Returning starters, returning stars

Pac-10 Blog

July, 17, 2008

Jul 17

7:11

PM ET

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By Ted Miller

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Got a couple of emails and mailbag questions about returning starters. This is straight from our friends in the Pac-10 office.

Return. Starters	Off.	Def.	PK/P	Total
Arizona State	7	7	2	16
Stanford	7	9	0	16
Arizona	10	3	2	15
Oregon	6	7	2	15
Washington	7	6	2	15
Washington State	6	8	1	15
California	5	7	1	13
USC	4	7	2	13
UCLA	5	5	2	12
Oregon State	7	3	0	10
Average	6.5	6	1.5	14

Why are most pundits expecting the Pac-10 to slip this season? Well, one reason is the conference welcomes back 140 starters, eight fewer than the average over the past 10 years. Last year -- mostly an up season for the conference -- the average returning starters per team was a stout 16.5.

Returning starters don't mean everything. But they mean a lot, and it's the best measure we have during the preseason.

Four of the conference's top 10 rushers are back (Jake Locker, Nic Grigsby, Keegan Herring and Stafon Johnson) but none of the top four; six of the top 10 QBs in terms of pass efficiency are back (Rudy Carpenter, Willie Tuitama, Nate Longshore, Sean Canfield, Jake Locker and Tavita Pritchard) but three of the top four are gone; and five of the top 10 receivers are back (Brandon Gibson, Mike Thomas, Jaison Williams, Chris McGaha and Richard Sherman).

Among those 140 returnees are 10 first-team and eight second-team All-Pac-10 performers.

That group includes:

Offense (first team): WR Mike Thomas, Sr., Arizona; WR Brandon Gibson, Sr., Washington State; C Alex Mack, Sr., California; C Max Unger, Sr., Oregon; K Thomas Weber, So., Arizona State.

Offense (second team): OT Andy Levitre, Sr., Oregon State; OT Eben Britton, Jr., Arizona; OG Alex Fletcher, Sr., Stanford; OT Fenuki Tupou, Sr, Oregon.

Defense (first team): DE Nick Reed, Sr., Oregon; LB Rey Maualuga, Sr., USC; SS Patrick Chung, Sr., Oregon; SS Kevin Ellison, Sr., USC; P Keenyn Crier, So., Arizona.

Defense (second team): DE Dexter Davis, Jr., Arizona State; LB Zach Follett, Sr., California; CB Brandon Hughes, Sr., Oregon State; SS Troy Nolan, Sr., Arizona State.

Tags:

Pac-10 general, USC Trojans, Washington State Cougars, Oregon State Beavers, Washington Huskies, UCLA Bruins, Arizona State Sun Devils, California Bears, Stanford Cardinal, Pac-10 general, Arizona Wildcats, Oregon Ducks

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