Inside The Pac Ten Week 1

It was evident after Week One in the College Football season that the USC Trojans and the Cal Bears are the two best teams in the Pac Ten Conference. The Trojans defeated San Jose State 56-3 and California beat Maryland 52-13. Oregon got out played and out coached in a 19-8 loss at Boise State. Another team must step up and prove that they can compete for first place in the Pac Ten. There are a number of good OOC match-ups this week such as UCLA at Tennessee and Stanford at Wake Forest. There are a number of players that must step up this week for their teams if they expect to get a victory in Week Two.

First year Trojan QB Matt Barkley had a very solid game going 15/19 and passing for 233 yards. One thing that will make life easier for Matt this year is the experience of USC’s offensive line. With players like C Kristopher O’Dowd (6-5 300), G Jeff Byers (6-4 285) and T Charles Brown (6-6 295) the o-line will provide more than adequate protection for Barkley and open up holes for RB’s Stafon Johnson and Joe McKnight. Scott Wolf of the L.A. Daily News reports that O’Dowd should be ready for the game at Ohio State. RB Joe McKnight averaged 10.4 YPC against San Jose State and USC hopes to keep the running game going at Ohio State this week.

One of the question marks for the Bears coming into this season was there receiving core. With the Maryland defense concentrating on Jahvid Best that allowed QB Kevin Riley to pass for 298 yards and 4 TD’s. The WR’s stepped up against the Terrapins with Marvin Jones averaging 24.7 YPC, Verran Tucker 16.7 YPC and Nyan Boateng catching 2 passes for 22.0 YPC. The Bears have an easy opponent this week with E. Washington coming to Memorial Stadium. The Bears are now ranked #10 (AP) in the country. If California can win at Minnesota on September 19th they can put themselves in a very good position Nationally and in the Pac Ten.

One of the teams that most people are not talking about is the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford is 1-0 in conference after beating Washington State 39-13. Redshirt Freshmen QB Andrew Luck had a very solid game against the Cougars. Luck went 11/23, passed for 193 yards and 1 TD. This Saturday Stanford travels to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are coming off a 24-21 home loss to Baylor. Head Coach Jim Harbaugh will rely on RB Toby Gerhart to have a big game to take the pressure off Andrew Luck. Gerhart ran for 121 yards and 2 TD’s against Washington State. A victory at Wake Forest would be huge for the Stanford Program.

The UCLA Bruins started off slowly last Saturday against the Aztecs. San Diego got off to a 14-10 first quarter lead. The Bruins out scored the Aztecs 23-0 the last three quarters of the game. QB Kevin Prince got an opportunity to get a game under his belt before the Bruins take on the Tennessee Volunteers this Saturday. When the Bruins travel to Knoxville they will need RB Derrick Coleman to have a big game and the UCLA defense will need to play well to keep this game close going into the 4th quarter. BlueReign of Bruinsnation.com talked about the importance of a good defensive performance by UCLA. With the Oregon Ducks in trouble, a win by UCLA at Tennessee would prove that they are one of the teams that could have a tremendous year in the Pac Ten this season.

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Cal Avenges 2007 Loss To The Terrapins

Last season the Bears were expected to beat Maryland, but the Terrapins handed Cal a 35-27 loss. In that game the Terrapin defense held Jahvid Best to 25 yards rushing. That would not be the case when Cal beat the Terrapins 52-13. Jahvid ran for 137 yards, caught two passes for 23 yards and he returned one kickoff for 18 yards. Jahvid more than made up for his performance in 2008.

Going into this season Cal had question marks at QB and the WR position. The WR’s look much better with a year of experience under their belts. Marvin Jones had three receptions for 74 yards and 1 TD. Verran Tucker averaged 16.7 YPC and Nyan Boateng averaged 22.0 YPC. QB Kevin Riley was very efficient in his first start of the year finishing the game 17/26, for 298 yards and 4 TD’s.

With Oklahoma and Virginia Tech losing on Saturday the Bears should be moving up in the polls. California hosts E. Washington on September 12th, but the country will learn if Cal is for real when they play at Minnesota on September 19th. The Bears still have to prove that they can come up with a dominant performance on the road. They will get their chance against the Gophers.

Opposing defenses will learn quickly that Cal has a number of playmakers on their roster not named Jahvid Best. RB Shane Vereen finished with 1 TD and 48 yards and RB Covaughn DeBoskie averaged 6.0 YPC. It will be up to Kevin Riley to manage the game and get the football quickly into the correct hands on any given play. Riley has a lot of help on offense and if he takes advantage of the situation he’s in the Bears can win a lot of games.

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Experienced Pac Ten QB’s Must Perform Well In OOC Games

The Pac Ten is the second best conference behind the SEC, but a lot of people feel the Big 12 is the second best conference. The Pac Ten went 5-0 in Bowl Games last season, but the conference did not perform well in OOC games last season. Oregon State got beat 45-14 by Penn State and Utah edged them 31-28. Boise State beat the Oregon Ducks 37-32. Arizona State suffered a horrible 23-20 OT loss to UNLV. The California Bears didn’t feel the need to arrive in Maryland a few days early and get adjusted to the time change and an early East Coast kickoff time. As a result, the traveling mistake aided the Terrapins in beating the Bears 35-27. If the Pac Ten wants to take a big step forward players that have experience behind center must lead their teams to victories in OOC games.

Cal announced that QB Kevin Riley would be the starter when Cal opens up against Maryland on September 5th. Riley was in and out of the line-up last season when Nate Longshore was on the roster. In 2007 Riley had a tremendous game in the Armed Forces Bowl. In that game Kevin was 16/19, threw for 269 yards and 3 TD’s. In 2008 Riley’s play declined, because the Bear’s played with a lot of WR’s that did not have experience. Coach Jeff Tedford said that Riley worked on his throwing motion in the off-season. As a result, Kevin should be more accurate with the football this season. Now that the WR’s are more comfortable in the offense and Riley has Jahvid Best lined up behind him there is no excuse for Cal not to play at a high level in their OOC games. California is ranked # 12 in the country. If they truly deserve that ranking they cannot lose to Maryland or Minnesota.

The Oregon Ducks have a very good player at the QB position that is not a household name around the country. QB Jeremiah Masoli ran for 718 yards and passed for 1,744 yards. Masoli has the ability to beat defenses with his arm and legs. With the USC Trojans going with a freshmen at QB the Ducks will have an opportunity to make a move in the conference. Oregon’s rise in the standings begin with their OOC games starting on September 3rd against Boise State. With a year of experience under his belt Masoli could make a big statement by leading Oregon to a victory in a Primetime game on the Blue Turf. After the game at Boise State the Ducks get Purdue and Utah at home. If Jeremiah plays well in those games Oregon has a great chance of starting the season 3-0.

The Oregon State Beavers have two experienced QB’s in Lyle Moevao and Sean Canfield. Moevao threw for 2,534 yards, 19 TD’s and 13 picks in 2008. Canfield threw for 703 yards, 6 TD’s and 2 INT’s. The Beavers are notorious for starting the season off slow. Last year the Beavers began the year 1-4. With two SR. QB’s on the roster Oregon State should be able to avoid a slow start this season. The Beavers open the year with Portland State at home, at UNLV and Cincinnati at home.

For the Pac Ten to start getting recognition around the country they need to start qualifying two teams for BCS games on a regular basis. One of the ways to get two teams in the BCS is for multiple teams to not suffer losses in OOC games. The Trojans could get the benefit of the doubt and have two losses and still qualify for a BCS game, but another team in the Pac Ten must finish the 2009 season with no more than one loss.

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