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.
Following last year's exodus of NFL-caliber talent (Sedrick Ellis, Keith Rivers, Dennis Dixon, Jonathan Stewart, and DeSean Jackson -- just to name a few) and a handful of preseasoninjuries, the start of 2008 in the Pac 10 brings a number of new faces whose ability (or inability) to step up and replace their predecessors will hugely impact the outcome of conference standings. From blue chip recruits to high-profile transfers and new coaches, here are five(ish) new faces in the Pac 10 that you'll want to keep an eye on.
1.) Rick Neuheisel, Norm Chow, and whoever survives being named starting QB - UCLA: Neither of the most-discussed new faces in the Pac 10 are actually new faces at all. The return of Neuheisel and Chow gives UCLA fans hopes of returning to regular college football relevance after the roller-coaster that was the Karl Dorrell era. But after an offseason that saw the Bruin quarterback spot turn into the most dangerous place this side of a Madden cover or Spinal Tap drum kit -- hobbling the two UCLA QBs with any game experience, Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan -- Neuheisel and Chow's baby blue debuts hinge largely on the ability of either Kevin Craft, a junior college transfer and/or redshirt freshman Chris Forcier to step in and lead the offense.
For all the worrying coaches do about protecting quarterbacks in the offseason and in practices, the fact remains that collision-contact-related injuries aren't nearly as catastrophic as non-contact, plant-grimace-and-collapse injuries.* Sure, you don't want your QB's ribcage caved in, but bones heal quickly and correctly. Torn ligaments, on the other hand, end seasons before they begin.
For now, USC will turn to Arkansas transfer and former super-recruit Mitch Mustain, who never should have left Metallica. Mustain left Arkansas in the wake of some vague scandal, and did so in such a negative light that programs like Louisville and Oklahoma actually publicly balked on his transfer. But kid can throw, and while USC awaits Sanchez's fate, it's Mitch's game.
And yes, that's right, stretching drills. SbB expresses amazement that there's such a thing as a "carioca" drill in football and links to some Fred Astaire video, but surely I can't be the only one who remembers this drill from high school. It's not that obscure. As stretches go, it's actually kind of fun.
Arkansas running back Michael Smith picks up yardage in the red-white game in Fayetteville, Ark., in this April 26, 2008 photo. Smith is the projected starter for the Razorbacks under new coach Bobby Petrino. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)
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Penn State football quarterbacks Paul Cianciolo, left, Pat Devlin, center, and Daryll Clark drop back to throw during practice in State College, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Penn State football quarterbacks Paul Cianciolo, left, Pat Devlin, center, and Daryll Clark drop back to throw during practice in State College, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Penn State guard Rich Ohrnberger, second from left, reaches out and fixes coach Joe Paterno's hair during team photos in State College, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. Left is kicker Kevin Kelly (23) and right is Tony Davis (11). (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark (17)throws during practice as quarterback coach Jay Paterno, background right, watches at right during practice in State College, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Penn State football coach Joe Paterno scratches his head during a news conference in State College, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, right, laughs with quarterback Daryll Clark during practice in State College, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Connecticut Quarterback Tyler Lorenzen speaks with reporters during his football team's media day in Storrs, Conn., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
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Penn State football coach Joe Paterno pauses during a news conference in State College, Pa., Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Connecticut football coach Randy Edsall speaks with reporters during his football team's media day in Storrs, Conn., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
The start of Spring Football could not come a day sooner for the USC Trojans after the heralded Men of Troy Basketball squad went one-and-done in the NCAA Tournament--and there is good reason to pay attention to what's happening on Howard Jones Field.
Mark Sanchez, Aaron Corp and Arkansas-transfer Mitch Mustain will be battling it out to determine who will replace John David Booty in the fall. Redshirt Junior Sanchez has the leg up according to head coach Pete Carroll, "It will be interesting to see if Mitch and (freshman) Aaron (Corp) can catch up. That's what we'll have to find out."
For Mustain to catch up and win the starting job, he must make sure that time is on his side, and make the coaching staff prolong their decisionmaking process into the fall.
"If it doesn't get decided, it looks better for Aaron or I," Mustain told the Daily News. "From August, it's like night and day for me. And even from December, it's a huge difference, even with where I stand on the team in terms of leadership since (Booty) left. I'm not going to be reluctant to exercise it."
It didn't take Ryan Mallett very long to find a new home after leaving Ann Arbor, and it's a home he nearly found himself in before choosing Michigan. Mallett grew up a fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks, attending football camps on the campus during his youth, and now he'll be playing quarterback there as well.
Former five-star quarterback Ryan Mallett has left Michigan and is taking classes at the University of Arkansas today making his transfer official, according to sources close to the situation.
Mallett will redshirt during the 2008 season and then have three years of eligibility remaining.
Obviously with Rich Rodriguez taking over for Lloyd Carr at Michigan, Mallett was the odd man out in the program as he's not the type of quarterback the team will need to run Rich Rodriguez's offense. Considering that there were rumors circulating on campus that Mallett was going to transfer to Arkansas before he ever even stepped foot in Ann Arbor, his decision to go there now is hardly a surprise.
Mallett had hoped to go to Arkansas after he graduated high school, but when the Razorbacks signed Mitch Mustain during his senior season, he turned his attention elsewhere and ended up at Michigan.
Other schools Mallett considered were UCLA, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.
Matt Leinart, needing just one credit to graduate and stay eligible without taking graduate courses for his senior year, infamously enrolled in a ballroom dancing class. Maybe Mustain's hoping to follow in Leinart's dance steps and become another Heisman-winning quarterback at Troy?
Or maybe USC's just getting this out of the way. Quoth Pete Carroll:
When the folks at Heritage Hall talk about USC's "Trojan Family," they aren't kidding. The latest recruit to the Men of Troy has special family ties to the program and it's legacy.
Yesterday 6'6" Jordan Cameron announced that he will be leaving behind his basketball scholarship at Brigham Young University to play tight end for the USC Trojans.
The 230-pound Cameron has a special relationship to the program that's about one tenth his weight. He's the uncle of Cole Cameron-Leinart, son of his sister Brynn and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart.
If Cameron plans on getting any closer to a Heisman Trophy, it will have to belong to Joe McKnight, Mark Sanchez or Mitch Mustain, however, since he will redshirt this season.
USC landed a one-two hog punch this off-season when the Trojans got transfers Damian Williams and Mitch Mustain from the University of Arkansas.
But the Trojans' pork will have to be served cold. While Mustain waits on the bench for a chance to compete against Mark Sanchez for the starting job in 2008, wide receiver Damian Williams will be sitting on the sidelines until John David Booty is in the NFL.
Williams, who injured his shoulder at Arkansas then tore his labrum in his first practice as a Trojan will undergo his second surgery of the off-season, meaning that he won't even be practicing with the team whilst he sits out the requisite one-year period for transfer students.
Luckily, Trojan wide receiver Jamere Holland will only have to sit out a month after injuring his hamstring lifting weights.
With numbers being retired like baby boomers at Heritage Hall with each Heisman Trophy, Mustain will get to wear the lucky number 13...following 2007 Heisman favorite John David Booty and past winners Matt Leinart and Charles white sequentially.
This one's been whispered about for a few days but is now semi-official. Broyles announced his plans to step down as Arkansas' Athletic Director before a meeting room packed with friends like football coach Houston Nutt, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the school's basketball and track coaches.
There has been a push of late to nudge Broyles out of the athletic department after the whole Springdale Five situation went national and the upper management at Arkansas was made to look equal parts arrogant, callous and incapable of fulfilling promises and obligations. That's very one-sided of course but two of the main players have left in quarterback Mitch Mustain and receiver Damian Williams.
There is talk that Broyles will remain at Arkansas in some sort of advisory position but for several days now whispers had increased about people within the school bureaucracy pushing for his departure.
Broyles famously had run-ins with former basketball coach Nolan Richardson, did not retain Lou Holtz as a football coach past 1983 and most recently presided over the Springdale Five mess.
Broyles' coaching legacy is far more secure. He led the Razorbacks to a national championship in 1964 and was cordial with both Alabama coach Bear Bryant and USC coach John McKay during their epic tenures through the 1960's and 1970's. He coached the Hogs from 1958 until 1976 and compiled a 144-58-5 record and just two losing seasons.
1.) 
It didn't take 
When the folks at Heritage Hall talk about USC's "Trojan Family," they aren't kidding. The latest recruit to the Men of Troy has special family ties to the program and it's legacy.
USC landed a one-two hog punch this off-season when the Trojans got transfers Damian Williams and Mitch Mustain from the University of Arkansas.
