Some encouraging signs coming out of Montlake this morning. Jake Locker continues to practice even though his mobility is still being curtailed but it looks more and more like he will start on Saturday. There is no doubt that he will have some lingering effects when the game kicks off but Sark describes the injury as getting a little better every day. He goes on to say that Wednesday's practice will be a serious indicator on how well he is responding.

If Jake can't go Ronnie Fouch would be the starter. Sark has a lot of confidence in Ronnie and says he would do a much better job running the offense this year as opposed to last. That scenario probably isn't going to come into play unless Jake has a setback. Observers are saying the Jake looks pretty good out there even though they obviously are not using him in designed running plays.

UCLA by the way is preparing for a healthy Jake Locker which is the smart thing to do. I will be doing a podcast on Thursday night with our good friends from Bruin Nation. We will have a link to that pod cast up as soon as it is uploaded. Bruin Nation is a very interesting blog and they were instrumental along with the Oregon State blog in getting us membership in SBN which has been a great thing for all of us.

Here is a link to an article in the Orange County Register on what Coach Neuheisel thinks of Jake.

"We played against Ronnie Fouch last year and I was impressed with him, but Jake Locker is a difference-maker," Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel said. "He's the total package. He's a gifted guy. He makes all the throws and he's got all the arm strength you ever wanted."

Nick Holt

Bob Condotta of the Times and the other beat writers spoke with Nick Holt yesterday at practice and the gist of the conversation is that they are trying combinations to get more speed up front to put pressure on the QB. He likes the moves of Anthony Boyles to CB and Alvin Logan to WLB. He goes on to say that they probably should have attempted those moves before bye week. He isn't sure how many reps those players will get against UCLA either. He calls it a good move for now and in the future for the players and the team. He says it his tough to speculate on how much the team will benefit from the moves immediately.

TV

Looking ahead on the TV front Saturday's game with UCLA with start at 12:30 PM PST. The game will be broadcast on FSN, FSN Prime Ticket,  and FCS Central. Next weeks game against Oregon State is a little harder to figure out. We do know that the game will probably have a 12:30 PM kickoff time and will probably be telecast on FSN. Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times discusses the different scenario's in his blog. It isn't official but look for an announcement soon that the game will be on FSN in the early time slot because the Oregon game will be a late starter on ABC-ESPN.

TV Update

The Oregon State game is now officially scheduled for 12:30 PM and will be shown on FSN.