Pac 10 Power Poll Week Two

Dominant offensive performances were seen all around the conference this week but the big story has to be the triumphant return of Rick Neuheisal and Norm Chow to Los Angeles and the win they were able to pull out of a hat versus Tennessee on national TV this Labor Day. I didn’t watch much of the first half and really didn’t miss anything other than a terrible offensive performance by both team but especially UCLA’s QB Kevin Craft. Chow and Neuheisal deserve credit for staying with the kid after 4 first half picks. Somehow, due to a combination of better accuracy and Tennesse dropping back in a deep zone against a weak armed QB UCLA was able to throw drives together while on defense get some big league run stuffing from their very solid up the middle defense. UCLA always seems to play OOC teams tough and this game was just another example of that. The Bruins will likely still face major struggles this year they should end of making a bowl which before the Tennessee game was not a likelihood in my book. In other news USC is good, really good and have the fortune of playing Oregon, Ohio State, ASU and Cal all in the Coliseum. Does anyone see a loss on that schedule except possible against U of A on 10/25? Give Stanford credit for maximizing their talent and taking advantage of some dumb mistakes by Oregon State but clearly the less talented team won last Thursday. This was a bad loss for the Beavers, who pending a miracle are looking at a 1-3 start. I am not sure really what to take out of the Oregon/Washington game other than that Washington is really bad, Oregon should be able to start out 5-0 and win at least 8 games but the second half of the schedule is dicey. As for Washington I’ve heard rumors that the guy they have in their cross-hairs for taking over for the dead man walking Willingham regime is Chip Kelly. Kelly going to UW would be beyond a coup – it removes your rivals second most important asset (after Uncle Phil) while at the same time brings in a dynamic offensive mind who would likely work wonders year one with Jake Locker. Oregon cannot let this happen but it is going to be very hard for them to keep Chip Kelly from taking a head coaching job. If Oregon were to lose him it would better to lose him to a non-Pac 10 school. Outside of WSU the rest of the conference played fairly well other than Nate Longshore who I think we can officially put the fork in to. From Heisman candidate on the #2 in the country to not starting in less than a year, Cal wins by 21 if he doesn’t play.
1. USC (1) – Looked truly dominant, they could be back to the form of the 2004 team. Sanchez showed no rust and looked much better than last year and the Trojans get an extra week for Ohio State who will have a banged up Beanie Wells. I’d eat my hat if this team doesn’t play for the BCS championship even with 1 loss.
2. ASU (2) – I’d move them down but I had them 2 last week and from what I read pulled almost everyone for the second half of the NAU game and treated it like a scrimmage. Stanford will provide them a nice chance to get in a game versus a quality opponent before Georgia comes to town but at the same time this game has “trap game” written all over it. Interesting that Stanford will have played two Pac 10 games already while most of the league has played zero.
3. UO (3) – Who needs Dennis Dixon? Just kidding but clearly QB is not as big as a worry for Oregon as I had thought. I think by mid-season Jeremiah Masoli will be playing the majority of snaps as he better fits the scheme. Utah State will be treated as a scrimmage by the Ducks, I’d expect Roper won’t play in the second half nor will Jeremiah Johnson.
4. Cal (4) – They beat a similar team to themselves in a rapidly improving Michigan State. Game would have been closer if Longshore hadn’t played. I still think this team has the second best talent in the league but they need play some better defense it appears. No Pac-10 road game is easy but I look for a comfortable win in Pullman this weekend.
5. UCLA (9) – The Tennessee win was kind of a perfect storm scenario and they Bruins shouldn’t be expecting to get that kind of performance every week against Top 20 teams, at the same time the Bruins do have the potential to go bowling this year and I didn’t think that last week.
6. UA (6) – Idaho stinks but beating anyone 70-0 is impressive. They should have no issues versus Toledo this week.
7. OSU (5) – Yeah they lost to Stanford but if they can fix their issues on the front seven with run defense and if Moevao can have a little better ball security they will be in the mix for a top 5 Pac-10 finish. Playing at Penn State might be a bit too much too ask at this point for a young team.
8. LSJU (8) – Very nice win versus OSU, Jim Harbaugh has done a good job of getting everything he can out of his players but depth and athleticism are clearly lacking. Going in to Tempe and looking for a win is probably too much to ask at this point. The schedule makers did Stanford no favors with only 5 home games this year.
9. WSU (10) – The only reason I have them 9th is that they have an easier schedule than Washington and have a better chance of having their QB survive the season. They should be able to give Cal a game for a half but I don’t see an upset occurring.
10. UW (7) – The Huskies are in major trouble. They have a schedule set up like they are defending national champs not a below average Pac-10 team. They need to get better protection for Locker who will face long odds in lasting the season, the Dawgs could beat BYU but will face tough odds against a physical team needing a BCS conference road win to make their case for a BCS berth if they were to go 12-0.

Pac 10 Power Poll – Week One

Oregon vs Arizona State
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

Pac 10 Power Poll – Week One
Sorry to make excuses but I will not be able to break out my full yearly preview that I normally do. Life with a 20 month old child is a lot busier than the days of past. Evie is doing great and growing by leaps and bounds. Emily and I have been taking her to Gymboree twice a week the last few weeks and she is really enjoying it. Well now on to football and clearly USC is the cream of the crop and I would not be shocked to see them run the table in the Pac 10. I think the overall talent level of the conference has dropped from last year to this a bit – some of it is related to attrition to graduation and the NFL but another major factor is the lack of quarterback depth at many schools. UCLA already faces major issues and both Oregon and Oregon State are one injury away at the quarterback spot from having dismal seasons. Again this poll is not where I think the teams will finish at the end of the year it is where I have them ranked today. This is what I busted out on my lunch break today and hopefully after watching some games this weekend I will learn a whole lot more and can bring more to the table next week.
1. USC - The Trojans had more hype going in to last year than this year and were oh so close to a shot at another BCS championship in 2008. Only a few fateful plays by Stanford (and a poor decision by Pete Carroll not to pull John David Booty when his finger was clearly bothering him) kept USC from having the opportunity to destroy Ohio State in the BCS Championship game. USC lost Keith Rivers and Sedrick Ellis to the NFL but should still remain dominant on defense. I have some questions about the offense but this is still a Top 5 team and I would be shocked to see them lose 2 games again in the Pac 10. Mark Sanchez is likely out for Virginia but the Cavs lack the talent to hang with USC and the offense under Mitch Mustain should be fine.
2. Arizona State – The schedule is tougher this year than last but Dennis Erickson has some things going for him this year in that he has a senior QB, will have his typical JC mercenaries in their second year in the program and if you remember he took Oregon State to the Fiesta Bowl in his second season their with much tougher recruiting obstacles than Erickson faces at ASU. However his players also face much more opportunities to get themselves in to trouble so team chemistry and characters issues could certainly arise. Week one’s matchup versus Northern Arizona will likely be treated more like a scrimmage than a real game for the Devils.
3. Oregon – The Ducks have a major flaw in their high flying offense and that is quarterback depth. The road schedule is brutal. With an injury to Justin Roper early in the year I could see the Ducks winning as little as 3 games this year but if he can stay healthy and Massouli and Harper/Thomas can figure out how the offense I think that Oregon could win as many as 9 games. The defense will be among the best in the conference and should force many turnovers. The question will be if Roper can stay healthy. I think that Florida’s national championship team is the model Oregon will want to use, with Roper playing the Leak role and Massouli and Harper playing more the Tebow role. Roper needs to avoid contact as much as possible, he is quick for his size but lanky. The Ducks should beat Washington as long as Roper stays healthy, the Dawgs have the ability to make this game close just because of Locker but the Ducks have had Washington’s number for awhile and I see that continuing.
4. Cal – Cal needs to regain their heart which was ripped out of it by the loss to Oregon State last year – this is a talented roster that overall may have the second best set of athletes after USC in the conference but they took major hits to skills position guys on offense and will depend on talented and fast but young wide receivers. I look for Cal to pull out a close win versus the similarly styled but a bit less talented Michigan State Spartans.
5. Oregon State Beavers – Massive hits on defense and the loss of Yvensen Bernard could spell early trouble for this traditionally slow starting team. Stanford should be a battle tonight and I don’t have a good feeling either way on how it breaks out since Stanford has a brand new DC. Oregon State will likely finish the year higher than this but if they were to lose Muavo early they, just like Oregon, can flush the year down the toilet. Sean Canfield may never be healthy and after his is a redshirt freshman walk-on in Justin Engstrom. I like the Beavers in a close win tonight down in Palo Alto.
6. Arizona Wildcats – Arizona could end up being the surprise team of the year with a senior QB now in his fourth year of starting and finally getting a chance to run the same offense a second time. The Cats need to avoid their poor early start and on paper could actually be favored in their first 7 games. With Idaho coming to town not much of the playbook will be used and I expect to see backups in much of the second half.
7. Washington Huskies – Jake Locker like Justin Roper needs to stay healthy for Washington to have any chance of managing its minefield early schedule and saving Ty Willingham’s job. The Huskies played tough first half last year but lacked the depth to finish teams off, the defense is replacing a ton of guys and the oline is subpar. None of these factors make me think that Washington will be sniffing a bowl game this year but at least Willingham has improved recruiting enough that the next coach should have a winning year his first year out. The Huskies could shock the Ducks if they can stop the pass early and make Oregon one-dimensional but that will be tough with the arm of Roper and the fleet Oregon receivers.
8. Stanford Cardinal – Stanford was giving hope by Jim Harbaugh, they have some NFL athletes but just like every Stanford team lack depth and face tough road tests this year at Notre Dame and TCu. Stanford also has the unfortunate situation of playing two straight league games against teams they will be underdogs to start the year. A win over the Beavers would bring good momentum and is very necessary if they have any chance of going bowling.
9. UCLA Bruins – This is probably the team with the third best athletes in the league but QB injury issues will make them look quite inept and they lost a ton on defense. Tennessee should be able to come in and shut down UCLA on its home field. Expect lots of stories on ESPN on how the Pac 10 is down after this result Neuheisal will get this team turned around but it won’t be until 2009.
10. Washington State was hit by the double whammy of losing a few players to behavior and injury issues from the program as well as losing 7 schollies due to academic problems with the NCAA. The Cougars will score points with a senior QB in Rogers and perhaps the best wide receiver in the league in Brandon Gibson but the defense clearly will stink. The Coug can only go up from here but I see a last place finish for them. Oklahoma State will prove to be too much in week one even though the game will be played at Qwest Field in Seattle.

Summertime in Oregon

Evie at the Fountain
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

Just checking in quickly during the dog day's of August. I've had a busy summer, work's in pretty crazy with some technology changes and I made some time to visit Sun Valley, Idaho with some friends for my buddy Jeremy's bachelor party. This weekend I am going to be in is wedding and that should mark the end of all the weddings I have attended for awhile. Looking forward to the football season and being back in Eugene for games. I think the news from camp has been positive for the most part. I see Oregon winning between 8 and 10 games this year, likely ending up back in the Sun Bowl or perhaps the Holiday Bowl.

Not Much To Say

Scenes Fom the Royal Kahana
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

I haven't had a chance to blog in a while and amazingly I haven't watched a single sporting event since Kansas beat Memphis which seemed like eons ago. The little tv I watch is 95% childrens movies and an occasional DVRing of shows Emily and I watch like Three Sheets. Hopefully I will have time to examine the NBA draft before the prep work beings for football season. Life is so busy now the only time that is my own is my lunch break and that is often my errand running time. That isn't to say life isn't good it is just much more busy than I would have ever imagined 3 or 4 years ago. With the awful weather we are having this early June in Oregon I thought I'd post a photo from beautiful Maui where I am sure it is not raining and cold.

And Then There Were Two . . .

Evie
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

And Then There Were Two . . .
Saturday’s game came with the results I predicted but they ultimately were huge disappointments for the viewers of everyone who wasn’t a Kansas or Memphis fan or for folks who had those teams in the finals for their office pool (Memphis was of course the #1 seed I thought had the least chance of making it to the Final Four before the thing started). I’ve traditionally thought that UCLA’s Ben Howland was one hell of a game coach but Saturday’s result left me questioning myself. UCLA made a ton of sloppy first half mistakes that you wouldn’t expect from players like Collison, Shipp and Mbah a Boute who had played in 3 previous Final Four games. Howland burned two timeouts right before media timeouts which was horrible because the pace of the game was going way too fast to hope that Love and Westbrook could play without resting. I thought they were really lucky to be only down by 3 points at halftime and really felt the only reason the lead wasn’t 10 was because Memphis, outside of Douglas-Roberts and Rose, through up a ton of questionable shots (Sean Taggart for three!). I figured that UCLA would get the better of the halftime adjustments and take advantage of their lack of foul trouble and possibly steal the game at the end in a free throw shooting contest. When Dorsey and Taggart both picked up quick 3rd fouls I thought that UCLA had a good chance to win the game despite getting down by 7 in the first minute and a half. Instead UCLA abandoned the notion of getting the ball down low to the obviously winded Love and played him mainly on the perimeter where Love’s attempted three’s fell just short. Darren “Stock Dropping Faster Than Bear Stearns” Collison was outmatched on defense trying to guard Rose and offensively he was completely unable to penetrate the long armed defenders of Memphis. Result was a lot of missed mid-range jumpers by a team who lacks anyone who can consistently hit that shot. Westbrook was the only Bruin who could effectively score and almost all his points were on drives to the hoop where he simply outmuscled the entire Tiger defense. Give major credit to Dorsey and Taggart for going so long without picking up more fouls and tiring out Love. UCLA’s best lineup was Westbrook at the point and replacing Aboya or Keefe for Collison who was completely ineffective in this game and committed multiple frustration fouls. Since the Sweet 16 kicked off Memphis has been playing at the level of UNLV 1991 and unless Kansas can get a huge defensive effort from their guards the Tigers are going to become the first non-BCS conference team to win a championship since said Running Rebs of Jerry Tarkanian. Well on to Kansas and UNC – this game started off so badly for Carolina that I DVRed it once the game was 40 to 12 and watched the rest later after Evie went to sleep. As Billy Packer said this was really three games and Huckleberry Hound was asleep at the switch for the first segment of this game because there is no excuse whatsoever for a team as talented as Carolina is to spot any non-NBA team a 40-12 lead. Kansas coming out and playing unreal until they were so tired they started settling for threes every-time down and allowed Carolina back in to the game but the gallant Tar Heel effort was snuffed out because they too were too winded and started putting Kansas on the line where this one was sealed. Congrats to the Jayhawks but now you really have to wonder how much energy they are going to have left after playing the late night game that was played at an unbelievably quick pace. I am hoping for a good game in a tournament that outside of the Friday of the First Round has been lackluster. The Final Four has been a massive disappointment going back the last 4 years so hopefully tonight gives us a classic who’s memories will keep us fans content for the long break from college sports action we are about to undertake.