ESPN College Football

When the Oregon Ducks trudged off the Cowboys Stadium field after a 40-27 loss to LSU on Sept. 3, just about everyone counted them out. That was made real when they were poleaxed by pollsters, dropping from No. 3 to No. 13 and No. 14 in the AP and coaches' polls, respectively.

That will teach Oregon -- and anyone else -- to agree to a marquee nonconference matchup against an elite team that everyone wants to see!

Most turned away from the team with loud uniforms. Andrew Luck and Stanford were now the interesting team in the Pac-12, and Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Boise State, Florida State, Texas A&M and those LSU Tigers were the real contenders.

But teams, as they are wont to do in college football, started falling by the wayside, and the Ducks kept coming. It was quiet at first. Nevada bludgeoned a week after LSU; a pounding of Arizona on the road; California and Arizona State dispatched with prejudice.

And when Oregon gamboled off the field after a 53-30 victory over Stanford, just about everyone started counting them back in.

It made me recall that cool sequence at the beginning of Rocky III when Clubber Lang is, one by one, clubbering a string of foes on a bigger and bigger stage, and his dominance is attracting the worried attention of Rocky's manager Mickey.

And just as Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" ends, Clubber barks at Mickey, "I want Balboa! I want Balboa! You hear that, Old Man?"

Said Ducks running back De'Anthony Thomas after the game, "I feel like if we get another shot at [LSU] again, I feel like it will be a better game."

Not exactly the same sort of bravado, but LSU is more Ivan Drago than Rocky.

Oregon would like to play LSU again with an offensive line and defensive front seven that have jelled. It would like to play LSU again with a healthy LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner. It would like to play LSU without four turnovers, including two fumbles from Thomas.

It is a longshot to happen. And to be absolutely fair to how things went down in game one -- it sure as heck was as much about LSU's size and speed as turnovers -- and how good LSU has looked since then, my guess is few, including our friends who look at things without emotion in Las Vegas, would pick the Ducks to win a rematch.

It would, however, be interesting. Let's recall that the last offensive-minded evil genius to get a rematch in a national championship game against a defensive power -- Florida and Steve Spurrier in 1996 with Florida State -- won and won big.

If Oregon wins out impressively, and some dominoes fall here and there, maybe it will happen. It just won't happen today, this week or next. So let's bracket off the national title stuff.

And, as we look big picture, let's bracket off the potential endgame with L'Affair de Willie Lyles. I've talked to smart people who think Oregon may get hammered, and I've talked to smart people that think they won't. You never know with the NCAA, an institution where logic and fairness aren't always part of the process.

The big picture is this: Oregon is on the cusp of a third consecutive conference title. It's won 19 consecutive conference game, all but three by double-digits. If I were projecting coach Chip Kelly's record after his third season ends this January, I'd guess 34-5 (.875). Yes, I'm projecting a BCS bowl victory.

And Oregon will be a preseason top-five team in 2012 and will be the overwhelming favorites to win a fourth consecutive conference title, even if running back LaMichael James doesn't come back.

2013 looks like it will set up nicely, too.

Get the point? Oregon, barring a bomb from the NCAA, is set up for the long haul. It's on the cusp of becoming one of "those" programs. You know, where nine wins is viewed as a rebuilding year.

Of course, all the Ducks haters are barking about the lack of a Rose Bowl victory much less a national title. True. Snarky, but fair. That's why some of this hangs on the Ducks taking care of business in whatever January bowl they end up playing in.

Said Thomas, "I wouldn't want to play us."

Oh, there are lots of fans of lots of teams across the country that would have smart alec replies to that. That's the trash talking, message board, comments section face of college football.

But also know that plenty of measured, football-smart fans -- even LSU and Alabama fans -- watched the tour de force display against Stanford and thought to themselves, "I don't want to play them."

Happy Friday.

Lead me on Twitter!

To the notes!

John from Los Angeles writes: What, in your opinion, do you think, has made the SEC the preeminent conference in the country? I remember the good old days when Washington, Colorado, UCLA, and USC were in the top 5 and top 10, with some National Championships along the way (Personally, I thought it had a lot to do with recruiting the Los Angeles area). But with the rise of the SEC do you think it has more to do with the changing of the game? More specifically, the move to more spread offenses and the need for speedier athletes, which the SEC currently has? Or do you think it has a lot to do with the defensive lineman in the SEC, who seem to be so much better than West Coast d-lineman? A lot of people say conference strength is cyclical, but is the current change in the game really cyclical or has it just evolved? Maybe it is demographics, as more and more people move to the Sunbelt and the talent pool has gotten bigger? Sorry, a lot to digest here from a concerned West Coast football fan.

Ted Miller: This could be a 15,000-word essay. Or a 400-page book. But here's a CliffsNotes version.

• Money: The SEC's rise parallels the rise of the BCS and the game growing from a pretty big business to a multi-billion dollar business. The SEC always had huge stadiums packed to overflow, but over the past 15 or so years, the conference has been able to monetize its popularity. What does money do? It hires elite coaches like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier and it pays top assistant coaches what head coaches make in other conferences.
• Recruiting: Demographics have concentrated more talent in the Southeast than anywhere else. You've got big guys and fast guys and fast big guys. (I mean Anthony Johnson: Are you kidding me?). The population may be greater in California, which still produces the premium quarterbacks, but a walk across a football field on a Friday night in the Southeast will have you asking if these are truly high school teams.
• Culture: College football is king in the South (not the NFL, as it is everywhere else). Almost all the best athletes play football, and dream of playing in college, even though playing the most physically and mentally taxing sport in the Southeast humidity is worse than anywhere else. Want to know where all the West Coast linemen are? Playing basketball. Go to a big high school hoops tournament this winter. See all those 6-foot-5 guys? They will never sniff a Division I basketball court but they could have become NFL tight ends or offensive tackles. 100s of young men on the West Coast miss out every year on Pac-12 scholarships because they choose -- or are steered to -- basketball.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy: Those who have been reading the Pac-12 blog since 2008, know I've taken on the topic of the SEC's dominance multiple times. Three years ago, I was more resistant to it. Not because I was a "Pac-10 homer," but because I didn't completely buy the "SEC rules" argument. That was three SEC national titles ago, including one lost by a Pac-10 team -- Oregon -- that I thought was going to stomp the team it lost to (Auburn). My feeling is all that "SEC rules!" talk, which has been around since Bear Bryant was the toast to of Tuscaloosa, was repeated so often, it became a recognized truth before it actually was true. And that perception helped the conference grow stronger and stronger until it became true. How? It also became a potent recruiting selling point. Consider the words of former top-rated recruit Ronald Powell of Moreno Valley, Calif. Yeah, not easy to hear for Pac-12 defensive coaches.

By the way, I know some of you might be tired of this topic. It seems like we take it on a few times a year. The reason I do that, though, is because it appears in the mailbag at least a handful of times every week. It seems like a topic that continues to be of genuine interest.

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Brian from Beaverton, Ore., writes: While you can't argue with the overall effectiveness of James at running back this year, have you noticed that even though they are running the spread offense, the majority of these running plays do not appear to be as read heavy between [QB Darron] Thomas and [RB LaMichael] James as they were last year? With Thomas being such an effective duel threat quarterback they are effectively removing an offensive weapon when he isn't taking the read option as much. This is allowing the defense to load up the tackle box and focus on the running back. Last year the defense had to be more honest because Thomas was more effective at holding onto the option and rushing himself. Do you see this as a fundamental change within the system or am I reading too much into it?

Ted Miller: Chip Kelly has said repeatedly that Thomas is just doing his proper reads and has not been steered away from running the ball.

Of course, sometimes Chip just says "high" because a reporter said "low." I know that an opposing coach who was talking to me about the 3-4 looks Oregon sometimes uses on defense laughed in my face when I told him that Kelly said they didn't use a 3-4 defense. His response, which employed several colorful terms, was Kelly is full of malarkey and that reporters are stupid.

Thomas rushed for 486 yards in 13 games last year. He's rushed for 100 yards through five games. That does seem like a statistical trend suggesting he's running less. Is that just him reading what the defense gives him? I doubt it.

That said, Thomas rushed 10 times for 52 yards and scored both his rushing TDs against Arizona. So the threat is still there.

And, if I were going to crawl inside Chip Kelly's head and look around, I'd say that's exactly what he wants.

Because the Ducks run a spread-option, an opposing defense has to spend time accounting for the QB run. That takes up precious time. And if a defense coordinator takes note that Thomas rushed only five times in the first three games and decides to de-emphasize that possibility, he could get burned -- see Arizona.

Coaches spend a lot of time thinking about tendencies and what their opposition might be thinking. I think Kelly -- quite reasonably -- likes the idea of Thomas running less because it puts him at less risk for injury. But he also likes burning your butt when you start to think Thomas won't run.

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Mark from La Quinta, Calif., writes: Do you agree with your colleague Jesse Palmer when he stated that Cal had the two best wide outs in the conference? Or was he hyping the game as a lot of announcers tend to do on games they are broadcasting?

Ted Miller: There are so many good receiver combos in the Pac-12 it's hard to choose, but Palmer's position is defensible: Entering the weekend, Keenan Allen ranked third and Marvin Jones sixth in the Pac-12 in receiving yards per game. No other tandem matched that. And that's notable because QB Zach Maynard only ranked fifth in passing yards per game (268.2).

Allen will be in the mix with USC's Robert Woods, Washington State's Marquess Wilson and Arizona's Juron Criner for first-team All-Pac-10. He's a big-time player. I suspect Jones will get drafted this spring.

So these guys are both good, experienced, A-list players.

So do I share Palmer's take? I might not have in the preseason, and I might not at season's end, but at this point, yes, they are the best 1-2 punch in the conference.

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Jacob from Fort Hood, Texas, writes: I feel as though Foles is getting the shaft because he is on a losing record team, but can you tell me why he isn't even being considered for the Heisman award even though he has more passing yardage than nearly every qb in the country? It doesn't make sense to me. Maybe you can shed some light on how the voting works and who is deserving in reality of the Heisman trophy. Is it more of a beauty pageant than an award for shear talent? Also, if Foles continues down the path that he is heading what round of the draft do you think that he will be picked up in?

Ted Miller: The Heisman Trophy goes to a player for one of two reasons (and sometimes both). 1. Outrageous numbers; 2. Best player on best team. Often, those two are blended.

To start, Foles wasn't billed as a top candidate entering the season. Further, he is hurt because his team is 1-4.

To overcome those two issues, Foles would have to have outrageous numbers. He's got very good numbers, but not outrageous ones. He presently ranks 22nd in the nation in passing efficiency. And though he's piled up a lot of yards, 10 other QBs match or beat Foles' 14 TD passes.

As for the NFL draft, it's hard to say. I would be more surprised if he lasted past the third round than if he was selected in the first round. If you've ever chatted with him, he's a lot like Andrew Luck in terms of makeup. Smart, humble, eager to give credit to his teammates. And clearly very competitive.

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Evan from Charlottesville, Va., writes: You've written a couple times on the puzzling exclusion of LaMichael James from the current Heisman discussion. What is particularly confusing to me, however, is the fact that you yourself left him off of your ESPN Heisman Watch ballot this week. Assuming you vote Andrew Luck at number one, who filled out the rest of your ballot in spots two through five? And if you rated any other running backs ahead of James, what was your reasoning?

Ted Miller: We do a top-five for ESPN.com each week. Here's mine from last week.

1. Andrew Luck. 2. Kellen Moore; 3. Trent Richardson; 4. Robert Griffin; 5. Marcus Lattimore

(In retrospect, I should have dropped Lattimore after two straight underwhelming games).

My reasoning for leaving James off the ballot was twofold: 1. He didn't play well on a big stage against LSU (which he admitted); 2. His competition since then has been weak. His performance this week against a solid Cal defense will likely push him into my top five. Of course, now he's hurt and likely to miss at least a couple of weeks.

And if he doesn't, that would certainly add to his aura of being Heisman-worthy.

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Spencer from Baton Rouge, La., writes: Because I live a couple thousand miles away from the West Coast, Thursday's game against Oregon was the first time I have watched Cal play this season. Having listened to the other games via online radio streams, I knew Maynard struggled with accuracy. But I was shocked to see how poor his throwing mechanics are. How does a QB guru such as Jeff Tedford let such play fly? Granted, Maynard has not yet thrown the interceptions that Riley and Mansion did (which I attribute to poor decision making), but it is extremely surprising that Tedford would feel comfortable with the way Maynard throws the ball.

Ted Miller: Without asking Tedford, my guess is that he chose not to mess with Maynard's natural throwing motion too much. Maynard is 22-years-old. Making drastic changes wouldn't be easy, especially with Maynard arriving at Cal as a junior, not a true freshman.

Sure, Maynard did have to sit out last year after transferring from Buffalo, meaning he could have refined his technique to a degree. I suspect Tedford has worked with him on his technique. But it might have been pretty late in the game for wholesale changes.

And I'm guessing that Maynard will get lots of work with Tedford based on how he threw at Oregon.

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Rotfogel from Oakland writes: You have Cal only scoring 17? Oregon's porous defense is going to hold the Pac 12's best WR tandem and offensive to 17? Maybe, highly unlikely but as you've said, Oregon is a tough place to play. I'm kinda happy you made that the score though, Cal's defense is far and away the Pac 12s best, hopefully they show it tonight.

Ted Miller: I predicted 44-17. Oregon won 43-15.

I know: Gloating is unseemly. So sorry about that.

And is it just me or does it seem like the mailbag fills up more when I'm wrong than when I'm right?

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Pete from Los Angeles writes: Not sure if you saw this, but the Times of London's prestigious international rankings of the top 400 universities was released this week, and the Pac 12 has 4 schools in the top 25...in the world! No other AQ conference comes close. Once again shows that the Pac 12 is dominant in at least one category!

Ted Miller: We are so smart.

Will I pick up any second-hand smart from hanging around with you guys?

With seven selections -- four on offense -- the Pac-12 is well-represented on the 2011 Playboy All-American team.

The conference players on the team:

Offense
QB Andrew Luck, Stanford
RB LaMichael James, Oregon
OT Matt Kalil, USC
OT Jonathan Martin, Stanford

Defense
LB Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State

Specialists
KR James Rodgers, Oregon State
All-purpose, Cliff Harris, Oregon

Here's the entire team:

(Read full post)

What did we learn this week?

1. Oregon is this close to looking like a national title contender: Steve Spurrier relished pounding Tennessee in the 1990s, but he never scored 48 points in Neyland Stadium like Oregon did on Saturday. In fact, the Ducks 48 points -- 45 of which went unanswered -- is the most allowed in Neyland since Washington State scored 52 in 1988 (Notice a common theme there?). But forget all the fancypants offense. While the final stats say Tennessee gained 333 yards, only 89 of that came in the second half. That's a great number against any team in any venue, but against an SEC team in its own house, well, that demands respect. And expect the Ducks to get even more respect in the national polls.

2. Stanford is more than the Andrew Luck show: Stanford dominated UCLA 35-0 with Andrew Luck making more plays with his feet than with his golden arm. That bodes well for the Cardinal. There were times in 2009 that it seemed folks saw the Cardinal as the Stanford Toby Gerharts. The big question heading into the season was defense, and Stanford just pitched a shutout on the road without two of its best players (LB Shayne Skov and WR Chris Owusu). Stanford has made an early stake as the top potential foil for Oregon in the conference race.

3. Rumors of California's irrelevancy may have been exaggerated: Colorado may not be very good, but watching California dismantle the Buffaloes 52-7 suggests that the Bears might be. The Bears dominated on both sides of the ball in the blowout. The new attacking defense dominated the line of scrimmage and was all over QB Tyler Hansen. The offense was balanced and efficient.

4. The jury remains out on USC, Arizona State and Washington, but probably not on Washington State and UCLA: USC nipped Virginia 17-14 and coach Lane Kiffin was unhappy. Arizona State allowed Northern Arizona, its second consecutive FCS opponent, to hang around. Washington looked bad at BYU but came home and outclassed Syracuse. It doesn't seem like we have a good measure of any of these three. As for Washington State, which needed a big comeback to nip Montana State, and UCLA, which got bricked at home vs. Stanford, it seems like we know where things stand: Both are going to finish in the bottom third of the conference.

5. There's momentum heading into Measuring Stick Saturday: The Pac-10 went undefeated Saturday (other than UCLA vs. Stanford), including a 4-0 mark vs. four different BCS conferences. That's good after a relatively bad opening week. But Saturday is big for the conference. Consider this list: Iowa at Arizona, Arizona State at Wisconsin, Nebraska at Washington, Cal at Nevada, Wake Forest at Stanford, Houston at UCLA, USC at Minnesota, Washington State at SMU and Louisville at Oregon State. Winning six or so next weekend would do wonders for the Pac-10's national image.

Boy, who have thought hiring a football coach could inspire such... feeling?

USC fans mourn Pete Carroll's departure with a candlelight vigil. Tennessee fans mourn the loss of Lane Kiffin with a, er, near-riot.

It makes sense that Tennessee fans feel jilted. But the reaction most everywhere else, including LA, also is mostly negative.

The pessimists think all those people who are saying bad things about Kiffin are way too generous.

The optimists can't understand this. They think Kiffin is a great hire.

In the interest of making everyone happy -- or, in the case of the pessimists, justified -- the Pac-10 blog will present talking points for each position.

The Kiffin Pessimist

• Kiffin is bailing on Tennessee after only one season. He showed zero loyalty to the school that entrusted him, at just 33, with its cherished football program.
• Kiffin was fired from his previous head coaching job, the Oakland Raiders, before the end of his second season. His record? 5-15. Said owner Al Davis, "I think he conned me like he conned all you people."
• USC is entrusting its tradition-rich program to a coach whose career record is 12-21.
• He's an immature, attention-seeking loudmouth. He popped off at Urban Meyer, Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier. His mouth earned a reprimand from the SEC.
• In just one season, he committed at least six secondary NCAA violations.
• Tennessee faces at least two more violations as the NCAA continues an ongoing inquiry into other infractions, including the possible misuse of recruiting hostesses and impermissible visits.
• That's the NCAA baggage he brings to USC, a school facing its own NCAA inquiry. That hammering you hear outside? That's the NCAA building a gallows.
• Three Vols freshmen were involved in a robbery on November 12. Two were later kicked off the team.
• That's the sort of discipline he inspires.
• Kiffin is trying to hire Norm Chow as his offensive coordinator. Recall that Kiffin was part of the palace coup that convinced a suddenly marginalized Chow to bolt USC for the Tennessee Titans. Sure they'll be swell together.
• With Chow gone, Kiffin was USC's offensive coordinator when UCLA beat the Trojans 13-9 in 2006, costing them a berth in the BCS national title game.
• Kiffin lost 19-15 at home this season to UCLA, which went 3-6 in Pac-10 play.

The Kiffin Optimist

• One word: Recruiting.
• Make that two words and a sentence: Recruiting, recruiting. Kiffin and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron will be the nation's best recruiting tandem, and nothing in college football is more important than great recruiting.
• Xs and Os? The defense goes to Monte Kiffin, one of the great coaching legends on that side of the ball. The offense -- hopefully! -- goes to Norm Chow, one of the great coaching legends on that side of the ball.
• So, great recruiting plus great schemes: We could stop there.
• Lack of loyalty? Wait, phone's ringing. Hello. You want to offer Mr. Pessimist his dream job? Sorry. He's not going to take it. He's loyal.
• Maybe the reason Kiffin has been hired for his third head coaching job in 17 months -- before he turned 35 -- is because everybody knows he's got loads of talent? It's not like the Raiders, Volunteers and Trojans hired him because they felt sorry for him.
• The loudmouth stuff? Overblown. But he's been told to tone it down. He will.
• The secondary NCAA violations? Randomly audit 10 other elite BCS programs. How do they compare to Kiffin? No, we don't know why those other schools didn't get as much publicity for their peccadillos.
• Look, fans and media who don't understand the nature of NCAA violations and sanctions can prattle on about how horribly the Trojans will get hammered, but, please, just make sure they're around when the actual penalties are handed out. We want photos of the chagrined expressions.
• When you oversee 85 young men, ages 18 to 23, the odds of going a year without any of them getting into trouble aren't great. That's just the way things go.
• Chow's a pro. He and Kiffin, if reunited, will work fine together.
• Kiffin took over a Vols team that went 5-7 in 2008 and lost to Florida by 24, Georgia by 12 and Alabama by 20. He went 7-6, beat Georgia 45-19 and lost to Florida and Alabama by a combined 12 points. Where did the Gators and Tide finish in the final polls?
• Anyone recall the uproar when USC hired Carroll? Who thought that was an inspired decision in 2000?
• When the pessimists unanimously back a position, always bet against them (Carroll taught us that).

A Stoops has done well in Florida in the past.

Bob Stoops paired with Steve Spurrier to win a 1996 national title. Then he got the head job at Oklahoma and won one for himself.

Mark Stoops was hired Friday to be Florida State's defensive coordinator under transitioning head coach Jimbo Fisher, thereby ending the successful tandem he had with head coach -- and brother -- Mike at Arizona.

Stoops was a top candidate for the head-coaching job at Youngstown State, but he likely sees this as the best step for him toward one day getting a chance to lead his own BCS conference program. This allows him to step out of his brother's shadow and to move into a football hotbed where there are more future job opportunities.

Mark Stoops will remain with Arizona until after the Wildcats play Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30.

It will be interesting to see what Mike Stoops does next. With his brother, the Wildcats' defense was "in the family." The issue with the next coordinator will be whether he's asked to retain the Stoops system, which has been very effective through the years, or will he have the autonomy to bring in his own system. Keep in mind Mike Stoops is an old defensive coordinator himself, so it could be a challenge for him to keep his fingers out of the batter.

Not to mention it's his program.

Another element to consider is the Wildcats will be rebuilding on defense. They lose seven starters, including all three linebackers. Ends Ricky Elmore and Brooks Reed -- probably the best tandem in the conference in 2010 -- will be a good starting foundation, and Stoops has recruited well, but there will be unformed clay for a new guy to work with.

In other words, it won't be a bad year to tweak the system because a lot of guys won't have much experience in the old system.

Stoops may promote from within -- linebackers coach and assistant head coach Tim Kish might be a possibility.

Other names to think about include Boise State's Justin Wilcox, Utah's Kalani Sitake, Air Force's Tim DeRuyter, Texas Tech's Ruffin McNeill or perhaps former Arizona linebacker Ricky Hunley.

The guess here is that Stoops, considering his family connections, has plenty of names in his rolodex.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Arizona, the Pac-10's only program that hasn't played in a Rose Bowl, averaged three wins per season from 2002-2005. At the beginning of the 2008 season, the pundit consensus was coach Mike Stoops sat upon a decidedly hot seat.

	Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE
	Arizona coach Mike Stoops' Wildcats are four wins away from the Rose Bowl.

And then there is the right now: If the 17th-ranked Wildcats (6-2, 4-1) win their final four games, starting with a visit to California on Saturday, they will go to the Rose Bowl. They might even go if they win just three of four.

Even if such lofty goals aren't reached, there's a sense -- hinted at during the preseason -- that Stoops' program has turned the proverbial corner.

Coaches for Pac-10 powers sense it. Coaches for Pac-10 teams that are trying to transform in the same way see it, too.

"They are solid in all three phases of their team -- defensively, offensively and special teams," Washington State coach Paul Wulff said. "They've got good team speed. They've got good size. They've got maturity. They've got players who have been in the system. They have a tremendous amount of confidence."

In a 48-7 win over Wulff's Cougars last weekend, Arizona scored touchdowns on a kickoff return and a punt return. It outgained the Cougars 471-185. That's all three phases.

Arizona ranks among the nation's top-25 in rushing offense, total offense, scoring offense, rushing defense, total defense, punt returns and kickoff returns. Sophomore quarterback Nick Foles ranks 20th in the nation in passing efficiency. The line has surrendered four sacks, tied for fewest in the nation.

Conference coaches talking about Arizona's gradual transformation -- the deliberate pace nearly cost Stoops his job -- most often site two elements: 1. speed; 2. coaching.

"I think they have as good of team speed as anybody around," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "Oregon and they, in my mind, are the fastest teams that we've seen all year, and that includes Tennessee."

Coaching defense runs in the Stoops family's blood. Older brother Bob rose to prominence as Steve Spurrier's defensive coordinator at Florida. Mike was Bob's defensive coordinator at Oklahoma, and now Mark does the same for Mike with Arizona.

"They are very sound," Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said of the Wildcats defense. "They are well-coached. They know what they are doing. They are assignment sound. And they know their jobs and their roles and they execute it really well... Something they do well in comparison to other teams in the country is their DBs have excellent ball skills and they've been that way for years."

But Arizona didn't make its real move until it found some offense, which arrived when Stoops hired coordinator Sonny Dykes away from Texas Tech before the 2007 season.

The year before Dykes arrived, Arizona ranked 115th in the nation in total offense, gaining just 253 yards per game. In 2007, that number bounced to 385 yards per game. Last year, it was 402 yards. This year, it's 449.

"The biggest difference in Arizona is offensive efficiency," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "That had been the missing ingredient for them."

Did we mention that Dykes has a sophomore quarterback and three of his top-four receivers are underclassmen, and that doesn't include the potential return of tight end Rob Gronkowski, who's redshirting this season because of a back injury? Or that all three tailbacks are expected back next fall?

In other words, despite the early struggles and early heat from impatient fans, Stoops appears to have built a solid foundation for the future of the program.

Of course, the present is rife with potential, too, not that Stoops is mentioning to his players the program's first Rose Bowl as motivation.

"I don't have to do that," he said. "Our kids certainly understand what's at stake every time we step on the field."

Stoops admits that last year the program was satisfied with playing in a bowl game -- any bowl game -- for the first time since 1998. That isn't the case this year and won't be going forward.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

The Sporting News asked 43 NFL players which college coach they’d most like to play for -- other than the one they did.

USC's Pete Carroll was No. 1 with 12 votes. Three other Pac-10 coaches got one vote.

Here are the results, provided by the magazine.

• ­ 12 votes: Pete Carroll (USC)
• ­ 8 votes: Urban Meyer (Florida)
• ­3 votes: Mike Leach (Texas Tech), Randy Shannon (Miami)
• ­ 2 votes: Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech), Lane Kiffin (Tennessee), Joe Paterno (Penn State), Nick Saban (Alabama), Steve Spurrier (South Carolina)
• ­ 1 vote: Bobby Bowden (Florida State), Dennis Erickson (Arizona State), Chip Kelly (Oregon), Ken Niumatalolo (Navy), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Jeff Tedford (California), Ron Zook (Illinois)

Here's what the players said about Carroll, according to the magazine:

Broncos CB Champ Bailey: “I don’t like coaches that are uptight all the time.”

Vikings DE Jared Allen: “I keep it on the West Coast because I’m a West Coast-type of guy. That’d be pretty cool. He seems like he has fun. It seems like he really enjoys coaching, and his players enjoy playing for him, with practical jokes and stuff like that. It seems like our personalities would mesh well together.”

Bills FS Donte Whitner: “It seems like the guys that come under him are ready to play in the National Football League. He runs everything. He gives his guys a lot of freedom, just as pro coaches do, so when you make that transition to the next level you are prepared and you know what to do with the free time that you have. [Ohio State’s Jim] Tressel is the same way.”