It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been;
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home.
Leading off
We've got football tonight. And it's a big one. UCLA travels to Tempe, Arizona, in a Pac-12 South showdown that recent history suggests is going to be a thriller. Much of the news the last week and a half has centered around the quarterbacks, and rightfully so. Arizona State has already declared Taylor Kelly out for this game, paving the way for Mike Bercovici. UCLA coach Jim Mora says it will likely go up to kickoff before determining if his quarterback, Brett Hundley, is going to play. Here are a few stories about the matchup tonight.
Five questions about UCLA heading into the game.
Doug Haller gives us a tale of the tape breakdown.
Chris Foster takes a look at some of the key matchups. Writes Foster:
So far, Arizona State has lacked the dominant defense it had a year ago. But UCLA has not provided a protective bubble for its quarterbacks. The Bruins are giving up four sacks per game. Only four teams in the Football Bowl Division are allowing more. The cost has been more than a loss of yardage. Hundley was scrambling against Texas when he was injured.
If Hundley does play, keep in mind that ASU sacked him nine times last season. The Sun Devils, however, aren't having the same success at pressuring the QB as they did when they had Will Sutton and Carl Bradford. ASU is tied for ninth in the league with six sacks. UCLA is last with three.
Power rankings
The Pac-12 blog releases its power rankings on Sundays. Other folks like to let things digest a few extra days before ranking the league. Here are a few of the power rankings that went out Wednesday.
The Orange County Register has Oregon at No. 1 and UCLA at No. 2. ASU is at No. 4.
Jon Wilner also has the Ducks No. 1, but USC is his No. 2. As for the teams playing tonight, UCLA is No. 5 and ASU is No. 7.
Doug Haller has UCLA at No. 4 and ASU at No. 5.
Steve Mims of the Register-Guard ranks the conference by division.
Not necessarily rankings. But Bud Withers of the Seattle Times tries to make sense of the Pac-12 so far this season. To which I say, good luck, sir.
News/notes/team reports
DaVonte' Neal is feeling healthy and ready to go.
Todd Graham expects a quick return for Taylor Kelly.
The Bears will get a quarterback commit coming to school early.
One Colorado linebacker is starting to live up to the hype.
Five ways Oregon can get better out of the bye week.
Hunter Jarmon looked solid in OSU's practice.
Stanford will try to unravel the mystery that is Washington.
Jim Mora says playing Myles Jack exclusively as a running back against ASU last year was "a tactical error."
Some USC news and notes.
Some Utah notes as they prepare for the Air Raid.
A couple of post-practice Washington videos.
Some Pac-12 notes with WSU flavor.
Wilner also gives us a national column on what we've learned about college football after one month.
Just for fun
How are you getting to the game tonight? Might I suggest this:
A closer look at the helicopter ASU coach Todd Graham & Mike Norvell used last Friday. pic.twitter.com/iXZOlylOia
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) September 23, 2014
The Bears had a surprise visitor at practice yesterday. Skittles not pictured.