Pac 10 contender, as in USC, right? Sure, but they don't stand completely alone this year. Yes, there is another team lying in the weeds that could give the Trojans a run for the outright conference title. After all, ASU did in fact tie USC last season at 7-2 in the conference, so, it's certainly not out of the question. Arizona State looks like a team that could make a legit run at the USC dynasty.
WHY THEY'LL WIN
You can start with the senior trigger man, Rudy Carpenter. Under the watch of new head coach Dennis Erickson, Carpenter was excellent in the one-back offense, throwing for 3202 yards and 25 TD's while finishing second in the conference in passer rating.
However, Carpenter was on the receiving end of the majority of the well-publicized school record of 55 sacks allowed, plus repeated other blows absorbed by the opposing pass rush. ASU's O-line is sure sick of hearing about it, and while that unit will feature three new starters, they should have a real chip on their shoulder this season. But Erickson is no dummy, and realized that Carpenter cannot survive another year absorbing that much punishment. So, aside from getting better O-line play, another way to minimize the pain is to simply get rid of the ball quicker. Faster developing pass patterns, shorter QB drops on pass plays, whatever it takes to keep Carpenter upright and productive this season.
Two of the top three running backs return in Keegan Herring and Dimitri Nance. Nance led the team with seven rushing TD's, and is more of a physical guy of the two. Herring is the big-play type, leading the team with 815 rushing yards and a solid 5.3 yards per carry. Three of the top four receivers are back, led by Chris McGaha and a big-time deep threat in Michael Jones. Jones averaged 16.7 yards per catch and was second in the conference with 10 TD catches. ASU should be a difficult match-up for any Pac 10 defense this season.
Defensively the pass rush should be fierce. Three starters are back on the line, with Dexter Davis and Luis Vasquez two of the most productive defensive ends in the country. Davis had 10 1/2 sacks last year while Vasquez stood his ground with 43 tackles, tops among ASU linemen. Free safety Troy Nolan is the leader of the secondary and a legit all-conference candidate after winning second-team honors last year.
As is the norm, there are big names who have moved on down the road in the Pac 10. From bowl-winning QB's to standout running backs, the list is a long one. But clearly one of the most exciting things about an upcoming season of college football is always the element of the unknown. What young players are waiting in the wings? What hotshot recruit with all the whispers that he is going to be special will finally be unleashed for public consumption? But as is usually the case, the young replacements come in to take the spots of some pretty established players who leave a large body of work behind them. With that, we look at the five biggest Pac 10 shoes that must be filled and the candidates to replace them.
JOHN DAVID BOOTY, QB, USC
The QB position for USC is always a glamor spot, and a perfect place to start. John David Booty came into the 2007 season as everyone's Heisman favorite, and for good reason. Booty was coming off a 2006 breakthrough performance, throwing for over 3300 yards and 29 TD's. But while USC went 11-2, won a share of the conference title, and Booty capped off his senior season with a fine performance in a Rose Bowl blowout of Illinois, still, things didn't quite work out. He threw for nearly 1,000 fewer yards in 2007 than he had the prior year. A broken finger on his throwing hand had a lot to do with it, and he even missed three games due to the injured digit. But that said, Booty was more about stats. He was a leader and a winner, and could be more difficult to replace than originally thought.
This year we find out if Mark Sanchez is the answer. Or will we? Sanchez, as was reported last week, suffered a dislocated knee cap during non-contact drills. While still not 100% officially ruled out for the season opener at Virginia, the latest report has his status very much up in the air. Meanwhile, Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain and redshirt frosh Aaron Corp will run the offense in a job that suddenly appears wide open.
It could be worse though. Mustain didn't go completely bananas at Arkansas, throwing for a modest 894 yards in eight starts as a true frosh year in 2006. But he did go a perfect 8-0 as a starter, so, he's got that going for him. Which is good.
So we come to the bottom of the barrel, so to speak. The less-than-mediocre, the outhouse, bottom-feeders, however you want to word it is fine. It is what it is. And in the Pac 10, the climb out of Dregs-ville can be a long, slow, steady incline vs. the hope of quickly sprinting up the ladder. Of course there is always hope for the Dregs, but reality usually hits once things get going as the season rolls on. With that, we present the Dregs of the Pac 10.
WASHINGTON HUSKIES
It is hard not to like the future of Jake Locker. Big, strong, and exceptionally gifted, Locker has a set of tools rarely seen at the quarterback position. But Locker isn't all the way there, at least not yet. While he was fantastic as a running QB last year, nearly turning in a 1,000-yard season (986), throwing the ball was another matter. Locker completed a conference-low 47% of his pass attempts last year, and his QB rating of 105 placed him only ahead of Tavita Pritchard among Pac 10 passers. The worry for UW is the talent around Locker. While there is promise among a group of youngsters in Anthony Boyles, Devin Aguilar, Curtis Shaw and others, seven of the top eight receivers from last year have graduated. Factor in the loss of Louis Rankin, the first UW running back to top the 1,000-yard mark since 1997, and you can see there could be some serious growing pains early.
Defensively, UW was a mess last year. 446 yards allowed per game in '07, only the worst in school history. But UW didn't sit still, firing defensive coordinator Kent Baer and bringing in former NFL coordinator Ed Donatell. But while the buzz so far has been positive on the new defensive look, there are still some big holes. The defensive line is young and inexperienced, and now we have word that leading tackler EJ Savannah is out for the time being with academic issues. Factor into everything the schedule, which includes an opener at Oregon, plus out-of-conference matchups against BYU, Oklahoma and Notre Dame? And five Pac 10 road games to boot? It looks like another year down the ladder for UW.
Tempting as it might seem to pick the five best USC Trojans, we won't take the easy way out. OK, maybe we'll take a couple of them, but not all five. That said, here's the FanHouse view of the five best players in the Pac 10 for 2008.
1. Rey Maualuga, LB, USC
While the stats might not scream superstar, those who watch the Trojans on a regular basis are quick to say that Maualuga is the best player on the best team in the conference. Maualuga isn't your typical stat hound, with 79 tackles, six sacks, and 4.5 tackles for loss last year. But nobody hits harder or is more intimidating in the middle than Maualuga. His ferocious play has made him a YouTube legend, with some of the biggest blow-ups of opposing quarterbacks you will find in the country.
A two-time first team All Pac 10 selection, Maualuga has great size at 6-3, 255, but is also regarded as having excellent football speed. In other words, he might not totally dazzle you with track shoes on in the spring, as evidenced by his 4.7 40-times. But sideline to sideline, Maualuga gets to the play as well as anyone in the conference. A certain top ten NFL draft pick next spring, Maualuga is the best player in the Pac 10 for 2008.
2. Nick Reed, DE, Oregon
Oregon's defense is looking strong for 2008. While there are all-conference nominees throughout the secondary, everything starts up front with Nick Reed, the returning Pac 10 leader in sacks (12) and tackles for loss (22 1/2) last season. At 6-2, 255, Reed doesn't have the prototype size at defensive end. There are linebackers in the PAC-10 who are as big, if not bigger than Reed (Rey Maualuga anyone?). But you can't measure heart, and Reed has as much as any player you will see this year.
Reed leaves it all on the field at the end of the day, a relentless presence on the edge who must be accounted for on every snap. He will compete for defensive player of the year honors in the conference.
As the 2008 season approaches, fans are officially in preview mode. Everyone, everywhere, has their thoughts on the upcoming season of Pac 10 football. Now it's time for FanHouse to weigh in. And what better place to start than to look back at the biggest stories from 2007.
Most Ridiculous Moment
Have you heard the one about the 41-point underdog, on the road against mighty USC, yet somehow managing to win the game? Talk about ridiculous, but seriously, it happened. And there's some juicy back story here too. Seems that Stanford's hot shot new coach, Captain Comeback Jim Harbaugh, started a mini war of words between himself and the rockstar of rockstars, Pete Carroll. Harbaugh even floated a not-so-secret rumor making the rounds that Carroll wouldn't mind a return to the NFL. Who is this rookie Pac 10 coach to say such things? Carroll will keep his foot on the gas pedal from kickoff to QB kneel-down. They might as well not even get off the bus. Stanford will be fed to the lions in front of 90,000 blood-thirsty fans in the Coliseum.
Wait, there's more. USC played uninspired football the week before, only beating Washington by three points in Seattle. The win actually dropped them from number one to number two in the polls. Surely they would use that slight as even more motivation against Harbaugh. Meanwhile, Stanford was just 1-3 on the season and coming off an absolute beating from ASU, 41-3, in Palo Alto.
Well, funny thing happened on the way to the guaranteed blowout. It never materialized. Despite USC out-gaining Stanford 459-235 in total offense, the Trojans were sloppy this evening in LA, turning the ball over five times to just once for the plucky Cardinal. Stanford hung around and hung around, and finally topped USC 24-23 on a last-minute TD pass. The stunner of all stunners, USC fans are still sifting through the wreckage of this moment that clearly defines the term ridiculous.
Yes, believe it or not there are other teams besides USC roaming the vastness of the Pac 10 landscape. And yes, crazy as it sounds, said teams could even contend for the conference title. Who knew? Today we look at Oregon, a team that won with big offense last year before injuries devastated a legit BCS bowl run.
WHY THEY'LL WIN
Not the way you would normally expect when you think Oregon. While the offense will be OK, the Ducks will get it done with defense this year. And it could potentially be one of the best defenses in recent Oregon history once all is said and done. Everything starts up front with Nick Reed, the returning Pac 10 leader in sacks (12) and tackles for loss (22 1/2) last year. At 6-2, 255, Reed doesn't have the prototype size at defensive end. There are linebackers in the conference who are as big, if not bigger than Reed. But you can't measure heart, and Reed has as much as any player you will see this year. Reed leaves it all on the field at the end of the day, a relentless presence on the edge who must be accounted for on every snap.
But as great as Reed has been, well, the defensive backs are right there for star-power. Three all-conference candidates patrol the secondary, led by strong safety/rover Patrick Chung. Chung does pretty much everything, racking up 117 tackles (7.5 for loss), tops among all returners in the conference. After flirting with leaving early for the NFL in January, Chung withdrew from draft consideration and is set to have a huge senior year. But the corners are stacked, with Jairus Byrd at one spot and Walter Thurmond III manning the other. Byrd had a conference-high seven interceptions in 2007, while Thurmond was perhaps the best all-around corner in the conference, logging an impressive 103 tackles, five INT's and a team-high 18 pass-breakups. Simply put, Oregon's secondary is right with USC as the best in the conference, and possibly one of the best units in the nation.
It is still early August, and optimism usually runs high early in training camp. But UW fans have reason to fret over breaking news this afternoon, as super-soph QB Jake Locker has suffered a hamstring injury. Details are still sketchy, as Tyrone Willingham has initially termed the injury as a strain of the left hamstring. The injury occurred during practice Thursday afternoon. An MRI was taken on Locker's hammy Friday morning, but the results are not yet known.
As usual, Willingham was less-than-direct in regards to the injury, offering vague answers to the severity of the injury or a timetable on Locker's return. But to be fair, it is hard to know what to say right now, other than the kid is injured and we will know more once the MRI results are back. But the good news for Husky fans is that while Willingham was a bit reserved in his answers, he did let on that he wasn't all that worried about the injury. Per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times:
"I'm not that concerned about the results [of the MRI]," he said. "I saw the injury when it happened. Obviously everybody responds differently, so his body's response will be a little bit different from another's. But one thing I think and believe is he's a pretty quick healer."
We'll see. Willingham said they would err on the side of caution, as anyone who's dealt with hamstring injuries know how they can nag on a player. But a bum wheel on a gifted runner like Locker, where so much of his effectiveness is based on what he can with his legs, well, you can imagine the angst running through Husky Nation right about now. Locker is one of the most talented QB's in the west. If they have to get a couple of redshirts to carry Locker around campus this fall, then let it be so. But they absolutely cannot risk losing their best hope of a successful 2008 season to a sore hamstring. Stay tuned.
Tyrone Willingham broke the news today at his fall opening press conference. Willingham stayed in his usual character, offering very little details other than to say Savannah is academically ineligible. If and when he gets things straightened out, he will be able to return to the football program. That's pretty much it.
But that wasn't the only bad news on Montlake. Some of UW's key incoming freshmen will be missing from the team. Touted defensive line prospects Craig Noble and Senio Kelemete didn't make it for this fall. Noble and Kelemete were four-star recruits, and looked upon as having a real shot to get into the defensive line rotation. QB Dominique Blackman, RB Demetrius Bronson, and safety Vince Taylor, all of the three-star variety, also failed to qualify.
It has been a slow off-season in the Husky recruiting circles. How slow? Up until yesterday, Washington was the only PAC-10 school to not have a single verbal commitment for the class of 2009. But today is a new day, and right on the eve of PAC-10 media day, the Huskies have joined the crowd. Keith Price, a 6-2, 180 lb. dual-threat quarterback prospect, gave his pledge to Tyrone Willingham and company last night.
Price is a decent get for UW, a three-star prospect out of Bellflower, CA, and has been compared somewhat to former Oregon star Dennis Dixon. Maybe that's a stretch, as Price only started at quarterback last year and didn't exactly dominate, throwing for 955 yards and running for over 300 yards. Price chose UW over offers from Utah and Nevada, so it's not as if he's left the likes of Pete Carroll out in the cold. But according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, Price is also viewed as a bit of a late-bloomer, and impressed UW coaches considerably at their summer camp. He wanted to stay close to his western roots, and with UW, he got what he was after:
"I wanted to stay on the West Coast and I wanted to stay in the PAC-10," he said. "I got some looks from Louisville and they really liked me, but I didn't really want to go back East. I wanted to stay on the West Coast - Washington, I'm already used to the offense. It's the same kind of offense my high school is running, so I thought it would be a perfect fit."
Most of all, Price believes he's a great fit to eventually follow in Jake Locker's footsteps and into the UW version of the spread offense, with a real shot to compete for the starting gig once Jake has left Montlake. But Price's commitment raises a good question, in what took so long for this to happen? Why is UW the last to join the PAC-10 recruiting crowd?
Talk about a program needing some good news right now. Talented UCLA senior running back Kahlil Bell, who tore his ACL eight games into the 2007 season, was starting to become a big worry for his status heading into 2008. But late word from Inside UCLA's Brian Dohn has Bell looking ready to roll on the eve of fall camp. Now he's not all the way back, participating in seven-on-seven drills and the like, but he's getting there.
Technically, Bell has not been medically cleared to practice, but he told me recently he expects that to happen in early August, when he is examined by the UCLA doctors.
Bell was a big bright spot on the UCLA offense last year, rushing for 795 yards with a team-high 5.6 yards per carry in '07. He's got excellent size at a physical 6-0, 206, and is the best big-play threat on the UCLA offense.
But the real worry is what Bell will see when he actually gets the football in game situations this season. UCLA's offensive line is in tatters, with just one starter back in 2008. The recent loss of projected starting right tackle Sean Sheller only complicated things. Add in QB Ben Olson still slowly coming back from a broken foot, and you can imagine Bell will see nothing but defenses stacking the line of scrimmage to try and take him out of the offensive equation. Norm Chow might be the "Yoda" of NCAA offensive coordinators, but he might start asking what he's gotten himself into with this UCLA job.
It is hard not to like the future of Jake Locker. Big, strong, and exceptionally gifted, Locker has a set of tools rarely seen at the quarterback position. But Locker isn't all the way there, at least not yet. While he was fantastic as a running QB last year, nearly turning in a 1,000-yard season (986), throwing the ball was another matter. Locker completed a conference-low 47% of his pass attempts last year, and his QB rating of 105 placed him only ahead of Tavita Pritchard among Pac 10 passers. The worry for UW is the talent around Locker. While there is promise among a group of youngsters in Anthony Boyles, Devin Aguilar, Curtis Shaw and others, seven of the top eight receivers from last year have graduated. Factor in the loss of Louis Rankin, the first UW running back to top the 1,000-yard mark since 1997, and you can see there could be some serious growing pains early. 
While the stats might not scream superstar, those who watch the Trojans on a regular basis are quick to say that Maualuga is the best player on the best team in the conference. Maualuga isn't your typical stat hound, with 79 tackles, six sacks, and 4.5 tackles for loss last year. But nobody hits harder or is more intimidating in the middle than Maualuga. His ferocious play has made him a YouTube legend, with some of the biggest blow-ups of opposing quarterbacks you will find in the country. 
Oregon's defense is looking strong for 2008. While there are all-conference nominees throughout the secondary, everything starts up front with Nick Reed, the returning Pac 10 leader in sacks (12) and tackles for loss (22 1/2) last season. At 6-2, 255, Reed doesn't have the prototype size at defensive end. There are linebackers in the PAC-10 who are as big, if not bigger than Reed (Rey Maualuga anyone?). But you can't measure heart, and Reed has as much as any player you will see this year. 
Have you heard the one about the 41-point underdog, on the road against mighty USC, yet somehow managing to win the game? Talk about ridiculous, but seriously, it happened. And there's some juicy back story here too. Seems that Stanford's hot shot new coach, Captain Comeback Jim Harbaugh, started a mini war of words between himself and the rockstar of rockstars, Pete Carroll. Harbaugh even floated a not-so-secret rumor making the rounds that Carroll wouldn't mind a return to the NFL. Who is this rookie Pac 10 coach to say such things? Carroll will keep his foot on the gas pedal from kickoff to QB kneel-down. They might as well not even get off the bus. Stanford will be fed to the lions in front of 90,000 blood-thirsty fans in the Coliseum. 
It is still early August, and optimism usually runs high early in training camp. But UW fans have reason to fret over breaking news this afternoon, as super-soph QB 
First it was an unusual injury, a 
It has been a slow off-season in the Husky recruiting circles. How slow? Up until yesterday, Washington was the only PAC-10 school to not have a single verbal commitment for the class of 2009. But today is a new day, and right on the eve of PAC-10 media day, the Huskies have joined the crowd. 
Talk about a program needing some good news right now. Talented UCLA senior running back 
