Was able to catch at least a portion of most of the Pac-12 games today. A few comments:
-After Nick Alioti retired at Oregon, there was a school of thought that the Ducks would look outside the program to hire a new DC. While Alioti did a nice job, it wasn't like Oregon was an elite defense on an annual basis, and there didn't seem to be any obvious internal candidates. Nonetheless, Oregon ended up promoting from within, tabbing Don Pellum, who had coached numerous positions on defense but had never been a coordinator in his 30-plus year career as an assistant. After a bit of an up and down year last year, Oregon has really struggled on defense in 2015 - they were gashed in a win over Eastern Washington, gave up 31 in a loss to Michigan State, were shaky last week against Georgia State and then were annihilated by Utah 66-20.
-I do think Oregon will rebound to a certain degree once Vernon Adams' injured finger heals up, but there are clearly some issues that need to be resolved in Eugene. And who knows how long it will take and how many losses will pile up before Adams gets healthy.
-On a related note, I don't think there are too many tears shed that Stanford is missing Utah this year.
-Cal is legitimately improved this year. Goff is a stud, his receivers are excellent, their backs are tough to tackle, they're better on the offensive line and the defensive front seven actually looks OK - they were able to pressure Jake Browning with some consistency. Washington was able to generate a fair amount of pressure on Goff, so it's not like they're invincible on offense - and they did allow 44 points to a limited Texas offense last week - but Cal is not going to be an easy out this year. (Though the Huskies did help Cal out with 5 turnovers... And I do think you can run the ball on Cal's front... but with that offense and a defense that is not historically inept, they're a good team.)
-On the other hand, I do think Jake Browning's youth was certainly apparent. Washington has had some injuries along its offensive line, and the combination of that unit probably being a bit supbar + Browning's inexperience + no game breaking WRs limit the potency of UW's passing attack. The Dwayne Washington kid looked really good, and Washington's defense appears to somehow be very legitimate after losing four top NFL picks, but I think there's a definitely ceiling on the UW offense this year.
-Arizona got blown out by UCLA, but they can run the ball. Nick Wilson is one of the conference's top running backs and the Wildcats gained 353 yards (6.0 YPC) in tonight's game. Stanford's defensive front will be seriously tested next week. Also of note: starting QB Anu Solomon left in the first half with an apparent concussion. His backup, Jerrard Randall, can't throw. 3rd stringer Brandon Dawkins got a few throws at the end, but I'm not sure what UA's plan would be if Solomon is out. If Randall is the guy, you'd imagine Stanford's defense approach might be similar against UA to what it was last week - focus on stopping the run and a very mobile quarterback, but not as concerned about the passing game. We will see. (Course as evidenced by UCLA dropping 56, Arizona's defense didn't appear to be much to write home about. Scooby Wright played his first game since returning from a knee injury - he didn't do much in the portion of the game I caught.)
-UCLA, even with the injuries, will be tricky. Part of their issue in previous years was an injury-plagued/shaky offensive line. Doesn't seem to be as much of a problem this year. Paul Perkins is a superstar, Rosen was quite good tonight, they have offensive weapon... and looks like they're still hanging in there on defense despite the injuries. They present a similar test to Arizona in that they have a very potent run game - and given the state of Stanford's front seven, it will be difficult for the Cardinal to stop when the teams meet next month.
-ASU gift wrapped USC some points with four turnovers, but they did take care of business against the Sun Devils, who were a trendy preseason playoff pick. Suffice it to say, that won't be happening. By the end of the year the win in the Coliseum should be a pretty darn impressive one. (Well, it already is, but it should have staying power.)
In the bigger picture, here's how I would tier the conference after today's results.
Utah
UCLA
Stanford
Cal
USC
Oregon
Arizona
Washington
Arizona State
Oregon State
Washington State
Colorado
-After Nick Alioti retired at Oregon, there was a school of thought that the Ducks would look outside the program to hire a new DC. While Alioti did a nice job, it wasn't like Oregon was an elite defense on an annual basis, and there didn't seem to be any obvious internal candidates. Nonetheless, Oregon ended up promoting from within, tabbing Don Pellum, who had coached numerous positions on defense but had never been a coordinator in his 30-plus year career as an assistant. After a bit of an up and down year last year, Oregon has really struggled on defense in 2015 - they were gashed in a win over Eastern Washington, gave up 31 in a loss to Michigan State, were shaky last week against Georgia State and then were annihilated by Utah 66-20.
-I do think Oregon will rebound to a certain degree once Vernon Adams' injured finger heals up, but there are clearly some issues that need to be resolved in Eugene. And who knows how long it will take and how many losses will pile up before Adams gets healthy.
-On a related note, I don't think there are too many tears shed that Stanford is missing Utah this year.
-Cal is legitimately improved this year. Goff is a stud, his receivers are excellent, their backs are tough to tackle, they're better on the offensive line and the defensive front seven actually looks OK - they were able to pressure Jake Browning with some consistency. Washington was able to generate a fair amount of pressure on Goff, so it's not like they're invincible on offense - and they did allow 44 points to a limited Texas offense last week - but Cal is not going to be an easy out this year. (Though the Huskies did help Cal out with 5 turnovers... And I do think you can run the ball on Cal's front... but with that offense and a defense that is not historically inept, they're a good team.)
-On the other hand, I do think Jake Browning's youth was certainly apparent. Washington has had some injuries along its offensive line, and the combination of that unit probably being a bit supbar + Browning's inexperience + no game breaking WRs limit the potency of UW's passing attack. The Dwayne Washington kid looked really good, and Washington's defense appears to somehow be very legitimate after losing four top NFL picks, but I think there's a definitely ceiling on the UW offense this year.
-Arizona got blown out by UCLA, but they can run the ball. Nick Wilson is one of the conference's top running backs and the Wildcats gained 353 yards (6.0 YPC) in tonight's game. Stanford's defensive front will be seriously tested next week. Also of note: starting QB Anu Solomon left in the first half with an apparent concussion. His backup, Jerrard Randall, can't throw. 3rd stringer Brandon Dawkins got a few throws at the end, but I'm not sure what UA's plan would be if Solomon is out. If Randall is the guy, you'd imagine Stanford's defense approach might be similar against UA to what it was last week - focus on stopping the run and a very mobile quarterback, but not as concerned about the passing game. We will see. (Course as evidenced by UCLA dropping 56, Arizona's defense didn't appear to be much to write home about. Scooby Wright played his first game since returning from a knee injury - he didn't do much in the portion of the game I caught.)
-UCLA, even with the injuries, will be tricky. Part of their issue in previous years was an injury-plagued/shaky offensive line. Doesn't seem to be as much of a problem this year. Paul Perkins is a superstar, Rosen was quite good tonight, they have offensive weapon... and looks like they're still hanging in there on defense despite the injuries. They present a similar test to Arizona in that they have a very potent run game - and given the state of Stanford's front seven, it will be difficult for the Cardinal to stop when the teams meet next month.
-ASU gift wrapped USC some points with four turnovers, but they did take care of business against the Sun Devils, who were a trendy preseason playoff pick. Suffice it to say, that won't be happening. By the end of the year the win in the Coliseum should be a pretty darn impressive one. (Well, it already is, but it should have staying power.)
In the bigger picture, here's how I would tier the conference after today's results.
Utah
UCLA
Stanford
Cal
USC
Oregon
Arizona
Washington
Arizona State
Oregon State
Washington State
Colorado
