Well, it certainly wasn’t a pretty opening week for the Pac-12, with struggles against FCS opponents and a lackluster performance by Oregon in the weekend’s marquee matchup of top 5 programs. Still, it wasn’t all bad, with some impressive individual performances, and solid wins by the Bay Area teams. As I’ll be ranking teams based on performance so far, the first few weeks are likely to see much greater change than later weeks, when we will have a more complete picture of each team (and more head-to-head matchups to consider).
NORTH
1. Stanford (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
LW 2
An easy win against a weak opponent. Doesn’t tell us much about the Cardinal, whose game against Duke next week will likely be just as unrevealing. November date with Oregon may be first (and only) real test. Moved up a spot largely due to Oregon’s loss.
2. Oregon (0-1, 0-0)
LW 1
It should have been a clash of titans, instead it was a one-sided win for the LSU Tigers. Oregon didn’t help itself much either, losing the ball four times. Heisman hopeful LaMichael James had one of his weakest performances as a Duck. A close loss would have been enough to keep Oregon on top, but this one wasn’t close.
3. Cal (1-0, 0-0)
LW 5
The Bears looked shaky to start, but recovered quickly to take control of the game against Fresno State. Transfer QB Zach Maynard performed well for Cal. This win, plus weak performances by the rest of the Pac-12 North, helped boost the Bears into 3rd for now.
4. Washington (1-0, 0-0)
LW 3
Eastern Washington QB Bo Mitchell absolutely embarrassed the Huskies’ defensive secondary, who couldn’t seem to cover a receiver to save their lives. A good performance by the Huskies offense plus some key turnovers were enough to give the home team the win, but it wasn’t pretty. The defending FCS champs are certainly no pushover, but if the Huskies expect to return to the upper echelons of the Pac, they need to be able to dominate in games like these.
5. Washington State (1-0, 0-0)
LW 6
WSU had no problems handling Idaho State, but then the Tigers are one of the worst programs in the FCS. Still, a necessary win for Coach Paul Wulff, who’s got probably the hottest seat in the Pac-12 after woeful seasons the past three years in Pullman. 1-0 for the first time in years, the Cougars hope to continue the trend. Bad news for Washington State? Star QB Jeff Tuel will be out for a few weeks at least with a broken clavicle.
6. Oregon State (0-1, 0-0)
LW 4
While Washington was able to escape its close encounter with an FCS team, Oregon State was not so lucky against Sacramento State. A fourth quarter by the Beavers rally tied the game, but the Hornets scored on a two-point conversion to win in overtime. The Beavers were one of two teams (Duke being the other) to lose to an FCS team so far this season. Oregon State is going to need to pick itself up off the mat quickly, as they travel to Wisconsin next week. For now, the bottom spot is all for the Beavers.
SOUTH
1. USC (1-0, 0-0)
LW 1
Lane Kiffin’s decision to twice attempt 2-point conversions on the Trojans’ first two TDs, both of which failed, put the Trojans in a precarious position late, with lowly Minnesota needing just a field goal to win. USC was saved by a last-minute interception to stop the opponent’s drive. The offense sputtered in the second half despite an outstanding performance by sophomore receiver Robert Woods, whose 17 receptions set a school record.
2. ASU (1-0, 0-0)
LW 3
Arizona State showed off their new uniforms in style, easily handling the visiting Mustangs of UC Davis. The offense was particularly impressive, racking up over 500 yards. UC Davis will certainly be one of the easier opponents the Sun Devi’s face this season, but as we’ve seen, FCS teams weren’t exactly easy fare for all of their Pac-12 brethren.
3. Utah (1-0, 0-0)
LW 2
Utah’s victory over Montana State was never in doubt, but it wasn’t as impressive a performance as ASU’s. Still, the offense was not firing on all cylinders under new OC Norm Chow, and the Utes will face tougher competition starting next week against USC in the Pac-12 opener.
4. Arizona (1-0, 0-0)
LW 4
Nick Foles was outstanding in the season opener for the Wildcats, going 34 of 42 for 412 yards and 5 TDs. Still, there was cause for concern early on, as Northern Arizona pulled within 4 points by half time. The second half was less friendly to the visitors as Arizona scored 26 unanswered points. The Wildcats offense could pose trouble to its opponents down the line.
5. UCLA (0-1, 0-0)
LW 5
It looked like it was going to be a rough start for the Bruins against Houston, as starting QB Kevin Prince was knocked out of the game early (concussion) and Houston opened up a 17-point lead by halftime. The Bruins fought back admirably under backup QB Richard Brehaut, at one point pulling within 3, but ultimately were unable to defeat the Cougars. Both defenses struggled, especially in the secondary, as each team racked up over 300 yards passing and 150 yards rushing. Penalties could be a problem from the Bruins; they committed 10 in this game.
6. Colorado (0-1, 0-0)
LW 6
Colorado’s Pac-12 debut was less successful than their new rival Utah. Although the game was in reach for the Buffaloes at times, they were unable to produce on offense, going an abysmal 2-12 on 3rd down conversions. Meanwhile their defense was unable to handle Hawaii QB Bryan Muniz, who threw for 178 yards and rushed for another 121, accounting for 4 TDs through the ground and air. Up next for Colorado is a non-conference conference game against Cal, scheduled before the conference re-alignment and unable to be worked into the new schedules.
I’d be tempted to drop USC down behind ASU and Utah, but then I probably would have had them there to begin with, and the too-close win against lowly Minnesota didn’t do anything to change my mind. Granted, ASU and Utah both beat 1-AA teams, but they did so soundly, as you say, as Minnesota isn’t that much stouter of a test. Really, we learned essentially nothing about the Pac-12 South this week, except perhaps that UCLA and Colorado “are who we thought they were.” But I’m not sure I’d install USC as the favorite against Utah on Saturday. Perhaps a slight favorite because the game is at home, but I’m certainly not feeling confident.
Oh well. Beat the Utes!
FYI you put Arizona as being 0-1 instead of 1-0, so you need to fix that.
The Pac-12 had the worst opening week of any conference. The SEC underwhelmed too (had Auburn lost to Utah State, I’d put them at the bottom), but the Georgia and Ole Miss losses were excusable and everyone else took care of business. None of the other BCS conferences really played any games that moved the needle, unfortunately, although major props to Baylor for beating TCU in what might turn out to have been the most entertaining game of the year.
I didn’t put anything on the record for this blog, and sadly what I did put on the record in the message boards at WeAreSC.com is now hidden from history as a result of their migration to ESPN.com, but so far my expectations are being borne out. I expected Colorado to have a very tough year, and thus far they are looking to crash and burn as I expected. I thought Oregon State would underwhelm too, though I didn’t see the loss to an FCS school coming. I also figured fUCLA would again finish at .500 or less and get the Weasel fired — so far, so good (oh wait, we don’t *want* fUCLA to fire Slick Rick; or maybe they can hire back Karl Dorrell or even Ty Willingham, pretty pretty pwease?!?). I thought Utah was overhyped and would struggle in the Pac-12, and so far it looks like that indeed will be the case.
As for the risers, I expected Arizona and Cal to exceed everyone’s expectations and that’s looking very likely at this moment. I was probably too bullish on USC (homer alert! homer alert!) given the Minnesota result, but the underlying reason for my optimism was A. a seasoned Barkley, and B. a much-improved defense — and both of those things were on display in Week 1, so I still have confidence the Trojans can go 11-1 or 10-2. My concerns with Troy come down to the offensive line and Lane Kiffin’s commitment (or lack thereof) to the running game (I didn’t expect to be concerned about hokey two-point calls but maybe there is reason for alarm with that now as well). The pass protection on Saturday was decent enough, but too many drives stalled because Kiffin seems to only want to run the ball as a token exercise. If we’re not at least a 50-50 offense (and that should not include clock-killing runs at the end of the game) going forward, I am going to be very alarmed. Kiffin needs to look to the Bay Area teams to see what a balanced offense ought to look like, and if he wants to claim the objective of pass to set up the run (vs. run to set up the pass), that’s fine, but that’s only plausible when the defense is cheating to stop the run by putting 8 or more defenders in the box. By the second half on Saturday, Minnesota was clearly looking to clog the passing lanes and shut down Robert Woods, so there should have been a much greater commitment to run the ball.
maybe they can hire back Karl Dorrell or even Ty Willingham
RACIST! 😉
Also, AML, there’s room for you in the “Kiffin Haters For Kiffin” fan club, just let me know and I’ll teach you the handshake.
Eh. I just don’t hate Kiffin. I’ve had this gripe with the USC offense going back to Norm Chow even. During most of 2003 and 2004 (and sadly, this stayed true in 2005 and beyond under Sarkiffin), I felt like we should have established the ability to run at will on our opponents, but instead we’d spend the first half of games trying to get the QB into a rhythm, then in the 2nd half we’d get serious and explode with a strong run game and big passing plays. Now however, if he keeps this up with the two-point attempts, I may just jump on the bandwagon.
I should have mentioned it in my post, but the seperation in my mind in the South is very slim. USC/ASU/Utah are all pretty closely clustered at this point, and Arizona’s probably deservably close as well. (Thanks for the record mistake on them btw Andrew, i’ve fixed it). For the North I think the seperation is a bit wider, especially between the top 2 and the other 4.
“Power” Rankings seems to be an ironic term for the Pac-12 this year. Oregon St. losing to Sacramento St.!?!?! Geeez. The Pac-12 will probably have the worst OoC record of all conferences for the season this year. Our best couldn’t even compete with the 3rd or 4th best SEC team missing their top players. At least UCLA will beat Texas again. While the rest of the conference burns.
I remember when I looked forward to USC games all week long, now I’m just enjoying being undefeated for a couple more days, and then instead of an electrified atmosphere, reminiscent of a pep rally, with TD passes and big runs rolling, I’ll watch the Utah game biting my fingernails and hoping that we pull out a win just so we don’t have to face the humiliation and embarrassment of losing to Norm Chow and a Mountain West Conference school. Of course we’ll probably win by 20 points… If Lane takes some advice from Pete Carroll. Make the call Lane!!!!