Saturday Night Five: Chaos continues as Washington falls, Stanford and Arizona rise (and UCLA does UCLA things)
Insta-reaction to Pac-12 developments on and off the field …
1. The conference without a top.
Regular readers of the Hotline are no doubt aware that I was skeptical of the Pac-12’s chances for a playoff berth before the season and have only become more deeply entrenched in that sentiment through the season’s opening month.
And Saturday provided all necessary proof:
Could the (purported) top teams in the North possibly have looked more ordinary?
Washington pulled another no-show at Stanford Stadium — a miserable performance in which the 17-point favorite played like a 17-point underdog and was out-gained 482-294.
I’m not sure it was the worst performance of the Chris Petersen era, but it was the worst performance of the fully-matured Chris Petersen era (i.e., 2016+).
UW’s offense was underwhelming, and the defense apparently stayed in Seattle to continue celebrating the win over USC.
And the Huskies are one of the top teams in the conference?
Meanwhile, Oregon did its best to lose at home as a heavy favorite.
The Ducks misfired repeatedly in the first half (three turnovers, red zone malfunctions, general inefficiency) and eventually beat Cal only because the visitors had less-than-zero offense.
And semblance of competence from Devon Modster and Co. in the second half, and the Ducks would have been pushed to the wire.
In other words, the Ducks were wholly unimpressive against an outmanned — but not out-coached — opponent.
The Pac-12 continues to either gobble itself whole or take large chunks of flesh on a weekly basis.
The end result is a conference that has a strong middle — it’s arguably as strong as any middle in the Power Five, save the SEC — but no apparent top.
The parity makes for fabulous theatre and would be viewed more positively in a former era, back before conferences were judged by their ability to place teams in the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six.
Put another way: Oregon State is tied for second in the North.
That’s right: Oregon State is tied for second in the North.
It’s okay to love it and hate it at the same time.
2. Meanwhile: Arizona’s in first place in the South.
There are two undefeated teams in conference play.
One of them is Oregon (4-1/2-0).
The other lost to Hawaii.
If you had Arizona (4-1/2-0) ripping off four consecutive wins after the face plant in Honolulu, well, you’re smarter than the Hotline.
Credit the Wildcats on multiple fronts, because they’ve pieced together the winning streak in multiple ways.
They beat Texas Tech with defense, they beat UCLA with defense and a rookie quarterback, and they beat Colorado with the offense we expected to see all along, just not the way we expected to see it.
Khalil Tate threw for 404 yards today in a 35-30 victory, while the vaunted running game was quiet (83 yards).
(Tate now has a 400-yard passing game and a 300-yard rushing game in Folsom Field.)
The Wildcats’ defense did what was required for victory, but we’re not prepared to conclude the problems on that side of scrimmage have been solved:
Colorado scored 30 points and gained 496 yards without Laviska Shenault.
But clearly, the unit has improved over the past month under Marcel Yates, and the added bulk to the interior line is noticeable.
3. Life on the Farm.
In this space a few weeks ago, the Hotline wondered where Stanford had gone.
The Cardinal was 1-3 after a punchless loss to Oregon; it was struggling on offense, wasn’t much better on defense and appeared to have serious dearth of playmakers.
After victories over Oregon State and Washington … we still haven’t seen the Cardinal that dominated the conference from 2012-15.
That bully is gone and might not ever be back, but the current version is showing life and has hauled itself into the postseason picture:
Win three of its last six, and Stanford will go bowling for the 11th consecutive season.
Coach David Shaw swapped out some of the personnel, and the changes include quarterback.
With K.J. Costello unable to play (thumb), Davis Mills has taken charge of the offense.
All he did was carve up one of the top defenses in the conference, with 293 passing yards against the Huskies.
4. Westwood woes.
The top off-the-field news this week came from Pullman, where Washington State defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys resigned during the Cougars’ off week.
“The defense has struggled and I am responsible,” he wrote on Twitter. “We couldn’t agree on solutions so the SPEED D is better with new leadership!”
Those struggles include the epic meltdown against UCLA (50 points allowed in 19 minutes), the crash-and-burn at Utah (38 points, 526 yards), and the show-stopping comments from Mike Leach.
Leach called the Cougars “fat, dumb and happy and entitled” — also: “soft” — and the guess here is that he wasn’t referring to the players on his side of the ball.
Once that comment left Leach’s mouth and entered the ether, Claeys’ days were numbered.
But Claeys isn’t the only veteran defensive coordinator whose unit has underperformed.
UCLA needs to take a long, long look at everything coordinator Jerry Azzinaro is attempting to accomplish, because nothing is working.
The Bruins were sliced and diced by Oregon State in a 48-31 loss this evening that dropped their record to 1-5.
Yep, the Bruins lost at home to Oregon State by 17 points, and the only reason it wasn’t a complete embarrassment is because nobody was in the Rose Bowl to see it.
Kelly is responsible for all that ails the Bruins — and there is plenty ailing the Bruins, starting with a noticeable lack of passion.
But we’d place Azzinaro’s performance as defensive coordinator near the top of the list.
Points and yards by UCLA’s last four opponents:
Oklahoma: 48 and 448Washington State: 63 and 720Arizona: 20 and 451 (rookie QB)Oregon State: 48 and 448Total yards allowed: 2,230
Kelly and Azzinaro have been together for many years and many stops (Oregon, the NFL, now Westwood), and we do not expect a mid-season change.
But come the offseason, something has to change with that unit.
5. Almost at the turn.
For those interested, the Hotline will publish its Pac-12 midseason awards … in two weeks.
Only four teams have reached the midpoint of their seasons, so we’ll wait until the week of Oct. 14 to roll out the accolades.
But before we close this column, here’s something to ponder:
The coach of the midseason is …?
The offensive player of the midseason is …?
Neither category is clear, which perfectly symbolizes the season on a broader canvass.
The dominant themes are 1) injuries to star players (especially quarterbacks) and 2) the parity.
That combination has left everything muddled.
It’s okay to love it and hate it at the same time.
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