Pac-12 Notebook: Think you know why colleges are so football obsessed? Sorry, you're wrong

Here are some Pac-12 links from media outlets that regularly cover the conference.

A major part of the identity of American colleges and universities is linked to athletics and, specifically, to football. But a paper by Mitchell Stevens, an associate professor of education at Stanford, argues that traditional explanations for why American universities are so football-obsessed are wrong.
Oregon center Hroniss Grasu is sometimes so engrossed in being a central figure in the operation of the Ducks' no-huddle offense that he doesn't even know who is lined up on either side of him at the two guard spots. That's how Oregon likes it. While most teams want five starting linemen to jell, the Ducks want 10 or more to shuttle in and out and become so interchangeable that it doesn't matter who is in the game or at what position, Aaron Fentress of the Oregonian reported.
Lisa and Doug Goldman donated $10 million to Cal Athletics and the gateway plaza to Memorial Stadium will be named for the San Francisco philanthropists, John Crumpacker of the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Utah has playmakers but can they make plays and can an untested offensive line give them enough time or holes to make those plays? Lya Wodraska of the Salt Lake Tribune wondered this and other things as the Utes close in on their season opener.
Washington defensive tackle Andrew Hudson weighs 249 pounds, and he often gives up 50 pounds to opponents across the line, but he makes up for lack of size with strength, attitude and effort, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reported.
Mike Leach has yet to coach a game in his isolated little college town of Pullman, Wash., but the national spotlight has found little difficulty tracking Washington State's new football coach, Howie Stalwick of the News-Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) reported.
No surprise here, but Colorado has officially ruled out wide receiver Paul Richardson for its first two games as he rehabs from ACL surgery, Kyle Ringo of The Daily Camera (Boulder) reported. Richardson suffered the injury in a non-contact drill in spring ball and underwent surgery in mid-April. CU coaches thought he’d been lost for the season, but Richardson made surprising progress in his rehabilitation during the summer and he and coach Jon Embree began talking optimistically in July about a return at some point this season.
Arizona State released its first depth chart on Monday. Three true freshman were listed at the top of their positions, along with camp star Rashad Ross, who rocketed his way into the starting X spot at receiver after a dynamic final few days at Camp Tontozona, Tyler Lockman of foxsportsarizona.com reported.
Arizona true freshman Keoni Bush-Loo is making the most of an opportunity to switch from tight end to linebacker. The 6-foot-4-inch, 229-pounder is already playing with the first-string defense in practices, and is a member -- either as a first- or second-teamer -- of all four special teams units, Tyler Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star reported.
True UCLA freshmen cornerbacks Marcus Rios and Ishmael Adams have a lot of learning to do before making any real impact. Fortunately for the Bruins, those freshmen have a couple solid guys they can look up to in Aaron Hester and Sheldon Price.
USC offensive tackle Max Tuerk has handled every assignment thrown at him the first two weeks of training camp, but the freshman tried to deflect any notion he was a budding star Monday. That might be true, but Tuerk has yet to be criticized by USC coach Lane Kiffin and has not been fazed by the rigors of camp, Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
With the new field at Reser Stadium getting some detail work, the Oregon State football team was undergoing the same treatment Tuesday on the practice fields. OSU coach Mike Riley put his team through a 59-play scrimmage, the Beavers’ second and last of fall camp, and although attention to detail was sometimes lacking, it was another efficient day for the offense, John Hunt of the Oregonian reported.