FanHouse SeanCanfield

LOS ANGELES -- USC was picked to win the Pac-10 football title for the seventh consecutive year by the media, and yet the coaches from all nine competitors -- including Arizona's Mike Stoops (right) and even USC coach Pete Carroll -- touched on the uncertainty of the Trojans this season.

USC received 28 of the 32 votes with California receiving three while third-place Oregon collected one vote. The Trojans will be breaking in a new quarterback and several new defenders since 11 players were taken in the NFL Draft. Perhaps this is the year another school emerges and takes the crown out of Los Angeles, but they approached Thursday precariously and with respect. There were no declarations that USC is going down or the reign is over -- not even from UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel.

If Mediocrity had a football team, its mascot would most likely wear a giant foam Mike Stoops head

Ahhh, mediocre college football. Three words that go together like turkey, gravy, and stuffing.

While the majority of space here at FanHouse and on every other college football publication will be focused on the Top 25, season after season a huge slice of the college football fan pie (mmmm...fan pie) find themselves supporting a team who would most aptly be described as thoroughly mediocre, at best. I'd venture to guess that for every legit contender, there are probably three teams with a couple of flaws so glaring that only those blinded by the partisanship of homerdom can pretend their team's downsides won't inevitably sabotage any hopes of playing in a bowl of even moderate respectability.

And therein lies one of the most cruel realities of the college football landscape: winning 6 or 7 games is no small feat, and yet every year coaches and players around the country will be abused for achieving that very milestone. Of course, when you play in a conference like the Pac 10 -- who rewards its third place finisher with a December 31 game in El Paso's Sun Bowl -- can you really be that surprised when fans and pundits are critical of barely topping out above .500?

Who from the Pac 10 will slide to the middle of the pack in 2008? Here's a quick rundown of the leading candidates for Pacific time zone mediocrity this season.

The long, strange trip for Sammie Stroughter has come to an end for 2007. The talented WR, who had an odd leave of absence from the team during fall camp and the first game of the season, only to return to the team, is now out for the year with a bruised kidney. Stroughter got hurt in the loss to Arizona State on 9/22 and hasn't been on the field since.

Head coach Mike Riley actually expects Stroughter to take a medical redshirt this year and return in 2008, but it's hard to know what to expect from Sammie. He's set to earn his degree before camp next year, and as he's shown already, anything can happen with Strougther.

This is a huge loss for the offense and return game. OSU beat Arizona without too much trouble last week, but Sean Canfield continues to make too many mistakes in the passing game with more interceptions. Canfield now has 13 picks in six games, by far the leader in the Pac-10 in that dubious category. Canfield is ahead of only UW's frosh QB Jake Locker in terms of passing efficiency. To lose the top deep threat and the guy considered the top returning receiver from 2006 is a big blow to a struggling passing game. With the Cal Bears up next, it doesn't figure to get any easier this Saturday.

First, a disclaimer. This preview was originally put together a couple of weeks ago, under the guise that one very key member of the Oregon State program would be a starter and major factor: Sammie Stroughter. While there still is no official word on the explosive WR's status, he's now been away from the team for 10 days, and counting, and no idea if/when we'll get an announcement. The Oregonian has been on top of the situation, and while Sammie made a cameo appearance at the team's scrimmage yesterday, he didn't look like a guy ready for some football. Given everything that is known thus far, it doesn't sound good. So, with that in mind, this preview is written with an updated angle of the Beavers' life without Sammie Stroughter.

The Beavers were a Pac-10 darling last year, coming out of nowhere to win ten games, including a thrilling 39-38 Sun Bowl victory over Missouri to cap off a real turnaround season. While QB Matt Moore had his ups and downs in Corvallis, and was even booed during some rough spots early in '07, the team rallied around him late in the year. Can the Beavers repeat last year's surprising surge to Pac-10 contender? Or will reality strike the black and orange as the off-the-field distractions have piled up over the last month?

WHY THEY'LL WIN

The biggest thing to contend with in Oregon State is the ground game. Yvenson Bernard is the top returning running back in the conference this year with over 1,300 rushing yards and 12 scores. But it's more than just Bernard's elusiveness, where he can make something out of nothing. As good as Bernard has been, it's the offensive line that does the heavy lifting, raising the entire offense to another level. How good is the line? Consider that Oregon State was the only program last year to have all five starters earn all-conference honors, either first-team, second team or honorable mention! That unit returns four of those five starters in '07, and even 8 out of 10 in the two-deep's from last year. Their interior of center Kyle DeVan and guards Roy Schuening and Jeremy Perry are talented and tough. No team in the conference has the type of maulers like OSU, and as the 2-point conversion play in their win over Missouri showed, they seem to be able to move the pile at will. Whether it's Bernard or backup RB Clinton Polk, or whoever prevails in camp as the starting QB, the entire offense will succeed because of the big uglies up front. The wide receivers have a lot of talent, led by the headline-making Sammie Stroughter. Of course, as of this writing, Stroughter is away from the team with what has been described as personal issues, and unfortunately there isn't anything more that is known about a potential return. Rumors and speculation abound at this point. Described as being an upbeat kid with an infectious personality, he's one of the most popular players on the football team. Oh, and he's really good. As in the leading receiver back in '07 in the entire conference with 74 catches, as well as being the #2 return man behind only DeSean Jackson at Cal. You can't sugar coat the obvious - losing Stroughter would be a huge blow to the football team. Behind Strougther, the starters would be Brandon Powers and Anthony Brown (formerly Wheat-Brown). While they are a nice duo as a compliment to a guy like Stroughter, to put it in perspective, Powers and Brown combined for 60 catches last year, still 14 less than the number Stroughter turned in. WR Chris Johnson is a guy that would likely move up the depth chart as the #3 guy should Stroughter not return. The OSU defense looks to be set for a big season. Nine of the top 11 tacklers from 2006 return, including the starting linebacker corps of Joey LaRocque, Alan Darlin and Derrick Doggett. Outside LB LaRocque is the top returning tackler in the Pac-10 from last year with 98, while Doggett anchored the other side with 87 last year, plus and he got after the passer with five sacks. Darlin did a commendable job in the middle with 72 tackles and 12 tackles for loss. The secondary did lose one potential starter in Coye Francies, who was arrested on a firearm charge and has been suspended indefinitely from the team, but they still look good with Keenan Lewis, Gerald Lawson, and Brandon Hughes, all guys that have started at corner at one time or another. Up front, the d-line looks to be strong as well, led by four senior starters. DE's Jeff Van Orsow and Dorian Smith are probably the two best up front. Van Orsow was the hero of the USC upset a year ago, tipping a 2-point conversion attempt by John David Booty with seconds remaining to clinch the win. He was honorable mention all-conference last year with 10 tackles for loss. Smith surprised a lot of people with a team-high nine sacks last year, tops on the team and the #2 pass-rusher in the conference coming back in '07. The tackles are Gerald Lee and Curtis Coker, both active run-stoppers who are good at plugging the middle and eating up some space, freeing up the linebackers to make plays.

Just when it looked like Sean Canfield was putting away the starting QB job, challenger Lyle Moevao got things rolling late in yesterday's spring game. The White team's rally against the Black team fell short, as Canfield led his side to a 20-14 win over Moevao's squad.

Overall Canfield put up his best performance yet in scrimmage situations, hitting on 17-of-30 for 224 yards and a score, with one interception. Moevao started slow as his side fell behind 20-0 before rallying for a couple of late scores to make things interesting. Moevao finished 13-for-28 for 168 yards, including a TD pass, and showed his competitive side that coaches love:

"I wish we would have had 10 more minutes," lamented Moevao, talking about a White team comeback from a 20-0 deficit. "I would have been on a roll. . . . I was getting all the guys together for our red ball (two-minute offense)."

After a drizzly scrimmage number two yesterday in Corvallis, the biggest question of Beaver spring ball is still without an answer - who will be the starting QB? At this point, it's too close to call, as Sean Canfield nor Lyle Moevao have separated themselves as the clear-cut number one guy.

Canfield was six-for-12 with 65 yards passing, but the biggest thing for him was leading the offense down the field on a 16-play, 70-yard scoring drive to get the scrimmage started. However Moevao was an efficient four-for-six passing for 109 yards and a 70-yard scoring drive of his own. But it must be noted that 65 of those passing yards for Moevao came on a short pass that turned into a long run by young tight-end Brady Camp, who came up one yard short of a spectacular TD.

Overall the best surprise of the second scrimmage of the spring was the improved play of the tight ends. Many descriptions after the first scrimmage had the offense out of synch, but the group of young tight ends in the race for playing time looked a bit overwhelmed. But Brady Camp yesterday was just one highlight, and four of the six candidates for the tight end spot had catches yesterday.

The Oregon State Beavers' offense may have romped all over Eastern Washington--leading to some cheers and creepy heavy breathing from one fan with a YouTube account--but the Pac Ten season is looking more like a hangover.

The crowds in Corvallis are calling for quarterback Matt Moore's head--holding up signs in the stands redshirt freshman backup Sean Canfield.

But Moore won't have any of it. Pestered by media questions, the UCLA transfer declared that there was no quarterback controversy in Corvallis...and his teammates have expressed their confidence in him.

We know how well that worked out for "Borwnie", eh?