Recruiting, the Pac-12, the tight-end position are among the topics in this segment.

Q: Edward said:
I stand corrected on this, but I swear I read somewhere that there is a minimum (65) scholarship rule to qualify as a D1 eligible school. Do you know of any such NCAA rule?

A: To become an FBS program, you must “provide an average of at least 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of overall football grants-in-aid per year over a rolling two-year period.”
Perhaps you are thinking of FCS teams, which can only offer 63 scholarships for their program.

Q: luvsctrojans said:
I know the basketball team has much to work on especially with five new starter, but how often do they pratice free throws? Helloooo, it’s a “free throw” for crying out loud! Their free throw percentage is downright horrible!

A: Every shooting category is awful this season.

Q: dtksr1 said:
Scott, Shouldn’t there be some accountability from the PAC-12 presidents that if they are going to get all this new money from mostly football games, they should put money into their football programs and make them successful rather than just holding their hands out for the money that the Oregons-USCs-Washingtons have put them into this position. I mean come on, why did this conference ever allow Oregon St. & Wash St. come into this conference just to be mostly cellar dwellers?

A: Washington State has spent money this year with the hiring of Mike Leach. Maybe that wouldn’t be possible if the Pac-12 money wasn’t coming. Oregon State’s also upgraded its stadium and facilities in the past 10 years and gone to bowl games. I think the bigger problem is schools like Cal and Washington that underacheive despite being in large media markets.

Q: Trojans Rule said:
Scott, which do you think is more likely?
A. We have our 7 quality players already lined up, and our merely trying to improve our quality if a great prospect wants to commit. [You already said we have 2 silent commits–must be good quality–so only 5 spaces left to fill.]
B. We are really scrambling around for our lives, and may end up having to take some very marginal guys on top of possibly losing one or more of our 8 commits.
Thank you very much.

A: I think it’s a mix of the two. I think USC will be scrambling, but the players will be highly regarded players that the coaching staff is trying to convince late to go to USC.

Q: torpedoman said:
Scott, Any updated info regarding Geo. Farmer’s pending academic status? Did that “specific grade” that was mentioned, get made up or changed? What would be his current status for spring practice? Is he still dramatically close to not qualifying for the 2012 season?

A: As of now he is ineligible. If something changes, it probably won’t happen for another 3-4 weeks. But I don’t think he will be able to get a grade changed.

Q: Sam Gilbert said:
With the wide receiver corps growing thin, would Kiffin consider drawing up more plays for the tight ends as they did for Andrew Luck up at Stanford and would the tight ends be able to step up and be successful?

A: I think the tight ends are going to have to catch more passes because there will be at least three (Xavier Grimble, Randall Telfer, Jalen Cope-Fitzgerald), which means it is actually a skill position with decent depth. And then there is Christian Thomas, who floats between tight end and defensive end. I wouldn’t mind seeing Thomas actually give fullback a try like Rhett Ellison.
Once the season starts, I expect at least one injury at wide injury and that will only make tight end even more important.

Q: Karillo said:
If Chip Kelly had left would the Ducks and Phil Knight be throwing money at Chris Petersen, Do you think he’d be interested and if so, successful in the Pac-12?

A: I think Chris Petersen would take the Oregon job and be successful. He was the only person out there I think Oregon could hire and take the program even further or at least keep it at its current level of play.