Saturday Night Five: No Meyer is no problem for USC, best 9 a.m. option for ’21, Stanford’s twist, NFL exits and more
Instant reaction for Pac-12 developments on and off the field …
(My apologies for the publication delay.)
1. No-brainer for 9 a.m.
The Pac-12 could be a week or two away from releasing the 2021 football schedule. If past is precedent, it won’t include the kickoff times — only the weekly matchups.
Which means we probably won’t know if any 9 a.m. games are planned.
But one should be.
UCLA’s early-September duel with LSU in the Rose Bowl is an obvious candidate — arguably the best candidate on the entire non-conference schedule — for the ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ slot on FOX.
Chip Kelly is one of several Pac-12 coaches who have expressed a willingness to play early, and the Bruins will be coming off a home game on Aug. 28 (Hawaii), so there would be no issue with condensed prep time.
Although tough for fans, the 9 a.m. start would avoid the afternoon heat in Pasadena for players and spectators.
What’s more, it works for LSU fans watching in the Central Time Zone and would get the Tigers home at a reasonable hour.
Of course, FOX needs to secure the rights to the game — we don’t know the FOX/ESPN selection order for that weekend — and it must determine that UCLA-LSU is the best option.
In that regard, it’s worth noting that Ohio State, a darling of the ‘Big Noon’ window, isn’t available: The Buckeyes play on Thursday of that week.
Over in the Big 12, the best ‘Big Noon’ draws, Texas and Oklahoma, are scheduled to face Group of Five opponents.
From our vantage point, the top options for FOX are either UCLA-LSU or Penn State-Wisconsin.
The rare chance to show the Tigers might be one the network cannot ignore, if both programs are agreeable.
For the Pac-12, it’s an easy call.
2. Stanford did what?
The Hotline is rarely surprised by anything related to college football, but we never expected to see the day Stanford allowed high school signees to join the program as early enrollees, in time for spring practice.
Every other program in the Pac-12 does it. The extra time on campus generally and the spring practice experience specifically can accelerate a freshman’s readiness to contribute in the fall.
Stanford was the Pac-12’s lone holdout — at least until Tuesday, when the school announced incoming quarterback Ari Patu and safety Jaden Slocum would enroll in time for the spring quarter and (presumably) participate in the second half of spring practice.
In the news release, athletic director Bernard Muir explained that the “disruptions caused by COVID-19 and the nontraditional 2020-21 academic calendar provided a unique opportunity.”
There was zero indication that this would become standard procedure for freshmen, but the university has lost the high ground.
Since forever, Stanford insisted that football players be treated like all other students.
But after allowing football to relocate for three weeks in order to complete a season during a pandemic — and that was the right thing to do, by the way — existing norms have been shattered.
And if that shattering leads to changes that strengthen the football program’s competitive profile, what’s the harm?
3. Urban legend no more
Urban Meyer is off the market, and that’s good news for USC.
Yes, good news.
A faction of the Trojan fan base is undoubtedly disappointed now that there is less-than-zero chance of Meyer replacing Clay Helton after the 2021 season.
But Meyer was always a long shot … the longest shot … to take the USC job.
He knew the university was not prepared to make the commitment (of resources and soul) that would meet his demands.
And the university knew Meyer would require a level of control that it was not prepared to give.
Institutionally, USC in 2021 is not the USC of 2001. And it’s certainly not the USC of 1971.
The middle ground — the point of minimum acceptance for both Meyer and the administration — was never realistic.
As a result, a contractual relationship was unattainable.
But as long as Meyer was a free agent, as long as his name was cited on message boards and his face was visible on the FOX studio show, a segment of the Trojans fan base was willing to believe in miracles.
His mere existence as a possible candidate ratcheted up the scrutiny on Clay Helton to perform and the pressure on the school to make a change, any change, so long as it happened yesterday.
The scrutiny and pressure won’t disappear with Meyer officially off the market.
USC fans have a right to demand a level of success that has proven elusive under Helton (and Lane Kiffin, and Steve Sarkisian).
But now that the green light at the end of USC’s dock has been extinguished forever, the possibility exists for a reasonable reckoning, if and when it comes.
4. Deadline approaches.
The NFL Draft’s early-entry deadline is Monday.
Barring a last-minute exodus, the Pac-12 will emerge in reasonable shape.
Here’s the current (and unofficial) list of players who participated in the 2020 season and have since declared for the draft.
(We did not include seniors, who had the option to return thanks to the NCAA’s eligibility waiver.)
Arizona: none
Arizona State: S Aashari Crosswell
Cal: none
Colorado: none
Oregon: none
Oregon State: TB Jermar Jefferson and CB Nahshon Wright
Stanford: QB Davis Mills, C Drew Dalman, OT Foster Sarell and WR Simi Fehoko
UCLA: TB Demetric Felton and DL Osa Odighizuwa
USC: S Talanoa Hufanga, DL Marlon Tuipulotu, DB Olaijah Griffin, OT Alijah Vera-Tucker and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
Utah: none
Washington: one
Washington State: none
The list does not include players who declared for the draft prior to the season, including Oregon all-everything tackle Penei Sewell. But the overall impact could be modest, with the exceptions of USC and Stanford.
That reflects the product on the field in the fall — a limited amount of NFL-ready talent — but raises the ceiling for 2021, which stands as a critical season for the conference.
5. Unmatched QB pipeline
The Packers-Rams duel on Saturday marked just the seventh time in the Super Bowl era that quarterbacks who ended their careers at the same school went on to meet in the NFL playoffs.
We’re referring, of course, to Cal’s Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff.
Not only did they play for Cal, they’re from California: Rodgers grew up in Chico, Goff in Marin.
But our quick trace of California’s quarterback pipeline doesn’t end there …
— Half of the eight starters in the NFL’s divisional round are from the Golden State: In addition to Rodgers and Goff, Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady is from the Bay Area, while Buffalo’s Josh Allen grew up in the Central Valley, near Fresno.
— At the college level, three 2021 national title contenders will start quarterbacks from Southern California: Georgia (J.T. Daniels), Clemson (DJ Uiagalelei) and Alabama (Bryce Young). And a fourth, Ohio State, could do the same (CJ Stroud).
— Meanwhile, the top returning quarterback (statistically) in the SEC is a Californian: Mississippi’s Matt Corral, who led an offense that averaged 40 points per game this season, is from famed Long Beach Poly.
— In the current high school senior class, two of the top-10 quarterbacks are from the state: Tyler Buchner (La Jolla), who’s headed to Notre Dame, and Miller Moss (Million Hills), who’s bound for USC.
— And there are two more top-10 recruits in the junior class: Maalik Murphy (Gardena), an uncommitted five-star prospect, and AJ Duffy (Moreno Valley), who has pledged to Oregon.
At every level of the sport, it seems, the California QB pipeline is as influential as ever.
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