The Pac Ten is very strong at quarterback. Not only are 8 of the 9 QB’s who threw 200 passes or more returning, but only Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington breaking in new starters. Here are some nuggets from around the conference, with the teams represented in no particular order.

Dennis Dixon of Oregon is a little bit of a mixed bag. He and Josh Booty were the only QB’s in the league to complete more than 61% of their passes. But Dixon threw only 12 TD passes to go with 14 interceptions. He has excellent mobility, getting sacked only 5 times (once every 64.4 pass attempts). He finished the season weakly and his coaches were disappointed that he played minor league baseball this summer instead of spending time on campus with his teammates. Dixon loses offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, now of LSU. The defense gave up 30 points or more in 7 of their 13 games last year but should be significantly improved.

UCLA returns almost everybody. QB Ben Olsen started the season as the #1 guy last year and the team was 4-1 in games he started. After Olsen got hurt, Patrick Cowan put up inferior numbers and the team lost his first three starts though he did win the hearts of Bruins everywhere by helping to engineer the colossal upset of USC. Assistant Eric Scott has been credited with helping UCLA score some meaningful recruiting wins in the rugged neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles. When Scott was arrested this summer a past criminal record came to light. Scott’s previous transgressions occurred when he was an assistant coach at Crenshaw High for seven years. Think any conference opponents who have lost recruiting battles in LA to Scott might have calls in to the NCAA? Charges did not follow in the arrest of Scott because “witnesses and victims were either unavailable or uncooperative”.

The Washington Huskies will be led by Jake Locker, a redshirt freshman quarterback who was a big time recruiting win for Ty Willingham and his staff. Locker will be throwing to a senior-dominated receiving corps that has largely underachieved during their time in Seattle. With the strength of the Pac Ten and non-conference games against Boise State, Ohio State, and Hawaii, Washington has one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Word out of Texas Tech camp is that the Red Raiders miss former offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes. Dykes moved to Arizona in the offseason, where he is spreading the field and expecting the rushing attack to thrive with the resultant open spaces. Willie Tuitama has shown flashes of brilliance, but has had multiple concussions, so let’s hope he remains injury free this season. Arizona fans putting heat on Mike Stoops forget that this team hasn’t had a winning record in conference play for 8 straight years and that a complete rebuilding job was necessary after the John Mackovic disaster. After a year where they were bowl eligible but with no place to go and enjoyed wins over BYU, Cal, and Oregon, look for Arizona to bowl for the first time since a Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska following the 1998 campaign.

His botched handling of the Keller/Carpenter quarterback situation and 21-28-conference record has Dirk Koetter out and Dennis Erickson in at Arizona State. Look for more of a willingness to hit on the defensive side of the ball for the Sun Devils. Obviously Rudy Carpenter needs to be protected a lot better and make better decisions, as he was sacked 37 times last year (332 pass attempts). ASU returns almost their entire offense and with the coaching enhancement and clever scheduling (8 home games) should make a move forward this season.

Washington State went to consecutive Rose and Holiday Bowls earlier this decade, but haven’t had a winning season in the last three, going 8-17 in conference play during that time. Alex Brink gets very little respect for a guy who completed over 60% of his passes with 19 TD’s and 10 INT’s last season. The defense returns only 5 starters to a unit that gave up 82 points in their last two conference games, allowing Arizona State and Washington to notch conference season highs.

Sammy Stroughter, the Oregon State wide receiver who teamed with Matt Moore for 74 catches at 17.5 yards per attempt last year has left the team due to grief issues. He lost two close family members and a former coach recently and couldn’t focus on football. From a football standpoint, Oregon State’s apparently strong special teams needs a whole new cast of characters. Stroughter returned three punts for TD’s last year. As we reported on August 7th, punt returner Coye Francies had been booted off the team and punter Kyle Loomis had left. Unaware that OSU had already lost Francies and Loomis, ESPN ranked them as a Top 5 special teams unit on their web site this week, listing both as active members of the Beavers.

Is it a good thing that Stanford returns 8 offensive starters? They averaged 11 points per game and were equally pathetic running and passing, as they averaged 2.1 yards per rush while allowing an ungodly 50 sacks. The defense allowed 30 or more points in 9 of 12 games. No wonder Jim Harbaugh is spending his time throwing bombs at his alma mater and Pete Carroll rather than talking about his club.

Cal’s Nate Longshore is more impressive statistically than he is visually, as he seems awkward at times but makes up for it with his arm strength. But that perspective could be based on Longshore playing hurt frequently the past couple of seasons. Cal couldn’t man up with Tennessee last year (that game was 35-3 before garbage time broke out), but open against a potentially lesser band of Volunteers, who have personnel issues at the skill positions.

Finally, do you really need information on USC? Just turn on your TV or pay attention to LSU Coach Les Miles. OK, let’s dig deep. The pointspread caught up with USC after a 29-7 run to the number that ended after they started the ’05 campaign by covering their first three games. Last fall when Oregon State beat the Trojans to end their 27-game conference winning streak, it took the Men of Troy to only 5-13 against the spread in their previous 18 games. This season, USC’s November 3rd homecoming game against Oregon State is their only home game in a 47-day span during which they play 4 of 5 on the road and enjoy a week off before the December 1st Coliseum matchup with UCLA. Road games against Nebraska and Notre Dame make for an aggressive non-conference schedule.

That’s the Pac Ten for you. We’ll continue to make our way around the BCS in our next report.