A Nod To the Future: Pac-10 Football in 2009

Pros: Moevao and the Rodgers brothers return, and you’d figure that offensive talent will be enough to solidfy them. Darrell Catchings should slide in to replace Morales. McCants is a solid backup in case Rodgers gets hurt.

Cons: Their offensive line loses four of their main men including two starters. I would say losing three of their defensive linemen or their entire starting secondary are huge losses, but the Beavers lost their entire front seven last season and came within one win of the Rose Bowl. I don’t know. I’m terrified of this game. Couldn’t they have scheduled it for June?

Conclusion: The Beavers are coming to Memorial, and even though we’ve lost the last two, we were at our weakest and they were at our strongest in both of those matchups. You’d think we could have this one, but they could clamp down on Best and force Riley to win this one. Who knows whether he’ll be able to do it or not.

USC

The kings, and rightfully so. Everytime you count them out they come marching right back and start scorching Earth. While Pete Carroll’s teams are not as invincible as they once were in the Leinart-Bush-White era, their potency cannot be questioned, and you’d be a damned fool to underestimate them. They are the champs of the Pac until someone dethrones them…and doesn’t subsequently fall apart.

Pros: If the Trojans are going to repeat as Pac-10 champions, they will have to do so behind an experienced offense led by senior Mark Sanchez. Other than the loss of Patrick Turner, the transfer of Hazelton, and the graduation their guard Ross Byers, the entire offense returns. C.J. Gable, Stafon Johnson and Joe McKnight will have another chance to try and distinguish their play from one another or face another platoon type system. Damian Williams is starting to develop into a star, and Ronald Johnson is a decent second option. Anthony McCoy will be featured prominently.

Cons: For the first time in a long time,there are a lot. Other than Everson Griffen and Averell Spicer, the Trojans lose everyone on their front seven. Clay Matthews, Kyle Moore, Fili Moala, Brian Cushing, Kaluka Maiva, Maualuga, all gone. Kevin Ellison and Cary Harris are also on the way out, and Taylor Mays might be joining them. That is nearly 85 percent of their starting corps. Although the Trojans will have the talent they usually have that can fill in, this is going to be a significantly weaker team than the one that just gangbusted Penn State.

Not to mention the coaching. This post will probably be updated when the sitution is figured out, but right now USC is without offensive and defensive coordinators (given that Petie runs the defense, but still). The Trojan identity for next season remains very much cloudy, and we won’t know for certain where they’re going until summertime.

Conclusion: The October matchup in Memorial is already looking like the biggest of many battles for the Pac-10 crown. USC’s offense will be facing a tough Cal defense that held them to 17 in LA, and they will be just as experienced this time around. So for the fourth straight year it’ll come down to the question of whether Cal’s offense can break through against USC’s defense. Will the Bears’s O have enough experience and savvy to finally notch the win against the Men of Troy?

What are your thoughts on next season and our matchups with our Pac-10 conference foes?

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