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 Friday, December 13, 2002
Pac-10 title goes through Oregon
By Terry Bowden
Special to BCSfootball.com
Bowden's Weekly Chat Show
Who would have thought that the road to the Pac-10 championship would go through Oregon this year?
|  | | Oregon State's Ken Simonton can become the first Pac-10 player to rush for 1,000 yards in four seasons. |
When ABC talked Oregon and Oregon State into moving their season ending showdown to Championship Saturday on Dec. 1, it wasn't by coincidence. This game should end up being for all the Pac-10 marbles.
How did it all come to this on the West Coast? When did the balance of power begin to shift?
It starts with two outstanding coaches -- Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti and Oregon State's Dennis Erickson. They are proven winners.
The Ducks are the Pac-10's winningest team during Bellotti's six years in Eugene. They are also 3-1 in postseason play. Erickson, who already has a couple of national championships under his belt, has gone bowling in his first two years at Oregon State following 28 straight losing seasons.
Outstanding coaches have come and gone at these two schools, but the emphasis has always been on gone. However, after putting these programs into the top 10 last season, both coaches turned down lucrative offers to go elsewhere, suggesting that this northward power shift may be a long-term deal.
The Pac-10 has always been about great quarterbacks. When the league was down two years ago, it seemed like every team was breaking in a new signal caller. Last year, the conference was again loaded with top-notch QBs and the nation took notice. Marques Tuiasosopo was the cream of that crop and Washington rode him to the Rose Bowl championship.
Oregon and Oregon State have two of the better ones returning this season, which is another reason for their status as preseason favorites.
Joey Harrington is 16-2 at Oregon and he is expected to be the first quarterback taken in next year's NFL Draft. At 5-10, Oregon State's Jonathan Smith isn't expected to have the same marketability as a pro, but when it comes to playmaking ability, there won't be a better quarterback in all of college football.
There are two other quarterbacks in the league that have a chance to make this conference race even more interesting. They are UCLA's Cory Paus, and USC's Carson Palmer.
Paus is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the conference. The Bruins might have the most talented team in the league, making them the dark horse candidate to win the title.
When Carson Palmer got to USC he was immediately given the nickname "The Man." Unfortunately, during the past two seasons he often played more like a little boy. When new head coach Pete Carroll got the job, the first thing he did was hire offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Norm Chow.
If Chow, who did such an incredible job for all those years at BYU, can have the same effect on Palmer as he did on freshman QB Philip Rivers at North Carolina State last year, then Palmer is going to grow up real quick. Because of that, the Trojans should have the biggest turnaround in the conference.
Oregon and Oregon State both play UCLA and USC this year, so neither team will be able to sneak past these potential spoilers. However, Oregon at UCLA will be the biggest game to keep your eye on.
You're probably wondering why I haven't mentioned defending champion Washington in my discussions of the conference. It's very simple. The Huskies are not going to win the conference next year. They're ranked third on my preseason list ahead of UCLA and USC, but when you're breaking in a new quarterback and a new offensive line you're not going to win the conference championship.
The biggest factor Washington plays in the Pac-10 championship equation this year is that they play Oregon State but not Oregon. Just because I said they would not win the championship doesn't mean they won't be good enough to beat anybody in the league --including Oregon State.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the quality of tailbacks in the Pac-10 this year as well. There is not a team with a chance to win the league that doesn't have a stud in the backfield. Maurice Morris (UO), Ken Simonton (OSU), Rich Alexis (UW), DeShaun Foster (UCLA), and Sultan McCullough (USC) are all big-time running backs.
But let's get back to that final game between Oregon and Oregon State. If there is a tie-breaker in this toss-up of teaching and talent, it is in the location of that game. It is being played at Autzen Field in Eugene, Ore., and the Ducks have a 20-game winning streak at home.
Advantage: Oregon
Terry Bowden was the head coach at Salem College, Samford University and Auburn University. He is ABC's college football studio analyst and contributes regularly during the offseason for BCSfootball.com.
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