Pac-10 Preview
Pac-10 Preview
USC – 10-2 (8-1)
The Trojans remain the elite of the Pac-10 and no one is really close. There are a ton of questions offensively for this team. However, no one in the nation fields a better defensive unit.
Arizona St. – 9-3 (7-2)
Has opportunity to announce its presence on the national scene with a Week 4 home game against Georgia. One of the most underrated teams in the country.
Arizona – 8-4 (5-4)
The Wildcats have improved each season and QB Willie Tuitama has great weapons and a solid OL to utilize. Best offense in the Pac-10.
Cal – 7-5 (5-4)
This team underachieved badly in 2007. The potential is there to breakout again this season, but something tells me the Golden Bears lack on-the-field leadership.
Oregon – 6-6 (5-4)
One of the nation’s most overrated squads. The Ducks have to redefine their identity offensively. Still, Oregon does sport the best secondary in the nation.
UCLA – 4-8 (4-5)
Rick Neuheisel will have this team playing at a new level towards the end of the season. It will be a slow start, though, with lots of questions on both sides of the ball.
Washington – 3-9 (3-6)
Poor Tyrone Willingham. When did everything go sour? I think he’s a great coach, but he keeps falling into bad situations.
Oregon St. – 4-8 (3-6)
The Beavers always exceed expectations, meaning they’ll probably find a way to win six games despite what I and the rest of the sports media world says about them.
Stanford – 3-9 (2-7)
Something tells me Jim Harbaugh and Co. are still trying to build off the USC upset from last season, which was the biggest upset in NCAA history in my opinion. However, Harbaugh is going to need more than that. This team could be a year or two away from contending for a bowl game. True freshman Andrew Luck should see time at QB towards the end of the season.
Washington St. – 4-8 (2-7)
New coach. New offense. New defense. There’s a lot of kinks to work out before the Cougars can hope to compete with even this conference.
Overall assessment: This conference is still USC and then everyone else, despite the Trojans having shared the conference title the past two seasons (with Arizona St. in 2007 and Cal in 2006).
The biggest thing the Trojans have to avoid is getting into an offensive shootout. Their run game should be good, but Joe McKnight better be as electric as Reggie Bush if USC expects to light up too many scoreboards. McKnight showed up to practice Monday in a sling and is day-to-day.
All of this is due to the untimely injury of QB Mark Sanchez. Honestly, the season opening matchup against defensive stalwart Virginia now becomes a trap game. The Cavs can shut down the run as well as any defense in the nation.
However, getting yards and points on USC’s defense will be no small feat. Only elite offenses will be able to do it. I see two of those offenses on the Trojans’ schedule – Ohio St. and Arizona.
Yes, Arizona. That’s not a typo. The Wildcats have phenomenal talent on the offensive side of the ball. QB Tuitama will become a very well known name this season. Mike Thomas is an electrifying WR and Rob Gronkowski is the best TE in the country that no one has heard of.
I also like their OL and it should open holes wide enough for whoever Tuitama ends up handing the ball off.
I can see Arizona opening the season 6-0 and I think they have a legit opportunity to knock off USC.
Still, Arizona St. remains the top threat to USC, but they’re far behind the Trojans. QB Rudy Carpenter will be good enough to keep a less-talented Sun Devils squad as one of the conference’s best.
Oregon is currently in the preseason Top 25. I don’t expect them to last very long in the rankings, though.
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Jonathan Hull
Sports Editor
Fantasy Football Jungle
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