Pac 10 Contenders
Half of the Pac 10 Conference teams won Bowl Games in 2008, the other half failed to qualify for bowl games and USC again won the conference title. The seventh straight year the Trojans won or shared the conference title. 2009 is shaping up to be the most competitive year in years in the always competitive Pac 10 Conference.
USC Trojans: (-300)
USC routinely sends star players to the NFL and then restocks its line up with another elite crop of Blue Chip prospects. Yet Even the Trojans may have a difficult time replacing nine starters from Defense and starting QB Mark Sanchez who was just named starting QB for the N.Y. Jets.
USC Offense will be lead by a true freshman QB Matt Barkley The nation?s top H.S. QB in 2008. Barkley has impressed coaches with his poise and arm strength. Barley has been on campus at USC since January. The entire massive starting offensive line returns, a slew of talented rushers Stafon Johnson, Joe McKnight and C.J. Gable are all back. The three combined for nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 19 trips to the end zone. The receiving corps has plenty of talent with Damian Williams, Ronald Johnson and David Ausberry. With all the quality playmakers, any quarterback should be very successful.
USC Defense will be lead by Safety Taylor Mays the most decorated non QB in college football. Mays was a sure NFL first round draft choice but decided to return for his senior season. The defensive line will be lead by Everson Griffen, Armond Armstead and Jurrell Casey. The Linebackers will feature Chris Galippo and Malcolm Smith. The DB?s have plenty of experience returning with Pinkard, Thomas, Wright and Mays.
Cal Bears: (+300)
Cal has been a fairly consistent winner of late, but Coach Jeff Tedford hasn?t been able to get over the top. There?s always something missing. Seems to be the case again in 2009. Opinions seem split on the Bears. There is talent returning from and underrated 2008 defense and the sensational tailback Jahvid Best, the best RB in the nation. Kevin Riley will be quarterback who is talented but inconsistent. Cal always seems to have two good tailbacks and backup Shane Vereen rushed for 715 yards, as well. QB Riley, he may have to battle to hold off talented youngster Brock Mansion.
Eight starters return to a defensive unit that ranked second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense last year at 19.9 points per game. Included are all the starters on the defensive line and the entire starting secondary. DEs Tyson Alualu and Cameron Jordan anchor the line and stellar CB Syd?Quan Thompson is the leader in a veteran secondary. Three good linebackers need to be replaced, but LB Mike Mohamed is considered a rising star.
Oregon Ducks: (+400)
Oregon has a new head coach and the fewest number of starters returning in the league, but the Ducks don?t figure to slow down much, if at all. The Oregon offense put up some scary-good numbers last year under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, now the first-year head coach of the Ducks. Oregon led the Pac-10 in scoring offense (41.9 points per game with three games over 60) and total offense (484.8 yards per game). The Ducks also led the Pac-10 and ranked second in the nation in rushing offense at 280 yards per game as running backs Jeremiah Johnson and LeGarrette Blount each topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark. QB Jeremiah Masoli pitched in with 718 yards running the ball. Johnson is gone, as are three starters on the offensive line, but Oregon still figures to be able to move the ball on the ground. Blount is back and he averaged 7.3 yards per carry and rushed for a school-record 17 TD?s. Masoli had a breakout year as he rushed for 718 yards and 10 TD?s while finishing third in the league in pass efficiency and throwing 13 TD passes. Also back is second-team All-Pac-10 TE Ed Dickson.
Oregon returns five starters on defense and has to replace some high-quality defensive stars. A particular concern is the defensive line where only DE Will Tukuafu returns for starting duty. The secondary unit should be at strength with FS T.J. Ward and CB Walter Thurmond III leading the way.
Oregon St. Beavers: (+800)
Oregon State had one of the more surprising seasons of any team in the nation last season. The Beavers started by losing to Stanford and getting annihilated by Penn State, but they ended up knocking off USC, Arizona State and California, among others, en route to an extremely successful 9-4 campaign.
The biggest reason for the success was the emergence of the Rodgers brothers. Jacquizz led the team with 1,253 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns; as a freshman. James is the more dynamic threat. He was second on the team in rushing, tallying 408 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. He is also the top returning receiver after catching 51 receptions for 607 yards and four touchdowns and he is a threat to take it all the way returning kicks. The biggest concern regarding the Rodgers? is their health. QB Lyle Moevao is not the most consistent quarterback around, but he can certainly make plays. In addition to throwing for 2,534 yards and 19 touchdowns, he added a couple more trips to the end zone on the ground. Moevao might have less time to operate this year due to the absence of three starters on the line.
The Beavers defense has major rebuilding to be done with eight starters gone. Linebackers Keaton Kristick and Keith Pankey both started all 13 games last year. Kristick is poised to emerge as the team?s leader on defense. Dwight Roberson, who actually ranked fourth on the team in tackles with out any starts, can fill a void. The front four only has tackle Stephen Paea back from defensive coordinator Mark Banker?s defense that led the conference in sacks in 2008.. The secondary graduated all four starters and now players like Patrick Henderson and Tim Clark need to have big senior years.
UCLA Bruins: (+1000)
Neuheisel is slowly trying to turn UCLA back into a winning program. The Bruins only won four games in his first year and none of those victories turned out to be very impressive since they were against Tennessee, Washington State, Stanford and Washington. The rest of the games were pretty much not even close. Those blowouts should come to an end this year as UCLA returns nine starters on offense and seven on defense. The Bruins have struggled to find their quarterback over the last few years, Kevin Prince is the QB the Bruins will tab, but for all the tutelage that Norm Chow can provide, it's going to be up to the offensive line - which is full of question marks - to protect Prince.
The Bruins lost Defensive Coordinator DeWayne Walker to New Mexico State. Chuck Bullough takes over and his job will be to bulk up that Bruins rushing defense. Brian Price earned all-conference first team honors. On the ends Korey Bosworth and Reginald Stokes can be very disruptive, but the team as a whole only tallied 1.75 sacks per game last year. Outside linebacker Reggie Carter is the star. After leading the team with 83 tackles as a junior, Carter is prepared to emerge as the senior leader. In the secondary it is corner Alterraun Verner who is prepared to take the next step. Along with free safety Rahim Moore, the secondary should be in good shape.
The Bruins continue to make strides to bridge that gap between them and their cross-town rivals. And by all indications they are. The talent that Neuheisel has brought in over the past two years should start to pay dividends soon. But for this season, the defense will most likely carry the mantle while the offense continues to progress. A bowl game appears to be in the cards unless the offense sputters badly.
Half of the Pac 10 Conference teams won Bowl Games in 2008, the other half failed to qualify for bowl games and USC again won the conference title. The seventh straight year the Trojans won or shared the conference title. 2009 is shaping up to be the most competitive year in years in the always competitive Pac 10 Conference.
USC Trojans: (-300)
USC routinely sends star players to the NFL and then restocks its line up with another elite crop of Blue Chip prospects. Yet Even the Trojans may have a difficult time replacing nine starters from Defense and starting QB Mark Sanchez who was just named starting QB for the N.Y. Jets.
USC Offense will be lead by a true freshman QB Matt Barkley The nation?s top H.S. QB in 2008. Barkley has impressed coaches with his poise and arm strength. Barley has been on campus at USC since January. The entire massive starting offensive line returns, a slew of talented rushers Stafon Johnson, Joe McKnight and C.J. Gable are all back. The three combined for nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 19 trips to the end zone. The receiving corps has plenty of talent with Damian Williams, Ronald Johnson and David Ausberry. With all the quality playmakers, any quarterback should be very successful.
USC Defense will be lead by Safety Taylor Mays the most decorated non QB in college football. Mays was a sure NFL first round draft choice but decided to return for his senior season. The defensive line will be lead by Everson Griffen, Armond Armstead and Jurrell Casey. The Linebackers will feature Chris Galippo and Malcolm Smith. The DB?s have plenty of experience returning with Pinkard, Thomas, Wright and Mays.
Cal Bears: (+300)
Cal has been a fairly consistent winner of late, but Coach Jeff Tedford hasn?t been able to get over the top. There?s always something missing. Seems to be the case again in 2009. Opinions seem split on the Bears. There is talent returning from and underrated 2008 defense and the sensational tailback Jahvid Best, the best RB in the nation. Kevin Riley will be quarterback who is talented but inconsistent. Cal always seems to have two good tailbacks and backup Shane Vereen rushed for 715 yards, as well. QB Riley, he may have to battle to hold off talented youngster Brock Mansion.
Eight starters return to a defensive unit that ranked second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense last year at 19.9 points per game. Included are all the starters on the defensive line and the entire starting secondary. DEs Tyson Alualu and Cameron Jordan anchor the line and stellar CB Syd?Quan Thompson is the leader in a veteran secondary. Three good linebackers need to be replaced, but LB Mike Mohamed is considered a rising star.
Oregon Ducks: (+400)
Oregon has a new head coach and the fewest number of starters returning in the league, but the Ducks don?t figure to slow down much, if at all. The Oregon offense put up some scary-good numbers last year under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, now the first-year head coach of the Ducks. Oregon led the Pac-10 in scoring offense (41.9 points per game with three games over 60) and total offense (484.8 yards per game). The Ducks also led the Pac-10 and ranked second in the nation in rushing offense at 280 yards per game as running backs Jeremiah Johnson and LeGarrette Blount each topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark. QB Jeremiah Masoli pitched in with 718 yards running the ball. Johnson is gone, as are three starters on the offensive line, but Oregon still figures to be able to move the ball on the ground. Blount is back and he averaged 7.3 yards per carry and rushed for a school-record 17 TD?s. Masoli had a breakout year as he rushed for 718 yards and 10 TD?s while finishing third in the league in pass efficiency and throwing 13 TD passes. Also back is second-team All-Pac-10 TE Ed Dickson.
Oregon returns five starters on defense and has to replace some high-quality defensive stars. A particular concern is the defensive line where only DE Will Tukuafu returns for starting duty. The secondary unit should be at strength with FS T.J. Ward and CB Walter Thurmond III leading the way.
Oregon St. Beavers: (+800)
Oregon State had one of the more surprising seasons of any team in the nation last season. The Beavers started by losing to Stanford and getting annihilated by Penn State, but they ended up knocking off USC, Arizona State and California, among others, en route to an extremely successful 9-4 campaign.
The biggest reason for the success was the emergence of the Rodgers brothers. Jacquizz led the team with 1,253 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns; as a freshman. James is the more dynamic threat. He was second on the team in rushing, tallying 408 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. He is also the top returning receiver after catching 51 receptions for 607 yards and four touchdowns and he is a threat to take it all the way returning kicks. The biggest concern regarding the Rodgers? is their health. QB Lyle Moevao is not the most consistent quarterback around, but he can certainly make plays. In addition to throwing for 2,534 yards and 19 touchdowns, he added a couple more trips to the end zone on the ground. Moevao might have less time to operate this year due to the absence of three starters on the line.
The Beavers defense has major rebuilding to be done with eight starters gone. Linebackers Keaton Kristick and Keith Pankey both started all 13 games last year. Kristick is poised to emerge as the team?s leader on defense. Dwight Roberson, who actually ranked fourth on the team in tackles with out any starts, can fill a void. The front four only has tackle Stephen Paea back from defensive coordinator Mark Banker?s defense that led the conference in sacks in 2008.. The secondary graduated all four starters and now players like Patrick Henderson and Tim Clark need to have big senior years.
UCLA Bruins: (+1000)
Neuheisel is slowly trying to turn UCLA back into a winning program. The Bruins only won four games in his first year and none of those victories turned out to be very impressive since they were against Tennessee, Washington State, Stanford and Washington. The rest of the games were pretty much not even close. Those blowouts should come to an end this year as UCLA returns nine starters on offense and seven on defense. The Bruins have struggled to find their quarterback over the last few years, Kevin Prince is the QB the Bruins will tab, but for all the tutelage that Norm Chow can provide, it's going to be up to the offensive line - which is full of question marks - to protect Prince.
The Bruins lost Defensive Coordinator DeWayne Walker to New Mexico State. Chuck Bullough takes over and his job will be to bulk up that Bruins rushing defense. Brian Price earned all-conference first team honors. On the ends Korey Bosworth and Reginald Stokes can be very disruptive, but the team as a whole only tallied 1.75 sacks per game last year. Outside linebacker Reggie Carter is the star. After leading the team with 83 tackles as a junior, Carter is prepared to emerge as the senior leader. In the secondary it is corner Alterraun Verner who is prepared to take the next step. Along with free safety Rahim Moore, the secondary should be in good shape.
The Bruins continue to make strides to bridge that gap between them and their cross-town rivals. And by all indications they are. The talent that Neuheisel has brought in over the past two years should start to pay dividends soon. But for this season, the defense will most likely carry the mantle while the offense continues to progress. A bowl game appears to be in the cards unless the offense sputters badly.
