College Football PAC 10 2008 Preview
USC
The Trojans are the odds-on favorite to claim the 2008 season national championship even though 10 of their top players were taken by the NFL. Returning are a slew of tailbacks still, a powerful front line and a defense that could be even better than last season. The Trojans, coming off an 11-2 season, just have to score some points, and that usually isn't a problem for a team with six straight top-four finishes, BCS bowls and Pac-10 titles. This time quarterback Mark Sanchez takes the helm, and with him are plenty of other future pro prospects.Arizona State
The 2008 season expects to continue to provide fireworks in Tempe, as the Sun Devils return an experienced and potent offense, as well as an athletic and striking defense, led by a exciting blend of veteran experience and youthful passion that is expected to formu¬late another thrilling year of football in the maroon and gold desert. The Sun Devil offense is once again guided by Rudy Carpenter, entering his fourth year as ASU’s starting quarterback. ASU boasts the top running back tandem in the Pac-10 in senior Keegan Herring and junior Dimitri Nance, while junior Chris McGaha, senior Michael Jones and junior Kyle Williams lead the Sun Devils’ talented group of wide receivers and right guard Paul Fanaika provides senior leadership to the ASU offensive line. Defensively, the front line returns junior Dexter Davis and senior Luis Vasquez on the ends and senior David Smith at tackle, after each of the three started all 13 games last season. Junior strong side linebacker Travis Goethel leads a deep and hungry pack, while senior safety Troy Nolan and sophomore cornerback Omar Bolden highlight the Sun Devil secondary.Oregon
With Stewart gone and with sidekick Jeremiah Johnson still recovering from knee surgery, junior college transfer LeGarrette Blount got a chance to shine in the spring, and he did just did just that. His 32-yard touchdown run was one of the highlights of the spring game. Even with the players heading for the NFL, there is talent on this Oregon roster, and once the Ducks settle on a quarterback, things should get even better. Remember, Dixon was anything but a sure thing entering last season, and he quickly became the favorite for the Heisman Trophy before getting hurt. This program had some special moments last year and was a national player before injuries took it all away. Now, Bellotti has some rebuilding to do, but the guess here he has enough talent to do it successfully.UCLA
Rick Neuheisel, who quarterbacked UCLA to victory in the 1984 Rose Bowl and who compiled a record of 66-30 as a collegiate head coach, is in his first year as head coach at his alma mater. The energetic and personable Neuheisel returns to the collegiate ranks after spending the past three seasons in the NFL. In his eight years as a college head coach at the University of Colorado and the University of Washington, he fashioned a record of 66-30, winning at least 10 games on three occasions and finishing in the Top 10 on three occasions, and led his teams to seven bowl games. His winning percentage of .688 places him No. 17 among active coaches with at least five years in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He was also recognized as one of the nation’s top recruiters during his college coaching days. Norm Chow, who is considered one of the top offensive coaches in football history, is in his fi rst season as the Bruin offensive coordinator. Chow comes to UCLA from the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, where he served as offensive coordinator for the past three years. He is credited with helping Vince Young’s transition from college to pro football. This past season, the Titans earned a spot in the NFL playoffs and finished the regular season with a record of 10-6. Offensively, UCLA returns a good nucleus of experienced players. Three quarterbacks – seniors Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan and junior Osaar Rasshan – combined to start all 13 games a year ago. Olson has started 10 games in the last two years while Cowan has started 13. In 2007, Olson passed for 1,040 yards and seven touchdowns, Cowan threw for 696 yards and four scores and Rasshan threw for 259 yards and rushed for 109. UCLA returns two starters at linebacker but loses middle linebacker Christian Taylor, who called the defensive signals for the past two years. Redshirt junior REGGIE CARTER (6-1, 221) is ready to become one of the top linebackers in the Pac-10 Conference. This season he will move from the weak side to the middle, taking Taylor’s place as the heart of the defense. Strong, fast and aggressive, Carter made 62 tackles a year ago, including 12.0 for loss – third on the squad and fi rst among returnees. He made a career-high 10 tackles in the opener at Stanford and made at least fi ve tackles in eight of his 13 games. He even underwent arthroscopic knee surgery during a bye week and did not miss a game.California
Cal spent the spring doing more than just trying to find it self a quarterback. The Golden Bears also searched for team chemistry and a cohesiveness that was missing when they lost six of seven games in the regular season last year. The chemistry might have been established, but the quarterback issues will have to play out for a while longer. Tedford made changes. There will be no Heisman Trophy campaign like the Bears had for receiver DeSean Jackson, Tedford has given up the play-calling duties so he can watch over the entire team more. And the Bears worked on a 3-4 defensive scheme throughout spring drills. Finding a quarterback the young Bears team can count on remains as important as any task, however. Nate Longshore has been pretty good over the last two years, but Cal is looking for more than just pretty good. The sometime starter last year, Kevin Riley, and redshirt freshman Brock Mansion took reps in the spring and will do so again when the Bears get back together.Arizona
The Wildcats, coming off a 5-7 season, are clearly looking to spread the field with more deep throws than ever. In the team's second year in the spread offense, Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama is out to bring the deep threat more into the equation. That was obvious as the Wildcats' four- and five-receiver sets went down the sidelines with regularity and with effectiveness this spring. The Wildcats' young defense is still a work in progress with only three starters returning from a year ago. The group looks faster and more athletic, but raw and inexperienced is not generally a good combination in the Pac-10.Position battles, mainly up front where all four linemen will be new, have yet to be solidified. The same is true in the secondary. Lots of question marks remain defensively, which leaves a lot of doubts about whether the Wildcats can play in their first bowl since the 1998 Holiday.Washington
Sophomore quarterback Jake Locker continued his maturation during the spring, showing a more accurate arm and better command of the offense. And the defense, under first-year coordinator Ed Donatell, looked improved -- Washington's spring game ended 10-7, apparent evidence of better play by the defense. Still, hard questions remain about a defensive line with just one returning player with any significant experience, running back and receiver spots also devoid of much proven ability, and an offensive line that suddenly has to find a way to replace center Juan Garcia. In the biggest disappointment of the spring, Garcia suffered a serious injury to his left foot and could be done for the season. A senior, he had returned for a sixth year and was expected to be a leader of a unit that appeared to be strength of the team. Youth, in fact, is the theme of the 2008 Huskies; some thin recruiting classes during the transition from the Rick Neuheisel-Keith Gilbertson era to Willingham has left the Huskies with just 12 scholarship seniors on the two-deep. Just four were listed as starters coming out of the spring, only one on defense. To some observers, that has the Huskies looking like a team that's a year away. But Willingham, with an 11-25 record in three years and facing a restless Husky nation, might not have that much time. The Huskies are hoping that Locker -- an undeniably huge talent -- will be able to make up some of that experience gap elsewhere.Oregon State
Oregon State was hit and hit hard by graduation losses, but young guys who got a chance to play and the return of two "old" stars on offense has Mike Riley optimistic about the 2008 season. Riley knew he would be getting guard Jeremy Perry back from a broken leg that knocked him out for the season in the first game last year. The coach didn't know he'd be getting wide receiver/punt returner Sammie Stroughter back until word came in mid-March. Stroughter had been give a medical redshirt after playing in three of the first four games last season before going down for the year with a kidney injury. The Beavers have made charges to the finish line each of the last two seasons and this year face a schedule that calls for games with eight bowl teams from last year. The second game of the season is at Penn State.Washington State
The Cougars lost four-year starting QB Alex Brink as well as starting receivers Michael Bumpus and Charles Dillon. Senior Gary Rogers, who has seen some spot playing time in key situations, will take over as the starting QB, running the team's new no-huddle, spread offense. Four offensive linemen return, and Brandon Gibson is back to lead a receiving corps that should still be solid. The biggest concern is at running back, where leading returnees Christopher Ivory and Dwight Tardy are battling injuries -- Ivory also has academic issues. The Cougars rarely stopped anybody last year, which raises an important issue -- is having eight returning starters from a group like that a good thing? But the new staff is tweaking things a bit, returning to a 4-3, hoping to better utilize the talent on hand. Andy Mattingly, a rising star as a linebacker a year ago, is moving to defensive end to take advantage of his pass-rush skills. WSU's linebackers will be the strength of the defense and will feature three returning senior starters led by MLB Greg Trent. The secondary may be the biggest question and wasn't helped by the absence during the spring of starting CB Devin Giles, who sat out to concentrate on academics.Stanford
Total Returning Letter winners (46; 27 Offense, 18 Defense,1 Specialist. Richard Sherman is a key target for whoever takes over the quarterback role after finishing with 73 catches and seven touchdowns in '07. Four offensive line starters back gives the unit much needed experience. The Cardinal have 12 players with at least four games of starting experience, including a strong linebacking unit headed by Clinton Snyder and Pat Maynor. Safety Bo McNally is the catalyst of the unit and is a playmaker, as evidenced by his outstanding spring -- he was continually around the ball and will lead a unit that has its top three safeties back. Defensive end Pannel Egboh is considered one of the premier linemen in the league after making 13.5 tackles for loss a year ago.