After a tumultuous off-season which saw four coaching changes,
the Pac-10 is ready to kick off the football season.
Cal already did Saturday night, losing to No. 5 Kansas State
42-28.
But the other nine teams will begin play either Aug. 30 or on
Sept. 6, with the marquee matchups this week being No. 17
Washington at defending champion No. 2 Ohio State and No. 8 USC at
No. 6 Auburn.
UCLA opens up at Colorado on Sept. 6
But the teams heading on to the field will have new looks, and
the competition for the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth will be
intense.
On top of four coaching changes, last year’s Orange Bowl
winner, USC, has lost its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson
Palmer. Despite the loss, USC was picked as the favorite to win
this year’s Pac-10 title.
“We accept it,” USC coach Pete Carroll said at
Pac-10 media day. “It’s recognition and respect for
last season as much as anything. It doesn’t affect us very
much. We go about our business.”
The Trojans enter the season ranked No. 8 but have lost four
other starters on offense, including Kareem Kelly, Justin Fargas,
Malaefou MacKenzie and Zach Wilson.
Sophomore Matt Leinart appears to be the front-runner to replace
Palmer, and the Trojans have several talented players to fill in
the other holes as they have had highly ranked recruiting classes
each of the last two years.
“It feels like we’re just getting started,”
Carroll said. “We’re building a championship program
here and 2002 was just the start. Our goal every year is to win the
Pac-10 title and win the Rose Bowl.”
USC’s strength in the offensive-minded Pac-10 will likely
be its defense, as the defensive line of Omar Nazel, Shaun Cody,
Mike Patterson and Kenechi Udeze has been rated among the best in
the country.
Arizona State, picked second in the Pac-10 pre-season poll, is
expected to compete with USC for the Pac-10 title.
The Sun Devils were one of the most improved teams last year
under then first-year coach Dirk Koetter, going 8-6, 5-3 in the
Pac-10 and are returning nine starters on offense and seven on
defense.
“A lot of people have said to me, “˜Congratulations
on a great season,’ and my standing is that it was not a
great season,” Koetter told TheSunDevils.com. “It was a
successful season, successful in that we exceeded people’s
expectations. Now, a great season is playing in the Rose Bowl, or
in last year’s case, playing in the Fiesta Bowl. That’s
the next step.”
Among the returning starters are junior quarterback Andrew
Walter, a major Heisman Trophy candidate.
“Andrew was a big reason we were able to be competitive in
every game last year, and we will continue as long as he is able to
play at that level,” Koetter said. “Any time you have a
quarterback like Andrew Walter in the game, you have a chance to be
pretty good.”
Washington is another team that may make a run at the Pac-10
title, despite off-the-field controversy.
Former coach Rick Neuheisel was fired after it was discovered he
was involved in an NCAA basketball gambling pool, and Keith
Gilbertson was named the head coach on July 29, only a week before
practice began.
The promotion was a sudden change for Gilbertson.
“You worry about everything,” he said at Pac-10
media day. “You worry about the right socks. Does your tie go
with your shirt?
“Everything in your life is open to the public. In some
ways, these jobs become like political appointments. It’s
about four years, and you’ve either got a great following or
everybody hates you and you move on to some other
office.”
Karl Dorrell at UCLA, Mike Riley at Oregon State and Bill Doba
at Washington State are the other three new coaches.