PAC 12
South Division
1. UCLA: The Bruins have taken advantage of USC probation and scholarship reduction to the point where they are favored to win the South Division in 2014. That’s the good news for UCLA, the bad news is that the Trojans are now off probation and will field a roster of 85 players in 2015. UCLA has the second best QB in the PAC 12, Brett Hundley, who passed for 3,071 yards / 9 TD’s and rushed for 748 yards / 11 TD’s. Hundley led the Bruins in rushing last year, something that HC Jim Mora would probably not want to see again! RB Jordan James or Paul Perkins have to step up in 2014, as will TE Thomas Duarte and WRs Jordan Payton & Devin Fuller. The O-Line is led by by preseason All PAC 12, OG Malcolm Bunche (A Florida Transfer). The best know player on defense is LB Myles Jack, the first player in PAC 12 history to be recognized as the Freshman of the Year on both sides of the ball! Inside Backer. LB Eric Kendricks, led the PAC 12 with 150 tackles in 2013, who along with Jack, will give the Bruins terrific play at that position, while Eddie Vanderdoes will lead a solid D-Line! The secondary, directed by Anthony Jefferson, Fabian Moreau, & Randall Goforth, will be one of the best in the country!
2. USC: The Trojans are off probation, Hallelujah, says new HC Steve Sarkisian! While they will have only 75 scholarship players on their roster for the 2014 season, in 2015 they will return to full strength and field a complete FBS compliment of 85 scholarship players! Watch out!! RB Javorius Allen will be one of the best, if not the man, in the PAC 12, Max Tuerk, Aundrey Walker & Chad Wheeler will lead the a very good O-Line. They will have to learn new schemes under the new regime, this should be no problem given their experience! Nelson Agholor is one of the top receivers, if not the best, in the country! USC defense will be formidable, Leonard Williams leads a deep and talented group, which added more strength via Texas Tech transfer, Delvon Simmons! The LB crew will be one of the best in the nation, Hayes Pullard & Anthony Sarao will head this group! The DB are good, CBs Kevon Seymour & Su’a Cravens will provide experience and the secondary will benefit from one of the best front seven’s in all of college football!
3. Arizona: Rich Rod (Rodriguez) has put together two solid seasons at Arizona, going 8-5 in each and winning two bowl games. The Wildcats return 13 starters, 7 on offense & 6 on defense. The time for a double digit win season could be 2014! They should be the favorite in 9 of 12 games (only the dog to Oregon SC & UCLA). If things go according to Hoyle in those 9 games coupled with another a bowl win … equals a 10 win season and Rich Rod will have the Michigan Experience in his rear view mirror forever! The Arizona offense will be led by QB, Jesse Scroggins, (USC transfer), WRs Nate Phillips & DaVonte’ Neal (ND transfer) and an O-Line returns three starters. Rich Rod will simply not be able to replace his All American RB, Ka’Deem Carey! LB Scooby Wright & CB, Jared Travis will lead the best defense that Rodriguez has fielded in his three year tenure at Arizona!
4. Colorado: I know what your thinking; what the *%#@ is Sully drinking? How can he have the Buffs in front of ASU or Utah for that matter. It’s simple, 16 starters return for the 2014 season (8 aside) and HC Mike MacIntyre can and will improve on his four wins from a year ago! CU opens the 2014 season in Denver vs Colorado State, @ U-Mass, @ home against ASU and Hawaii, & then travel to Cal in week five! The Buffs 1st real test in 2014 will be in week three, in Boulder, against Arizona State! If they can win that game @ Folsom Field, MacIntyre should, at least on paper, have the Buffs at 5-0 and needing one win in his last seven games to get CU to its first bowl game since 2007, (Independence Bowl, a 30-24 loss to Bama)! The Buffalos are led on offense by OG, Daniel Munyer & WR Nelson Spruce. On defense, LB Addison Gillam & CB Greg Henderson!
5. Arizona State: ASU clearly has more star power than CU, QB Taylor Kelly, WR Jalen Strong, OT Jamil Douglas & TE De’Marieya Nelson on offense. That said, on defense, the Devils return only 2 starters, let me say again … 2 starters. To deal with the lack of experience on that side of the ball, HC Todd Graham has brought in a boat load of JC talent! The best of these players may be DT Dalvon Stuckey, who is already getting PAC 12 recognition without having played a down in the league. These guys will need to get up to speed on how things are done in the PAC 12, like the speed of the game at this level. The fact that the game with Colorado is in week three is a critical factor as to why Sully’s CFP likes the Buffs. If the game were played in week eight, CU advantage in experience would be negated and we would reconsider the outcome. ASU is/will be an interesting story in 2014!
6. Utah: Bill King the satellite guru of college football has often stated that he believes that the Utes are in the wrong league. King thinks that they should be in the Mountain West. The facts are; Utah won four games in the PAC 12 in their first year in the league in 2011, then Utes won 3 conference games in 2012, and last year, Whittingham’s team won 2 league games! Bill might be right, but I doubt the Coach Whittingham would agree. Utah’s schedule in 2014 is a challenging one, in addition to the PAC 12 schedule, which includes Oregon & Stanford in divisional crossover games. The Utes take on a very good Fresno State team @ home and travel to the Big House, to take on a Michigan team that returns 15 starters! Utah offense features, WR Dres Anderson & OT Jeremiah Poutasi while the D will be led by DE Nate Orchard, LB Jason Whittingham (HC Whittington’s Nephew) and SS Eric Rowe!
Up Next: SEC East Division
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