2015 Pac-12 Football Projections

North

Stanford Cardinal 11-2 (8-2)

There wasn’t that much fan fare when David Shaw was named as the head football coach of the Stanford Cardinal in 2011, but he is very quickly moving up the ranks of all-time victories for the program. In four seasons at Stanford, Shaw is 42-12 with a pair of Rose Bowl appearances. And only Pop Warner, John Ralston, and Tyrone Willingham have won more games at Stanford than Shaw. After a five loss season in 2014, Shaw’s Cardinal could be ready to once again become one of the top teams in the Pac-12 Conference.

Stanford could have a big year in 2015, if senior quarterback Kevin Hogan can have a strong campaign. By some people, Hogan has been labeled as a “game manager”, but he has all of the talent to be in the running to be named as the Pac-12’s Player of the Year. Led by senior offensive tackle Kyle Murphy, Hogan will be protected by a massive offensive line that has been recently sending its fair share of players to the National Football League.

The Cardinal only return four starters from a defense that was ranked third nationally, but under defensive coordinator Lance Anderson you can expect them to once again be stingy.

The schedule for the Cardinal won’t be an easy one, but outside of traveling to meet the USC Trojans in Los Angeles, Stanford will have all of their tough Pac-12 foes coming to Palo Alto this year as they look to win the conference crown.

Oregon Ducks 8-4 (6-3)

The past few seasons have seen the Oregon Ducks become the class of the Pac-12 Conference as they’ve won the conference in four out of the last five years. But will 2015 be the year where the Ducks take a step backwards?

The Ducks must find a way to replace quarterback Marcus Mariota who was under center for them the past three years and in the process, he re-wrote the school’s record book for passing. Now junior quarterback Jeff Lockie will have his chance to run the spread offense in Eugene for Oregon head football coach Mark Helfrich. And led by sophomore running back Royce Freeman and senior wide receiver Byron Marshall, the Ducks return a ton of speed offensively which is their bread and butter.

The Ducks do return six defensive starters in 2015. But defense has never been Oregon’s calling card as they were 89th in the nation last season in total defense and must find a way to step it up in a much improved Pac-12 Conference.

The Ducks will have a huge test in their second game of the season when they travel to East Lansing, Michigan to take on the Michigan State Spartans. But Oregon’s Pac-12 fate will be decided in a stretch that begins in mid-October when they’ll begin a four-game stretch that will see them on the road for three games against the Washington Huskies, Arizona State Sun Devils, and Stanford Cardinal.

Washington Huskies 7-5 (5-4)

2015 will be the second year for the Washington Huskies under head football coach Chris Peterson. Peterson had a respectable first year in Seattle as the Huskies went 8-6 and they finished in third place in the Pac-12 North. But now with all of the renovations that Husky Stadium has undergone, it will be interesting to see if Washington will have what it takes in 2015 to win the Pac-12 North.

Cyler Miles was the Huskies leading passer in 2014, but he has decided to leave the team for personal issues which leaves a huge void for Peterson on offense as Washington hopes to not get lost in the shuffle in the Pac-12 North.

The Huskies will begin the 2015 college football season against Peterson’s old team in the Boise State Broncos before they embark on a tough Pac-12 Conference schedule that includes games against the USC Trojans, Stanford Cardinal, and Arizona State Sun Devils along with home contests against the Oregon Ducks, Arizona Wildcats, and Utah Utes.

California Golden Bears 5-7 (3-6)

From 2012-2013, the California Golden Bears were a putrid 4-20. 2013 was also the first season for the Golden Bears with Sonny Dykes as their head football coach. In 2013 under Dykes, the Bears were just 1-11 while they improved last season, but their 5-7 mark wasn’t good enough to make them bowl eligible. Dykes possesses one of the brightest minds in college football as far as developing passing offenses which was evident being that Cal was sixth in the nation last season in passing. But will passing along be enough to propel the Golden Bears to their first winning season since 2011?

Junior quarterback Jared Goff is entering his third season as the Bears starting quarterback and in each year at Berkley he has thrown for at least 3,500 yards. Running back Daniel Lasco did gain 1,115 yards on the ground last season and now as a senior, he will look to get his numbers closer to the 1,500 mark.

But as good as California’s offense was in 2014, they were 124th in total defense and as Art Kaufman enters his second year as the Golden Bears defensive coordinator, those numbers must improve drastically if the Cal will be a player in the Pac-12 North.

With a home game against the San Diego State Aztecs and a road affair with the Texas Longhorns, the non-conference part of Cal’s schedule wont be easy which will get them prepared for a Pac-12 Conference schedule that includes road games against the Washington Huskies, Utah Utes, UCLA Bruins, Oregon Ducks, and Stanford Cardinal as it won’t be a walk in the park for the Bears to become bowl eligible in 2015.

Washington State Cougars 3-9 (1-8)

2014 marked the third season for the Washington State Cougars under head football Mike Leach. And where the Cougars were expected to take that next step in the Pac-12, they took a giant turn backwards. The Cougars went bowling in 2013, but they suffered through a 3-9 season in 2014.

Luke Falk saw significant time at quarterback as a freshman and with Connor Halliday having graduated, it should be Falk’s job to lose this season. Washington State also lost their top two wide receivers from last season, but Leach’s pass happy offense doesn’t concentrate solely on one wide receiver as everyone gets an opportunity to catch the football.

However,unless the Cougars find a way to run the football and improve defensively as they were ranked 99th in total defense in 2014, they will spend this fall being the whipping boys of the Pac-12 North.

Oregon State Beavers 2-10 (0-9)

In 14 seasons as the head football coach of the Oregon State Beavers, Mike Riley was 93-80 as he won at a school that wasn’t as easy to achieve it. Riley decided to leave Oregon State to become the head football coach at the University of Nebraska, but the Beavers were able to lure Gary Anderson away from the Wisconsin Badgers who is now at his third different head coaching position since 2012; however he appears to be ready to hang around Corvallis as he wants to build a contender in the Pac-12. Anderson has won at every step along his coaching journey which has included stops at Utah State and Wisconsin. Winning won’t come immediately for Anderson at Oregon State, but he’ll get them to respectability soon.

South

USC Trojans 10-3 (8-2)

The NCAA sanctions are behind the USC Trojans and thus a sleeping giant is ready to arise in the Pac-12 Conference. Since the Pac-12 expanded to 12 schools in 2011, the Trojans have taken a back seat in the Pac-12 South, but that could be ready to change in 2015.

Steve Sarkisian is in his second year as the head football coach of USC and he is ready to lead the Men of Troy back into the national spotlight. The Trojans went 9-4 last year with three of those losses coming by a combined 13 points.

Quarterback Cody Kessler is back for his senior season as he has become the big man on campus in Los Angeles. Kessler threw 39 touchdown passes last year to only 5 interceptions and when this season concludes, we could be talking about him as far as being the Pac-12 Conference’s Player of the Year along with winning the Heisman Trophy.

With wide receiver Nelson Agholor moving on to the National Football League, sophomore wide receiver JuJu Smith is ready to emerge as the next good wide receiver at Southern Cal. The Trojans get their entire starting offensive line from 2014 back which will look to protect Kessler while also opening holes for junior running back Justin Davis.

Defensively the Trojans were ranked 78th nationally last season, but there are nine starters returning as defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox will look to get the most of this unit in his second year in Los Angeles.

The Pac-12 South will be extremely tough this season, but Sarkisian has a team that is capable of winning it for the first time.

Arizona State Sun Devils 8-4 (6-3)

In three years under head football coach Todd Graham, the Arizona State Sun Devils have been one of the top teams in the Pac-12 South. And in a conference that has some of the best offenses in the nation, Arizona State is more than able to hold their own.

Last season an injury to quarterback Taylor Kelly allowed Mike Bercovici to gain some experience under center in Graham’s offense. Bercovici threw 12 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. Now as a senior, Bercovici will be running the show in Tempe and he won’t be looking over his shoulder. Senior running back D.J. Foster will be operating behind an offensive line that has three returning starters from last season as he hopes to have his second consecutive year in which he gains at least 1,000 yards on the ground.

In Arizona State’s three losses in 2014, the gave up a combined 139 points as they had the 83rd ranked defense in the nation. However the Sun Devils do return nine staters on the defensive side of the football as third-year defensive coordinator Chris Ball will look to improve his unit.

In consecutive weeks, Arizona State will find themselves clashing with the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins and those two contests will go a very long way in deciding the winner of the Pac-12 South in 2015.

Arizona Wildcats 8-4 (5-4)

There is excitement once again in the desert for Arizona Wildcats football. Under head football coach Rich Rodriguez, the Wildcats are coming off of their first 10-win season since 1998 and they are thinking about winning the Pac-12 Conference Title in Tuscon. Rodriguez has been at Arizona for three years and he is the first head football coach in school history to lead the Wildcats to a bowl game in his first three years there. The Wildcats are coming off of a tough loss in the Fiesta Bowl to the Boise State Broncos, but Rodriguez does have an offense in 2015 that is capable of helping Arizona contend for the Pac-12 Title.

Quarterback Anu Soloman established himself as a play maker in Rodriguez’s spread offense last season as a freshman. Solomon passed for 3,793 yards and it is scary that he can get better. Solomon wasn’t the only freshman that did big things for Arizona as running back Nick Wilson ran for 1,375 yards and 16 touchdowns in and he could be in the running to be a First-team All Pac-12 performer as a sophomore. Led by junior wide receiver Cayleb Jones, Arizona returns their top four wide receivers from last season and their familiarity with Solomon could allow them to do some big things this season.

Last year as a sophomore, linebacker Scooby Wright was all over the football field and he also wreaked terror on opposing quarterbacks as he amassed 14 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss. Wright will begin this season as the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and his presence should free up some of his defensive teammates.

Arizona’s final three games of the regular season will determine their fate as far as winning the Pac-12 South being that they have a home game against the Utah Utes that will be sandwiched between road affairs with the USC Trojans and their rivals from Tempe in the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Utah Utes 8-4 (5-4)

After two consecutive losing seasons the Utah Utes rebounded in 2014 to go 9-4 and finish ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press Poll for the first time since joining the Pac-12 Conference in 2011. Under head football coach Kyle Whittingham, Utah’s roster may not jump out at the average or novice college football fan being that the majority of their players were overlooked by bigger schools when they came out of high school, but each of their opponents knows that they will have to pack a lunch if they are going to emerge victorious.

Wittingham asks senior quarterback Travis Wilson to not be a hero and instead simply be a game manager for his offense. Senior running back Devontae Booker is a durable stud coming out of the backfield for Utah and if he once again flirts with 300 carries this season, it should symbolize another good year for the Utes. Led by senior offensive tackle Jeremiah Poutasi, Booker will be running behind an offensive line that returns four starters and they will be looking to impose their will on opponents in 2015.

The Utes return eight starters from a defense that was able to tally 55 sacks last season. And even without defensive end Nate Orchard who is now in the National Football League, Utah will still be able to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Utah will have their work cut out as far as winning the Pac-12 in 2015. The Utes have road games against the Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans, and Arizona Wildcats along with home affairs against the Arizona State Sun Devils and UCLA Bruins.

UCLA Bruins 8-4 (5-4)

It’s hard to believe that the UCLA Bruins have not won the Pac-10/12 Championship since 1998, but that is the case. Under head football coach Jim Mora, the Bruins have re-emerged as of the best teams in the Pac-12 and they feel that they are ready to win the conference title in 2015, but it won’t be easy as the Pac-12 South is as tough as it has ever been.

The Bruins will have to find a way to replace quarterback Brett Hundley who has meant so much to their offense over the past few seasons. Jerry Neuheisel is the son of former UCLA quarterback and head football coach Rick Neuheisel and he is the front runner to be the next signal caller for the Bruins.

The Bruins will have a ton of talent around Neuheisel which will be led by running back Paul Perkins who is the workhorse back that Mora covets. The Bruins could have some All-Pac-12 performers on their offensive line which is led by center Jake Brendel.

The Bruins have outside linebacker Myles Jack who is becoming a very special player on that side of the football and he will anchor the Bruins defensively in 2015.

UCLA’s 2015 schedule will be a tough one as it includes road games with the Arizona Wildcats, Stanford Cardinal, Utah Utes, and USC Trojans.

Colorado Buffaloes 4-9 (0-9)

It’s hard to believe, but at one point the Colorado Buffaloes were a dominant college football program; however that has not followed them to the Pac-12 Conference which they have called home since 2011. The Buffaloes have not had a winning season since 2005 and there doesn’t seem to be that much relief in sight for them.

Mike MacIntyre is set to embark on his third season as Colorado’s head football coach and he is just looking to get some breaks for his team. The Buffs do have junior quarterback Sefo Liufau who will look to hook up with his favorite target in senior wide receiver Nelson Spruce, but most of their stats came as Colorado had to pass as they were playing catch up due to the fact that lost six games in 2014 by 14 points or more.

The Buffaloes are still a ways away from competing in the Pac-12 South and this year’s schedule that features home games against the Oregon Ducks, Arizona Wildcats, and USC Trojans won’t make it any easier.

Pac-12 Championship Game: Stanford vs. USC

Conference Champion: USC

Sources: Nationalchamps.net, Cfbstats.com, Sports-reference.com