Cody Kessler is looking to take the Trojans to new heights. (James Snook-USA TODAY Sports)
USC is back all right. Honestly, it never went anywhere. The NCAA’s literal plan for the “Fall of Troy” never happened as the Trojans stayed in step and competed judiciously in winning their share of games while Oregon and Stanford dominated the conference since 2008.
With players of superstar status in quarterback Cody Kessler, wide receivers Adoree’ Jakcson, who also plays corner, and JuJuSmith, and safety Su’a Cravens, this team has a chance to not only return more Pac-12 championship hardware to Los Angeles, but play for a national championship berth in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Jan. 1. The Pac-12 media picked them as such.
“If the expectations we’re going to be too big, this wasn’t going to be the place for you,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I think we do a good job of expressing that in recruiting. So for you guys to feel that way about us, that’s great and all, but ultimately, we have to go perform.”
To analyze how close the Trojans were in Sark’s first year, they lost two Pac-12 games to Arizona State and Utah on the last play of the game, and then held a 17-0 lead at Boston College before blowing the game late. Those were winnable games which would have made the 38-20 loss at UCLA the Trojans’ lone defeat — and with an 11-1 record, who knows where the Trojans could have been.
The key will be finishing games because the talent is on board to compete for a Pac-12 title.
“What I was appreciative of last year is when we had a tough loss back to the UCLA game, we came back the very next week and maybe played our very best game of the year against Notre Dame (a 49-14 win),” Sarkisian said, “So our guys know how to respond and put things to the side and respond to the task at hand.”
Arizona – Rich Rodriguez had maybe the top freshman quarterback in Anu Solomon last season. He completed 58 percent of his passes with 28 touchdowns and only nine picks. Rodriguez says he has made even more strides over last year’s debut.
“I think in the spring he was a little bigger, a faster, a little stronger, and he had a better knowledge of the offense,” said Rodriguez, “I thought he did really well as a starter and we learned what his strengths and weaknesses are at crunch time too.”
Arizona State – The Sun Devils may be the real threat to the Trojans in the Pac-12 South with their speed on both sides of the ball and ability to strike from anywhere on the field. The definition of talent is seen in Kalen Ballage, who will play on offense in coach Todd Graham’s backfield and then also as an outside linebacker on defense.
“Going in right now, I can tell you that we are kind of 50-50,” said Graham in talking about which side of the ball Burbage will play on most. “We’ll assess it and get it narrowed down pretty quickly. Whether that be full-time offense, third down pass rush, or play both ways ad try to get as many reps out of him as possible,”
Ballage’s numbers a year ago were 42 carries for 126 yards with three touchdowns and six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown reception.
Colorado – Boulder has turned into a football travesty as new coach Mike MacIntyre found out last year as CU fell from 4-8 in his first season to 2-10 last year. The Buffaloes haven’t had a winning season since Gary Barnett took them to a 7-5 record and was fired before the bowl game in 2005. MacIntyre discussed why he thinks is the biggest challenge for Colorado to recruit in the Pac-12.
“The hard thing is the conference is so good right now and we are at the bottom right now,” noted MacIntyre, who turned San Jose State into a competitive Mountain West team in only three years. “We’re at the bottom of it. Everybody else is ranked in the Top 25 in the Pac-12 South.”
UCLA – Jim Mora has led the Bruins to three consecutive wins against rival USC. This year will be UCLA’s biggest challenge against Troy in four years. Mora says the key rests in maturity.
“I am anxious to see if the maturity I saw in spring ball in fact is what I believed it to be,” said Mora, “I felt like our team reached a level of maturity that we have been striving for. I want to see if that was real and if we can maintain that through the three weeks leading up to the Virginia game and then through the course of the season.”
Utah – The Utes could be the sleeper in the Pac-12 South as they finished 9-4, overall, and 5-4 and fifth in the division last season. Coach Kyle Whittingham notes the level of play in the division and how for the Utes to go forward.
“We are continuing to take strides forward and continuing to develop a program,” he said, “We thought we were a lot better in 2013 than in 2012, even though the record didn’t say that. We were 5-7 both years. Last year, the record manifested that progress, so we need to continue on that trend and climb.”
Whittingham noted how the margin of error between winning and losing in the Pac-12 is so thin and the Utes illustrated that by having a winning record and finishing fifth in the South.
