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Football: Pac-10 ballot — No. 5
By Jonathan Okanes
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm in off-season stuff.
No. 5: Stanford. Jim Harbaugh has brought the Cardinal back to respectability much faster than most expected, and with a good nucleus of returners, Stanford appears poised to crack the upper half of the conference. The Cardinal went 5-7 last season, notching good wins over Oregon State and Arizona and suffering narrow road losses to Notre Dame, UCLA and Oregon. Toby Gerhart was a revelation at running back and the Cardinal hopes the passing game improves with the introduction of redshirt freshman Andrew Luck at quarterback. Granted, Luck has no college experience, but it is believed he has all the physical tools to excel. Stanford, much like Cal, still needs to find some playmaking receivers. The defense should once again be solid, with Clinton Snyder anchoring the linebacking corps and defensive ends Tom Keiser and Erik Lorig providing a pretty good pass rush tandem. Safety Bo McNally is underrated. The Cardinal also brought in a nationally acclaimed recruiting class, and a few true freshmen could make an impact immediately.
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July 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Erik Lorig? – I thought he was stil making up his mind where to play.
This seems about right but I hope we crush them in Palo Alto.
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I also see Stanfurd at the 5th spot with a 5-4 Pac-10 record.
They play Cal, Oregon, UCLA, ASU, and Wash at home. They should win 3 of those games.
They play USC, Oregon St., Az, and Wash St. on the road. They should win 2 of those games.
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Let’s start the debate now. Will J.O. go with the conventional wisdom (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-10-69/Sorting-out-the-Pac-10-middle.html) and pick SC or will he go out on a limb, at the risk of being called a homer, and pick Cal to win the PAC-10?
JO has only been the Cal beat writer for a bit over a year so he doesn’t have a history of picking against Cal like that guy at the SJ Merc. J.O. correctly and appropriately picked SC last year. He’s always taken a conservative stance with his predictions. But I, Pete Carroll, believe that J.O. will be a visionary this year and will pick the California Golden Bears to win the PAC-10 this year and might I add, aligning himself with me – Pete Carroll.
What say you BearTalk fans and even you the multi-persona Patty Cakes, who will J.O. pick to win the PAC-10?
PC
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Why doesn’t JO post the news that Scroggins just committed to USC? Coward! Once again we got the best.
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:55 pm
The Furd does look good with all of their TEs. But, I doubt Hairball will make the birds bowl eligible with them and the way he made +500 offers for this year. I see a sinking ship very soon, as do Furd fans who show a complete lack of interest. Too bad, I’d enjoy competitive big games year after year.
Go BEARS!
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Were you saying the same thing when they swept 7 straight from you in the Dennis Green/Ty W era? Even with one of your best teams in ’91 you couldn’t beat them and your QB made a complete fool of himself that day.
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
You think Cal doesnt remember the humiliating loss 2 years ago at the The Farm (it was awful, I was there)? Jahvid & Co. will be out to prove that was a fluke. And our secondary will have it easy against a RS Frosh QB. Stanford will most likely be better this year, but not good enough to take back the Axe.
Go Bears!
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I think in ’91 the team was still thinking about the victory over USC, well it was more than a victory. The Bears came back in their bowl game and beat Clemson pretty handily and the QB redeemed himself as I recall.
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
LOL. That 91 team was our wrost in recent memory. I bet you can’t even name 5 players off of that team.
July 24th, 2009 at 8:20 am
JO, the top 5 teams look right, I think it should be in the following order
Oregon
U$C
BURQAlee
Little OSU
Stanford
First 2 interchangable.
But you really dropped the ball with UW, U of Eh and pucla.
July 24th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I could post something pointing out the absurdity of trying to tie the 2009 team team to the 1991 season and roster, but it would probably be deleted by the CCTimes. Why is it that moron the troll posts endlessly about JO being clueless and a coward, but anyone who posts something taking exception gets their post deleted?
July 24th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Maybe J.O. IS the Troll? Just Kidding.
I predict Stanfurd going 6-6 at (J.)Best this year. However, with a Freshman QB, probably 4-8. 6-6 if the defense is better than average. 4-8 if not.
July 24th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Name five players from the ’91 team? I can’t name five SC players between ’91-2009! Why would I care? I do remember some guy named OJ however, but that’s more for what he has done off the field than on!
July 24th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Rocko – No surprise at all you don’t know anything about the greatest college football program in the past 7 years. Thanks for confirming my assumptions.
July 25th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Why should Rocko care about the U. of Sports Corruption football program, which, by the way, is far from the greatest program in the country over the last 7 years, if at all. In case you have not figured it out, this is a Cal sports blog and almost all people are here to post about Cal sports, not some corrupt team from SoCal. If you want to talk about your team, go away and post on another blog. It is way past time for you to leave.
July 25th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
MoreNCsarecoming Says:
July 24th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Rocko – No surprise at all you don’t know anything about the greatest college football program in the past 7 years. Thanks for confirming my assumptions.
Your contribution to that so called greatness is your postings on this web site?
July 26th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Stanford at #5 is too high. Harbaugh has not yet proven he can win half his games, and trying to do so now with a freshman qb is nearly impossible. This isn’t high school. The Pac-10′s best have struggled as freshmen. Sorry Jethro but of the home conference games you listed, Stanford may only beat UW. And the only conference road game the frosh signal caller may win is vs WSU. Stanford may make progress this year, while not posting a record as good as last year’s 5-7 mark.