FanHouse Jake Locker

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish

Upon entering the Guglielmo Athletic Complex (i.e., "The Gug") on Sunday, one could still feel the entire Notre Dame football program exhaling with relief. Local columnist Al Lesar of the South Bend Tribune reminded Irish head coach Charlie Weis that yesterday Weis had said, "There was a lot of bad stuff in the game, but I'm going to have a tough time feeling bad tonight." Lesar wondered whether, having had a night to digest the tape, if Weis' mind had changed.

"I'm not going to feel bad," Charlie chuckled. "You can't talk me into feeling bad."

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for the nearly unstoppable force that is Georgia receiver A.J. Green. After scorching Arkansas (137 yards, two touchdowns) and Arizona State (153 yards, touchdown) in consecutive weeks, Green mixed in a third consecutive dose of awesome (99 yards, touchdown) in catching a leaping touchdown to give Georgia a 13-12 lead over LSU with just over a minute left on Saturday. Then, while being mobbed by teammates he somehow drew a celebration penalty, going 'Locker 2.0' on his teammates.

The penalty was crucial, contributing to a lengthy kick return by LSU's superfast dwarf, Trindon Holliday. Holliday took the kick to the Bulldogs' 42 yard line, almost into field goal position. LSU back Charles Scott did him one better, shedding several tackles on the way to a 33-yard touchdown run several plays later for the eventual 20-13 margin. Effectively, that was ballgame despite Georgia thoroughly dominating the second half in escaping the hole of a nearly game-long 6-0 deficit.

USC once again followed a tired pattern Saturday, losing its Pac-10 road opener to Washington thanks to a bevy of offensive problems. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp, starting in place of injured freshman Matt Barkley was ineffective, tossing a pair of interceptions inside the Washington 30-yard line as USC fell to the Huskies 16-13. Washington kicked a 22-yard field goal with seconds remaining to eclipse the No. 3 Trojans.

USC's Pac-10 troubles are well established, having lost to Oregon State in 2008, Stanford and Oregon in 2007, UCLA in 2006 and Cal in 2003. The road openers have been predictably troublesome, with the Cal and Oregon State losses in that mix. Of particular embarrassment, USC coach Pete Carroll lost to disciple Steve Sarkisian, who only last week snapped a 15-game losing streak for the troubled Washington football program.

The attrition beat goes on at Troy where USC has lost projected starting cornerback Shareece Wright to academic ineligibility. We'll outline USC's growing injury woes in a moment but Wright's is intriguing because he had starting experience on an otherwise young defense that lost tons of players to the NFL.

Wright was expected to be part of a loaded secondary which has been dominant all camp for USC. Instead, the Trojans will shift sixth year cornerback-safety Josh Pinkard to cornerback and move longtime backup safety Will Harris to a starting gig. Harris replaced an injured Kevin Ellison for five starts last year and the USC defense remained superb as Harris shined particularly against Penn State in the Rose Bowl with an interception and fumble recovery.

The University of Washington should be relieved that quarterback Jake Locker signed a professional baseball contract with the Los Angeles Angels because it could potentially free up another scholarship.

Locker, a 10th round pick of Los Angeles, confirmed Saturday night that he has agreed to terms on a deal and likely will receive a signing bonus. Because of that he will need to relinquish his scholarship to retain his amateur football status, giving coach Steve Sarkisian another coveted scholarship.

Locker said he will play his final two seasons for the Huskies and may pursue the NFL. Baseball, something he played in high school and during college summers, is merely a fallback.

LOS ANGELES -- Steve Sarkisian is trying to restart a winning tradition at the University of Washington and having quarterback Jake Locker will help that cause.

Yet, he realizes that Locker is such a gifted athlete, there will be other demands for his services, such as baseball. And Sarkisian said he believes Locker will sign a professional baseball contract with the Los Angeles Angels, who drafted him in the 10th round in June's amateur draft.

Locker, a rising junior, coming off missing the final eight games with a broken finger, is slated to start for the Huskies and finished 16-for-18 in the UofW Spring Game.

"Eventually that will probably get done," Sarkisian said. "He's been very patient (but) I think it will get done, a deal with Angels."

LOS ANGELES -- Perhaps there was a reason Pete Carroll pleaded with Mark Sanchez to return to USC for his senior season. He knew his Trojans would lose their gorilla grip on the Pac-10, and that is the enduring theme entering the conference's media day Thursday at the LAX Sheraton Hotel.

The Trojans are not the prohibitive favorites, but the precarious favorites with a slew of teams chasing them. But there's one major catch in their pursuit, most of the conference teams -- outside Washington -- are breaking in a new or less experienced quarterback. USC should be voted the favorites Thursday, but who is second?

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim selected Washington quarterback and summer collegiate baseball player Jake Locker in the 10th round of the amateur player draft Wednesday, and the former Pac-10 freshman of the year said he would be interested in signing with the club.

Locker, who hit .273 in 10 games with the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast Baseball League last summer, is slated as the Huskies' starting quarterback. He has maintained football is his primary focus.

"Definitely," he said when asked about the possibility of signing in a teleconference. "If we can come to an agreement about a contract in terms - it's something that I'm looking into now. But again, they understand that it would probably be a couple of years before I was playing baseball anyway."

College Football Spring Storylines 2009 looks at the key developments and big news from spring ball.

Since 2002, the Pac-10 has been derisively called USC and the nine dwarves. Its more than a little unfair, but that's the prevailing wisdom. Although the conference is consistently among the deepest and most competitive around, USC's monopolized that top spot. Any chance of that changing this year begins with decisions those programs make this spring.