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Pac-12 Burning Fall Camp Questions: Each Team in the Conference Has at Least One Question They Need to Answer

What are the biggest questions each Pac-12 team is facing during 2013 fall camps?

Harry How

Arizona - Who the hell is our quarterback?

Rich Rodriguez' high-speed offense requires a dynamic quarterback that can devastate defenses with his feet, arm and mind, and with the graduation of Matt Scott, it's unclear if the Wildcats have that kind of guy on their roster this season. Senior B.J. Denker appeared to beat out junior Jesse Scroggins just a little bit during the spring, but I don't think either excited anyone at all, and true freshman Anu Solomon, coming in with a ceiling that is maybe higher than both of the upperclassmen this fall, further muddles the picture of who will be the starting quarterback in Tucson.

Arizona State - Has Todd Graham truly changed the culture at Arizona State?

Longtime Pac-12 fans have watched the pattern for years now like clockwork - the Sun Devils are always good when they aren't supposed to be and not good when they are supposed to be. The Sun Devils are supposed to be good this year, but it also appears that Todd Graham may have changed the tide in Tempe and ended trend of the underachieving Sun Devils, at least in his first season. However, there were little to no expectations last season for the Sun Devils, so we won't know if Graham has truly changed that culture until the Sun Devils prove that they can win when they are expected to.

Cal - Is the Bear Raid ready to go?

Sonny Dykes has the track record of putting together high-flying offenses that rack up points. The Bears have formerly highly-rated high school prospects on offense that have the potential to breakout. The only question now is if both of these factors will blend together well enough and quickly enough in fall camp to have the Bear Raid ready to attack defenses efficiently from the get-go in September.

Colorado - Who the hell is the quarterback?

Injuries and transfers during the spring only further muddled the Buffs starting quarterback situation, but right at the start of fall, it looks like it might be a battle between junior Connor Wood who started at times in 2012, and true freshman Sefo Liufau, with junior college transfer Jordan Gehrke and sophomore Stevie Joe Dorman also in the picture.

Oregon - Can Mark Helfrich keep the Oregon spaceship traveling at the speed of light with Chip Kelly's perfection?

All initial reviews of Helfrich, and his ability to succeed Chip Kelly have been as good as they could possibly be, but until the Ducks take to the field and keep dominating teams the way they did under Kelly, none of it really matters. Fall practice will be interesting to watch though to see how Helfrich coaches day-to-day in comparison to Kelly, and if he can maintain the mind-blowing attention to detail and perfectionism that Kelly instilled in practice while still going faster than anyone else in the country.

Oregon State - Sean Mannion or Cody Vaz?

This question might stick around until the last game of the 2013 season, but regardless, it's still the biggest question surrounding the Beavers' fall camp. It might not happen, but I'm sure all Beaver fans, players and coaches are hoping that either Mannion or Vaz can emerge as the clear-cut option at starting quarterback during fall camp.

Stanford - Who is going to make plays on offense?

As the usual, Stanford's offensive line is loaded with All-Pac-12-level players, and they now have an able quarterback, and potential budding star in Kevin Hogan, but the who is going to make the plays around him and that front unit is a complete mystery. It's imperative that during fall camp that senior running backs Anthony Wilkerson and Tyler Gaffney can emerge as a duo that can effectively replace Stepfan Taylor and that they have some receivers and tight ends from their pools of unknown players emerge as playmakers, or it will remain unclear if the Cardinal will be able to score much in 2013.

UCLA - Who is going to at least try to replace Johnathan Franklin?

Obviously no one will, at least immediately, be able to replace the Bruins' all-time leading rusher, but somebody is going to have to step up into the job, and no one really emerged in the spring as a clear-cut candidate. Even if it is a running back by committee, it would be nice for the Bruins to figure out exactly how that committee will luck before fall camp comes to an end.

USC - Who the hell is the quarterback?

No team has more questions around in than the Trojans during fall camp and who will become the next starting quarterback is the most high-profile of them. Sophomore Cody Kessler appeared to have the best spring game of the trio competing for the job, but I don't think it means much and I wouldn't be surprised if the speculative driver's seat for the job changes hands a number of times during fall camp.

Utah - What is there to get excited about?

Things were looking good for the Utes going into 2012 -they were coming off a Sun Bowl victory, had supposedly the best running back in the conference and the best defensive tackle in the country and were expected by many to be the team with the best chance to challenge USC in the Pac-12 South. Now, the Utes are coming off of their first losing season in a long time, don't have a single player on most pre-season All-Pac-12 teams and have had UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State improve drastically around them. Can someone, or something emerge during fall camp that will give Utah hope for a bright 2013?

Washington - Can Keith Price bounce back?

The Huskies have some serious stars on offense in Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Kasen Williams and Bishop Sankey, but need senior quarterback Keith Price to step back up to the form he had as a sophomore if they hope to get over the 7-6 hurdle that keeps tripping them up under Steve Sarkisian. Price looked good in spring practice, but needs to maintain his health and confidence all the way through fall camp if the Huskies want to have any hope of finally coming back up in the Pac-12 North.

Washington State - Can Connor Halliday step up?

The Cougars desperately need a lights out quarterback to fully succeed in Mike Leach's pass-happy offense and while Halliday has flashed the ability to be a prolific quarterback, he hasn't done it consistently and has been prone to crippling interceptions. The ability looks to be there, but can he reign it in a bit and grasp full control of the Cougar offense during fall camp?