A look at the potential starting Pac-12 quarterbacks


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SALT LAKE CITY — While waiting for the season to start, let's dive into the Pac-12 quarterback situation. Most of the schools have starting signal callers established. Others will use fall camp to decide who will lead their team.

Here's a roundup of all 2015 starting (and potential starting) quarterbacks throughout the Conference of Champions, what they accomplished last season and where the teams may be heading for the upcoming season.

Arizona

Anu Solomon started all 14 games in 2014, becoming the first freshman to ever start a season opener for Arizona. He led the Wildcats to a 10-4 season and a South Division championship.

The 6-foot-2 quarterback threw for 28 touchdowns, completing 58 percent of his passing attempts, and rushed for 291 yards and two scores. Solomon had a great 28-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio, throwing for 3,793 yards.

Last season, Solomon struggled to get away from defenders. If he improves his agility, speed and strength this offseason as anticipated, he will scramble more with better results to make for an even better Arizona offense.

He has just one year under his belt, but is on the Manning Award, Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year watch lists.

Arizona State

Per Arizona State's website, Mike Bercovici will compete in fall camp for the starting job this season. He's likely to get it, following an impressive campaign that started last year while now-graduated Taylor Kelly recovered from an injury.

Bercovici made his starting debut against UCLA. He set school records for completions and attempts going 42 for 68 with 488 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. His 488 yards are the most by a Sun Devil quarterback in his first start.

He threw five touchdowns in his second start against USC, including one of the most iconic plays in Sun Devils history — a 46-yard touchdown pass to Jaelen Strong in the last seconds to win the game. Bercovici's 998 passing yards in his first two games set an NCAA record.

If he can perform like he did in his three 2014 starts, the Sun Devils are about to get even hotter. Bercovici is on the Maxwell Award and Wuerffel Trophy preseason watch lists.

Cal

Jared Goff is one of the best quarterbacks in college football. He's a projected first round pick in the 2016 NFL draft, ranking in the nation's top 11 in seven categories in 2014 — passing touchdowns (fifth, 35), passing yards (fifth, 3,973) passing yards per game (fifth, 331.1), completions per game (fifth 26.33), total offense per game (eighth, 327.4) points responsible for per game (ninth, 18) and points responsible for (tied 11th, 212). In his two years at Cal, he's thrown 53 touchdowns and only 17 interceptions. The junior has a 61 percent completion rate in his collegiate career along with 7,481 passing yards and 53 touchdowns. He's also the school's only quarterback to ever start in the season-opener as a true freshman.

During the spring game, Goff completed nine of 12 passes for 108 yards and one touchdown with a rush for five yards. Although the Golden Bears won just five games last season, most of the offensive players are in their second or third year. Those players know the offense well and should have a stellar season.

Goff, who holds 19 school records, is on several watch lists, including the Davey O'Brien Award, Manning Award and Walter Camp Award. He's also a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Colorado

Under Sefo Liufau's signal calling, the Buffs have won only four games. He led the Pac-12 with 15 interceptions last season, too. But forget those stats for a moment and it's easy to see that Liufau is a part of an improving Colorado offense.

In his two years at Colorado, he's set 51 school records, including passing for at least one touchdown in all 20 of his career games. Liufau enters this season with the longest active streak in the nation for having a touchdown in every game played and is tied for the fifth-longest in conference history. He threw for 3,200 yards with 28 touchdowns last season, completing 65 percent of his throws.

There's a lot of improvement needed, but Colorado has a good quarterback in Liufau. The rest of the offense needs to improve to help their quarterback secure more wins.

Oregon

Replacing Marcus Mariota doesn't come easy. The Ducks have several options to choose from for a starting quarterback. Jeff Lockie, Mariota's understudy, and Eastern Washington transfer Vernon Adams are expected to compete for the job.

Last season, Lockie completed 75 percent of his 28 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. He performed well in Oregon's 2015 spring game, completing all nine passing attempts for 223 yards and three touchdowns. Lockie also scrambled twice for 16 yards.

Adams threw for 10,438 yards and 110 touchdowns with 31 interceptions, completing nearly 65 percent of his passes during his three years at Eastern Washington. He's played twice against Pac-12 opponents, losing 59-52 against Washington last year and defeating Oregon State 49-46 in 2013.

Adams was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year the past two years and was a runner-up for the Walter Payton Award. The senior has just one year to make his mark in Eugene. He lacks big game experience, but considering his impressive games against Washington and Oregon, it's fair to say the Ducks just may have Mariota's replacement with Adams.

Oregon State ============

Oregon State has a fresh start this season. Not only does it have a new head coach, Gary Andersen, but it will also start a new quarterback after Sean Mannion's departure.

Luke Del Rio played in three games last season as Mannion's backup, completing 44 percent of his passing attempts. His longest pass play (52 yards) came against Stanford. But it was two freshmen who impressed coaches during spring training — Seth Collins and Nick Mitchell. They're both considered more mobile than Del Rio, who's considered the better passer. Collins is an Andersen recruit, the only quarterback in 2015's recruiting class.

Whoever wins the Beavers' starting job will be the guy who can carry out the expected no-huddle, spread offense being installed by the new coaching staff.

Stanford

Fifth-year senior Kevin Hogan is 24-8 overall as a starting quarterback and 11-6 against opponents ranked in the AP top 25. Last season he ranked sixth in the conference in QBR, but coaches are hoping Hogan performs like he did the last two games in the regular season. Those weeks consisted of playing on the road against Cal and UCLA, where Hogan completed an average 80 percent of his passes. Stanford won both games, outscoring its opponents 69-27.

Hogan has been more of a game manager in his career, but Stanford is looking for the senior quarterback to become more of a playmaker this season.

He's on several preseason watch lists, including the Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year, Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award and Manning Award.

UCLA

The Bruins are another Pac-12 team stuck in a quarterback conundrum after losing longtime quarterback Brett Hundley to the NFL draft. Jerry "Hero of the Texas Game" Neuheisel and Josh Rosen are the leading candidates vying for the starting spot.

Neuheisel knows the UCLA offense, serving as the No. 2 quarterback the past two years. He's best known for helping UCLA come from behind to defeat Texas 20-17 after Hundley left with an injury. Neuheisel finished that game completing 23 of 30 passing attempts for 178 yards and two touchdowns.

Then there's Rosen. He was one of the nation's top high school quarterbacks last year, ranking second on Rivals 100 and as Scout's No. 1 ranked quarterback. ESPN.com listed him as the second-ranked quarterback and the nation's No. 50 recruit.

Rosen finished his high school career with a 63 percent completion rate for 8,473 yards and 90 touchdowns. He completed 13 of 17 passes during UCLA's spring game. It's believed he'll get playing time this season; it's just a matter of if he'll be the starting quarterback come Week 1. And if he meets expectations, he's sure to become a household name soon.

USC

Cody Kessler heads into the 2015 season as USC's third-year starter. He's one of the most accomplished college football signal callers and will follow a tremendous 2014 campaign where he set school records. Kessler holds USC season records for completions (315), completion percentage (69.7), passing efficiency (167.1) and interception rate (1.11). His 39 touchdown passes and seven 300-yard passing games in 2014 tied the school's season marks.

Kessler's completion percentage was third in the nation and first in the Pac-12. He ranked fourth nationally and second in the conference for passing touchdowns. He threw 452 passes, more than any other quarterback in the nation, and had only five interceptions. The Trojans struggled against top-ranked teams last year, but an offense loaded with talent at the skill positions led by Kessler will make them one of the best teams in the conference.

Kessler is a Heisman Trophy candidate and is on the Davey O'Brien Award, Maxwell Award, Weurffel Trophy and Walter Camp Award watch lists.

Utah

Travis Wilson is set to be the Utes' starting quarterback Week 1 against Michigan, but the all too familiar "competition" with Kendal Thompson is still alive.

Wilson is entering his fourth year after a solid 2014 season. He finished his junior year 8-3 as a starter. The 6-foot-7 quarterback completed almost 61 percent of his passes for 2,170 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. He didn't throw an interception for the first eight games, becoming the last starting quarterback in the nation to throw a pick. Wilson was also the second-leading rusher for the Utes in 2014, running for 309 yards on 114 carries and five touchdowns.

Thompson played in seven games last season, starting two of them, before suffering a season-ending injury against Oregon. Before he went down, Thompson completed 32 of 52 passes for 324 yards. He had a pair of touchdowns and interceptions. Perhaps his most memorable moment came at UCLA, where he came off the bench on the fourth drive of the game to lead Utah to a win. Thompson was limited this spring, but is expected to be fully recovered from his injury for fall camp.

The difference this season in the Wilson-Thompson saga is the former has a co-offensive coordinator who trusts him. Aaron Roderick will allow his quarterback recruit to play less conservatively, hoping Wilson will take a big step forward and show he is capable of being the quarterback Ute fans have waited for since he arrived on campus in 2012.

Washington

The Huskies are left with a "starting quarterback wanted" sign after Cyler Miles decided to step away from the game earlier this year. It leaves Washington with one quarterback on the roster, Jeff Lindquist, who has limited college football experience. Last season, Lindquist completed 10 of 26 passes in his start at Hawaii.

But two freshmen are making it difficult for coaches to name Lindquist the starter right away. Redshirt freshman K.J. Carta-Samuels and true freshman Jake Browning both performed well during the spring. In the Huskies' spring game, Carta-Samuels completed 11 of 12 passes for 123 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Browning threw for 59 yards, completing 11 of 18 attempts with two interceptions. Lindquist finished the day with 13 of 16 passes completed for 237 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Overall, the Huskies have a lot of rebuilding to do under second-year coach Chris Peterson. Who the starting quarterback will be is still up in the air. The lack of experience at the quarterback position makes it difficult to have any notion as to which quarterback coaches will choose.

Washington State

When Connor Halliday suffered a season-ending leg injury in November, it was Luke Falk who stepped in to take control of the Cougars' offense. But even though the then-redshirt freshman started the last three games of the season, Mike Leach isn't handing him the keys to his air raid offense just yet.

Falk completed 64 percent of his passing attempts for 1,859 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He posted four 300-yard games, including 471 yards at Oregon State and 601 yards against Arizona State.

Coaches have made it clear that Peyton Bender is still in the race after an impressive spring performance. Bender threw for six touchdowns during one spring scrimmage, including one for 22 yards. He went 21 of 28 for 266 yards while facing the team's backups.

Falk was a great backup for Halliday last season. He put up great numbers against Pac-12 opponents, which puts him slightly above Bender in this starting quarterback competition.

It's no surprise that the Conference of Champions is often called the "Conference of Quarterbacks." Numerous Pac-12 quarterbacks have gone to the NFL. The conference will continue to send quarterbacks to the NFL. But for now, it's time to focus on how these quarterbacks handle the 2015 season.


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About the Author: Holli Joyce -----------------------------

Holli Joyce is a University of Utah communications graduate and enjoys keeping up with the Utah Utes, Utah Jazz and Seattle Seahawks. In addition to covering Utah football for KSL.com, she is a Seahawks Correspondent for 12thManRising.com. Follow her on Twitter @Holli_Alexa.

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