Sean Mannion Named Starter

It wasn't really news, but Oregon St. coach Mike Riley made it official on Tuesday that in light of the disastrous experiment with the quarterback position in the opening two games of the season, one starter would be named going forward, and it will be Sean Mannion. After 14 starts, Ryan Katz becomes the backup. In more typical Riley fashion, there will be no more plans to rotate the backup in under normal circumstances.

While there was no suspense, or news value, in that announcement, one Riley was foreshadowing with his comments clear back in fall camp, there were some noteworthy developments that came out of Tuesday's practice, and the normal Tuesday media announcements.

The good news is that WR Jordan Bishop returned to practice, after having had to leave the Wisconsin game with a sprained right ankle. LB DJ Welch, who had an elbow injury, and WR Micah Hatfield, out since early in training camp with a hand injury, both also returned to practice.

WR Marcus Wheaton, who suffered bruised ribs in the game against the Badgers' game, and RB Jovan Stevenson, who also had a sore ankle, both sat out practice, but in both cases, it was precautionary, and both are expected to be fine by the time preparations specific for the UCLA game next week begin.

RB Malcolm Agnew was is on limited light duty this week as well, after pulling his hamstring last week in practice.

The bad news is that OG Josh Andrews is now expected to be out longer than the 4 weeks originally estimated, but Riley said he is still expected back before the end of the season. The other disappointing news is that Dominic Glover, who hasn't practiced in over a week, still hasn't received academic clearance, even though the third session of summer term has now been completed.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com