Hotline fan survey: Oregon State’s ascent is the top story of the Pac-12 football season thus far
The Pac-12 has generated enough news after two months to last a full season.
Perhaps a full season and an offseason.
From the on-field performances to the off-field developments, including the termination of two head coaches, the Hotline has attempted to cover it all. But we wanted to know what you think.
So late Saturday night, the Hotline published a poll on Twitter and asked fans to vote for the No. 1 story thus far in the 2021 Pac-12 football season.
Because Twitter polls don’t allow for more than four options, we had to choose carefully and combine topics that ideally would have been separated.
The categories were:
1. “Rolovich firing”
On Oct. 18, Washington State fired coach Nick Rolovich after he failed to comply with the state vaccine mandate. All higher education employees were required to get vaccinated by Oct. 18 or receive an exemption on religious or medical grounds. Rolovich refused the shot, and his religious exemption request was denied. In addition, WSU dismissed four assistant coaches who also failed to comply with Gov. Jay Inslee’s mandate.
2. “Oregon State’s rise”
The Beavers are the biggest on-field surprise after collecting their first win at USC in 61 years and first victory over Washington in a decade. Picked to finish fifth in the North, they are 5-2 overall, 3-1 in conference play and tied with Oregon. They have the No. 7 running game in the country, an impressive young quarterback in Chance Nolan and control of their own fate in the division.
3. “UW/USC woes”
A combined entry to account for the demise of two Pac-12 favorites. The Trojans fired Clay Helton in the middle of September and named Donte Williams the interim coach but have thus far failed to turn their season around: They’re 3-4 overall with a series of lopsided home losses. Meanwhile, the Huskies began Year Two under Jimmy Lake with a shocking loss to Montana and have since stumbled against Michigan, Oregon State and UCLA. Their defense is wobbly; their offense is even worse. And the fans are ready to revolt.
4. “Non-conference results”
A broad entry to cover the full range of outcomes, including Oregon’s stirring victory at Ohio State in Week Two and all the losses: to Montana and Northern Arizona, to the Mountain West and to Brigham Young (four times!). Overall, the Pac-12 is just 15-17 in non-conference play, with an 8-15 mark against FBS opponents.
With those four questions, we attempted to cover everything of significance on the field.
Here’s what we didn’t include: The death of Utah defensive back Aaron Lowe, from a gunshot, in late September. In our judgment, it wasn’t appropriate to include real tragedy in a Twitter poll about football matters that are, by comparison, trivial.
The poll was active until Monday and generated 38,000 impressions, according to Twitter analytics.
It received 4,212 votes.
The results:
1. Oregon State’s rise: 35.4%
2. Rolovich firing: 24.6%
3. USC, Washington struggles: 23.6%
4. Non-conference results: 16.4%
And with six weeks remaining in the regular season, there assuredly will be more major news to come.
Still to be resolved:
— The outcome of the NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations by Arizona State. (Given the standard pace of NCAA justice, resolution might come after the season.)
— Oregon’s pursuit of a College Football Playoff bid: If they win out, the Ducks would be well-positioned to break the Pac-12’s four-year drought.
— Arizona’s losing streak: The Wildcats have dropped 18 in a row, the longest active streak in the nation. (Last win: Oct. 5, 2019, at Colorado.)
— Hiring decisions by USC and/or Washington State, which are likely to come in the first half of December.
— Expansion of the College Football Playoff, which will have a momentous impact on the conference’s future.
And let’s not ignore the potential for news that we haven’t conceived of.
If September and October were any indication, the stretch run should be wild.
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