ESPN College Football

Everybody get my Christmas list?

To the notes.

JT from New York writes: Do you think the success of Utah, Cincinnati, Boise, and Oregon, and the fall of USC, Georgia, and Notre Dame, will put a damper on the star system for recruits and the overall ranking of recruiting classes? Seems that the emphasis placed on the incoming guys becomes less and less relevant (or relates less to success) every year given the season ending outcomes.

Ted Miller: Short answer: No.

Folks love reading about recruiting. They love ratings. They love the whole thing, even when they are complaining about it.

Any responsible recruiting guru will tell you that the "star system" is an inexact science, but measuring things in shades of gray is part of college football -- see the national polls and BCS system as a whole.

I also don't know if the recruiting rankings look that much different than the final polls. If you go here, you see a lot of Alabama, Texas, Florida, USC and other national powers.

If you're asking why schools that typically don't rank highly in recruiting seem to end up scattered throughout the national polls annually, there are a handful of explanations.

Evaluation: Some staffs are particularly good at projecting how a high school senior might develop physically over the next few years. They also seem to see the inner football player. Oregon State's Mike Riley would be a good example, as would Arizona's Mike Stoops.

Development: A good strength and conditioning program is critical, and nutritional guidance is often underrated. On the field, it's about assistant coaches who are superior teachers of fundamentals and technique. Often less highly rated guys take coaching better, too.

Coaching: A well-coached team can make up for talent deficiencies by outsmarting its opponent. I'd throw Brian Kelly and Chris Petersen into that pool and I suspect you could add Chip Kelly, though he's been a head coach for just one year. Those guys strike me as schematic savants. But coaching isn't just a big brain. It's also motivating and unifying a locker room. Again, that's Riley and also Jim Harbaugh and, though he's also a newbie, Washington's Steve Sarkisian.

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Kai from Castro Valley, Calif., writes: The new thing in college football is to leave high school early and join college spring camp. What are your thoughts? Good or Bad decision?

Ted Miller: It's not really a new thing. I recall back in 1991 being among the throng who couldn't wait for super-recruit Eric Zeier, the pride of Marietta (Ga.) High School, to win the starting quarterback job of Georgia. But it seems like early-entry -- some call it "greenshirting" -- really became more popular over the past five or six years.

The reason players opt for early-entry is simple: They want to get their career started and showing up early might help them play sooner.

Quarterbacks, particularly, seem to want to get a head start with the playbook and coaching -- see Philip Rivers, John David Booty (who skipped his entire senior year of high school), Tim Tebow, Matthew Stafford, Matt Barkley, Richard Brehaut, etc.

The oft-cited downside: What about enjoying your senior year of high school? Why skip a step growing up?

That's not invalid, though it might be a tad sentimental.

To me it comes down to this: What's right for the young man and his family?

If a player is that focused on football and getting his career started, then there's no reason for him to spend his final months of high school trying to figure out when everybody's parents are going out of town so they can throw a righteous house party.

Also, there are a number of advantages for the student-athlete: He gets more bang for his buck on scholarship -- it's a free semester. And it also gives a young man a chance test drive the school and program before he gets lost in a crowd of 25 or so incoming players.

This is a nice story on the topic by the LA Times' David Wharton.

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Mike from Seattle writes: After reading your post on the pac-10 quarterbacks returning next year I found myself wondering who is the deepest?

Ted Miller: That's tough to evaluate, but here are the backup situations (class standing is for 2010).

Arizona: Junior Matt Scott. He started three games last year, so he's not completely green.

Arizona State: Both junior Samson Szakacsy and sophomore Brock Osweiler saw significant playing time in 2009. Michigan transfer Steven Threat, a junior, started eight games in 2008. One of those three will start.

California: Neither sophomore Beau Sweeney nor junior Brock Mansion have seen significant action.

Oregon: Senior Nate Costa and sophomore Darron Thomas are a solid tandem with some game experience.

Oregon State: Sophomore Ryan Katz and junior Peter Lalich will compete to replace Sean Canfield this spring.

Stanford: Redshirt freshmen Josh Nunes and Robbie Picazo will be very green behind Andrew Luck.

UCLA: Sophomores Richard Brehaut and Nick Crissman will start spring behind sophomore Kevin Prince on the depth chart. Brehaut threw 17 passes in 2009, Crissman two.

USC: Junior Aaron Corp and senior Mitch Mustain will backup sophomore Matt Barkley, unless one opts to transfer.

Washington: Junior Ronnie Fouch stepped in for an injured Jake Locker in 2008, though things didn't go well. Redshirt freshman Keith Price and incoming freshman Nick Montana also are in the mix.

Washington State: Junior Marshall Lobbestael figures to be sophomore Jeff Tuel's primary backup.

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Kevin from Fullerton, Calif., writes: What do you think about the Beavs playing TCU next year along with Louisville and at BSU? Yikes! Not a great schedule for starting fast. I'm excited because those are all great games, but I'm just not confident the Beavs can win big, early OOC games.

Ted Miller: It's great that Oregon State is giving college football fans games that they can get excited about. Both Boise State and TCU probably will start out next year ranked in the top-10, and Oregon State also figures to be ranked in the preseason, perhaps even in the top-15.

Now, we all know that Oregon State has started slowly in recent years, but the 2010 squad will be veteran at just about every position other than quarterback. So the Beavers may be more in sync early.

Win these games, and the Beavers could launch a special season. And, even if they lose, they will have plenty of ranked teams in the Pac-10 they can crawl over as they make their typical late-season run back into the national polls.

Still, it's a brutal slate, particularly playing TCU in Texas and Boise on the blue turf. And some folks still will sniff over TCU and Boise State not being BCS conference teams, no matter where they are ranked. Losing to, say, a 15th-ranked Penn State squad still doesn't carry as much downside as losing to a No. 6 Boise State team.

Please, that's not my idea. Just the way it is.

If I were the Oregon State athletic director, I wouldn't have scheduled these games. If I were an AD, I'd always go with an A, B, C scheduling philosophy, with "A" being a marquee game with a BCS conference foe, a "B" game vs. a solid team -- not a Boise State or TCU -- and always at home and a "C" game with a patsy.

Still, it's hard to raise too much hell about matching up against two ranked programs during the early-season. I can't wait to watch both those games.

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Aaron from "SEC country" writes: Maybe the Pac-10 is generally the #1 conference. When you look at the map, they should be! Where the SEC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12 and ACC - 55 of the 65 AQ schools - are all either contiguous or co-located and must compete with each other for players and exposure, other than outlier Colorado the Pac-10 is the only game in town west of Texas.Example: the SEC. 4 of 9 SEC states are shared with ACC and Big East schools (i.e. Florida, which has 2 ACC schools and a Big East school). The SEC East borders ACC and Big East country to the north and east and Big 10 country to the north. The SEC West borders the Big 12 and Big 10 to the north and west. So, programs like Miami, FSU, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Louisville, Missouri and Cincinnati compete directly with the SEC for players, coaches and media attention. Whatever obstacles the Pac-10 has, that sort of direct competition is not among them!Meanwhile, the Pac-10 has a whole 1/4 of the country to itself! So, the question must be asked: isn't the Pac-10 doing a better job of exploiting this clear advantage?

Ted Miller: Maybe.

First, I would direct you to this map of U.S. population density.

Second, I think some of the Pac-10 blog readers would say, "You had me at your first sentence."

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Lining up this week's action.

No. 6 California (3-0) at Oregon (2-1)

Cal won 26-16 last year. ... The Bears lead the all-time series 39-30-2. ... California owns the Pac-10's longest winning streak at six games. ... Oregon owns the longest winning streak in conference games at three games. ... Cal has won three in a row in the series. ... The Ducks have faced three ranked teams in their first four games. ... Bears running back Jahvid Best scored five rushing TDs against Minnesota, tying the Pac-10's single-game record, and he has seven consecutive games with at least 100 yards rushing. ... The Ducks ended Utah's 16-game winning streak on Saturday. The Utes entered the game averaging 509 yards per game, but the Ducks held them to 297 total yards. ... Cal QB Kevin Riley has throw five TD passes with no interceptions. ... Oregon CB Walter Thurmond has scored TDs this year on a punt return and interception return. ... Cal ranks second in the Pac-10 in run defense (63.3 yards per game). ... Oregon ranks last in the Pac-10 in passing and total offense.

Arizona State (2-0) at Georgia (2-1)

Georgia leads the series 1-0, winning last year at Arizona State 27-10. ... Georgia outgained the Sun Devils 461 yards to 212 last year. ... The Bulldogs had to replace quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno, who both were first-round NFL draft picks in the spring, with Stafford going No. 1 overall. ... Arizona State has given up just two touchdowns and 17 points in its first two games. ... The Bulldogs had just 257 total yards in their opening loss at Oklahoma State. They had 530 yards Saturday in their win over Arkansas. ... The Sun Devils haven't lost a turnover this season, while picking off six passes.

Arizona (2-1) at Oregon State (2-1)

Oregon State won 19-17 last year. ... The Wildcats lead the all-time series 20-11-1. ... In last year's game, Oregon State kicker Justin Kahut made a 24-yard field goal as time expired to earn the Beavers the road win. ... Quarterback Sean Canfield made his second-consecutive start for the injured Lyle Moevao in that game. Canfield will start against the Wildcats Saturday. ... Arizona announced that Nick Foles will start at quarterback. Matt Scott started the first three games. ... The Wildcats also announced that tight end Rob Gronkowski will have back surgery this week and is out for the season. ... Beavers junior receiver James Rodgers has become just the second player in program history to combine more than 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. ... Wildcats running back Nic Grigsby is sixth in the nation and second in the Pac-10 with 133.33 yards rushing per game. ... Oregon State has lost only one turnover in three games.

No. 24 Washington (2-1, 1-0)) at Stanford (2-1, 1-0)

Stanford won 35-28 last year. ... Washington leads the all-time series 40-35-4. ... Washington's defense didn't allow USC to convert on 10 third-down opportunities in Saturday's 16-13 Huskies upset win. ... Stanford''s sophomore defensive end Tom Keiser had three sacks against San Jose State and he's tied for first in the conference with four sacks and ranks first with six tackles for a loss. ... Huskies quarterback Jake Locker has the most pass attempts in the conference this year -- 105 [Edit note: This total was changed from 63, the number of completions Locker has] -- but he has only thrown one interception. His five TD passes is tied for No. 1 in the conference. ... Locker suffered a season-ending thumb injury while trying to throw a block in last year's game at Husky Stadium. ... Stanford has scored first in every game this year. ... The Huskies are third in the nation in third-down conversion percentage (60.42 percent). ... Stanford's Chris Owusu ranks No. 1 in the nation in kickoff returns. He's averaging 52.8 yards per return and has taken two back for touchdowns, which no one else in the nation has done.

Washington State (1-2, 0-1) at No. 12 USC (2-1, 0-1)

USC won 69-0 last year. ... USC leads the series 56-8-4. ... In last year's game, the Trojans outgained the Cougars 625 yards to 116. The Cougars only had four first downs vs. 28 for USC. ... USC free safety Taylor Mays sat out of the Washington game, ending a string of 40 consecutive starts. It was the first game he's missed in his entire USC career. He is expected to play Saturday. ... Washington State overcame a 17-0 deficit to beat SMU 30-27 in overtime last weekend. ... The Trojans rank first in the conference in run defense, with opponents averaging just 1.6 yards per rush. The Trojans also haven't yielded a TD pass. ... Washington State is ranked last in the Pac-10 in scoring offense and defense, rushing offense and defense, pass defense and total defense. ... Cougars punter Reid Forrest leads the Pac-10 in punting with a 45.5-yard average.

UCLA is off. It plays at Stanford on Oct. 3.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Ladies and gentlemen of SportsNation, I'm just a Pac-10 blogger. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes when I get notes in my mailbag, I wonder: 'Did little demons get inside and type them?' I don't know! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts. But there is one thing I do know: When you participate in a SportsNation poll on the Pac-10, I'm going to comment on it, particularly after doing a Pac-10 spring wrap-up.

Five questions, your take (so far). And mine.

Which team will challenge USC for the Pac-10 title? (6,117 votes)

• Arizona 7 percent
• Arizona State 13 percent
• California 26 percent
• Oregon 38 percent
• Oregon State 17 percent

My take: Disagree

My guess is your vote reflects the difference at quarterback between Oregon and California. The Ducks have Jeremiah Masoli, who runs over hapless defenders and leads an offense that often seemed unstoppable last year. The Bears have Kevin Riley, who can't seem to convince Jeff Tedford he's the man to run the Bears' offense. Fair enough. But after that, Cal has far fewer questions than the Ducks, particularly on both lines. That's why I'm not just seeing the Bears as a challenger to USC. I'm still contemplating whether they might deserve to be picked to win the whole chimichanga.

Who will be the starting quarterback for USC at the end of the season? (5,385 votes)

• Matt Barkley 51 percent
• Aaron Corp 49 percent

My take: Disagree

Disclaimer: I didn't get to go to USC's spring practices this year, so I didn't get mesmerized by Barkley's 'Matt Stafford Who?' arm. What I do know is Corp has two HUGE advantages: 1. he doesn't make mistakes -- see just one interception all of spring; 2. he's fast. Not just quarterback fast -- fast, fast. I'm imagining that ability to 1. avoid bad plays; 2. turn bad plays into good plays (any USC fans recall a fella by the name of Vince Young?) will earn Corp the job.

Which team is more improved from last season? (5,448 votes)

• Washington 70 percent
• Washington State 30 percent

My take: Agree

Washington had better players than the Cougars last year and the Huskies get just about everyone back, including quarterback Jake Locker and linebacker E.J. Savannah, who were injured and suspended, respectively. Meanwhile, the Cougars lost a lot of guys, including some of their best players, such as receiver Brandon Gibson, linebacker Greg Trent, tight end Devin Frischknecht, etc. WSU won the Apple Cup because it played with more heart and focus, while Washington's players were too busy rolling their eyes at Tyrone Willingham. New coach Steve Sarkisian will inject some spirit into the Huskies, and that, plus the best talent an 0-12 team ever welcomed back the following season, should bolster the Huskies' W-L ledger.

Who will start at quarterback for Oregon State? (4,839 votes)

• Sean Canfield 40 percent
• Lyle Moevao 60 percent

My take: Disagree

Hey, don't just take my word for it. Paul Buker, who knows all things Beaver, chided the Pac-10 blog for describing Canfield's lead as "slight." And the Pac-10 blog probably deserved it. Canfield has always been the more talented passer. Moevao was the scrapper with great leadership skills. It seems that Canfield learned a lot watching Moevao work the huddle and his teammates. Moreover, Moevao is coming back with a surgically repaired shoulder. Canfield can tell him that isn't always easy to do (see last year).

Which team has the conference's best rushing attack? (5,305 votes)

• California 27 percent
• Oregon State 24 percent
• USC 49 percent

My take: Disagree

Gosh. Er. Hello. Yeah ... Oregon fans, feel free to slap your foreheads here.

Yes, Oregon, which ranked No. 2 in the nation in rushing last year (280 yards per game) and No. 6 last year (252 yards per game) -- No. 1 both years in the Pac-10 by wide margins, of course -- is not listed.

So, yeah, I disagree. Oregon has the conference's best rushing attack.

Still, heading into 2009, it will be interesting to see if the Ducks will again run as well with a rebuilt offensive line. With the Beavers also working on issues up front, USC and California may end up pushing the Ducks for the rushing title.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

All you can do is pray for a quick link, which you aren't going to get.

• Lots of names in the mix as Arizona State starts spring practices Tuesday -- even at quarterback -- and that's the way coach Dennis Erickson wants it.
• A look at the USC offensive line, which should be one of the best units in the nation.
• Matthew Stafford posted a better Wonderlic than Mark Sanchez, and Rey Maualuga didn't exactly knock his out of the park. 
• The No. 8 player for Washington is a blast from the past who's back. And guess who's got a blog! Following in the footsteps of his mentor, Pete Carroll, Steve Sarkisian promises to give you an inside look at Huskies football.
• Washington State suffered through a lot of injuries last year -- "at least 25 surgeries from the Hawaii game to the first of the year, not including major ones during last season," according to the Spokesman-Review. That's going to carry over to spring practices. 

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

I worked on this longer than Carl Smith was USC's quarterbacks coach.

Drew from Los Altos, Calif., writes: Ted, I was looking at a CBS college sports early bird polls and it had Oregon 6th. This isn't the first time I've seen Oregon get this much credit. Why is this? They lose a starting RB, (they do get Blount back however) all the Offensive lineman, 2 wr's, a DE, DT, LB, and 3 Dbacks. To me, that doesn't make too much sense. I think Oregon will be good, no doubt. But 6th, I don't know about that. Your thoughts?

Ted Miller: My guess is that Dennis Dodd is showing respect for Oregon and the Pac-10. He also probably was charmed by Jeremiah Masoli's dynamic play at season's end and the way Chip Kelly runs an offense. Sixth? Maybe a little high, but Dodd's got a couple of teams ranked higher than that I think the Ducks would brick.

I think Oregon joins USC and California as a potential top-10 team next fall.

And, of course, Oregon State. Let us not forget the Beavers.

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Ryan from Atherton, Calif., writes: How do you think [tight end Cameron] Morrah's departure will impact the Bears this season? Who do think will be the starting tight end next year? With Morrah gone, who do you suppose will be the go-to-guy on crucial passing plays? Also, will Cal's lack of a proven tight end significantly effect their chances of making a run at the pac-10 title in 2009?

Ted Miller: He led the Bears with eight touchdown receptions and was the second-leading receiver, so it's a hit. But the receiving corps, which was lackluster due to inexperience, injuries and inconsistency at quarterback in 2008, should be a lot better next year.

At tight end, I'm guessing Tad Smith will step in. He's far more physical player than Morrah. And sophomore Anthony Miller caught the winning touchdown pass against Miami in the Emerald Bowl, so he appears ready to step up.

Go-to guy? My feeling is Cal's strength will be having three or four capable receivers, not one who gets most of the touches.

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Bob from Corvallis, Ore., writes: First off I'm an OSU fan not a USC fan but here goes... why is there such a backlash against [USC coach Pete Carroll] when he feels it better for his player to stick around for a year? ... Mark Sanchez isn't ready. Granted he looked great against PSU. But don't you think Carroll knows his players a bit more than the sensationalist media? Sanchez is very good. But not THAT good. He didn't carry his team like Ryan did at BC. He had great athletes around him. What happens when that all goes away? I think Sanchez could be another potential draft bust. And for some teams, that could be catastrophic. Who can blame the young man for taking his money and leaping to the NFL? I certainly would even in USC's system where backups can even start in the NFL. But I can't understand the dogging that Carroll is getting for seriously believing that the best thing for his player would be to wait another year

Ted Miller: Carroll deserves some heat. He didn't need to make his frustration, however valid, the star of the afternoon. That was supposed to be Sanchez, his player, who'd just won him another Rose Bowl.

I also think Sanchez would have benefited from another year. I think, with further seasoning and after a big year with a loaded offense, he would have ended up the first quarterback taken in 2010, over that duo from the Big 12. (Quick: Name all the Big 12 quarterbacks in the NFL. 'Nuff said).

But I also wonder if he'll end up the first quarterback taken this year. Georgia's Matt Stafford has two significant advantages on Sanchez -- arm strength and experience. Sanchez is better in most other areas, however, and, unlike Stafford, he worked in a complex, pro-style system.

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Gary from Sacramento writes: Ted, While Byrd and Thurmond are certainly good, I wouldn't take any set of returning corners over Thompson and Hagan at Cal. You might consider adding "arguably" before the words "the best returning cornerback tandem."

Ted Miller: How about this: Cal now -- inarguably -- has a better set of cornerbacks heading into 2009.

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Britton from Chicago writes: Who will USC's starting QB next year be? Mitch Mustain?

Ted Miller: At this point, the favorite is probably Aaron Corp.

Mustain has tantalizing talent. But he has been unable to stop forcing throws into places they don't belong. I remember watching some USC practices, and Mustain would look great up until the point that he threw an interception in the red zone because he couldn't stomach not trying to make a spectacular play.

Corp also has great speed, which is nice.

I am eager, however, to watch this one unfold this spring.

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Michael from Alameda, Calif., writes: With all of this drama with Harbaugh, do you think this will be a bit of distraction to potential recruits and also potentially a bit of weird feeling between him and this players this season? Somehow I feel I can't trust him though he says he's 100% committed to Stanford. Oh and where do you see Stanford at next season?

Ted Miller: Yes, it is a distraction and recruits can't help but wonder if Harbaugh will be off to the NFL within a couple of years.

Of course, that's the situation with many teams. And there are reasons to go to Stanford other than Harbaugh. You know, like it being the premier academic institution playing in a BCS conference.

Next year? Stanford will finish in the middle of the Pac-10 pack but it will qualify for its first bowl game since 2001.

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Adam from Oregon writes: Ted, i was wondering if you would be willing to apologize to us for having to listen to Sweatervested1 trash our conference? During the season he called our conference names like; Lac-9, Crap-10, Big sky West and Pac-1. He would also refer to USC as USCum Even in his question to you he trashed our conference. Most of us Pac-10 bloggers feel that Sweatervested1 rightly deserves what he got, so what do you think? Ive also noticed that since the end of the season, that more and more SEC people are on here, could you tell me why the SEC bloggers feel the need to come to our blog?

Ted Miller: The Pac-10 blog has only love for our SEC friends, particularly Sweatervested1 who's been having a tough go of it since the Sugar Bowl.

As for all the fans of other conferences hanging out on the Pac-10 blog, well, that's the price of being where the hip crowd gathers.

Be amused by the give and take. It's fun.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

With the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft looming Thursday, USC quarterback Mark Sanchez might have received a push out the door from an unlikely place.

With reports now emerging that Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, the Heisman Trophy winner, will return for his junior season, it appears that Sanchez would be well-positioned for a first-round selection.

In fact, it likely would come down to Sanchez vs. Georgia's Matthew Stafford to be the first quarterback selected.

The LA Daily News reported Wednesday morning before Bradford's announcement that Sanchez was leaning toward entering the draft.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

TEMPE, Ariz. -- It's not the Two Stooges and it's not the Two Blind Mice and everyone knows that three -- not two -- is the magic number.

So it probably bodes well for Georgia that its talented offensive duo of Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno appears to have found a third big Dawg with which to attack defenses.

"Want to ask about A.J. Green?" Georgia coach Mark Richt queried reporters a few moments into his post-game comments.

	Chris Morrison/US Presswire
	The combination of true freshman receiver A.J. Green and junior QB Matthew Stafford is working wonders for the Bulldogs.

Green, a true freshman, hauled in eight passes for 159 yards with a TD in the third-ranked Bulldogs 27-10 beatdown of Arizona State.

Those numbers eclipsed his totals from the previous three games, and announced that Georgia has a new weapon as it begins its SEC schedule next Saturday against Alabama.

What did it mean for Green to slice and dice the Sun Devils coverage and become the Bulldogs first receiver to have more than 100 yards receiving since 2006 and post the team's best tally since 2004?

Well, Stafford, maybe the most physically talented QB in the nation, threw for a career-high 285 yards.

"Y'all [can] say it's a breakout game, but I just try to make plays every game," Green said.

Green, 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, did almost all his damage in the first half, catching seven passes for 150 yards before the break. Richt said that Green exploited soft, man-to-man coverage on the wide side of the field.

"We definitely wanted to make sure we kept it coming his way," Richt said. "He basically changed the game for us."

Added Stafford, "He was alone out there a lot and it's a good matchup."

Arizona State quieted Green in the second half by rolling coverage toward him with extra safety help. But the damage was done.

"My guess is the next team will have a better plan," Richt said.

That might be true, but extra attention for Green means an opposing defense won't be able to focus its efforts on Moreno. And wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, no slouch himself, figures to find the going easier.

Green's teammates didn't seem terribly surprised by Green's evening. He's shown flashes in previous games, but he'd already raised more than a few impressed eyebrows in practices.

"What you saw today was what I think a lot of the team was waiting for to come out," cornerback Asher Allen said. "He most definitely changed the game today."

The Bulldogs defenders seemed to take particular relish in the youngster's breakthrough. Perhaps they enjoyed watching an opposing defense look bad trying to contain the Parade All-American from Summerville, S.C.

"He makes crazy catches no matter how bad the pass is," linebacker Rennie Curran said.

That translates to: Green can increase Stafford's margin for error.

Consider the Bulldogs touchdown drive that gave them a 21-3 lead right before the half. The 5-play, 70-yard drive featured passes of 23, 31 and 14 yards to Green, the final one for the score on third-and-8.

It was basically Stafford and Green effortlessly playing pitch and catch.

"He's a special player," Stafford said. "You can see it in practice. We knew he had to get a couple of touches."

Now, with Alabama coming to town with its freshman phenom receiver, Julio Jones, the big question is: Who's the best freshman wide receiver in the SEC?

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

TEMPE, Ariz. -- No early explosion for either team. Both seem to be feeling each other out. That would seem to favor Arizona State, which needs to believe it can keep up with Georgia.

But Georgia's offense found its rhythm on the final possession of the quarter, driving from its 9-yard line to a first-and-goal on the Sun Devils 8-yard-line as quarter ends.

Early returns on the Arizona State running game: Struggling.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

TEMPE, Ariz. -- About the only thing that favors Arizona State tonight against No. 3 Georgia is the temperature, which stands at 99 degrees an hour before kickoff.

Not that it's difficult to imagine how the Sun Devils might beat the Bulldogs.

1. ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter picks apart a fair-to-middling Georgia secondary.

2. Georgia's young offensive line makes enough mistakes that quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno never establish their rhythm.

3. The Bulldogs give up a bunch of turnovers. The Sun Devils do not.

4. This is college football. Anything can happen.

But, if you watched UNLV mount an 18-play, 88-yard drive and a 10-play, 73-yard drive to force overtime in Sun Devil Stadium, it's hard to imagine that Moreno and Stafford won't be able to consistently make plays, even though ASU gets linebackers Gerald Munns and Morris Wooten and defensive end Jamarr Robinson back.

On the other side of the ball, if the Sun Devils can't run against UNLV, then how can they be expected to run against an SEC defense?

And if Carpenter is forced to pass just about every play, how can the questionable offensive line protect him against an athletic front with its ears pinned back?

As for the heat: This isn't Colorado coming to Tempe. The Bulldogs are used to the heat and humidity of the deep South. They won't lose because they're sweating.

Moreover, the Bulldogs are expecting 10,000 fans -- maybe as many as 15,000, according to some estimates -- to show up to support their beloved Dawgs.

And it's not like, in any event, that UGA is unfamiliar with hostile stadiums. They are 26-4 on the road under coach Mark Richt and are 9-2 vs. ranked teams.

This is college football. Anything can happen.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The overwhelming focus on the West Coast concerning No. 3 Georgia's visit to Arizona State on Saturday will be the super-vicious SEC defense -- insert "Grrrrrr" here -- vs. Sun Devils QB Rudy Carpenter.That's not unreasonable.

But let's pause for a moment and politely, respectfully and with humble purpose engage in a bit more discussion on the topic.

Georgia's offense struggled last week at South Carolina, particularly its young offensive line. It gained just 252 yards and surrendered four sacks.

The explanation provided by just about every source, from the players to the coaches to the media?

The Bulldogs had to play against a super-vicious SEC defense."

[The offensive line] went up probably one of the best defenses in the country last week," Georgia QB Matthew Stafford said.

Hmm.

The Gamecocks did shutout NC State to open the season. But the Wolfpack haven't scored an offensive TD in their last three games against FBS competition.

From ESPN.com's crack research department: "[NC State] scored late in the third quarter against Wake Forest on Nov. 17, 2007, and since then, the Wolfpack have run 208 offensive plays versus Wake, Maryland, South Carolina and Clemson without reaching the end zone.  They've punted 21 times and turned the ball over 9 times during that span.

Now South Carolina did put up a doughty effort in a 24-17 loss to ... er ... Vanderbilt.  But should allowing four yards per rush to a team that ranks 118th in the nation in passing earn a defense a rose between its teeth?

The Gamecocks did welcome back 10 starters from its 2007 defense, but it's a crew that gave up 209 yards rushing per game (110th in the nation), tied Temple, SMU, Louisiana-Monroe, Rice and Iowa State for 88th in the nation with 20 sacks and gave up an average of 41 points the final three games of the season (And, yes, to be fair, there were a few injuries, including to LB Jasper Brinkley in Week 4, but -- come on! -- those numbers just aren't very good).

This isn't about picking on South Carolina, though.How about Auburn's defense in a 3-2 victory over Mississippi State?

Well, Mississippi State only scored 14 points in a loss to Louisiana Tech ... and rushed for only 91 yards. 

Are we sure we didn't just see two incompetent offenses? Wipe off those Foster Grants and check again.

Tennessee's defense got shredded in the second half by UCLA, which got shut out at BYU.

Arkansas gave up 24 and 27 points to Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe.

Ole Miss gave up 54 points in its first two games before holding its third opponent to 10 -- that would be FCS team Samford.

LSU might have a great defense, but the Tigers aren't allowed to even enter the discussion with their very soft nonconference schedule -- thus far, Appalachian State and North Texas, which had lost by 39 and 30 points to Kansas State and Tulsa before losing by 38 to LSU.

Florida's defense is loaded with talent, no doubt. And it held Hawaii to 241 total yards. Of course, 1-2 Oregon State held Hawaii to 211 yards

Alabama's defense? Well, dadgumit, the Tide look really good to me against Clemson, so I can't think of anything snappy to say.

As ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel pointed out this week: Eight SEC teams are in the top 30 in total defense.

But how many elite offenses have SEC teams faced so far? Check out the schedule. I'll wait here.

And it's not like those SEC defenses will face elite offenses in conference play, as Ivan also pointed out, "Four SEC teams rank among the top 50 in total offense, and only four rank among the top 59 in passing efficiency."

Now what can be said about SEC defenses when they've encountered Pac-10 offenses in the recent past? Let's take a look.

2004
LSU 22, Oregon State 21: This game is remembered as the one when Oregon State mostly controlled the action but was done in by three missed extra points. The Beavers outgained LSU 315-302. That Tigers defense went on to rank third in the nation (257 ypg).

2005
LSU 35, Arizona State 31: This game was rescheduled from an LSU home game to Arizona State because of Hurricane Katrina. Arizona State outgained the Tigers 560-434, but lost the game because LSU converted a blocked field goal and blocked punt into TDs and LSU QB JaMarcus Russell led a brilliant TD drive in the waning moments.That LSU defense also finished ranked No. 3 in the nation (267 ypg).

Folks down in Baton Rouge often excuse this defensive performance because of Katrina. The problem with the theory is that the LSU players and coaches -- before and after the game -- said that had nothing to do with it.

2005
USC 70, Arkansas 17: USC gained 736 yards against the overmatched Razorbacks. But things got better for the Arkansas D once SEC play started, and the unit ended up ranked 34th in the nation (342 ypg).

2006
USC 50, Arkansas 14: The Razorbacks spent the entire summer talking about revenge. They just missed getting it by 36 points, but they did hold USC to 472 yar
ds. Of course, the Razorbacks overcame 88 points worth of Trojan butt kicking over two seasons to win the SEC West, and their defense finished the season yielding just 299.64 yards per game.

2007
California 45, Tennessee 31: The Bears outgained the Vols 471-382. Now, it's fair to say this was not a great Tennessee defense, but Cal did gain 68 more yards than the Vols' season average.

(And, yes, LSU fans, I'm ignoring the Tigers twin decimations of Arizona -- just like I'm leaving out Oregon's sweep of Mississippi State -- because we're not looking at games against one or the other conference's bottom-feeders).

Now, Georgia has a good defense, no doubt. Any NFL scout will tell you so.

And Arizona State, like Georgia, is inexperienced on the offensive line (and those inexperienced players aren't as talented as Georgia's line).

So the Bulldogs may -- finally -- show the Sun Devils and the Pac-10 what this "SEC defenses rule!" barking is all about by making life miserable for Rudy Carpenter.

But -- and we mean this with all due respect -- folks out West have heard plenty of the talking.

We just ain't seen much of the walking.

Harry How/Getty Images	Jason Parkhurst/US Presswire
Saturday's Arizona State-Georgia matchup should be a great quarterback duel between Rudy Carpenter and Matthew Stafford.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State QB Rudy Carpenter is a fun guy to interview because he doesn't just spit back rote answers. And if he doesn't like a question, he's incapable of hiding his annoyance.

For example: Rudy, looking at film of No. 3 Georgia, which visits Sun Devil Stadium Saturday, did anything stand out, did they look different than other Pac-10 teams -- faster or bigger or stronger?

"They looked like guys," Carpenter said. "They looked like guys in uniforms."

Fair enough. But surely a senior quarterback as accomplished as Carpenter -- he's made 34 consecutive starts and will surpass 9,000 career passing yards against the Bulldogs -- gets juiced when the opposing quarterback is as celebrated as Georgia junior Matthew Stafford, who might end up being the first quarterback taken this spring if he enters the NFL draft a year early?

"I don't get any juice from knowing he's the No. 1-rated quarterback in the country," Carpenter said. "I get juiced from the fact we have a good team and we're playing Georgia on ESPN. ... I don't care about Matthew Stafford. He's a good player. The No. 1 draft pick? Great. I don't care."

Hmm.

If Carpenter seems a bit testy, he's got good reason. His team fell asleep in the fourth quarter last weekend against UNLV, a 23-point underdog, and let a game that appeared safely in hand slip away in overtime.

"I think they were very angry with themselves," ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. "I was very angry with myself and how I performed. The bottom line falls on me and I think they felt the same way about themselves as I felt about myself, which was pretty angry, probably as angry as some of our fans are with me."

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