2002, the Trojans would falter just one more time in their next 46 games.
USC had long ago established itself as the traditional
West Coast top dog. But no one ever saw anything like the talent head coach Pete Carroll assembled in the fi rst decade of the 21st Century. The campus once known as “Tailback U” became “Quarterback U” as Carson Palmer was succeeded by Matt Leinart, John David Booty, and Mark Sanchez. (Palmer and Leinart both won Heismans.) The Trojans were national champions in both 2003 and 2004, losing a total of one game, then set about vying for the fi rst three-peat since AP initiated its poll in 1936. Carroll’s 2005 squad had the fi repower to do it. This was the fi rst NCAA team ever with a 3,000-yard passer (Leinart), two 1,000-yard runners (Reggie Bush and LenDale White), and a 1,000-yard re- ceiver (Dwayne Jarrett). “It’s the best offense I’ve ever seen,” Oregon defensive coordina- tor Nick Aliotti said. “That thing is a juggernaut.” USC and Texas, ranked one-two all season in 2005, played a game for the ages in the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns won 41–38 behind a majestic performance by quarterback Vince Young. Eventually, USC’s exploits lost some luster in a payment scan- dal, and Bush had to return the Heisman he won in 2005. And as those revelations were coming to light, the balance of power in the Pac-10 started to swing north, to Oregon and Stanford.
Head coach Chip Kelly, who dizzied opponents
with his version of the spread offense (see box at right), led Oregon to consecutive Pac-10 titles in 2009 and 2010. That second team, powered by running back LaMichael James, averaged 531 yards a game and nar- rowly lost to Auburn and star quarterback Cam Newton 22–19 in the BCS National Champion- ship Game.
FOOTBALL FACT
National Foot- ball Foundation Scholar- Athletes
65
It was the second time that James had narrowly lost to Newton, having just missed out on a Heis-
man Trophy. Entering 2011, the speedy Ducks’ back was considered only the second-best Heisman candidate in the Conference. That honor went to sensational Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who had the Cardinal back in the Top 10 in 2010 and 2011 and is considered the best NFL passing prospect since Peyton Manning . . . if he comes out.
Of course, the big news this year went beyond touch- downs and tackles. Since adding the Arizona schools in 1978, the Pac-10 had kept its membership stable longer than any conference outside of the Ivy League, but college football was about to become a jigsaw puzzle as schools broke away and realigned across the country. West Coast football secured its future by adding two thriving programs in Colorado and Utah. Welcome to the age of the Pac-12.
Both new teams bring a great football legacy to their new home. Colorado is the school of Byron (Whizzer) White and 1994 Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam. The Buf- faloes were national champions under Bill Mc- Cartney in 1990, and fi nished in the AP top fi ve in 1971, 1989, 1994, and 1995. Any confer- ence would be happy to have them. Utah, more recently, emerged as a clas- sic BCS-buster, a school the big boys simply didn’t want to play. In 2008, the Utes went un-
defeated, beat six bowl teams, and received 16 fi rst-place votes in the fi nal AP poll. They fi nished No. 2 behind Florida that year.
Nearly a century earlier, the PCC had laid the ground- work for a unique football enterprise. Along the way, the Pac-8, and then the Pac-10,
Matt Leinart
had become synonymous with rifl e-armed quarterbacks, brainy coaches, and bruising rival- ries. The conference spread from the coast to the desert and now, as the Pac-12, it is scaling the continental divide. You want exciting football? The sug- gestion is the same as it has been for decades: Go West.
Kirby Lee
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