Opponent Spring Practices

Spring practice wrapped up last week and all our opponents have completed their sessions as well. Here is a look at the news stories coming out of those camps and what our boys might expect to face this fall.

Tennessee

The Vols have spent some time retooling their offense as well this April. Like the Bruins, Tennessee heads into the 2008 season with a new coordinator, three other new offensive assistants, a new scheme, new terminology and a new quarterback. Jonathan Crompton, a red-shirt junior, is the likely starter for the fall. He will be out of action for the next month after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his throwing elbow.

There will be more of an emphasis on the running game this time around and the Volunteers have a good one in Arian Foster. The Vols return all five offensive line starters from last season and they will provide a big front for Foster, who's closing in on Tennessee's all-time rushing record.

BYU

The Cougars return a very potent and experienced offense this season. One area to watch is their offensive line. A big and powerful group last season, they've been dinged by the injury bug this spring. BYU returns a lot of players at the skill positions including QB Max Hall who had good games against UCLA last season. Junior wide receiver Austin Collie had a good spring and he'll challenge the Bruin's inexperienced secondary this fall.

On defense, the Cougars lose standouts Kelly Popinga and Bryan Kehl. Following in their footsteps, junior Matt Bauman has asserted himself as the new leader of the linebacking corps. He had a good spring and the BYU defense is starting to gel despite not returning many players from last year's squad. Their secondary is young and there might be an opportunity for our offense to throw on them this year.


Fresno State

One of the goals of the spring for Fresno State was to add some depth to a team that returns 10 starters on offense. To help fascilitate that, the veterans didn't see a lot of reps during the scrimmage. QB Tom Brandstater only had 5 pass attempts while his backup took most of the snaps behind center. The Bulldogs have a new offensive coordinator his season in Doug Nussmeier and it will be interesting to see if he opens up an FSU offense mainly known for a strong running game. They have a lot of experience along the line, though many of those starters missed time this spring with nagging injuries.

While the offense is mainly set, the defense has some had some holes to fill this spring. The Bulldogs lost Marcus Riley and Trevor Shamblee, two of their best linebackers. In their place, a host of young players are looking to fill those spots. They also have to fill the shoes of Tyler Clutts, one of their best defensive ends. They don't really have any super stars on this side of the ball and they lack a true leader.

Arizona

The Wildcats remind me a lot of our own team. An inconsistent offense. A defense without any big super stars. They're a work in progress that always seems to be rebuilding each and every season and this team is still struggling to learn the air-raid offense installed last season.

One area where the Wildcats will have some experience is at quarterback. Willie Tuitama is back for his third season and he had a decent spring. He threw for 231 yards on 20 completions out of 36 attempts and one touchdown during the spring game. The running game looks decent and their offense could be exciting if it really gets going.

The defensive side is going to struggle this season. They have a lot of new faces and not a lot of a talent. They lose two of the best corners in the league with Antoine Cason and Wilrey Fontenot departing. They do have some guys stepping up in Devin Ross and sophomore Mike Turner; both had good springs. Highly regarded recruit, Robert Golden, is coming in the fall to add some depth in the secondary.

Arizona State

ASU had a break-out season last year, but will they continue with that success in 2008? RB Shaun DeWitty adds some depth to the Sun Devil's running game. Along with Keegan Herring, this team should continue to perform well on the ground. Carpenter was only able to complete 7-of-21 passes for 88 yards in their spring game. They still have a lot of problems with their offensive line and it doesn't look like they've solved those problems yet.

Erickson looks to add more of a spread-element to his offensive strategy. The team practiced with more four and five-receiver sets and tailback screens this spring. ASU might be making a name for itself as a defensive team this season. The defense was impressive throughout spring and dominated the spring game.

USC

Across town, the Trojans are getting ready for another dominating season. They had a battle at quarterback that everyone knew would end in Mark Sanchez getting the starting job. So it was no surprise when he came out of the spring game as the leader. Mitch Mustain and Aaron Corp held their own, though, and the Trojans look loaded at the position for the foreseeable future.

One big piece of news was that Joe McKnight ended up missing the last week of practice because of eligibility problems. Those likely won't translate into him missing time this fall but it did give the other running backs a chance to shine. The leaders at running back for next season would be C.J. Gable, Staffon Johnson, and Allen Bradford.

On defense, junior cornerback Kevin Thomas, who missed the 2007 season because of a shoulder injury, has played well during the spring. He's already worked his way into the Trojans' third cornerback spot and he has the potential to take the job from starters Cary Harris and Shareece Wright.

California

The Bears had a lot of questions to answer this spring. The biggest one is who will be the starting quarterback? Nate Longshore has a lot of experience but he struggled mightily in Cal's downward spiral last season. Kevin Riley had his fair share of struggles as well, but he impressed in their bowl victory over Air Force. Unfortunately, Longshore missed the entire spring because of a pectoral injury. The decision, according to coach Tedford, could come as late as the week before their home opener.

Injures have also set back other skill positions on offense. Running back Javid Best is out with a hip injury. Which hurts because the Bears lost James Montgomery this off season when he transfered to WSU. Wide receiver Jeremy Ross is also sidelined with a sprained ankle. That leaves a lot of inexperienced guys getting playing time this spring and a lot of unresolved questions on the depth chart.

On defense, the Bears have been using a three man front during the spring. Redshirt freshman Bryan Anger has been wowing onlookers with his punting ability. He should help their special teams unit this fall.

Stanford

Like so many teams in the conference, the Cardinal are searching for a starting quarterback for the 2008 season. Tavita Pricthard, who lead them to their huge victory over the Trojans in the Coliseum last season, is the front runner at this point. He struggled, however, in their spring scrimmage where he only completed 12 of 28 passes for 106 yards. That leaves an opening for Alex Loukas and transfer Jason Forcier (Chris Forcier's brother).

Oregon

No team in the PAC-10 lost more offensive weapons this past season than the Ducks. The dynamic duo of Dixon and Stewart won't be wearing their Oregon uniforms this season and that has left the Eugene faithful asking a lot of questions about their backfield. They may of gotten at least one answer in LeGarrette Blout. The Duck's running game got a boost from the big, 235 lb running back. He bulldozed his way to 68 yards on just 5 carries during their spring scrimmage and he's drawing high praise and favorable comparisons to Stewart.

Oregon State

Oregon State struggled on offense last year but their defense kept them in a lot of games. Unfortunately for the Beaver Believers, that sturdy defense front seven won't be back this season. They did have some depth at linebacker and it looks like some young talent, including Keaton Kristick, Bryant Cornell, and Dwight Roberson will be an adequate replacement.

On offense, the Orange and Black get back standout receiver and return-man Sammie Stroughter. He'll be a big boost to a passing attack that had it's ups and downs last season under first-year quarterback Sean Canfield. Also back from injury is guard Jeremy Perry who missed all but one game in 2007 because of a broken leg. The rest of the offense was hit pretty hard by graduation, including the loss of running back Yvenson Bernard. They'll have a lot to work out this fall if they want to stay in the top-half of the conference standings.

Washington

The Huskies were delt a tough blow when they lost their best offensive lineman in center Juan Garcia with a foot injury this spring. A 6th year senior, Garcia was a second-team, all-conference selection last year, starting every game at center for the second consecutive year. Their line will be young and inexperienced, so it makes the loss of a seasoned veteran hurt even more.

After missing on hiring DeWayne Walker away from UCLA, the Huskies hired Ed Donatell, who spent 12 of the previous 13 seasons coaching in the NFL. Their defense will likely be a work in progress this season as their defensive line losses many of their starters. The Huskies are hoping to tap into some of their true freshman who enroll this fall at defensive tackle. That's not a good sign for the Dawgs as freshman rarely make an impact on the line.

Washington State

One of the stars of the Cougar's spring scrimmage was Michael Willis. The converted defensive back has been moved to wide receiver for the 2008 season. Willis pulled down 6 receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown during the game and he could be a another big target along with talented receiver Bradnon Gibson. Of course the Cougs still need to find a quarterback who can throw to these guys. Fifth year senior Gary Rodgers is the heir apparent to Alex Brink but he could be challenged by junior Kevin Lopina, who had a solid spring.

Head coach Paul Wulff is also introducing a new no-huddle spread offense this season. He'll run that offense behind a veteran line that returns four starters but no stars at running back. Things are so thin at tail back that when the spring session ended, WSU only had one healthy player available. Chris Ivory missed part of the spring with injury and he has also struggled to stay academically eligible. Dwight Tardy also watched the rest of the team from the sidelines due to injury.

Wulff and his staff switched to a new 4-3 defense moving standout linebacker Andy Mattingly to defensive end. This squad has struggled with depth and injuries in the past and they still need to find players in their two deep after the spring. WSU' returns three returning senior starters at linebacker including Greg Trent but their secondary has a lot of holes.

(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Wade Payne. Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Stick a Fork in Us

It was always a long shot, but UCLA did have a chance to win the conference if it swept it's last three games. That dream didn't last very long as the Bruins lost to ASU on Saturday. Sadly, that game was winnable, but the Bruins made some bone-headed mistakes. I guess that sums up our season: games we could have won, should have won... but didn't. Well, the season is officially over and UCLA really has little left to play for this year.

Bruce Davis gets the bone-head award for the night. His inexplicable late-hit at the end of the first half gave the Sun Devils a free shot at a field goal. Those 3 points forced UCLA to go for a touchdown at the end, instead of working into field goal range, and likely cost us the game. Christian Taylor made a similarly stupid mistake on 4th-and-long and only a timely turnover forced by Brian Price kept Arizona State out of the end zone.

Chris Meadows almost had the play of the night. He was wide open, I mean wide open, not a guy anywhere near him, and Brandon Breazell threw a beautiful pass to him. He was thinking three steps ahead and forgot he had to catch the ball first. Man, after I gave him some hype coming into the season, he let me down! Oh well, I guess you can't expect too much from a walk-on transfer who has barely played this season.

I guess the silver lining is that we are playing a lot of our younger guys. The backfield is all sophomores at this point with Moline, Rasshan, and Sheppard. Sheppard had a decent day with some solid runs averaging 4.7 yards a carry against one of the better defenses in the conference. Dominque Johnson is a soph and Terrance Austin, who virtually scored a touchdown on that punt return, still has two years of eligibility left. Not to mention that Forbath is just a freshman.

The really good news is that we get a bye next weekend. The Bruins need some time to lick their wounds and heal up. The only thing left to play for is some pride, a chance to play spoiler, and getting bowl eligible. You might say, "Why do I care about playing in some crappy bowl?", well it does give our guys some extra time to practice this year and one more game to gain some experience. With 2008 being a rebuilding season, we'll want these young guys to get as much playing time as possible.

It's amazing how far this team has fallen from it's pre-season ranking and BCS expectations. Now we're in an uphill battle just to get into the Poinsettia Bowl. With Oregon and USC still left on the schedule, even achieving that modest goal might be impossible.

Payback

Hard to imagine anyone getting excited to play the Bruins, but it looks like at least one ASU fan is looking for a little payback.

Lucky Devils

I've always thought of Arizona State as being our close brothers in the conference. They've had their ups and downs, won a couple of championships along the way, but they've mainly hung around .500 this decade. Heck, their one big season (2004) ended with 3 loses and a Sun Bowl victory. It all sounds so familiar. Yet, ASU comes to play in the Rose Bowl this Saturday with an 8-1 record (their only lose to #3 Oregon) while UCLA is on trajectory for another mediocre season.

Let's see.. What's different in Tempe this year? The players? Not really, they got back some great offensive weapons like Torrain and Carpenter but lost a lot of defensive personnel coming into their 2007 campaign. Is it their schedule? Eight home games helps, and a cupcake filled OOC doesn't hurt, but the Sun Devils still play the same conference lineup as UCLA. Maybe the water? No, that's not it either. So what is it about this team that has them doing a 180 from their prior meandering ways? Dennis Erickson, that's what. What a difference a coach makes.

The Devils were a wildly inconsistent team under Dirk Koetter. They were always an offensive power but they could never muster a decent performance on defense. Even when their offense was clicking it would usually become one dimensional. Great passing one year, poor the next. There was the heart breaking last second defeat to LSU in 2005 and a humiliating blowout loss to Hawaii last season. The whole Rudy Carpenter vs Sam Keller debacle. Did I mention the "we surrender" punt against the Trojans in the coliseum? Until they beat Stanford this year, the Sun Devils hadn't won a game in California since 2002 when they played San Diego State. You had to go all the back to the Butch Snyder era for a conference victory in the Golden State (1999).

It's not for lack of talent that the Sun Devils sputtered. There was a point during this season that Sun Devil quarterbacks (or former Sun Devil quarterbacks) were starting at three different D1 programs. Sam Keller at Nebraska, Rudy Carpenter at ASU, and Max Hall at BYU. How many programs would kill for that kind of depth at QB? The talent and skill have been there, it just hasn't been utilized properly to produce wins.

Consistent inconsistency, as we all painfully know, is the sign of poor coaching. Well, those days may be over in Tempe. Erickson has brought this team into alignment for the first time in over a decade. The offense is producing, like you would expect, but it is balanced. ASU was 3rd in the conference in both rushing and passing numbers heading into last weekend. Their defense, however, has been the real story. The Devils used to run a bend-and-break defense before that would routinely give up huge yards, and points, to opposing teams. This year they rank first in a number of defensive categories with a #12 in the nation scoring defense. That hasn't been against the greatest competition, but ASU is beating the teams it is supposed to beat. Which is more than the Bruins can say.

Another intriguing element in this team is they way they respond and recover from adversity. ASU has trailed in almost all of their games this year. Against the Bears, they went down 13-0 before they adjusted. California didn't score a single point in the second half and ASU went on to outscore them 31-7. These aren't the last-minute, 4th-quarter, comebacks that the Bruins magically produced in 2005. This is a team that adjusts and adapts to it's opponents game plan and then shuts them down. You might call it luck, but I call it good coaching. Don't panic, do what you do, and perform. Even against a top-ranked Oregon team the Devils kept fighting.

Are the Sun Devils really for real? Who knows. ASU still has to play some tough games and they probably won't make the Rose Bowl. Still, for a first year coach, Erickson has his team believing in themselves. He brings decades of experience, but maybe more importantly, an expectation to win. He has won PAC-10 championships before. He's won national championships before. He's got a buzz and a positive vibe going in Tempe and you can just feel them gaining momentum after each victory. As UCLA stumbles through another season with Dorrell at the helm, Arizona State passes us by in the race to the top of the conference.

What a difference a year makes. What a difference a coach makes. Those lucky Devils.

(Photo credit: AP)

I Don't F*%$ Know

Seems like fans and sports writers love to analyze the comments of coaches and players. There's even a term for the convoluted, cliche-laced responses of coaches... "coach speak". Well, finally a player decided to just cut through all the crap and speak his mind. When Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter was asked how his team came back from a 19-point deficit to beat Oregon State this last weekend he had this response:





Nice! Nothing like live radio. Of course, in our politically correct society, Carpenter had to apologize for what he said.

2007 Preview: Arizona State Sun Devils

Ed Note: Well, the last few weeks I've been spending more time with my family and relaxing. Both were good for my soul but, unfortunately, reduced the time I could spend writing up these season previews. This will be the abridged version.

Heading into the home stretch, the Bruins get a pair of games at the Rose Bowl before the big cross town show-down with the Trojans. In week 10 of the season, coach Dennis Erickson will bring along the Arizona State Sun Devils on one of their few road trips this year. This is a very talented team with some explosive fire power on offense. Throw in a head coach who knows how to win and this will be a dangerous game for the Bruins

Offense

Rudy Carpenter had the typical sophomore slump last season. The talented signal caller should be back to form this time around and he should be one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the conference. Protecting him will be a senior-laden offensive line. Senior center Mike Pollak will lead this group with six returning experienced players. The Bruin front four will have their hands full and I don't know how much pressure they'll bring. The tackles, including Zach Krula, are very talented and should match up well with Bruce Davis and our speedy ends.

One overlooked element of the Sun Devil's offense last season was the running back tandem of Ryan Torain and Keegan Herring. Despite not starting the first five games of 2006, Torain ran for 1,229 yards, caught 18 passes, and scored 10 touchdowns. He is an aggresive north-south runner and he can punish defenses. Herring brings a nice alternative to Torain's power running with some great speed and agility. This one-two punch at tailback will be a bear for the Bruin front seven to handle.

The only area with some question marks is the receiving corps. One known quantity is senior Rudy Burgess who is switching back to WR from DB. He's elusive and has great speed and the UCLA corners will definitely will be challenged by this experienced receiver. Brent Miller takes over for his brother, Zach Miller, who went to the NFL after a stellar junior season. Brent will have some big shoes to fill as Zach was a crucial part of the Sun Devil offense last year. The other receivers will be taking on bigger roles, but by the 10th week they should be pretty comfortable in their positions. The UCLA secondary is excellent but will likely be left on islands as Walker blitzes Horton and the line backers to get pressure on Carpenter. If that tactic fails it could be a long day for Trey Brown and Rodney Van.

Defense

Nobody would call ASU's defensive potent the last few years but it hasn't been terrible either. This season looks like more of the same with some holes to fill and some question marks at all three levels. There is also some talented players mixed in there as well. The Sun Devils run a typical 4-3 configuration which UCLA will see a lot of this season.

Michael Marquardt and Dexter Davis are play makers but the rest of the defensive line is full of unknowns. The UCLA tackles should be well prepared for Dexter as they face Bruce Davis every day in practice. If UCLA's offensive lineman are comfortable in their new positions then they should provide some holes for the running game. There isn't a lot of depth here for ASU either and injuries could be a factor at this point in the fall.

The line backing corps is young with two true sophomores, but talented and athletic. Travis Goethel and Mike Nixon both had outstanding freshman seasons and they'll be called upon a lot to help fill any gaps in the front four. They're not the most experienced unit so traps, screens, and other misdirection could cause this group some trouble. UCLA also brings a lot of new formations and looks this season, but there should be lots of game film on both teams by November.

Josh Barrett is the star of a secondary that will rely on some juco transfers to bring some experience to this unit. They bring a lot of speed, quickness and some height, so there won't be many mismatches for 6'5" receivers Joe Cowan, Ossarr Rashan, and Dominique Johnson to exploit. If the Bruin run game is moving then it could open up some passing opportunities here. I think Norvell will direct Olson to throw away from defensive back Justin Tryon and pick on his inexperienced counter part on the other side of the field.

Special Teams

Arizona State has a very similar special teams situation to UCLA. The Sun Devil's lose 4-year starter Jesse Ainsworth to graduation. Taking over the kicking duties will be former walk-on Thomas Weber. He's an unknown quantity at this point. Jonathan Johnson was solid on punts last year and the senior should only improve in his final season at Tempe. The kick and punt return games are still up in the air.

The Verdict

Like the Oregon State matchp, this looks like a trap game to me. ASU has a lot of fire power on offense and they could really cause some problems if they get cooking. Unfortunately, UCLA always seems to have a let down game (or two) every year and if this team gets caught napping against Carpenter and company it could result in a defeat.

On paper UCLA should be able to beat this team. We have a great defense and should slow down the Sun Devil offense, our own offense should be clicking by this point in the season, and we have the all important home field advantage. I just have a gut feeling that we won't get enough pressure on Carpenter with his senior offensive line blocking for him. Like the WSU game last season, the Bruins struggled without an effective pass rush. I'm going to go against the conventional wisdom on this game and predict an Arizona State victory.

CalPoly's prediction: UCLA defeat. Record: 8-2 (5-2).