The student section was rowdy and ready for another season of college football. After taking a beating in the Holiday Bowl at the hands of Texas, Rudy Carpenter and the boys looked prepared to show their fans that they are a legitimate Pac-10 contender.

The first thing I noticed was the inexperience of the offensive line really shining through. While statistically looking good on paper, Rudy was flushed out quite often. He showed his mettle and got rid of the ball when he needed to, rather than taking those sacks he was so familiar with.

To be fair to the line, they look promising. There are no guarantees in college football, but if they can give Carpenter 4 seconds to find a receiver, there will be hell to pay.

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Rudy Carpenter had an interesting quote from his weekly press conference:

On if he thought so many of the true freshmen would play this year:
"I didn't know. It's impossible to judge a way a guy plays in high school to how he's going to play in college, because there are so many variables that go into it. But once I saw this freshman class get here and I saw them compete and play in practice, especially a lot of the guys on defense with Brandon Magee, Shelly Lyons, Josh Jordan, Clint Floyd, Lawrence Guy, they can play, they compete and work hard, and they're smart, intelligent guys. On the offensive side, I figured Gerell Robinson would get a chance to play because I have had a chance to work with Gerell throughout the whole summer, and I thought he was advanced. Obviously a big surprise was James Morrison. He's a big strong running back who I think can help us this year."

I think we're beginning to realize just how strong a recruiting class led by Dennis Erickson can be. He is already replacing Dirk Koetter's players with his new recruits, an indication of things to come.

Last year, Omar Bolden and Kerry Taylor were two true freshmen who stood out and built game experience for their sophomore campaigns. This year, who knows?

James Morrison is very intruiging. He may take significant carries away from Dimitri Nance, who only showed brief flashes of brilliance last year. Since the media is keen on having a "thunder and lightning" combination of Herring and a power back, this is an entirely plausible concept.

He and bruising junior Dimitri Nance figure to share carries this season, the season-long starting spot still undecided.

Nance rushed for 500 yards and seven touchdowns last season, even starting the Holiday Bowl.

"I'm gonna try and be a little bit lightning," Herring said, "and let him be a little bit thunder."