Pac-10 Notebook | There's a spirited history between Mike Bellotti, Rick Neuheisel

On a sweaty day in Eugene in mid-August, I chanced to have a couple of minutes with LeGarrette Blount, Oregon's bullish new running back from the Southeast.

Things were proceeding in pretty ordinary fashion, and then I asked him what he knew about Washington, Oregon's first opponent.

"Uhh, yeah, they told me about the rivalry," he said, referring to his teammates. "They told me about Washington coming and stomping in the middle of the 'O' and stuff."

Ah, yes, the aftermath of the 2002 border bash, when the Huskies, on the way to Rick Neuheisel's newly devised "Northwest Championship," returned to the field at Autzen Stadium after a blowout of Oregon and danced, preened and generally whooped it up at the Ducks' expense.

Blount's observation is illustrative of something coaches have long contended about competition, especially rivalries: Fans, and maybe players, take them a lot more seriously than coaches do. After all, not a single current Husky or Duck was on the roster in '02; in fact, some were in the early stages of junior high.

The subject arises this week because Neuheisel makes his first trip back to Autzen since that November day in 2002, bringing a limited UCLA squad to face the Ducks.

No doubt a lot of Oregon fans are wishing vile things on Neuheisel, or at least to see their team put up 70 on the Bruins.

There is some spirited history, after all: Colorado running a fake punt on Oregon late in a blowout victory in the 1996 Cotton Bowl; Neuheisel's "Scoreboard, baby" snipe after a Colorado victory over Oregon in the 1998 Aloha Bowl; and oh yeah, Neuheisel's rant on letters-of-intent day in '02, on negative recruiting by UCLA and Oregon.

Back then, Neuheisel referenced a sequence of video clips on the Autzen scoreboard during a game the previous season when a couple of UW recruits were in attendance. The comedy clip showed Neuheisel, followed by an image of a man vomiting.

So what this means is, Neuheisel and Oregon coach Mike Bellotti hate each other, right? Well, not exactly.

"We're actually pretty good friends," Bellotti said Tuesday on the Pac-10 conference call.

Most high-level coaches have a huge capacity to compartmentalize, stacking priorities in order and taking on each firestorm as it arises. So neither is seething at his desk this week, figuring out how to face down the other. There's doubtless a part of Bellotti that would like to stick it to Neuheisel, but that has more to do with Neuheisel having gone 4-1 head-to-head against him.

There's also an element of honor among thieves here. The two are after the same prizes, which makes them colleagues in a business that has its darker sides.

At the height of the infamous Neuheisel basketball-pool scandal in 2003, his attorneys solicited coaches for NCAA-directed letters testifying that they'd have followed a compliance-office memo, as they alleged Neuheisel did. It was mostly about spin, but Bellotti was one of those who wrote on behalf of Neuheisel.

"I'm forever thankful to Mike, being willing to extend himself," Neuheisel said Tuesday. "A lot has been said about the acrimony, and I think that's all been put in the past. I consider him not only a great coach but a really good guy."

With that, we now return to your regularly scheduled vitriol.

And what's more ...

• The scourge on QBs in the Pac-10 could reach USC and Arizona State, whose Mark Sanchez (knee) and Rudy Carpenter (ankle) are in some doubt for their game Saturday.

• Monday, the Pac-10 reprimanded Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh for criticizing its officials over a punt-interference call at Notre Dame. Early Tuesday morning, his wife, Sarah, gave birth to a girl.

• The spread favoring Oregon State over Washington State — 29 to 30 — is the most on the Beavers in any game since at least 1974.

• Speaking of long-ago OSU, Craig Fertig, a quality guy with a great sense of humor, died the other day at 66. He succeeded Dee Andros as OSU coach from 1976-79, and Beavers struggles deepened on his watch. If you think it's bad around here — you're right, it's bad around here — Fertig's '79 OSU team got outscored 131-0 by three straight Pac-10 opponents.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com