< Back to Article List

Pac 10 Preview Part 1 - Jorge Gonzalez 8/31/2009

The PAC-10 has long been a victim to the the east
coast bias when it comes
to being ranked as one of the better conferences in
the country. Last
season was no different as the Florida Gators of the
SEC faced off with
Oklahoma of the Big-12 for the national
championship. With no disrespect
to the prefect season by the Utah Utes, the Trojans
were still the best
team in the country. The Trojans won their bowl
game and the rest of the
conference went 4-0 in post season. Not only did
The Trojans have won 11
or more games in seven straight seasons and will
need their highly-touted
recruits to step up in the place of a slew of NFL
playing graduates to win
that many again. Incoming Oregon head coach
Chip Kelly has the talent
returning to have another explosive offense and
another double-digit win
season is not out of the question. California is
stacked with talent once
again but need to learn how to win the big game if
they are ever to be
taken as a serious threat in the conference. UCLA
will be in the second
year of head coach Rich Neuheisel's tenure that
includes Norm Chow, one of
the best offensive coordinators in the history of
college football. Never
count out head coach Dennis Erickson at Arizona
State of challenging for
the conference title. Stanford will need a fast start
and an upset win in
November if they are to get to a bowl game this
season. Washington hired
USC's offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian to help
resurrect a once proud
and dominant program. Five of the teams in the
conference come back with
15 or more starters this season.

USC Trojans (12 returning starters)

The Trojan freight train does not look to be slowing
down at all despite
losing a NCAA leading 11 players to the NFL draft
last season. The offense
returns nine starters, including an offensive line
made up of juniors and
seniors to protect the inexperienced quarterback
position. Five of the six
top rushers will be back and will be called on
earlier to take the
pressure of whichever quarterback starts. (Aaron
Corp, Matt Barkley or
Matt Mustain.)

Most programs would definitely feel the loss of
eight starters on their
defense but the Trojans are in a league by
themselves when it comes to
reloading with quality players. Since 2002, they
have won seven straight
titles, finished fourth or higher in the standings,
played in a BCS game
and have won two championships. The schedule
calls for four road games
against potentially ranked teams against Ohio State,
Oregon Notre Dame and
Cal. Head Coach Pete Carroll always takes on the
best and wins anyway. The
Trojans will be right in the hunt for another
national championship.

Oregon Ducks (9 returning starters)

The Ducks are coming off an impressive season
that saw head coach Mike
Bellotti step down to become athletic director. In
comes offensive
coordinator Chip Kelly to take over arguably the
second best program in
the conference. The offensive has plenty of
experience at quarterback and
have a 1000 yard rusher back in LeGarrette Blount.
Blount also set the
school record with 17 rushing touchdowns in part-
time duty. The offensive
line has only on returning starter and will need to
gel quickly with a
trip to Boise State to star the season.

The defense will need to fill six spots on defense
but looked good in
spring camp. The schedule calls for seven home
games this season that
includes visits from USC, CAL and Oregon State.
The Ducks are an
impressive 20-5 at Autzen Field over the last four
seasons. This program
won 116 games under Bellotti but will have to really
play well within the
conference if they are to win double-digit games
for their new skipper..

California Bears (15 returning starters)

The Bears come back stocked with 15 returning
starers and have the
potential to knock of the Trojans at home on
October 3rd. Last year the
Bears won all seven home games and have been
18-2 at Memorial Stadium over
the last three seasons. The offense will be led by
Heisman candidate
Jahvid Best. Last year Best has 1826 yards from
scrimmage and scored 15
touchdowns. The offense returns starting
quarterback Kevin Riley and his
top two targets are back from last season.

Head Coach Jeff Tedford has a record of 59-30 in
his first seven seasons
at Cal and has won five of the six bowls that have
played in. Tedford and
his Bears have not been able to beat the Trojans
over the last five
seasons and will have to do it here if they are to
play in a BCS bowl. The
non-conference schedule is winnable with Maryland
at home, E. Washington
on the road and Minnesota coming to Berkeley.

Oregon State ( 10 returning starters)

The Beavers may have been been the best 9-4 team
in the country after
beating USC 27-21 and winning seven of their last
eight games which
included a bowl victory over Pittsburgh. The
Beavers lose eight players to
the NFL from last years teams but have the talent to
get back to another
bowl game. The offense will be run by senior
quarterback Lyle Moevao. The
catalyst of of the offense will the PAC-10 Player of
the Year Jacquizz
Rodgers. Rodgers rushed for 1253 yards on the
season despite missing two
games as a true freshman.

The defense will once again have to replace eight
starters from the
previous season but has a very soft schedule with
four easy games before
playing at Arizona State. Head Coach Mike Reilly
has won five straight
bowl games with the Beavers and should be playing
for the sixth bowl
victory at the end of the season.

UCLA Bruins (16 returning starters)

Despite a 4-8 season in his first year at UCLA, head
coach Rick Neuheisel
has a career record of 70-38. Neuheisel has the
best offensive coordinator
in Norm Chow to run the offense and quickly
named red shirt freshman
Kevin Prince the starting quarterback. The passing
game will be
drastically improved from a team that threw just
nine touchdowns and was
intercepted 21 times last year. The offense
averaged just 17.7 points per
game. With nine returning starters the offense
should improve immediately.

The Bruins were much better defensively than the
29 points they gave up a
game. They only allowed 337 yards per game and
will have seven starters
back that should put up better numbers than last
season. The Bruins were
-10 in turnovers and lost 44 starts by injured
players last season. The
schedule calls for sweet- revenge home games
against Oregon, Cal, and
Arizona State after getting destroyed by the three
teams last year by a
combined score 106-53.

< Back to Article List