Notes on a Scorecard - Aug. 2, 1995

Football was in the air at the annual Pacific 10 Conference media day. . . .

Poll results: 1--USC, 2--UCLA, 3--Washington, 4--Oregon, 5--Arizona, 6--California, 7--Oregon State, 8--Washington State, 9--Arizona State, 10--Stanford. . . .

The Trojans got 34 first-place votes from writers and broadcasters to win the championship, the Bruins four, the Wildcats two, and the Bears and Huskies one each. . . .

Oregon, which has eight offensive and seven defensive starters returning, received only an unofficial vote to repeat from UCLA Coach Terry Donahue. . . .

“I always believe that the conference championship team from the year before, unless it has lost an inordinate amount of players, is the team to beat,” Donahue said. “Oregon hasn’t lost an inordinate amount of players.” . . .

USC and Oregon don’t meet this season. . . .

Donahue, in his 20th year on the job at Westwood, needs four conference victories to reach 98 and break the record set by Don James at Washington. . . .

The Bruin tailback who had been known as Sharmon Shah recently informed Donahue that he was switching to the Muslim name of Karim Abdul-Jabbar. . . .

“I told him that name had a nice ring to it,” Donahue said. “Karim wears No. 33. So did the big man. We’re going to build our offensive football team around Karim Abdul-Jabbar, who ran for 1,227 yards last season.” . . .

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Washington State Coach Mike Price said: “I tell people that the heart and soul of our team are from the state of Washington and the arms and legs from Southern California.” . . .

Washington will be eligible to participate in a bowl game for the first time in three seasons. . . .

“There were more people in the weight room during the off-season than last year,” Husky safety Lawyer Milloy said. “We used to circle some regular-season games and consider them our bowl games. Now we have the opportunity to go where we belong, the Rose Bowl.” . . .

The Huskies will wear new purple helmets and white shoes. . . .

“The helmets will make it easier for our quarterbacks to find their receivers because a lot of teams wear silver helmets,” Coach Jim Lambright said, “and the white shoes will make our players look faster.” . . .

The artificial turf at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley has been replaced by grass. . . .

“I hope the new field will keep us healthier,” California Coach Keith Gilbertson said. “It should have an impact on recruiting. It shows that we’re making a commitment.” . . .

Oregon State, the only team in the conference to use the option, threw 87 passes in 11 games last season. . . .

“I saw a lot of progress in our passing game during spring practice,” Beaver Coach Jerry Pettibone said. “We’d like to throw the ball 10 to 15 times a game this season, really air it out.”. . .

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NFL quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe and Mark Rypien have donated $150,000 apiece to endow football scholarships at their alma mater, Washington State. . . .

“There’s not a bad team in this conference,” Arizona Coach Dick Tomey said. “Every team has eight tough conference games and that makes the Pac-10 unique.” . . .

Coach John Robinson on a USC team that has been picked No. 1 in the nation in some preseason publications: “We’re eager for the opportunity to prove ourselves. We have a legitimate chance to win all our games . . . and a legitimate chance to lose three or four of them, too.” . . .

Robinson said Trojan senior tailback Leonard Green, a versatile runner and pass catcher, might be the most underrated player in the conference. . . .

There will be culture shock at Stanford, where young, straight-arrow Tyrone Willingham has replaced Bill Walsh. . . .

Stanford has played San Jose State 50 times, but the Sept. 2 game will be the first at San Jose since the series opener in 1900. . . .

Oregon cornerback Alex Molden on the difference he has noticed between Rich Brooks and successor Mike Bellotti: “Coach Brooks was real serious. Coach Bellotti is more of a player’s coach.” . . .

Bellotti’s defensive coordinator is Charlie Waters, the former Dallas Cowboy star and Denver Bronco assistant. . . .

“Charlie wants to be known as a great coach, not a great ex-player,” Bellotti said. . . .

The top-rated quarterback in the conference, Jake (The Snake) Plummer of Arizona State, will be tested early in three September games at Washington, Nebraska and USC. . . .

The top four Pac-10 finishers are assured of bowl berths: No. 1 vs. the Big Ten champion in the Rose Bowl, No. 2 vs. the Big 12 No. 2 in the Cotton Bowl or the Big 12 No. 3 in the Holiday Bowl, No. 3 vs. the Big Ten No. 5 in the Sun Bowl, and No. 4 vs. the Big 12 No. 5 or 6 in the Aloha Bowl.