By
Pete Fiutak
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2006 Pac 10 Spring Analysis
-
2007 Preseason Lookaheads -
Pac 10
Arizona
Spring Practice
Begins: March 21 Game: April 14
The early spring buzz ... Oh, what might have been. After Chris
Henry wowed the NFL combines with a 4.33
40, the best time among the running
backs, it would've been interesting to
have seen what the offense would've been
like had the 233-pounder had come back
for his senior season. Life goes on, and
Arizona has to to use all the experience
on both sides of the ball to finally
turn the corner under head coach Mike
Stoops.
The big spring question is ... Is there finally going
to be any offense? Considering the
attack had Henry, QB Willie Tuitama (for
the most part), and a decent receiving
corps, Arizona's offense was
non-existent for long stretches of time.
It occasionally exploded just enough to
tease everyone into thinking it would
finally breakout, but there wasn't any
consistency. The new Sonny Dykes spread
offense will try to change all that, but
first, there has to be more production
from ...
The most important position to watch is ... All the offensive
linemen. The Wildcat front five was
abysmal in pass protection and didn't do
nearly enough to open up holes for
Henry. All the starters return so there
should be far more cohesion than last
year. Most importantly, they have to
keep Tuitama healthy to finally let him
reach his immense potential.
Spring attitude... Bowl game or bust. Enough of the playing
around. This is year four under Stoops,
and while Dick Tomey is rocking and
rolling up in San Jose State, the
Wildcats have been nothing more than
also-rans. It's time for actual results
in the win-loss column while becoming a
player in the Pac 10 race.
Arizona State
Spring Practice
Begins: March 19 Game: April 14
The early spring buzz ... The fantastically disappointing Dirk
Koetter era came to a close and the
Dennis Erickson return to the Pac 10
begins. Is Erickson really the right man
for the job? After all, it's been years
since he's been remotely successful, and
it's not like he was a hot prospect on
the short list for many other openings.
He knows the Pac 10 and should be able
to make ASU more consistent in a big
hurry, but the spotlight, and the heat,
will be on from day one.
The big spring question is ... How will Erickson change
things up? Expect a mix of offenses with
a little spread here and a little West
Coast there to provide a variety of
looks. Despite the mediocre play of
Idaho last year, Erickson is a good
offensive mind who, when combining with
offensive coordinator Rich Olson, should
crank out the big numbers the Sun Devil
fans are used to with a nice balance.
The most important position to watch is ... Quarterback. Rudy
Carpenter played like he had the weight
of the program on his shoulders last
season, which he did after the former
coaching staff's decision to go with him
over Sam Keller. Wile he wasn't awful,
and he improved as the year went on, he
didn't play up to his 2005 standard.
Under Erickson, he has to be the steady
playmaker who makes the overall
transition an easy one.
Spring attitude... It's time to be a factor in the Pac 10
race again. If nothing else, the Sun
Devils should be explosive again, but
that only matters if the wins follow.
After years of appearing ready to make
the next step under Koetter, Erickson
needs to deliver. He appears to be in
for the long haul with a recruiting
class to build, not fill immediate
holes, but that's what Idaho Vandal fans
thought, too.
California
Spring Practice
Begins: March 12 Game: April 14
The early spring buzz ... Is this Jeff Tedford's last season at
Cal? Long talked about for NFL jobs,
Tedford was thought about as a candidate
for the San Diego Charger opening and
appears on the verge of making the jump
if the program doesn't drastically
upgrade the facilities and/or he has one
more big year. He has a team put
together to make an honest run at USC
and the Pac 10 title, but that might
mean he goes out with a bang before
getting the big payday.
The big spring question is ... Was the win over Texas A&M in
the Holiday Bowl the official moment
when the program went from promising to
elite? Long living off an overtime win
over USC, and a few near misses, Cal got
the tag of not being able to win the big
games against the better teams. The
Holiday Bowl was a big win and A&M was a
top team, and the Bears won 45-10. With
Tennessee coming to town for the opener
on September 1st, the program has a shot
at proving once and for all that it
deserves to be mentioned among the best
of the best.
The most important position to watch is ... Defensive end.
It's not like the Cal defensive front
got into the backfield on a consistent
basis, and it wasn't always a rock
against the run, but the ends were solid
for a D that didn't allow more than 24
points after the season opening loss to
the Vols. Tackle Brandon Mebane is the
irreplaceable loss, but ends Abu
Ma'afala, Steve Kelly and Nu'u Tafisi
will also be missed.
Spring attitude... Win the Pac 10. Yeah there's a ton of big
replacements needed on the defensive
front seven, not to mention the
departure of top corner Daymeion Hughes,
and the offense will miss Marshawn
Lynch, even though Justin Forsett is a
solid replacement, but the passing game
will explode with, arguably, the
nation's best receiving corps and Nate
Longshore now a crusty veteran.
Oregon
The early spring buzz ... Who is Chip Kelly and will he
finally get the Oregon offense to reach
its potential? It's not like the Ducks
were awful under Gary Crowton, who left
to take over the LSU offensive
coordinator's job, but it was a big
disappointment late in the year scoring
ten points or fewer than three of the
final four losses. Kelly comes from New
Hampshire where his teams put up big
offensive numbers, especially through
the air, and should be able to blend
with the current talent to help the
Ducks finally start getting more points
out of all the yards.
The big spring question is ... And the starting quarterback will be
... ? Dennis Dixon had his moments
before deciding to throw the ball to the
other team way too often, but Brady Leaf
didn't set the world on fire when he got
his shot. Under Kelly, the offense
should be a bit quicker, a bit more
up-tempo, and at a faster pace, which
fits Dixon a bit better, but it'll
highlight the passing game a bit more,
which fits Leaf a bit better. One thing
is for sure; the coaching staff has to
decide on one quarterback, go with him,
and live with the decision. One of the
two has to know he can make a mistake
without getting yanked.
The most important position to watch is ... Defensive end. Oh
sure, the national spotlight will focus
the quarterback situation, but the
bigger issue might be getting to the
passer after losing Darius Sanders, and
linebacker Blair Phillips, and their
12.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss.
Nick Reed is a promising playmaker who
should fill in the hole left by Sanders,
but if he doesn't, the Ducks will have
to manufacture pressure from everywhere
else.
Spring attitude... This is the team. The 10-2 squad of 2005
was certainly fine, but this year's
squad should be the monster that Duck
fans truly have been waiting for with as
much experience as anyone in the
conference, and the type of skill
players who can match up with anyone in
the nation. If the abysmal four-game
slide to end last year can be put in the
past, and the turnovers stop, Oregon
might not just be the sleeper in the Pac
10 race, it could be the dark-horse for
the whole ball of wax.
Oregon State
Spring Practice
Begins: April 2 Game: April 28
The early spring buzz ... The loss of special teams coach Bruce
Read to the Dallas Cowboys might fly
under the radar on a national scale, but
it'll be big for a team that has dreams
of being a major player in the Pac 10
race. Under Read, Alexis Serna, back for
what seems like his 14th year with the
Beavers, has turned into an elite
kicker, and the return game became
special. This spring has to show that
there's no slip in the production.
The big spring question is ... Will the offensive line be
better? Four starters return to a group
that struggled way too much in pass
protection and didn't do enough for the
ground game that had talents in Yvenson
Bernard and Clinton Polk to work behind.
If the offensive front five comes
together this spring and becomes a
positive, Oregon State's offense might
be unstoppable.
The most important position to watch is ... Quarterback. Sean
Canfield, your table is ready. Matt
Moore went from unreliable starter to
efficient playmaker spreading out the
production throughout the receiving
corps. Canfield is bigger, has a better
arm, and knows the system, but the
left-hander will have to battle with
JUCO transfer Lyle Moevao for the right
to run the high-octane attack.
Spring attitude... There's no need to take a backseat to
anyone. After a strong ten-win season,
and with eight starters returning on
defense, seven on offense, and top
playmakers like Bernard and WR Sammie
Strougher, the Beavers will be a tough
out for all the projected Pac 10
favorites. Anything less than another
double-digit victory campaign will be a
big disappointment.
Stanford
Spring Practice
Begins: April 4 Game: April 28
The early spring buzz ... Jim Harbaugh, by name recognition
more than anything else, has brought an
excitement to the program not seen in a
long while. Beyond his pedigree as a
Michigan great and marginal NFL star, he
turned into a whale of a D-IAA coach
going 29-6 at San Diego over the last
three years highlighted by a fantastic
11-1 campaign last season. The general
consensus seems to be that he's a rising
superstar who might not be on The Farm
for all that long if he's the real deal.
But for all the promise and potential
...
The big spring question is ... Will Harbaugh's coaching translate to
the D-I level? That remains to be seen
over time as Harbaugh and his staff need
time to recruit and to pick up the
pieces after last year's disaster, but
the offense should explode if it's half
as effective as it was at it was in San
Diego when it led the nation in total
offense (494 yards per game), passing
offense (293 yards per game) and scoring
(42.8 points per game). His attack is
balanced, and his defense was nasty
finishing 12th overall and second
against the run.
The most important position to watch is ... Quarterback. Even
with the job wide open, and a few other
options to give a look to, T.C.
Ostrander has the job almost by default
because of his experience. Don't be
stunned if one of the star recruits,
Kellin Kiilsgaard or L.D. Crow, takes
over in a big hurry come this fall if no
one goes lights out in spring ball.
Harbaugh is looking for the quarterback
who does the best job of leading and
provides the biggest spark.
Spring attitude... Patience, patience, patience. It doesn't
help the rebuilding process that the Pac
10 is as good this year as it's been in
a long, long time. The talent level is
still not even remotely close to the
other nine teams in the conference, and
it's going to take a little while before
Harbaugh can work his magic, so while
the coaching staff isn't going to accept
any excuses, this is a stepping-stone
season.
UCLA
Spring
Practice
Begins: April 5 Game: April 27
The early spring buzz ... It might have taken four years and a whole
bunch of rocky moments along the way,
but Karl Dorrell and his staff proved
last year that the program can do more
than just compete with USC. The 7-6
record might be seen as a bit of a
disappointment coming off a ten-win
campaign, but the schedule was brutal
after the first month. Now there's an
excitement around the program that
hasn't been there in almost a decade.
The big spring question is ... Will the two sides of the ball
finally come together? UCLA's offense
cranked out yards by the truckload in
2005, but the defense didn't show up.
The D was one of the best in the Pac 10
last year, but the offense was ho-hum.
With ten starters back on both sides of
the ball, there's no reason it shouldn't
all come together for the most complete
team yet under Karl Dorrell (as long as
an adequate replacement can be found for
PK Justin Medlock).
The most important position to watch is ... Quarterback. For
yet another year, Ben Olson will go into
the spring as the next-big-thing college
quarterback, and for yet another year,
he'll have to battle tooth and nail for
his job. Junior Pat Cowan, who was the
main man over the final nine games of
last year after Olson was hurt, will get
every shot for the No. 1 gig and needs
to prove he's a better decision maker in
the passing game to get it.
Mobility-wise, Cowan is far better than
Olson, but Olson has the potential to be
a special passer.
Spring attitude... Will the consistency finally be there? How
could a team that dominated USC, and
until the final minute, Notre Dame,
defensively get rolled by Washington
State and Washington and give up 44 to a
mediocre Florida State offense? The
talent is in place on both sides of the
ball to be a top ten team and a true
contender for the Pac 10 title, but the
Bruins have to win all the games they're
supposed to. Consistency comes through
effective execution, and that starts in
spring ball.
USC
Spring Practice
Begins: March 20 Game: April 14
The early spring buzz ... The Trojans will be just about everyone's
preseason number one team. Oh sure, some
publications will get wacky and try to
come up with someone different just to
stand out, but USC has the nation's best
returning team with the best defense yet
under Pete Carroll and John David Booty
leading a talented, but inexperienced,
offense. Don't forget that USC went 11-2
and came within a hair of playing for
the national title despite fighting
through several injuries. If everyone
stays healthy, the Trojans might be a
slam-dunk to be in their third national
title game in four years.
The big spring question is ... Will all of the off-the-field
rumors and allegations be the program's
undoing? From the Reggie Bush issues and
the talk of improper recruiting
practices to get top runner Joe
McKnight, the heat is only going to be
turned up as the program will come under
more and more scrutiny. Throw in the
persistent rumors about when (not if)
Carroll will find the right NFL coaching
fit and this is the nation's most
interesting rumor-and-speculation team,
along with being the best one on the
field.
The most important position to watch is ... Running back.
Everyone will be talking about the
receivers after losing Steve Smith and
Dwayne Jarrett, but Patrick Turner,
Vidal Hazelton and others will be more
than fine. USC has at least five backs
that would start for about 100 other
teams. Now one has to prove worthy of
starting for this one. The real key to
the team is the running game that fell
off the map last year after losing Ryan
Powdrell and Emmanuel Moody to injury.
It was running back by committee, and
until McKnight hits campus, it still
might be with a who's who of top former
prep prospects battling it out for time.
Spring attitude... Stay the course. The coaching staff has
the mentality and the even keel to get
through adversity and to remain college
football's elite of the elite program.
It helps when you can pick and choose
from all the top high school prospects
and replace NFL talent with more NFL
talent. Along with Florida and LSU, this
is the most well-stocked and talented
team in America, and this spring will be
a big one to sort out the elite
prospects from the merely great ones.
Washington
Spring Practice
Begins: April 9 Game: April 28
The early spring buzz ... What was all that talk about Ty Willingham
not being able to recruit? After getting
canned at Notre Dame partly because
there was a sense he couldn't bring in
the top talents, he and his staff came
up with what many believe to be one of
the Pac 10's best hauls of talent.
Considering the Huskies have done a
relatively decent job over the last few
years in the recruiting game, the talent
should be in place to finally turn
things around. But ...
The big spring question is ... Is this really the year
things are going to be different? After
one of the nation's better programs fell
off the map, Willingham has slowly
started to make progress going 2-9 in
2005 and 5-7 last year losing three
games by seven points of fewer. How does
UW start winning all the tight games and
make more noise in the Pac 10? Stop
turning the ball over, play better pass
defense and get more consistency out of
the offense.
The most important position to watch is ... Defensive back.
It's hard to win in the Pac 10 if you
can't slow down the pass. The secondary
gave up over 240 yards per game and got
picked apart short, medium and deep.
With three starters gone, there's a lot
of work to do. Combine the holes that
need patching in the secondary with the
loss of Tahj Bomar and Scott White from
the linebacking corps, and the defensive
back seven will be the focus this
spring.
Spring attitude... Get to a bowl. After not coming up with a
winning season in four years and failing
to win a bowl game since the 2001 Rose
Bowl, long-suffering Dawg fans are
desperate to finally be back among the
living. Despite what Irish fans might
have you believe, Willingham is an
excellent coach who's been in worse
situations (Stanford) and succeeded.
Expect a good year as long as the team
can survive the first six weeks (at
Syracuse, Boise State, Ohio State, at
UCLA, USC, at Arizona State, Oregon).
Washington State
Spring Practice
Begins: March 22 Game: April 14
The early spring buzz ... While it might be a bit much to suggest
head coach Bill Doba is on the hot seat
after failing to get to a bowl game in
his three years, he certainly can't
afford a total disaster. With the talent
returning on offense, and just enough of
a defense to not be abysmal, the
expectations will be relatively high. If
nothing else, the offense should be
explosive.
The big spring question is ... Has the team figured out how
to return a kick? The Cougars aren't
going to threaten USC, UCLA or Cal for
the Pac 10 title, and they have to do
all the little things right to finish in
the top five in a strong year for the
conference. That means tightening up the
league's worst pass defense, keeping the
turnovers to a minimum, and getting
much, much more out of the special teams
after averaging a league-low 17.52 yards
per kickoff return and 5.47 yards per
punt return.
The most important position to watch is ... Outside
linebacker. Greg Trent finished second
on the team in tackles making 77 from
his spot in the middle, but SS Eric
Frampton (100 stops), DE Mkristo Bruce
(67) and outside linebackers Scott Davis
(66) and Steve Dildine (70) are gone
leaving a big void in production. Andy
Mattingly, Cory Evans and Alex Hamill
will get the first looks on the outside,
and they need to shine right away so the
defense can focus more on improving the
secondary.
Spring attitude... Win every close game. With ten losses in
the last three years by eight points or
fewer, the Cougars have been on the
doorstep to being really good, but
haven't gone through. It'll be tempting
to rely on Alex Brink and the passing
game to try to outbomb everyone, but
there's talent in place to balance the
offense and do far more defensively.