Fall of the Trojans

It ain't over till we say it is

Every year the USC Trojans are pre-season Pac-10 champions. Every year they end up being the Pac-10 champions. This makes it increasingly difficult to pick against USC. They were the media’s selection for Pac-10 champion this year. Never mind that their team is chalked full of unproven performers, they are USC. They have to be #1 in the Pac 10. I think USC got the #1 slot based on reputation alone this year. They are the best coached team in the conference (although a lot of those coaches have left to go onto head coaching jobs) and have a unlimited supply of talent. Is this the year someone else finally wins the Pac-10?

The QB Situation

Pete Carroll was pissed when Mark Sanchez left, probably because he knew he had unproven backups. The argument against this is: Matt Leinart was unproven. That’s great, let’s take a once in a generation player and make him the norm. Just because Matt Leinart came out of nowhere to become an all-time great doesn’t mean Aaron Corp is going to.

Sophomore Aaron Corp was the leader going into camp but he has suffered some injuries that have opened the door for other players on the roster. Corp is in the long line of USC prospects that were highly recruited but were overshadowed by USC’s elite recruits. With questions about his ability to start the season healthy all eyes are turning to USC’s other QBs. Mitch Mustain was one of the biggest recruits in Arkansas history but left that program because he didn’t like the Wildcat offense they ran. Mustain has an outside chance to win the job, but more realistically he will spend the rest of his college career sitting behind more talented players (the curse of signing with USC). True freshman Matt Barkley is supposed to be the next big thing. The #1 recruit in the country enrolled early and has been practicing with the team since spring. So yes, there is a ton of talent at this position. No one is proven, however. Corp is the safe pick, Barkley is the pick based on potential.

Replacing Legends

USC had one of the best defenses ever last year. They held nine opponents to 10 or less points and pitched three shutouts. USC’s linebacking core was one for the history books. Gone are Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga and Clay Matthews. One would be hard pressed to find a better trio of linebackers in NCAA history. I don’t know anything about the guys trying to replace them. I know Chris Galippo, a former baseball player, has the best chance to become a force.

The defensive line lacks big names as well, but knowing how USC recruits it is probably better than most units in the country. DE Everson Griffin was one of the better players in Arizona’s history (yes, Arizona can produce good high school players) and will probably be the star of the line. He had to sit behind some really good players early in his career, but now he is the guy on that line.

FS Josh Pinkard returns for what feels like his 8th year. He went to the Mike Williams (former ASU RB, not the USC WR) school of sticking around forever. Pinkard is nice, but his backfield mate is much better. SS Taylor Mays has a good chance to a) be Pac-10 DPOY, b) win the Jim Thrope award and c) be a top 10 pick in the 2010 NFL draft. Mays has great size (6-3, 230) and can apparently run super fast, jump really high, intercept any pass, hit harder than a sledgehammer, and cure cancer. Yeah, he is pretty good.

Skill Positions

That amazing USC running back class of a few years ago is still chugging along. CJ Gable, Stafon Johnson, Joe McKnight, Marc Tyler and Allen Bradford are all fighting for playing time. Any of these guys would probably start for every other team in the conference, but hey they all decided to go to the same school and split carries their entire career. McKnight was supposed to be the next Reggie Bush, but he has had injury problems and usually runs third string behind Johnson and Gable. McKnight will probably play more this year, lining up at split end a lot.

Who is the next great USC receiver? Try junior Damian Williams. He may not have the size of previous USC receivers like Mike Williams or Dwyane Jarrett, but he has explosive ability and will easily be the #1 target for whoever starts under center for USC.

Outlook

If there was ever a year to pick against USC, this is the year. They lost a whole lot of good players and although they will probably find good replacements for most we don’t know who they are right now. USC is a bit of an unknown quality going into this season. They play some brutal road games against Cal, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oregon.

I spent this entire post making a case against USC, so I think I’ll pick them to stumble this year.

The All Pac-10 Team

ESPN’s Pac-10 blogger Tim Miller put together his All-Pac 10 team. I figured I give my takes on his selections:

Quarterback

Miller: Jeremiah Masoli, Oregon
Mine: Jake Locker, Washington

Can’t argue with Miller’s pick here, Locker and Masoli are really the only two options for this slot right now. Masoli has Duck fans thinking he might be the next Dennis Dixon. I’m not there yet, but if Masoli has a big year with his arm Oregon my very well take the Pac-10. I choose Locker because I am a sucker for potential. Physically, Locker is the best QB in the conference. This is the man I once dubbed “West Coast Tebow”. He hasn’t been healthy and has been on some bad teams, but Locker can do it with his arms and legs. Yup, my All Pac-10 QB selection comes from an 0-11 team last year. Fun.

Running Back

Miller: Jahvid Best, Cal; Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon State
Mine: Best, LaGarrette Blount, Oregon

Best is a no-brainer. He is probably the top back in the country this year. Rodgers is good, he ran for over 1,200 yards and had 11 TDs last year. I’ll give the second spot to Blount, who is a 240 pound behemoth that averaged over seven yards a carry last year. He ran for 1,002 yards and 17 TDs as the #2 back, imagine what he can do this year as the starter.

Receivers (including TE)

Miller: Damian Williams, USC; James Rodgers, Oregon State; TE Rob Gronkowski Arizona
Mine: Williams, Rodgers, Gronkowski

Gronkwoski is an easy pick, he is the best TE in the conference. He is going to be a first day pick in the NFL, probably even a first round pick. Damian Williams is probably the most talented receiver in the conference but he could be affected by who is throwing him the ball. Rodgers makes it too because he is a duel threat. He had 51 receptions last year but he also runs a lot of sweep run plays and racked up 408 yards rushing. I hate to pick the same three as Miller, but there isn’t much competition for these slots.

Offensive Line

Miller: C Kristofer O’Dowd, USC; G Jeff Byers, USC; G Colin Baxter, Arizona; T Charles Brown, USC; T Shawn Lauvao, ASU;
Mine: O’Dowd, Byers, Baxter, Brown, T Mitchell Schwartz, Cal

I’m not going to pretend to know much about offensive line play so I am going to take Miller’s word on this one. I replace Lauvao with Schwartz because Lauavo is changing positions so it is unclear if he is going to be able to preform at an All Pac-10 level. Schwartz is a big (6-7, 335) sophomore with a world of potential. I think I’ll jump on that bandwagon now.

Kicker and Punter

Miller: K Kai Forbath, UCLA; P Bryan Anger, Cal
Mine: K Thomas Weber, ASU, P Anger

I follow the Pac-10, but I have no clue what Pac-10 punter is good or not going into a season. As for the kicker, well I don’t see how Weber isn’t the pick here. This junior already has two stellar years and one Lou Groza Award on his mantle.

Defensive Line

Miller: DE Will Tukuafu, Oregon; DE Dexter Davis, ASU; DT Stephen Paea, Oregon State; DT Brian Price; UCLA
Mine: DE Davis, DE Everson Griffin, USC; DT Pea, DT Lawrence Guy, ASU

I feel like I need to do some explaining here. UCLA’s Brian Price deserves to be on the first team but I am too enamored with Lawrence Guy. I think Guy is going to be an explosive player and will become one of the best interior pass rushers in the country. Is this a homer pick? Probably. I like Will Tukuafu, but I’ve been hearing so much hype about Everson Griffin that I decided to give him the nod. Dexter Davis is ready to have a huge senior season, but one could easily sub Tukuafu or Cal DE Tyson Alualu in his place.

Linebackers

Miller: Keaton Kristick, Oregon State; Reggie Carter, UCLA; Mike Nixon, ASU
Me: Carter, Kristick, Michael Mohamed, Cal

Reggie Carter is the star of this group. There are some solid linebackers in this conference but no one that really stands out to me, although this conference lost a ton of linebacking talent from last year so there are a lot of unproven players. I think Mike Nixon is a solid player, but I don’t see him as an All Pac-10 performer. I just know there is some unheard of USC LB lurking around that is going to end the year with All Pac-10 honors, Chris Galippo perhaps?

Secondary

Miller: CB Walter Thurmond, Oregon; CB Syd’Quan Thompson, California; FS Taylor Mays, USC; SS Cam Nelson, Arizona
Me: Thurmond, Thompson, Mays, Nelson

I agree 100% with Miller’s picks here. Mays may be the best defensive player in the country and I think Reggie Carter is the only person who can challenge him for Pac-10 DPOY honors. Thompson is likely to be a first day NFL draft pick and Thurmond is a solid performer. Don’t know who Cam Nelson is? He is just another in a long line of good Arizona safeties.

Pre-season Offensive Player of the Year: Jahvid Best
Pre-season Defensive Player of the Year: Reggie Carter

It’s Chip’s Team Now

This is Chip's team now

For the first time in years Oregon enters a season without Mike Bellotti as their head coach. Bellotti is an Oregon head coaching legend and a big loss for the university and the conference. His replacement, Chip Kelly, has some big shoes to feel. Kelly is fit for this job. It was Bellotti who brought him to Oregon. It was Bellotti who made him famous. It was Bellotti resigning that gave him the opportunity to be the head coach at a BCS school. It will remain to be seen of Bellotti made the right call leaving the program in his hands.

Chip Kelly gained notoriety at New Hampshire where his offenses were always among the most potent in the nation. Bellotti was intrigued by Kelly’s offensive schemes and had started to study it. He implemented the spread option attack back in 2006. When I first saw Oregon running this style back in 2006 I proclaimed that it was a “gimmick offense”, shows much I know. In 2007 Bellotti brought Kelly over full time to be his offensive coordinator. That 2007 season was a big year for Oregon. They spent the majority of the year ranked high in the polls before collapsing down the stretch when their QB Dennis Dixon tore his ACL. That offense took the Pac-10 and the nation by storm, mainly because Dixon was the perfect guy to run it. Oregon ended up winning more games last year, although they weren’t in national title contention all year like they were in 2007. They still led the Pac-10 in offense last year and they don’t look like they are close to slowing down.

The Playmakers

Kelly is banking on junior Jeremiah Masoli to be the next Dennis Dixon. Masoli is undersized (5-11) but he is mobile and a good enough passer to run that system. He is a tough kid too, he proved it by blowing up an Oklahoma State defender in the Holiday Bowl last year:

Oregon also returns senior RB LaGarrette Blount who is big (6-2, 245) and averaged 7.2 yards a carry last year. He wasn’t the primary Oregon back last year, that honor went to Jeremiah Johnson, but that will be Blount’s role this year. Senior Andrew Crenshaw looks to be the compliment to Blount, but Crenshaw hasn’t done a whole lot in his Oregon career. Oregon doesn’t have a great corp of receivers, but that is okay considering the way they run their offense. Junior Jamere Holland was a hyped recruit and is said to possess blazing speed, he could be the man to stretch the defenses. The offensive line lost some talent, including its starting center and left tackle. Considering those are the two most important positions on an offensive line they better hope they find the right replacements.

The Defense

Oregon’s defense has never really impressed me, but it has always been good enough to give them a chance to win games. Their best player is cornerback Walter Thurmond. The senior has shut down ability, he is going to have to have a great year to compensate for the losses of Patrick Chung and Jarius Byrd in the secondary. Oregon’s defensive line also lost talent, losing three starters from last year. The lone returning starter is Will Tukuafu. Most of the linebackers return to this squad and junior-college transfer Bryson Littlejohn is supposed to be an impact recruit. Plus he has a super cool last name. Other linebackers include Spencer Paysinger and Eddie Pleasant, two more guys with cool last names.

Outlook

I have Oregon finishing third in the conference. They are a talented team but I don’t see them winning the conference or competing for a national title this year. Maybe they can blame that on their schedule maker. Their first three games are at Boise State and home dates against Purdue and Utah. Utah and Boise State combined to go 25-1 last year. You could add up all of Penn State’s non conference opponents from the past five years and they probably wouldn’t total 25 wins.

I also hear the Ducks have new uniforms this year. I haven’t seen them yet and I don’t think I want to.

Previewing Polls

The Pac-10 is looking good in the first USA Today Coaches poll. USC is ranked all the way at #4, Cal #12, Oregon #14 and Oregon State at #25.

I like where Oregon and Cal are ranked. Oregon will probably spend the entire year in the top 25, they have a good football team and are tough to beat at home. California has a real chance to move into the upper echelon of the rankings, but we never know about the mental state of that team. USC is ranked high on reputation alone I believe, but all these early season polls are based on reputation. I like seeing Oregon State in the top 25, it goes to show the coaches have confidence in Mike Riley.

I want to know how UCLA got 14 votes. This is a team with no offense and struggled all year last year. Perhaps their 14 votes are coaches paying homage to Rick Neuheisel. I am going to go out on a limb and say this is the most votes UCLA gets in a coaches poll all year (perhaps they will have a few more after they defeat San Diego State to open the year). Arizona received three votes, which means there are some coaches out there that have a different opinion of the team than the Pac-10 media does. This leaves Stanford, ASU, Washington and Washington State as the only Pac-10 schools not to receive a vote in the opening poll.

Don’t read too much into this, this is the same poll that Steve Spurrier always casted a vote for Duke at the start of every year. The problem with these early season polls are they have an affect on the entire season. For example, let’s say Virgina Tech is a 5-7 team this year (I harbor no ill will towards the Hokies, I am just using them as an example). Let’s say they barely beat Marshall and and lose to Nebraska and Miami to start the season 1-2. Since they are ranked seventh now it is quite likely they will still be ranked or be one of the teams that were just a few votes away from being ranked. Now, if they do start 1-2 on their way to a 5-7 season, there is no way they should ever be ranked. Yet they will be overvalued all year because of their starting position in the coaches poll. This is why I like how the BCS Poll doesn’t come out right away.

A simple way to fix this would be to not have the previous week matter to the current polls, or at least have it not be as important in the beginning. When Desert Ball introduces its own poll later this month (you know you are excited) we promise the following:

• We won’t cater to power schools. Just because there is a Longhorn on the side of a helmet doesn’t mean we are going to vote for that team if they don’t deserve it.
• Prove it or lose it. We aren’t going to reward the Penn States of the world for playing three awful non-conference opponents. If a school beats up on a bad team they aren’t likely to move up much.
• No instant gratification. We won’t post our polls on Sunday to please the masses. We will review the week and post them on Monday or Tuesday.
• The Top 11. Our poll will have 11 spots. There will be a true top 10, then the 11th spot will go to a school we feel like mentioning for a certain reason. This school will still be worthy of being ranked high, we just couldn’t find a way to get them into our top 10.
• Professional polls do matter. We will take into account the AP and USA Today poll. These people know a lot more than we do, we just want to fine tune their mistakes.
• Fun. Hey we aren’t professionals, we are just here to have fun.

Link Me

Just popping in real quick to share a few links with y’all.

From ESPN.com, they have a pretty cool College Football Mock Draft going. They basically pick the top 40 football teams in the nation and assign them to ten different conferences. Pat Forde explains it a lot better than I do. I like it because ASU gets picked with the very last pick, 40th overall. Overall, five Pac-10 teams got drafted. That makes me feel good too.

IGN.com also did their NFL season preview using Madden’s engine. How did the Cardinals do? They finished in first place in the NFC West with a 12-4 record, which was the fourth best record in the league. The Steelers went 15-1 and the Packers win the NFC North with a 7-9 record.

The Cardinals host the Falcons again in the first round of the playoffs but lose on an overtime FG. The Patriots end up defeating the Saints in the Super Bowl, 21-14.

The Evolving Pac-10

Taylor Mays tops the list of uber-talented Pac-10 defenders

For years the Pac-10 has been known for their wide-open, up and down offenses that have been powered by big name quarterbacks. This was the conference of the 4-2-5 defense, of 42-38 games, of 4,000 yard passers and talented skill position players. 2009 is a tad bit different, however. The defenses are more physical, the running backs are more abundant and the quarterbacks are nowhere to be found.

The Lack of QBs

Take a quick look at the Pac-10 QBs this year and try and tell me who the best one is? It’s probably Jake Locker, who was last seen leading a 0-11 team last year. Locker is thePac-10′s best when it comes to talent, but not results. I started calling him West Coast Tim Tebow ever since he took his first snap for Washington but he hasn’t really lived up to that moniker. He has been injury prone and his teams have been pretty awful. Oregon QB JeremiahMasoli has a chance to be the best in the conference, even if he is more of an option QB. The rest of the conference is breaking in new,un-tested QBs. The projected new starts include: Aaron Corp or Matt Barkley at USC, Kevin Prince at UCLA, Danny Sullivan at ASU, Andrew Luck at Stanford, and Matt Scott at Arizona. The returnees aren’t what we would consider good QBs either. Returning this year are Kevin Riley of Cal, Sean Canfield or Lyle Moeavo of Oregon State, Masoli, Locker and Kevin Lopina of Washington State.  How we long for the days of Matt Leinart, Andrew Walter, Willie Tuitama, Isaiah Stanback, Trent Edwards, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Olsen, Alex Brink and Dennis Dixon.

The Running Backs

The emphasis has switched from QBs to RBs in the Pac-10. This kind of started a few years ago when USC started to recruit every running back in the country. This conference is loaded with so many solid running backs that it might start to resemble the Big 10 (okay, that is a bit too much).USC’s C.J. Gable, Stafon Johnson and Joe McKnight would all be locks for the All Pac-10 first team if they didn’t split time with each other. Cal’s Jahvid Best may be the most explosive RB in the country. Oregon returns LaGarrette Blount who is huge (6-2, 240) and will be tough to stop in that spread option attack. Oregon State’s Rodgers brothers, Jacquizz and James, rack up rushing stats with their famous sweep plays. Stanford’s Toby Gerhart is the school’s first 1,000 yard rusher in years. Arizona’s Nic Grigsby is a shifty back that works well out of the spread. Those are all really good and exciting running backs.

Even the schools without top running backs have interesting options. Washington State has senior Dwight Tardy and top recruit Arthur Burns. Arizona State has sophomore Ryan Bass. Washington pins their RB hopes on talentedredshirt freshman Chris Polk.

Defense Wins Pac-10 Championships?

The Pac-10 defenses have become really good, fast and physical. USC had one of the best defenses ever last year. They held their opponents to 10 or less points nine times last year! The most points they gave up all year was 27 in a loss to Oregon State.USC lost a lot of on defense this year, but they are always reloading with talent. They have maybe the best safety in the country in senior Taylor Mays. Cal’s 3-4 defense was successful most of the time last year (except against Arizona and Maryland) and they have some talented players returning, includingcornerback Syd’Quan Thompson. UCLA’s defense is physical, as I wrote earlier. ASU has a young and talented defense that is only going to start three or four seniors this year. DTs Lawrence Guy and Corey Adams will combine with MLB Vontaze Burfict to give ASU stout defense up the middle for the next three years. In Tuscon, Arizona head coach Mike Stoops was hired for his work as a defensive coordinator. This is the best collective groups of defense I have seen in the conference in years.

UCLA’s Big Talk

UCLA LB Reggie Carter is one of the Pac 10's best

UCLA sure seems to think a lot is possible for their team this year. I stumbled onto this post from the LA Daily News where UCLA coaches and players are making all kinds of predictions for the 2009 season.

Head coach Rick Neuheisel stated “I’d be disappointed if we didn’t make the postseason.” For a team that has a lot of uncertainty heading into the season, he is more than likely to go home disappointed.

It was some of Neuheisel’s players and assistants there were boasting the big claims. Senior linebacker Reggie Carter said “The worst we can do is just a bowl game,” and when he found out UCLA was picked to finish seventh he stated, “They talked bad about Jesus, too. It’s OK.” (Love that quote).

New defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough stated “We really will have the best defense in the Pac-10,” and predicted that if his offense doesn’t turn the ball over that “there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to compete for aPac-10 championship.”

Sounds like a lot is expected of UCLA, from themselves, in 2009.

What Can We Expect?

Improvement, they are going to be better because Kevin Craft is no longer their starting QB. Craft threw in incredible 20 interceptions last year and was so bad that, even though he started every game and is a returning senior, he wasn’t even factor in spring practice. The new QB isredshirt freshman Kevin Prince (no, it’s not Kevin Craft with an alias). Only one UCLA QB in the last eight years has tossed more than 11 TD passes in a season. If Prince starts every game he is probably going to exceeded that number, but he is aredshirt freshman who struggled in the spring game. Still, anything is an upgrade over Craft.

UCLA had one of the worst running attacks in the country last year, no one Bruin averaged over 40 rushing yards a game. Junior Christian Ramirez will get first crack at the RB job this year. I have no real knowledge of Ramirez other than the fact thatNeuheisel called him a “gifted receiver,” so that’s nice. UCLA does have some receiving options. Terrance Austin returns at WR after setting a school record for all-purpose yards last year. The real gem is true freshman TE Morrell Presley. Presley was the #1 TE prospect in the country and has incredible skill, he is in the Tony Gonzalez mode of TEs.

So yes, it is going to have to be the defense that wins them their Pac-10 championship this year. DT Brian Price and LB Reggie Carter are the two stars of this unit. Senior cornerback Alterraun Verner and his 8 interceptions last year return. He will be flanked by freshman CB Aaron Hester, who has the speed and talent to be a star. It is a physical unit that ranks in the upper echelon of the conference on defense, on par withUSC and ASU’s units. Their numbers look worse last year because their offense gave them no help what-so-ever. It is hard enough to play great defense when your offense can’t score, it is even harder when they are turning over the ball at an alarming pace. Offensive improvement this year will lead to defensive improvement as well.

The defense is going to be good, but the offense isn’t good enough to land them in the top half of the conference.

Stoops’ Softies

Always enjoy a chance to rip on Mike Stoops

At Pac-10 media day Stoops was asked about the chances of his team, Arizona, scheduling his brother Bob’s team, Oklahoma, anytime soon. His response:

We’d love to play Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl this year. That would be about it for us … the only chance of that happening would be in a bowl game of some sort.

First off, I doubt that Rose Bowl matchup is ever going to happen due to Arizona’s lack of ever being in it and the fact that Oklahoma is a Big 12 school. It also doesn’t help that the BCS is gonna start force feeding the Rose Bowl schools that aren’t from the traditional power conferences.

Stoops is right, it is only going to happen in a bowl game. This is because Stoops has no interest scheduling hard opponents in the non-conference schedule. Give Stoops his three patsies and he is good to go for conference play. Why challenge your team when finishing with six wins is considering a huge success for that program. I’m not just saying this because I am an ASU guy, Stoops actually made these comments. Arizona does play at Iowa this year, but I am sure that was scheduled long before Stoops became head coach.

I wrote about this two years ago and it still stands true today.

A Case for Cal

Now You See Me, Now You Don't

Man up Cal, this year is too good for even you guys to screw up. I’ve been following Pac 10 football for years and every year I think Cal has what it takes to take the Pac 10 and every year they let the pressure get to them and play like pussies. Well, I’m here to tell you to man up. I’m picking you to win the Pac-10 this year and there are a lot of reasons why and only one reason why you wont, yourselves.

To steal a quote from Sporting News’ 2009 preview of California, “If not now, when?”

The Best in the Country

I’m talking about Jahvid Best and if he is not the best RB in the country he is surely the most exciting. As a sophomore Best ran for 1,580 yards and averaged 8.1 yards a carry! Read that sentence again, then again, then one more time. Best is the most impact offensive player in the Pac-10 this year and maybe the country. His speed and elusiveness is elite. Cal has seen some good running backs over the past few years, JJ Arrington and Justin Forsett, but Best is the best of the bunch.

I’m actually going to go as far as to say that Jahvid Best more of a big play threat than Desean Jackson and I LOVE me some Desean Jackson.

It’s Your Job Riley

Quarterback Kevin Riley is the poster boy of Cal collapses. It was back in 2007 that Riley, his team down 31-28 and in field goal range, ran out the clock trying to fight for extra yards. It was one of the bonehead plays of the year and it cost Cal the #1 ranking in the country. Cal, who was 6-1 at the time, finished the year with only one more win.

Riley spent the rest of that year and his sophomore year playing musical QBs with Nate Longshore. Longshore is gone, probably a good thing for Cal fans, and now it’s Riley’s time. Riley should benefit from knowing he is the starter the entire year. That being said I wouldn’t be surprised if Jeff Tedford decided to rotate QBs again. I think he should stick with Riley because he has the most experience. The problem with Riley is that he doesn’t have a very high completion percentage. I don’t know anything about backup Brock Mansion, except that he is huge (6-5, 240).

Riley and the QB position is the weakness of this team, but Riley isn’t all that bad of a player. If Tedford truly is a QB guru this is the year he needs to work his magic.

Secondary To None

Okay I am going overboard on the puns, but Cal’s secondary is going to be one of the best in the Pac-10 this year. Both the projected starting safeties have senior experience, but it is the cornerbacks that are money on this team. Junior Darian Hagan is an under the radar performer that is one of the best #2 CBs in the conference. He is #2 because of Syd’Quan Thompson. Thompson is a true shut down corner . . . I mean you just don’t score on a dude named Syd’Quan. Syd’Quan will make the All Pac-10 team this year and quite possibly will be an All-American. One of their top recruits, Steve Williams is a corner back that has promise.

The Rest

The offensive line suffered a huge loss when Alex Mack graduated, but it won’t cripple the unit. The team’s WRs are nothing special. Senior Nate Boateng has the ability to be a playmaker and open up the field for Best more. Sophomore receiver Marvin Jones could surprise some people.

The front seven is a solid unit for Cal. They play the 3-4, or the Gold Rush defense as it is called. Ends Cameron Jordan and Tyson Alualu have talent. The linebacking core lost a lot of talent but they should be able to ease in some new players since the line and secondary are both solid units.

A Risk

Picking Cal to win the Pac-10 is a risk. They always choke. They always, always choke! Why am I doing this? I’m either a genius or an idiot.

Hey, didn’t Steve Kerr say that once?