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College Football Prep: Pac-12 ready to run with elite

The Sports Xchange

August 25, 2014 at 8:32 am.

 

Marcus Mariota (8) is back to lead a potent Oregon offense. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

Prove it, Pac-12.

The league, buoyed by the nation’s best collection of quarterbacks, a rising tide of cash from the Pac-12 Networks and on-the-mark coaching hires, is trying to stick its fingers in the eyes of the college football playground bully, the SEC.

“It’s may be the best the Pac-12 has ever been,” said Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez.

You can make that case, but it would be better if Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, UCLA’s Brett Hundley, Stanford’s Kevin Hogan, Arizona State’s Taylor Kelly, Oregon State’s Sean Mannion and USC’s Cody Kessler made it for you.

Mariota and Hundley could end up vying to be 2015’s top draft pick, and NFLDraftScout.com projects Hogan in its early first-round projections as well. Mannion, with perhaps the best arm of the bench and an NFL pocket-passer profile, is high-round material.

Kelly, it is important to remember, was so good last season that he earned second-team all-league honors ahead of Hundley and behind Mariota. Kessler threw for 2,968 yards in his first season as a starter and should push toward 4,000 in new coach Steve Sarkisian’s hurry-up offense.

Oh, and Washington State’s Connor Halliday is back after throwing for 4,597 yards in Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense, and Cal’s Jared Goff passed for 3,508 yards as a true freshman under Sonny Dykes, a Leach disciple.

Nothing in college football is more important than a talented, experienced quarterback, and the league has 10 returning starters at the position. And as Rodriguez notes, “It’s not like you have 10 returning quarterbacks and some of them can’t play dead in a Western.”

The Pac-12’s respect is so high that two of the three analysts on ESPN’s GameDay — Desmond Howard and Lee Corso — picked UCLA to win the national title. Meanwhile, Oregon is widely considered the league favorite.

What the Pac-12 needs is for all this preseason respect to translate into the meeting room of the 13-member selection committee for the new four-team College Football Playoff.

 but it would have had seven more opportunities to win the national championship if a four-team playoff had been in place.

Until further notice, the SEC is king. Deservedly so. But the Pac-12 won’t be on the outside of the discussion, its face pressed against the glass, looking longingly at the biggest prizes. The league is ready to kick down the door.

Five best opening-week games

1. No. 14 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 LSU, Saturday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN (Houston). There are developing situations at quarterback. The Badgers are ready to go with junior college transfer Tanner McEvoy (who began his career at South Carolina) over 19-game starter Joel Stave. Wisconsin could have a two-QB plan, which is definitely what Les Miles says he’s doing with sophomore Brandon Jennings and true freshman Brandon Harris. This is no time to make a killer turnover, because one playoff contender will get its hopes battered early in this battle of big-boy football.

2. No. 21 Texas A&M at No. 9 South Carolina, Thursday, 6 p.m. ET, SEC Network. Sophomore Kenny Hill (for the moment) has edged five-star true freshman Kyle Allen for the right to follow Johnny Football at Texas A&M. If that’s not deep-end-of-the-pool stuff, then opening with a conference game against a physical Top 10 team certainly is.

3. Oklahoma State vs. No. 1 Florida State, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC (Arlington, Texas). A tricky opening game for the defending national champs, which is what FSU needs because it won’t get tested much in the ACC. The Cowboys are coming off a 10-win season but could be pausing to reload with a Big 12-low 10 returning starters. The Seminoles have too much first-round talent, too much experience, too much Jameis.

4. No. 16 Clemson at No. 12 Georgia, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. The teams will be trying to recreate last year’s thriller — won 38-35 by Clemson — with starting seniors quarterbacks who showed unusual patience behind established stars. Cole Stoudt takes over for Tajh Boyd for the Tigers, while Huston Mason is the new man behind center for the Bulldogs.

5. Boise State at No. 18 Ole Miss, Thursday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN. The SEC is in a transitional year at quarterback, but watch for the Rebels’ Bo Wallace, the league’s top returning passer who also is fluent in the zone-read offense. This might be a good time for new Boise State coach Bryan Harsin to borrow that deep bag of tricks that Chris Petersen left behind.

Five players to watch in Week 1

1. J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State. All the redshirt freshman has to do is take over for injured Braxton Miller and lead the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title and the College Football Playoff. Expectations never change in Columbus. Barrett will debut Saturday against Navy in Baltimore.

2. Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU. The hype is so big for the freshman phenom that you expect him to descend into the stadium from storm clouds throwing thunderbolts to the turf.

3. Jacob Coker/Blake Sims, QB, Alabama. Nick Saban was/is waiting for one quarterback to “take the bull by the horns” but claims he’s comfortable playing both in the opener at home against West Virginia. This could be the key position battle in all of college football.

4. Vic Beasley, DE, Clemson. Beasley, a leading candidate for national defensive player of the year honors, gets an immediate showcase vs. Georgia. Beasley had 13 sacks and forced four fumbles last season.

5. Rakeem Cato, QB, Marshall. Get used to hearing about the Herd. Cato, who has thrown for 8,117 yards in the past two seasons, could have Marshall (hello, easy schedule) in the big-bowl discussion all year. His potential Heisman campaign starts at Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

Five coaches on the hot seat

1. Will Muschamp, Florida. Following last season’s 4-8 face-plant, if new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper’s hurry-up offense doesn’t go-go-go behind quarterback Jeff Driskel, Muschamp will be gone-gone-gone.

2. Norm Chow, Hawaii. As his 4-20 record indicates, his deserved shot at being a head coach came too late in his career. But, hey, at least the Warriors still have a football program (for now).

3. Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia. The shine is off the offensive guru, who hasn’t figured out the defensive side of the ball and has seen his victory totals go from 10 in his 2012 debut, to seven, to four.

4. Brady Hoke, Michigan. The Wolverines declined in each of the last two seasons after Hoke’s 11-win debut. That won’t do when rivals Ohio State and Michigan State are competing for national titles.

5. Tim Beckman, Illinois. The Illini are 1-15 in the Big Ten in the past two seasons. Yeah, that about says it all.

Five playoff dark horses

The polls identify the prime candidates. Here are others from outside the top 10 that could nudge their way into the college football’s Final Four.

1. No. 20 Kansas State. The Big 12 isn’t as treacherous as it has been (Oklahoma is the most likely top 5 team to stumble), and the exquisitely coached Wildcats have second-year quarterback Jake Waters and do-it-all receiver Tyler Lockett.

2. No. 11 Stanford. As always, bet against the Cardinal at your own peril. The culture of physical football thrives on The Farm, and the trench talent is still to die for.

3. No. 13 LSU. Much of the talent is young, but that hasn’t stopped recent teams from achieving college football greatness.

4. Iowa (unranked). You have seen the Hawkeye’s schedule, right? No Ohio State. No Michigan State. No Michigan. Not even Penn State. It might be something of an upset if Iowa is NOT 10-0 heading into a home game against Wisconsin.

5. Cincinnati (unranked). One team among the so-called Group of Five conferences (Sun Belt, MAC, Mountain West, American, Conference USA) gets a spot among the biggest bowls. This year, the open spot is in the Orange, Fiesta, Cotton or Peach bowls. The Bearcats, coming off a 9-4 season in coach Tommy Tuberville’s debut and presumably with Notre Dame transfer Gunner Kiel at quarterback, has a tough schedule — at Ohio State, at Miami — but that’s a good thing, potentially allowing Cincinnati to rise about the rest of the crowd.

NFLDraftScout.com’s Five prospects to watch this week

Each week Rob Rang will spotlight five college players whose next game will be considered must-see by NFL scouts. Each game listed is televised, with the network and kickoff time included so that you can watch “alongside” him.

Players listed chronologically by game time this week, including position, school, year (Height, weight, 40-yard dash time and jersey number).

1. OLB C.J. Johnson, Mississippi, Senior (6-2 / 237 / 4.67 / #10)

Kickoff vs Boise State: 8 pm ET, Thursday, ESPN

Johnson ranks among NDS’ top breakout candidates. He signed with the Rebels as a highly touted prospect and looked on the verge of stardom as a sophomore with 55 tackles, including eight for loss and a team-leading 6.5 sacks as an edge rusher. Two leg injuries forced Johnson to redshirt after just four games (12-4-0). When healthy, Johnson has shown explosiveness off the corner, especially out of the two-point stance. He’s a fluid, coordinated athlete who doesn’t shy from physicality or blockers on his way to the ball. One need only look at the rise Dee Ford (6-foot-2, 252 pounds) enjoyed with Auburn a year ago to see how a star SEC pass rusher can vault up NFL draft boards. In a primetime nationally televised matchup with a notoriously pass-happy Boise State and a mostly inexperienced offensive line, Johnson has the stage to catch scouts’ eyes immediately.

2. OT Tyler Sambrailo, Colorado State, Redshirt Senior (6-5 / 315 / 5.27 / #51)

Kickoff vs Colorado: 9 pm ET, Friday, Fox Sports 1

With six seniors projected by NFLDraftScout.com as potential draft picks next spring, Colorado State has the look of a surprise top 25 contender. Sambrailo, NFLDraftScout.com’s No. 5 senior offensive tackle and viewed as a second- or third-round pick, tops the list. Entering his fourth season as a starter for the Rams, Sambrailo has NFL-caliber quickness and agility. He’s a bit high-cut and needs to play with heavier hands to sustain his blocks. The emotions of the season’s opening game will only be increased given the state rivalry. Colorado’s front seven is arguably the strength of their team with junior defensive tackle Josh Tupuo and sophomore linebacker Addison Gillam expected to vie for All-Pac-12 accolades this fall.

3. S Anthony Harris, Virginia, Senior (6’1 | 190 | 4.57 | #8)

Kickoff vs UCLA: Noon ET, Saturday, ESPN

Harris led the BCS with eight interceptions last season and begins his senior campaign atop NFLDraftScout.com’s strong safety rankings. He’s instinctive, athletic and physical but needs to prove that last year was no fluke after registering just one interception in his previous 25 games (including 12 starts). Harris is a bit high-cut, which forces him to gather out of his cuts but he’s a smooth accelerator who tracks the ball well and has the body control and soft hands to make quarterbacks for testing him. Harris and the Cavaliers will certainly be tested by UCLA, which features Heisman and first round candidate Brett Hundley at quarterback.

4. DT James Castleman, Oklahoma State, Senior (6-2 / 296 / 5.04 / #91)

Kickoff vs. Florida State: 8: 00 pm ET, Saturday, ABC

The defending champion Seminoles should have no problem with the Cowboys but scouts will be interested to see how Castleman and Co. fare against Florida State, which features not only superstar quarterback Jameis Winston but also the top offensive line in college football. Castleman is a stout run defender who teams with redshirt junior Jimmy Bean to give the Cowboys a solid front. He is powerful and can get push up the middle when he keeps his pad level low, which could give massive guards Josue Matias (6-6, 331) and Tre Jackson (6-4, 339) problems.

5. RB Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin, RS Junior (6-1 / 207 / 4.52 / #25)

Kickoff vs. LSU: 9:00 pm ET, Saturday, ESPN

The game between the No. 14 Badgers and No. 13 Tigers is the featured matchup of Week One: 10 players currently projected by NFLDraftScout.com as potential picks next spring will be on the field. Chief among them is Gordon, a junior with blend of acceleration, balance and power to stop the NFL’s recent exclusion of running backs in the first round. He rushed for 1,609 yards a year ago despite splitting time with then-senior James White, a fourth round pick by the New England Patriots. Gordon’s top competition among running backs – Georgia’s Todd Gurley, South Carolina’s Mike Davis and Alabama’s T.J. Yeldon – have each proven their talents against SEC speed. Prior to Saturday, Gordon’s lone opportunity against the SEC came last year, when he ran for 143 yards in Wisconsin’s Capitol One Bowl loss to South Carolina.

–Anthony Gimino, college football insider for The Sports Xchange, has covered the sport for two decades for multiple print and online media outlets.