A compilation of the PAC-12’s most star-studded lineup tracing back to 2004 (biased opinions pending), witnesses a hearty trend – and dosage – of Southern Cal players on both offense and defense.
Being college football’s premiere powerhouse in the early 2000s, the Trojans won five straight conference championships. But since 2008, the program has trekked through drawbacks with recruiting and countless probes by the NCAA. Although a gallery of distractions has plagued the school, Southern Cal is gingerly remastering its recruiting tools and procedures in retaining their dominance they experienced at the beginning of the century.
A conference revered for it’s production on offense, the PAC-12 is constantly berated for their defensive units – surrendering 300 yards of total offense per contest. Last season, Oregon sustained a pond load of grief, not only for weak pocket protection, but sacrificed – on average – 20 points and 547 total yards to their opponents.
Pac-12 Summary (since 2004)
Record: 810-666 (38-30 in bowl games)
Conference champions: Southern Cal (2004-08), Oregon (2008-11), Stanford (2012, ’13), Oregon (2014)
Quarterbacks
Matt Leinart (USC)
2005: 283/431, 3,815 pass yards, 28 TD, 8 INT
Andrew Luck(STAN)
2010: 263/372, 3,338 yards, 32 TD, 8 INT
Marcus Mariota (ORE)
2014: 304/445, 4,454 yards, 42 TD, 4 INT
Running Backs
Marshawn Lynch (CAL)
2006: 223 rush att., 1,356 rush yards, 11 TD
Toby Gerhart (STAN)
2008: 343 rush att., 1,871 rush yards, 28 TD
DeVontae Booker (UTAH)
2014: 292 rush att., 1,512 rush yards, 10 TD (+2 rec. TD)
LaMichael James (ORE)
2010: 294 rush att., 1,731 rush yards, 21 TD (+3 rec. TD)
Wide Receivers
Sammie Stroughter (ORE ST)
2008: 70 rec., 1,040 rec. yards, 7 TD
Robert Woods (USC)
111 rec., 1,292 rec. yards, 15 TD
Jaelen Strong (ASU)
2014: 82 rec., 1,165 rec. yards, 10 TD
Dwayne Jarrett (USC)
2005: 91 rec., 1,274 rec. yards, 16 TD
Tight Ends
Marcedes Lewis (UCLA)
2005: 58 rec., 741 rec. yards, 10 TD
Rob Gronkowski (ZONA)
2008: 47 rec., 672 rec. yards, 10 TD
Offensive Linemen
Sam Baker (USC, 2004-07)
Max Unger (Oregon, 2005-08)
Jonathan Martin (Stanford, 2009-11)
Ryan Kalil (USC, 2005-08)
Linebackers
Desmond Bishop (CAL)
2006: 126 T, 15 TFL, 3 NT
Mason Foster (WASH)
2010: 163 T, 6.5 sacks, 14 TFL
Scooby Wright (ZONA)
2014: 163 T, 14 sacks 29 TFL
Derrick Doggett (ORE ST)
2007: 93 T, 4 INT, 3 sacks, DEF TD
Defensive Backs
Jairus Byrd (ORE)
2007: 65 T, 7 INT, 4 TFL
Antoine Cason (ZONA)
2007: 71 T, 5 INT, 4 TFL, 2 DEF TD
Sabby Piscitelli (ORE ST)
2006: 71 T, 5 INT
Deonne Buchanon (WSU)
2012: 106 T, 4 INT
Defensive Linemen
Nate Orchard (UTAH)
2014: 84 T, 18.5 sacks, 21 TFL
Hau’oli Kikaha (WASH)
2014: 72 T, 19 sacks, 25 TFL
Justin Hickman (UCLA)
2006: 12.5 sacks, 19 TFL
Nick Perry (USC)
2011: 54 T, 9.5 sacks, 13 TFL
Special Teams
Aaron Perez (P, UCLA)
2007: 91 punts, 4,853 yards
Zane Gonzalez (K, ASU)
2013: 63-65 XP, 25-30 FGM/FGA, 138 points
DeSean Jackson (PR, CAL)
2006: 25 returns, 455 yards, 4 TD
Jonathan Stewart (KR, ORE)
2005: 12 returns, 402 yards, 2 TD
Thanks to my personal bible, Sports Reference, for equipping me with these goodies called statistics.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
