Oregon State coach Mike Riley surprised pretty much everybody yesterday by taking the head coaching job at Nebraska. Lots of reaction to that story in our morning links.

--- Here's John Canzano's take on the Riley news, positing that Riley might have felt under-appreciated at OSU.

--- Huskies offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith and former UW defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, now at USC, are mentioned as potential candidates in this lengthy list from Ken Goe.

--- George Schroeder writes that Nebraska got what it was looking for.

--- The Huskies offered a scholarship to a local defensive end.

--- Huskies quarterback recruit Jake Browning, who signed financial-aid paperwork with UW in September and plans to enroll next month and participate in spring practices, is on the verge of breaking the national high-school record for career touchdown passes. Browning is currently at 214, and needs six more to break the record. He was named the California state Gatorade Player of the Year.

--- In case you missed it yesterday, Huskies nose tackle Danny Shelton was named first-team academic All-America.

--- USC will begin bowl preparations today.

--- Jon Wilner gives Chris Petersen a C- grade in his first season at UW.

--- Illinois, the only bowl-eligible team the Huskies defeated this season, might not even get a bowl invite.

--- Missed this the other day, but No. 13 San Diego State, the Huskies men's basketball team's opponent on Sunday, will be missing a key guard (though the Aztecs also got a key guard back).

--- Looks like Petersen and staff are busy on the recruiting trail.

Christian Caple can be reached at christian.caple@thenewstribune.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple