COUGARS

FROM PULLMAN -- After a day off, Washington State will be back on the practice field later this afternoon to continue preparing for its home opener against Eastern Washington on Saturday. We have plenty of links to get you started.

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We have a couple of items in this morning's newspaper -- a first look at Eastern Washington, as well as this notebook leading with Jeff Tuel's vow to play with more passion and leadership. We also recapped yesterday's media session with a post on Tuel, one on Travis Long and another with comments from Mike Leach, as well as WSU's official depth chart for the week. ... Howie Stalwick has this story in the Kitsap Sun. ... CBS Sports included WSU's week one performance on its list of lowlights. ... Some GIFs from CougCenter that should put you in a better mood about WSU's defense. ... Here's Eastern Washington's official release.

Around the Pac-12 ... UCLA's Johnathan Franklin, Arizona's Jake Fischer and USC's Marqise Lee were named Pac-12 Players of the Week. ... Some more bad news on the injury front for Washington. ... Rich Rodriguez helped heal his kicker's psyche a couple days after a big miss. ... Arizona State coach Todd Graham wants his team to play faster. ... California accidentally sold some seats that didn't exist for its home opener. Jon Wilner gives out grades for Cal and Stanford. ... Colorado wants to run the ball better. ... The son of a big-play NFL receiver wants to fill the same role for Utah. A Utes tight end is coming to the forefront. ... USC is preparing to play a Syracuse team that likes to throw the ball quite a bit. ... A UCLA kicker is learning from one who came before him. ... Oregon State needs to convert third-downs this week if it wants to compete with Wisconsin. ... A well-traveled Oregon senior enjoyed his first Autzen experience.

We'll be back later with notes from today's Pac-12 coaches' call before heading out to practice.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple