.

Nicknamed "Prince Hal," No. 19 was a member of USC's 1962 national championship team that finished 11-0, earning consensus All-America honors that year. He also caught a pair of touchdowns in USC's 42-37 win over Wisconsin in the 1963 Rose Bowl. He still holds the USC record for highest average per catch (30 or more) with 20.94.

He was a second-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 1964 and went on to have a modest career as an NFL tight end. He was also drafted by the Chiefs in the eighth round of the AFL draft. In 2001, he was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.

One of the first two African-American football players at Colorado (with Frank Clarke), Wooten lettered three years as a left guard in Dal Ward's Wing-T/Single-Wing offense, earning All-America honors in 1958 and All Big-Seven in 1956 and 1957. Most known as a 6-foot-2, 230-pound guard who was agile and powerful, he also played tackle on defense.

His impact was immediate. In 1956, he helped the Buffs to an 8-2-1 record and the school's first ever bowl victory -- a 27-21 win in the Orange Bowl. The next year Colorado led the nation in rushing with 322.3 yards per game and they were second in total offense (415.2) -- and a lot of that had to do with the holes Wooten was opening up. Then in 1958, Colorado achieved its first ever Top 10 ranking, climbing to No. 9 nationally after a 5-0 start.

In 1959 he was a fifth-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns, where he went on to play nine seasons, earning All-Pro status, before closing out his career with one season in Washington. He went on to have a decorated career in NFL administration, streamlining programs centered on continuing education and financial planning for players. After working in Dallas, Philadelphia and Baltimore, he retired from the NFL in 2003.

In 1989 he was named as a first-team member of Colorado's All-Century Team. To honor him, the Buffs hand out the John Wooten Award annually, which goes to the team's most improved player.

Steve Bartkowski, owner of one of the great arms in college football history, spent much of his early career at California struggling in the shadows. First, he shared the starting job with Vince Ferragamo for two years. Then, in 1973, he suffered through a miserable season as the starter.

But in 1974 he put it all together.

Bartkowski earned consensus All-American honors and finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy vote after leading the nation in passing with 2,580 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Bears finished 7-3-1 as Bartkowski, despite a shoulder injury, four times topped 300 yards passing.

Bartkowski then became the top overall pick in the 1975 draft, going to the Atlanta Falcons. He still is the only Golden Bear to earn that honor. He played for the Falcons from 1975-1985 and then one season for the Los Angeles Rams (1986).

He earned NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 1975 but knee injuries bogged down his early career. He and the Falcons bounced back in the early 1980s. He led the NFL in touchdown passes in 1980 with 31 and was selected for the Pro Bowl in both 1980 and 1981. He led the Falcons to their first three playoff appearances in 1978, 1980 and 1982. The Falcons won the NFC West Division in 1980, going 12-4 in the regular season.

Bartkowski continues to be the Falcons all-time leader in passing yards with 23,470. His No. 10 jersey has been retired by the franchise.

Before knee injuries slowed him down, Bartkowski was known as an exceptional all-around athlete. He also was an All-American first baseman for the Bears baseball team in 1973.

Another claim to fame: He was the first client of sports agent Leigh Steinberg.

Running back Ty Isaac (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) has committed to USC, picking the Trojans over numerous offers from across the country, including Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.

Isaac is ranked 68th on the ESPN Recruiting top 150. Rivals rates Issac as the No. 18 player in the nation and Scout has him ranked 12th.

Isaac, who could also play linebacker, is a power back at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, but he also has good speed and elusiveness, according to his ESPN evaluation. Last winter, Isaac rushed for 516 yards and six touchdowns in the state championship game. As a junior, he rushed for 2,114 yards -- 11.9 yards per carry -- and scored 45 touchdowns.

Isaac is the Trojans' sixth commitment. They can only sign 15 players due to NCAA sanctions.

Every game counts. But some games count more. Or tell us more.

We're going through the Pac-12 and picking out one game that seems most important -- or potentially most revealing -- for each team from our vantage point today.

We're going in alphabetical order.

Arizona

Most important game: Arizona State, Nov. 23

Why it's important: Arizona-Arizona State, the Territorial Cup, is always important. This is a bitter rivalry, one that -- at least in my opinion -- has more tangible bitterness than most state rivalry games. So the initial response from some will be, "Duh." But this isn't the most important game only because it's a rivalry game. For one, it's the final regular-season game for two programs with new coaches. That means either Arizona's Rich Rodriguez or Arizona State's Todd Graham will conclude his debut regular season by sending his players --- and fans -- into the offseason knowing they own the state. So the winning first-year coach will put himself in good stead with his fans and make a good first impression. The loser? Let's just say his honeymoon will get shorter. The winning fans will get hope. The losers will feel just a bit of doubt about their new coach.

Further, neither of these teams is going to arrive at this game ranked in the top-25. In fact, it's not unreasonable to project that this game could have bowl-eligibility stakes for one or even both teams -- the over-under for wins for both in 2012 is probably six. Just imagine if both enter the game with five wins, which is completely plausible. The loser ends up with a losing record and the winner breaks even goes to a bowl game. And all the state's recruits take note. In the event that one team is doing pretty well (say arriving with seven wins) and the other is not (say four wins), that would leave the option for the struggling team to play spoiler. Or the surging team to use the other as a stepping stone up the Pac-12 pecking order to a quality bowl game. Bottom line: The winner of this game likely will be able to call its season a success. The loser probably won't.

New Pac-12 coaches discuss the pressure to win right away.

New Pac-12 coaches discuss the new perspective of coaching a different team in a different conference.

The job of college football coach has changed so dramatically lately that is the position itself still an enjoyable one?

How much can we really learn from spring? Funky scrimmages with backwards scoring systems; depleted depth charts; completely new installs for four teams. Actually, more than you'd think. Here are five things we learned about the Pac-12 during spring.

1. Quarterbacks are still in limbo: Be it Stanford, Arizona State, UCLA, Oregon or Colorado, almost half of the teams still don’t know who is going to be under center when the season starts. Stanford funneled its list of five down to two, Josh Nunes and Brett Nottingham. ASU still has a three-way battle with Michael Eubank, Mike Bercovici and Taylor Kelly -- though coach Todd Graham said they have a better idea than they are probably letting on publicly. The very private competition between Marcus Mariota and Bryan Bennett at Oregon remains in question -- though Mariota was spectacular in the spring game while Bennett faltered. Still, coach Chip Kelly said that one game isn’t going to be his basis for comparison. UCLA coach Jim Mora wanted to name a starter by the end of spring, but no one has “grabbed” it, so we’ll have to wait until August before learning whether Brett Hundley, Kevin Prince or Richard Brehaut gets the gig. And at Colorado, the competition was put on hiatus when Nick Hirschman broke a bone in his foot and couldn’t compete in spring drills. One has to think that was a huge advantage for Connor Wood to get almost all of the reps with the first-team offense.
2. Not everyone has quarterback issues: Teams thought to have quarterback question marks heading into spring seemed to have resolved them. In Utah, Jordan Wynn is completely healthy, and both coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson have declared Wynn their guy. While Mike Leach hasn’t officially declared Jeff Tuel his starter, it’s hard to imagine anyone else winning the job in the fall, short of Tuel suffering a significant injury or amnesia. He had a splendid spring, and appears to be a great fit for Leach’s offense. And at Arizona, Matt Scott seized the job early and left little room for any competition. Coach Rich Rodriguez has been gushing about how quickly Scott has adjusted to the offense. At Cal, Zach Maynard, once thought to be challenged by freshman Zach Kline, appears to not only have held on to the job, but distanced himself from pursuers.
3. Wide receivers aplenty: And there are plenty of those in the conference. USC has probably the best tandem in the country in Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. Cal’s Keenan Allen (though he missed spring drills) should continue to put up big numbers, and Washington State’s Marquess Wilson should flourish in the Cougars’ new system with Tuel as his quarterback. Markus Wheaton and Brandin Cooks could challenge the USC duo statistically if quarterback Sean Mannion continues to develop. There are stars on the rise at Arizona State (Jamal Miles) and Stanford (Ty Montgomery), and a potential star at Washington (James Johnson). Look out Biletnikoff, the Pac-12 is a comin'…
4. The conference of defense? The Pac-12 might never bunk its reputation as an offensive-centric conference (especially when it keeps churning out offensive talent). But there is a surplus of talented defenses and defensive players who were on display this spring. Washington seems to have plugged its leaks with new defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox. There’s a 3-4 trend sweeping the conference, and with notable playmakers like Star Lotulelei (Utah), John Boyett (Oregon), Dion Jordan (Oregon), Chase Thomas (Stanford), Josh Shirley (Washington), T.J. McDonald (USC) and DeAndre Coleman (Cal), it’s easy to see why some of the Pac-12 defenses will get the same kind of love as the offenses do in 2012.
5. Confidence is at an all-time high: As it should be in the spring. The four new coaches all feel confident about the systems they have installed. Stanford feels as good as it ever has about its running game. USC and Oregon should get lofty preseason rankings, and this is the time of the year when fans go through the schedules game by game and always seem to come up with a minimum of six wins. Sorry to say, there are teams in the conference that won’t make it to a bowl game this season. But when you hear the coaches talk about their teams, you’d think the conference is going to go 12-0 in the postseason. This is a magical time for fans filled with hope and possibility. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Ted Miller takes a look at what should be the biggest games in the Pac-12 in 2012.

Spring practice 2012 is over. Here are some superlatives -- good and bad -- we collected along the way.

Best grounds for quarterback hope: UCLA has struggled at QB since Drew Olson threw 34 TD passes for a 10-2 in 2005. But all three Bruins QBs played well -- really well, in fact -- in the spring game. Richard Brehaut completed 12 of 16 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns. Brett Hundley was 12-of-20 for 185 yards, a score and an interception (he also ran for an 18-yard touchdown) and Kevin Prince was 8-of-11 for 101 yards and two scores.

Worst timing: By closing spring practices completely, Oregon coach Chip Kelly ensured that everyone would make a big deal out of the spring game, and that's just what happened in the QB competition when redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota dramatically outplayed Bryan Bennett, who was widely viewed as the decided frontrunner to win the job. Mariota completed 18 of 26 (69.2 percent) for 202 yards and one touchdown with an interception. He also scored TDs on runs of 14 and 82 yards. Bennett completed 19 of 32 (59.4 percent) for 209 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions. He rushed for 27 yards on 18 carries and was sacked three times.

Best position move: Washington State DE Travis Long to the "buck" linebacker is going to play huge dividends for Mike Breske. He was on the verge of being an A-list defensive end last season in the 4-3 defense. But with a switch to the 3-4, this hybrid DE/OLB position will allow the full range of his athleticism to come out.

Best position move II: Utah's Thretton Palamo, a former rugby star who moved to defensive end from running back this spring, and had two sacks and four tackles for losses in three spring scrimmages. He'll help the Utes on the edge rushing the passer.

Best spring performance: Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel lit it up -- opening the game by completing his first 15 passes before finishing the day 19 of 21 for 285 yards and two touchdowns. One of those was an 84-yarder to Marquess Wilson, who had four catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

Worst news: Too many arrests this off season. Too many guys driving fast, driving under the influence, taking swings at bouncers and going back to parties to get into another fight. It hurts the credibility of their teams and the conference. Stupid is as stupid does.

Best hint of a good QB future: California's touted true freshman QB Zach Kline found Spencer Hagan on a 40-yard touchdown pass and then connected on a 2-point conversion pass to give the Gold squad its winning margin in the Bears' spring game.

Best/worst moment of a coach getting angry: We saw some screamers this spring. Heard a couple of naughty words. But it's not often we see Oregon State coach Mike Riley let loose a verbal tirade like he did when he dropped a "J.C." bomb on tight end Colby Prince, declaring: "Jiminy Christmas, do you need me to spell it out!?" It's about time OSU starts posting PG warnings outside the practice field so fans know what they are walking into.

Worst injury: Colorado losing wide receiver Paul Richardson for the season is an absolute back-breaker. There might be other guys who step up -- but Richardson was a proven playmaker on a team desperate for them. He would have made life a lot easier for whoever wins the starting job. Whatever football god shuffles the deck, he keeps dealing out 2-7 to Jon Embree & Co.

Worst injury II: Tre Madden was a revelation most of spring after converting from linebacker to running back. The 220-pounder not only looked like a good No. 3 back and a power option, he was pushing to be Curtis McNeal's backup. But then he blew out his knee and was lost for the season.

Best new marriage: Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez tried to be mostly grumpy about his team this spring -- not without justification -- but he clearly knows he's got a potentially great fit for his offense with QB Matt Scott. In one scrimmage, Scott, a good runner, completed 22 of 35 passes for 315 yards with four TDs. Said Rodriguez afterwards: “I shouldn’t expect too much with the first year in the system, but with Matt Scott I’m going to expect a lot. And I think Matt can deliver.”

Best backfield no one is talking about: When senior James Morrison rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown in Arizona State's spring game, it showed how deep the Sun Devils' backfield is, particularly if Deantre Lewis comes back 100 percent after missing last season with a gun shot wound. Start with starter Cameron Marshall, an NFL prospect. Then, besides Morrison and Lewis, there's Kyle Middlebrooks and hybrid WR/RB Jamal Miles. Then there are the touted incoming guys: JC transfer Marion Grice and true freshman D.J. Foster. Now will the offensive line be able to open holes for those guys?

Best harrumph of the spring: Stanford coach David Shaw on his QB competition after the spring game: "I don't care what the numbers say, (the quarterbacks) didn't play well enough for us to win."

Best chance for dramatic improvement: Washington's 2011 defense, which yielded 67 points in the Alamo Bowl loss to Baylor, might have been the worst unit in school history. Exit Nick Holt and enter new coordinator Justin Wilcox, an expensive pickup from Tennessee. The early returns this spring were promising both in terms of scheme -- more 3-4 looks -- and personnel. In fact, the defense seemed to win more battles versus QB Keith Price and the offense than it lost. Said coach Steve Sarkisian, "It's been pretty cool [to watch]. And by no means do I think it was manufactured. The defense is winning these plays."

So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains
Where the spirits go now,
Over the hills where the spirits fly, ooh.
I really don't know.

• Rich Rodriguez gets creative with recruiting: Arizona's Most Wanted!
• An ESPN analyst is high on Arizona State coach Todd Graham.
• Should California drop football?
• It appears Colorado is close to getting an experienced QB transfer.
• Expect former Oregon RB LaMichael James to have an instant impact in San Francisco.
• Oregon State football players participated in track over the weekend.
• What does UCLA assistant Angus McClure have to say?
• What did we learn about USC's LBs this spring?
• Former Utah QB Alex Smith looks for help in a creative way.
• Former Washington RB Chris Polk doesn't have a shoulder problem. Or a chip on it.
• Washington State coach Mike Leach went bear hunting. That is all.

Kevin Gemmell says the tight ends are a position group on the rise in the Pac-12 this year.