LOS ANGELES -- USC was picked to win the Pac-10 football title for the seventh consecutive year by the media, and yet the coaches from all nine competitors -- including Arizona's Mike Stoops (right) and even USC coach Pete Carroll -- touched on the uncertainty of the Trojans this season.USC received 28 of the 32 votes with California receiving three while third-place Oregon collected one vote. The Trojans will be breaking in a new quarterback and several new defenders since 11 players were taken in the NFL Draft. Perhaps this is the year another school emerges and takes the crown out of Los Angeles, but they approached Thursday precariously and with respect. There were no declarations that USC is going down or the reign is over -- not even from UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel.
"Eighteen months later, from the time I got the job we are athletic, stronger and more physical," Neuheisel said humbly after a 4-8 debut season in Westwood. "We're still relatively inexperienced. But I think great things are in store for our program."
Humility was the theme of the morning. There is a quiet confidence in many coaches that their programs have improved, but the proof will be on the field, and in the past seven years, USC has proven that it is superior -- winning many games with ease -- other than a couple of hiccups against Oregon State.
Has the rest of the field caught USC? Perhaps fans will see on Sept. 12 when USC visits Ohio State or maybe when Oregon kicks off the season at Boise State or UCLA faces Tennessee in Knoxville.
The uncertainty is apparent amongst other Pac-10 coaches because their teams -- like USC -- face inexperience at key positions. There is no team that appears loaded for a title run. Clubs such as Cal, Oregon and Oregon State will have to rely on newcomers immediately to puncture the USC aura, and the quest won't be easy.
Here are notes from each team's discussion with the media Thursday.
ARIZONA
Coach Mike Stoops said he could use two quarterbacks -- Nick Foles and Matt Scott -- entering the season and they will battle it out in fall camp. Stoops was not pleased being picked to finish eighth in the conference: "I think our lack of respect in this conference is built around maybe our ability to replace a very quality player in Willie Tuitama. I believe that we will be able to replace Willie with a couple of very able players."
Tight end Rob Gronkowski is a beast of a player who has drawn raves around the conference and could be a first-team All America this season.
ARIZONA STATE
The Sun Devils were picked fifth by the media but will use redshirt senior Danny Sullivan to replace the graduated Rudy Carpenter and will rely on gifted receiver Kyle Williams, bruising fullback Dimitri Nance and cornerback Mike Nixon. The question is whether Arizona State can respond from a highly disappointing season with games at Georgia, Oregon and UCLA. ASU does get Cal, USC and Arizona at home.
CAL
Coach Jeff Tedford said quarterback Kevin Riley is the starter heading into fall camp, but that doesn't mean Brock Mansion doesn't have a shot at the job. Tedford played roulette with his quarterbacks last season, benching both Riley and Nate Longshore. With the latter gone, Riley is the favorite, and Tedford would like to see one quarterback seize the job instead of a committee.
"I don't think there's any question if we achieve our goal, we need to be more consistent in the passing game," Tedford said. "Kevin has matured a lot. His experience puts him a step ahead. I am not a fan of quarterback by committee but I don't regret how we handled the quarterback situation last year because the bottom line is we have to be consistent. I don't know if we had one guy step up and handle it like they should. Hopefully we do have that this year."
OREGON
New coach Chip Kelly is excited about his potentially high-powered offense but the question is whether his wide receivers -- all relatively new -- will respond and catch passes. Rory Cavaille and Jamere Holland will be depended on to replace Jaison Williams and Terence Scott. The former duo have combined for six catches, but Oregon has reached a point of reloading, not rebuilding.
"Two years ago, people said we weren't going to recover after losing Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart and all of a sudden Jeremiah Masoli and LeGarrette Blount show up," Kelly said. "So we are excited about our guys and they have an opportunity to step up. If people are going to deploy themselves defensively to take Ed (Dickson) away then that's going to free up some of our other guys. So if you've got to devote two people to Ed, then someone else has got to win."
And Kelly made it clear that he and cornerback Walter Thurmond III voted for Tim Tebow for first-team All SEC.
OREGON STATE
Coach Mike Riley said the Rodgers brothers -- or Brothers Rodgers -- Jacquizz and James -- are healthy and will be 100 percent going into fall camp. Jacquizz Rodgers, the conference's offensive player of the year as a freshman, missed most of the final three games with a shoulder injury. His healthy return will be essential to the Beavers' success. Riley also revealed that quarterback Lyle Moevao is not completely recovered from right shoulder surgery, leaving the door open for Sean Canfield to perhaps be the starter when Oregon State takes on Portland State on Sept. 5.
Canfield was instrumental in wins at Arizona and the critical win over then-No. 2 Cal in 2007.
STANFORD
Redshirt freshman Andrew Luck is the starting quarterback entering fall camp but coach Jim Harbaugh doesn't expect incumbent Tavita Pritchard, who led the Cardinal to its program-changing victory over USC two years ago, to give up the job.
"Tavita has started 19 games for Stanford and he is just not going concede to Andrew," Harbaugh said. "I would say this is far from settled but Andrew will be given the first chance to win the job and start at Washington State."
Toby Gerhart, a redshirt junior, could be Stanford's most physical runner since Tommy Vardell and is coming off a school-record 1,136-yard season.
UCLA
Neuheisel endorsed Kevin Prince as the team's new starting quarterback and he seems to be well adjusted for a redshirt freshman. Prince excelled during spring drills and appears to have won over his more experienced teammates.
"I think being a redshirt freshman, he was very composed out there (at spring practice)," linebacker Reggie Carter said. "We talked a lot of trash and said some crazy things to him. He did what he had to do and make some smart decisions. Once he gets the ball to where he needs on time, he will be a great player."
Also, running back Christian Ramirez, who missed last season because of academic ineligibility, will be the starter.
USC
Coach Pete Carroll said he has not given up on trying to find a way for freshman Frankie Telfort to play football. The freshman linebacker was advised to quit football because of a heart condition.
"We aren't going to give up on him," Carroll said. "We talked with his family about it. He's a good kid. He was unusually gifted as far as understanding football. I can't tell you we had anybody who knew so much about football as Frankie did."
Carroll revealed that weakside linebacker Malcolm Smith had surgery on his esophagus and is not 100 percent while strongside linebacker Luthur Brown may not be academically eligible.
WASHINGTON
Coach Steve Sarkisian was brimming with enthusiasm during his first media day as a head coach and said the Huskies are going to be "excited" for the season opener against LSU at Husky Stadium.
"I'm 35 years old, I'm crossing the 520 bridge, I'm staring at Husky Stadium and I'm the head coach at the University of Washington football program. This is an unbelievable honor," he said. "There's an aura about that place that is exciting. We're not the same football team [as eight months ago]."
Running back Chris Polk, highly touted before missing most of last season with shoulder surgery, should be back in the mix. Sarkisian said he still is waiting on the status of five junior college transfers.
WASHINGTON STATE
Quarterback Marshall Lobbestael is recovering from knee surgery but will compete with Kevin Lopina for the starting quarterback job. Weakside linebacker Louis Bland hurt his knee in spring drills and is still not completely healthy. Coach Paul Wulff said the Cougars wants to play a no-huddle offense to prevent injuries and increase depth.
2009 Pac-10 Preseason Media Poll:
1. USC (28) 316
2. California (3) 277
3. Oregon (1) 250
4. Oregon State 216
5. Arizona State 155
6. Stanford 150
7. UCLA 145
8. Arizona 142
9. Washington 74
10. Washington State 35
