A look around the Pac-10

Updated: September 8, 2004, 3:55 PM ET

By Ted Miller | Special to ESPN.com

Will Oregon look past Indiana? Will anyone stop California's rushing attack? Can Matt Leinart develop chemistry with his young receivers? Our Pac-10 notebook addresses those questions, along with looks at Arizona State's aggressive attitude, UCLA's struggling defense and more.

Arizona
Arizona just needs wins, but new coach Mike Stoops wasn't thrilled with his offensive line play against Northern Arizona. He said there could be changes in the starting lineup with No. 16 Utah coming to town. "We didn't block as well as we would have liked up front," Stoops said. "We may need to make adjustments with the interior offensive line." Stoops also said that he doesn't have any fancy plans for Nic Costa, a former quarterback who switched to receiver. Costa twice moved from slot to cornerback last weekend, but the move didn't produce any big plays.

While Arizona had little trouble shutting down I-AA Northern Arizona, Utah and quarterback Alex Smith figure to offer a far stiffer challenge. Smith threw for 359 yards the Utes' 41-21 rout of Texas A&M, and the Wildcats had the worst defense in the Pac-10 last year.

True freshman cornerback Antoine Cason made his first start against Northern Arizona and finished with a game-high 13 tackles, with a tackle for a loss, two forced fumbles and an interception. That kind of debut earned him Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week Honors.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider