One thing that stood out to me in spying most of the Rose Bowl yesterday was that, without a doubt, Ohio State was the more physical team. And it wasn’t just that they hit harder, but man, they LOOKED bigger and stronger than Oregon. I would say that Ohio State’s defensive front looked downright “SEC-ish” in their body types. Those are some big, strong Buckeyes up front, and they had their way with Oregon’s offensive for about 3/4th’s of that game yesterday. Even though Oregon has that speed at the skill positions, they were not able to deal with what they got from the mammoths from tOSU.
Anyway, since it’s now the new year, why even look back at ’09, or even the decade anymore for that matter? And after Thursday’s screw job by the Pac-10 refs in our hoops game vs. Oregon, yeah, I’m DONE WITH 2009! Moveon.org or whatever it is, but buh-bye OUGHT-NINE! With that, let’s look ahead at Pac-10 football circa 2010 at a way, way, way too early sneak-a-peek at what’s to come…..
First, Bob Condotta of the Times already ran down his “far too early” look at the Pac-10. Yes, he picks UW as a bowl team at #6, but quickly qualifies it with “too low for UW?” to open the post. What a, uh, surprise. Anyway, we might as well follow suit, as I don’t think we see eye-to-eye on some of his choices. Also of note is that we didn’t look at the non-conference schedules for the different programs, as things still aren’t finalized as of yet. But we did weigh in the Pac-10 schedule for next year, as in who plays who and where they play.
So now, our stupidly EARLY look at the Pac-10 in ’10:
1) Oregon – Easy call with so many starters back (18!?) off a conference championship, including the bulk of their offensive line and most of their skill guys. The schedule won’t be quite as favorable, as they go to Cal and USC, both places they have had issues with in the recent past. But still, anything less than a BCS bowl next year would be a big disappointment in Phil Knight’s kingdom.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: ’09 was mighty fine, but can Chip Kelly keep them hungry and driven to stay at the top in ’10?
2) Oregon State – Outside of Sean Canfield at QB they have EVERYONE back, including both Rodgers brothers. The schedule is favorable next year, with USC, Cal and of course, Oregon, all coming to Corvallis. With so much back off a contending team, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Civil War decide this thing, all over again.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: Is sophomore-to-be Ryan Katz ready to take over for Canfield at QB?
3) USC – There are more issues here than I think people realize. Yeah, they were young and injured in ’09, but they reportedly had some growing pains with the new assistants brought in to replace Holt and Sarkisian. Something just didn’t seem right at SC, and after a hot start, QB Matt Barkley came back to earth in a pretty big way in dealing with injuries and inconsistency of his own. The schedule looks OK, as they get Oregon, Cal and UW in LA-LA land. But maybe more than any of that is in the bigger picture – the blowout losses to Oregon (47-20) and especially Stanford (55-21), and even the loss to a 5-win UW team, shows just how “unafraid” the rest of the conference really is of mighty USC. It might be another year looking up at the Oregon schools for the men of Troy.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: Can Pete Carroll restore the SC swagger, or has he finally lost his touch?
4) Arizona – Another team with a ton of starters back, they will be tough to stop next year. The offense will be especially good, with Nick Foles back at QB, plus leading rushers Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin. And at wideout, forget it – SEVEN of their top eight return, losing only senior Terrell Turner! It’s easy to forget after the Holiday bowl embarrassment, but this team was a double-OT loss against Oregon away from playing for the Pac-10 title. The schedule looks OK, with home games against USC, Oregon State, Cal and UW, but they do have to go to Oregon. I can’t imagine they are any worse than 4th next year, and potentially much higher than that.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: What does the defense look like next year without Mark Stoops, who is headed to FSU to be their new DC? But with all that offense, will it even matter!?
5) Stanford – Terrific Toby or not, Stanford has arrived. Jim Harbaugh has a national recruiting base, and now that he’s locked up to a long-term contract extension, he should once again reel in a top-20 recruiting class. The impressive layers of depth are now in place since Harbaugh arrived in ’07, and things are definitely on the rise in Palo Alto. And oh yeah, a rising star at QB in Andrew Luck doesn’t hurt! But the most impressive thing about Stanford is they are extremely physical on both sides of the ball, particularly on the offensive and defensive lines. Four of their starters are back on the o-line next year, while three out of four return on the defensive front. The schedule looks manageable in ’10, with road trips to Oregon, UW, plus the Big Game at Cal. But they do get home games against USC and Arizona. 5th might even be too low for these guys.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: Who takes over the running back duties? After Gerhart, Andrew Luck was the #2 rusher on the team last year. Running back Stepfan Taylor looks promising as a frosh, gaining 303 yards on 5.4 yards per carry, but we’ll have to see if he can handle the full-time load.
6) Cal – Still a lot of talent, even with losing Jahvid Best to the NFL. Four starters return on the offensive line, and it will be the Shane Vereen show at running back with Best out of the picture. Vereen looks like he’s up to the task, rushing for over 100 yards in three of the last four games of the year after Best was injured vs. Oregon State. But while Kevin Riley is back at QB as a senior next year, well, is that such a great thing? He didn’t make many mistakes, throwing eight interceptions in 382 pass attempts in ’09, but he just doesn’t seem like a big-time playmaker to overcome the USC’s and Oregon’s of the conference.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: Will a top-flight pass catcher emerge for Cal to take pressure off the running game? Marvin Jones is back as a junior next year, and he led Cal in receptions and receiving yards in ’09. But had just 43 catches for 651 yards, hardly imposing numbers for a team-leading receiver. They need someone to step up in the passing game.
7) UW – Impressive 5-7 turnaround in ’09 under Steve Sarkisian, and now a lot of hope (and higher expectations) for 2010. Jake Locker and a ton of other starters back on both sides of the ball have fans jacked on the Sark sauce. Still, next year’s road schedule in-conference will be a lot tougher than this year, when they go to Oregon, USC, Arizona, Cal and of course, the Apple Cup in Pullman. This is a program that hasn’t won on the road since November of 2007. They will be a trendy top-4 pick in the conference by most of the preseason rags, but they better figure out how to win a road game before they can return to a bowl game.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: How does UW respond now that they have started back up the mountain? How will they handle the pressure of higher expectations from their fanbase? You listen to the chatter and UW’ers are convinced this is an 8-9 win team in ’10. We’ll see.
8) UCLA – A lot of good players on defense will leave, including d-tackle Brian Price, a sure 1st round draft pick. But the fact that they were able to right the ship after starting 3-5 and get to 7 wins, including a bowl win, in Neuheisel’s second year? Impressive. Still a lot of issues on offense, but I like Kevin Prince, and he did throw for over 2,000 yards as a frosh. Norm Chow is coming back as the offensive coordinator next season, as well as the entire starting offensive line. But the schedule looks tough, with road games at Oregon, Cal and UW. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them up around 6th when it’s all said and done.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: Can they handle the losses on the defensive side of the ball? Six starters are gone, including 3/4th’s of the starting defensive line, plus their top linebackers (Reggie Carter and Kyle Bosworth) and top cover corner in Alterraun Verner.
9) WSU – HOMER PICK, totally! It’s early, I know….but I think they will inch out of the basement. For the first time in forever, a ton of starters are back in ’10 (8 on offense, 9 on defense), and they should welcome back WR Kevin Norrell for some much-needed explosiveness on offense. Add in the potential return of James Montgomery at running back, and the skill positions should take a big step forward. Jeff Tuel showed a lot of promise, throwing for 789 yards and completed nearly 59% of his passes in five starts, but he still has a lot of room for growth in his game. The defense should be one of the most improved units in the country, with lots of game-tested depth coming back next year as well as welcoming back some key players coming off injury, including Kevin Kooyman and Louis Bland. The home schedule looks awfully daunting, with USC, Cal, Oregon, Arizona and UW all coming to Pullman.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: The new O-line coach will have his work cut out for him in trying to improve an offensive line that has struggled beyond belief in the last two years. 4/5ths of the starting offensive line is back, including 8 out of 10 on the 2-deep roster, plus some much needed JC transfers will be on the scene to help out up front. But after two seasons of RUN FOR YOUR LIFE(!), can they figure out a way to give promising Jeff Tuel more time to do his thing?
10) ASU – After a surprising 4-2 start to ’09, they lost out, finishing a disappointing 4-8. It’s not the defense that’s the problem, though, but the offense that will hold them back in ’10. The QB situation is unclear, to say the least, and they lose leading rusher Dimitri Nance, as well as leading wideouts Kyle Williams and Chris McGaha. Plus they have to go to Cal, USC and Oregon State next season. If there is any team in the conference that can finish behind WSU in the standings, this is it.
WAY TOO EARLY key question for 2010: Does Denny need a bowl game to save his job? Or is this Erickson’s last stand?
That’s it for now. GO COUGS!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
