Last year felt like a bit of a changing of the guard in the Pac-12. The Oregon Ducks and Arizona Sun devils went down while teams like the Washington State Cougars and Utah Utes rose up. Now we’re heading into an interesting year where the top four teams are projected to be the Stanford Cardinal, Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans and Washington State Cougars. Aside from the Cougars, this is the old guard. However, can these teams actually keep it up? Stanford has some rebuilding to do, USC has to prove that they’re going to list to Clay Helton and the Ducks have to show that they don’t actually miss Chip Kelly that much. So as we look to the Pac-12 this season, let’s examine the biggest Achilles Heels for each of the top contenders.
Stanford Cardinal
Achilles Heel: Defensive Line
The defending Pac-12 champion Cardinal overcame a season-opening loss to Northwestern to win 12 of their next 13 games including a Rose Bowl victory over Iowa. Expectations are high again for 2016, but a number of key changes have left Stanford with some major question marks heading in to next season. The biggest question mark is on the defensive line, where the Cardinal lost some notable talent as well as their coach Randy Hart, who retired. Solomon Thomas is back after he recorded 49 tackles and 3.5 sacks, but there are concerns about who will line up next to him. Harrison Phillips is working his way back from a torn ACL. Luke Kaumatule redshirted last year. Fifth-year senior Jordan Watkins has yet to break in to the rotation. The Cardinal have some significant concerns on both sides of the football, but the defensive line appears to be their most pressing of them right now.
USC Trojans
Achilles Heel: New Defense
The Trojans are in the perfect position to take advantage in the Pac-12 should Stanford stumble. They are loaded with talent on both sides of the football. However, in order to contend for a conference title they will need to thrive in defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast’s 5-2 base defense despite losing three starters. USC has done a tremendous job recruiting over the years and Kenny Bigelow, Noah Jefferson, Rasheem Green and Porter Gustin are all set to slide in to starting roles. However, mental mistakes can happen with a new defensive system in place and the Trojans will have to work hard to make sure the changes on that side of the ball don’t end up being their Achilles heel.
Oregon Ducks
Achilles Heel: Pass Rush
Oregon lost DeForest Buckner to the NFL while top reserve Tui Talia played his final college season in 2015, so establishing a consistent pass rush could become the team’s Achilles heel. Buckner had 10.5 sacks last year and that production will be hard to replace even with a strong returning cast. Henry Mondeaux will start in Brady Hoke’s 4-3 while five-star recruit Canton Kaumatule will be an important piece. The Ducks will need a number of young starters to step up on defense in order to be a force in the Pac-12 and right now it looks like their pass rush is the biggest question mark.
The other area the Ducks have to sort out is the quarterback position. They’ll have to get better production out of the position as Vernon Adams Jr. was solid but not spectacular last season.
Washington State Cougars
Achilles Heel: Run Defense
The Cougars went 6-3 in Pac-12 play last season and there is no doubt they have the potential to take another step forward under Mike Leach in 2016. The key could very well be improving their run defense, which was an area where they were vulnerable last season. Hercules Mata’afa, Peyton Pelluer and Parker Henry make up a decent core, but Washington State will have to build around those pieces. The Cougars have the talent to succeed on that side of the football and if they can at least improve their run defense next season it will make a major difference.
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