2010 PAC-10 Football Season
Posted on 31. May, 2010 at 3:00 am by Meerkat in Football, NCAA Football, PAC-10 Football
Being a former east coast guy I didn’t really have to follow a certain conference for college football, except for my 1-AA Delaware Blue Hens CAA. The CAA was not a conference a guy could really follow on TV because usually they were not on TV. Besides, I had season tickets, I was at the games … watching … tailgating … enjoying the pageantry.
But now I’m on the West Coast. Unlike the East Coast where you gotta choose from the best game from the SEC, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, … out here … all you got really is the PAC-10. So after being here for over a year and a half, I’m ready to dive in head-first to an awesome PAC-10 lineup in 2010.
First off … I’m lookin forward to watching the two gunslingers in Jake Locker and Andrew Luck. These guys are headlining the PAC-10 … and actually the nation … when it comes to stud QBs this fall. Unfortunately, for Kirk Herbstreit, he won’t be able to pump up Masoli this season like he’s the perfect run-pass QB in the nation. Sorry Kirk.
Locker and Luck will get ALL of the attention from much more than ESPN this season … NFL scouts will be drooling on the sidelines each and every game from August-November. And the Heisman vote will be very interesting this fall with 2 standout QBs on the west coast this season. I’m sure some east coast RB will emerge to challenge these 2 QBs only because the east-coasters won’t be up late enough to watch Luck and Locker to give a fair judgment. Hmmmmm … east coast bias anyone?
I shall move on. From the QBs to the coaches. This group in the PAC-10 is almost a celebrity game show.
Lane Kiffin is the new kid on the block … with little to show. He is inheriting the keys to the sports car that Pete left in the garage. Let’s see if Lane can run with the big boys like Carrol did while he was at USC. Pete had it down to a science in SoCal. It was pro-style offense and pro-style-defense (easily attracting the kids-to-pros, like Calipari does in hoops). Whether he did it legal or not is still in question. But he did it.
Rick Neuheisel is only one year off of Kiffin. He walked into the PAC-10 braggin about how he was gonna beat down big-bad-crosstown-rival USC … but in reality, now it is Oregon that he has to worry about. UCLA is still another year away from gettin all of Neuheisal’s kids and make a big impact on the conference. So I’m guessin they will be a .500 club this fall.
I’m just gonna ignore Washington State and Arizona State. Much like how I breezed past the produce section while grocery shopping in my early 20s. Then I’ll scratch my head and walk past Cal and Arizona, but only because I just don’t know much about these teams and coaches yet. I’m slowly grasping the PAC-10 landscape and 2010 will be a year I digest all the teams, including the bad ones.
Stanford I know a bit about. And they are a fun squad to watch. Coach Harbaugh lost workhorse back Gerhart to the NFL, but I can’t see his team slowing down one bit. The Cardinal will drop points all over the PAC-10 this season and probably vault up to the top with Luck as their leader. And you know Harbaugh will be working into the wee hours of the night studying game film and prepping for each opponent … I mean the dude has to get as much use out of that $70k new office bathroom he got last year, right?
It has been an interesting off-season in the state of Oregon to say the least. These next 3 months can’t pass by fast enough. The Ducks and Beavers are gonna have the Huskies breathing down their necks from up north in 2010.
No doubt the Jake Locker circus is gonna factor into this … big time … and “softy” will be yelping about Locker’s leadership going into each Oregon & Oregon State game. It’s gonna be silly how much hype these games get in 2010. The NW could dominate the PAC-10 in 2010 … in fact … I believe they will … yeah, that was a limb I just walked out on … okay, not really.
Who is gonna start for the Ducks? Thomas or Costa? I’m still hoping for Thomas because of his legs … a versatile ground game is what makes the Chip Kelly spread offense go. Meanwhile, Riley always seems to have his club ready for a grinder game. The Beavers will scratch out at least a .500 season, maybe a game better, the Rodgers bros are good for it.
June is a day away, so daydreaming about some college football seems about right. The MLB is hitting full stride, NBA is 4 wins from closing down … I needed something to look forward to.
So I look forward to an awesome PAC-10 season.
Tom
31. May, 2010
I am hoping for Thomas to start as well. Pac ten season will be fun.
El rey
31. May, 2010
The Huskes breathing down the Ducks neck?
If that’s the case, Kelly stinks.
PS-how many Duck fans are going to have a heart attack when Costa is named the starter in August?
Costa
31. May, 2010
Don’t worry sports fans, I will go down in the first game with my 15th knee injury. Paving the way for the DT era.
WCP541
31. May, 2010
Why does everyone seem to think that Darron Thomas is the second coming of Dixon or some shit? He’s nowhere as fast as Dixon was; he can’t throw like Dixon could; he really can’t do anything like Dixon did (except for holding the clipboard and sending dummy signals to the guys on the field). Costa is just as fast (actually about a fraction of a second faster) as Thomas. That’s with a knee that has been torn to shit and rebuilt three times. Oregon needs a QB that is gunna come in and not make mistakes. Costa is that QB. Thomas is still too young, he still needs a lil bit more time to get shit figured out.
El Rey
31. May, 2010
Because CP, Duck fans are a close second to the Husky Honks when it comes to delusions of grandeur.
http://www.thesportsbrewery.com/xyz/beer-and-stuff/darron-thomas-the-man-the-myth-the-legend
Tom
31. May, 2010
I love how “delusions of grandeur” is one of the lines made famous by star wars.
Meerkat
31. May, 2010
WCP … why do you compare Thomas to Dixon and not Costa to Dixon? Was Masoli better than Dixon? Let’s bring Dan Fouts into the mix as well.
The only comparisons that need to be done are Costa vs Thomas.
Sure Thomas had one spectacular quarter against Boise … but Costa had one dreadful game against UCLA. Neither sample makes them the QB or not the QB.
I want whoever is the better QB to start.
WCP541
01. Jun, 2010
Meerkat… I agree that the only comparisons should be between Costa and Thomas. Everyone and their uncle seems to try and put Thomas in the same light with Dixon. I was simply trying to show how stupid it is to compare Thomas to Dixon, because in reality, Thomas isn’t much like Dixon at all.