Adoree’ Jackson is an elite athlete on a USC team not being given much respect entering the 2016 season. Photo Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Expectations are always high at Southern Cal, but the Trojans will start the season as underdogs.
UCLA was picked to win the South, with Stanford of the North division pegged as the overall league champ in a media poll revealed Thursday on the first day of Pac-12 Media Days in Hollywood, Calif.
“Top to bottom, there is no better conference,” said Oregon coach Mark Helfrich.
But there isn’t an obviously elite team in the league, unlike in the other Power 5 conferences. The opening week will provide one barometer when USC takes on defending national championship Alabama in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 3.
“If you don’t like the bar set that high, then don’t take the job,” said USC’s Clay Helton, entering his first full season as head coach.
Stanford was selected to win the league for the first time in the 56-year history of the conference poll. Washington was picked second in the North, followed by Oregon, Washington State, Cal and Oregon State. In the South, it went UCLA, USC, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado.
USC figures to be strong on the offense line and at running back with Justin Davis and Ronald Jones II, and junior JuJu Smith-Schuster is one of the best receivers in the country. The Trojans’ burning questions in camp will be developing their defensive line and identifying a starting quarterback between junior Max Browne and freshman San Darnold. Helton said he will pick a winner two weeks before the opener.
“They both have the intangibles,” Helton said.
As Helton prepares for Alabama, he wants to continue to develop the no-nonsense physical approach that he instituted last season, when he went 5-3 after Steve Sarkisian was fired.
“We took away the music, we took away the hype, we just made it all about ball,” Helton said of spring practice. “Hopefully that transfers over to this season.”
USC won the Pac-12 South last season, although it finished only 8-6 after losing to Stanford in the league title game and falling to Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl. Helton will use the 2016 underdog role as motivation.
“We have kind of a chip on our shoulder. That has kick-started us this summer. With the way the kids are working this summer, it just feels different.”
NOTES
–USC junior Adoree’ Jackson, who has been a two-way threat as a cornerback and receiver, said he will focus mostly on defense this season. He caught 27 passes for 414 yards last season. Said coach Clay Helton: “He’s Superman.”
–Cal loses quarterback Jared Goff, the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, but did gain Texas Tech graduate transfer Davis Webb, who threw for 5,557 yards with the Red Raiders.
“The best thing about Davis is he has experience; he’s played in big games and been successful,” coach Sonny Dykes said.”The thing that stands out probably more than anything about him is his work ethic. He’s been very mature, very systematic in his approach. Reminds me of Jared that way.”
–Oregon receiver Devon Allen will represent the United States in the 110-meter hurdles in the Olympics. Said Ducks coach Mark Helfrich: “It’s the biggest excuse to miss fall camp I’ve ever seen.”
–Helfrich on being picked third in the North: “No offense, but we don’t really care about the media poll, nor have we ever.”
–Arizona has a two-year starting quarterback in junior Anu Solomon, but sophomore Brandon Dawkins opened coaches’ eyes as an injury-replacement against Arizona State last season. Coach Rich Rodriguez said first-team reps could be 50-50 in fall camp.
“We see it as we have two guys good enough to win with,” Rodriguez said.
“The competition is not because Anu Solomon has gotten worse. He’s gotten better, but so has Brandon Dawkins. We may play both of them. I don’t know. … We have two guys we think can do everything we want in our offense.”
–Washington State receiver Gabe Marks, who teams with quarterback Luke Falk as one of the top pass-catch combinations in the country, was asked on the Pac-12 Networks about why he came back for his senior year.
“I wasn’t done with what I thought I needed to do,” he said.
“The NFL is going to be there. There is no need to rush into the hard life of the business when you can play college football with your friends. I think it’s a very underrated thing, playing college football and how much you’re going to miss it.”
–The career of Utah senior center Hiva Lutui, a returning starter, is over. He suffered a torn ACL at the end of spring camp and won’t be able to play this season.
–Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said the league regularly reaches out to DirectTV, but there is no news about a potential agreement. DirectTV has never carried the Pac-12 Networks, which is entering its fifth season. “We’ll keep knocking on that door,” Scott said.
–Pac-12 Media Days conclude Friday with appearances from Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA and Washington.
