Pac-12 roundup: I was just joking about Utah carrying this conference

by JazzyUte on Sep 22, 2011 10:31 PM MDT in Football

Saturday, before the Utah-BYU game, I jokingly sent out the following tweet in response to the lopsided losses UCLA and Washington saw in their out of conference games:

Just joking guys, really

Obviously this was just a joke. I mean, c'mon now, Utah isn't going to carry the Pac-12 Conference.

Unfortunately, at least Saturday, I wasn't that far off. The Utes, by far, had the best performance of any Pac-12 team in out of conference play, rolling their rivals 54-10 on their home field.

Washington eventually fell to Nebraska and UCLA was completely embarrassed by Texas. To top the night off, Arizona State, the perceived top team in the Pac-12 South, stumbled against Ron Zook and Illinois.

It wouldn't be so damning if, you know, the Illini weren't coached by Ron Zook.

Zook_medium

Yeah, that guy...

Though SC easily beat Syracuse, in the games that mattered, roadies against BCS opponents and solid programs, the conference kind of took it on the chin last weekend.

The Pac-12 Power Poll after the jump...

Team of the Week: Utah. Hard not to slot the Utes here after their 54-10 drubbing of BYU Saturday.

Team of the Weak: UCLA. Remember last year when the Bruins went on the road and upended a ranked Texas team? Yeah, well, so do the Longhorns. They returned the favor by absolutely destroying UCLA 49-20 in a near-empty (at least it looked and sounded that way) Rose Bowl.

As they like to say, paybacks are a...

Pac-12 North:

1. Stanford Cardinal (3-0) - Not quite as polished as last year's squad, but still pretty damn impressive.

2. Oregon Ducks (2-1) - This offense clicks well when it's not going up against SEC defenses.

3. Washington Huskies (2-1) - Kept their game close against Nebraska before wilting away during an awful third quarter.

4. California Golden Bears (3-0) - I don't know quite what to make of Cal. They're undefeated, but haven't played anyone. That changes, though, this Saturday as they face Washington.

5. Washington St. Cougars (2-1) - Looked poised for an unexpected 3-0 start. Unfortunately, returned to old selves in the fourth quarter of their roadie against San Diego State.

6. Oregon St. Beavers (0-2) - Hopefully that bye week helped the Beavers, who host UCLA in a must-win contest.

Pac-12 South:

1. USC Trojans (3-0) - Hard not to put an undefeated Trojans team here. But they've lucked out with three straight home games to start the season.

2. Utah Utes (2-1) - The Utes looked impressive in their victory over BYU Saturday. But that win means absolutely nothing in the Pac-12 standings.

3. Arizona St. Sun Devils (2-1) - I think we've just got to concede that the Sun Devils are not bound for greatness.

4. Arizona Wildcats (1-2) - The Wildcats are on the verge of losing control of their season. It doesn't get any easier with Oregon coming to town.

5. Colorado Buffaloes (1-2) - The Buffs are riding high after defeating instate rival Colorado State. Now comes the daunting task of playing Ohio State in Columbus.

6. UCLA Bruins (1-2) - So, who's gonna be the Bruins' next head coach? How 'bout bringing back Rocky Long?

Game of the Week: USC @ Arizona State. The Sun Devils can't afford to drop a game here if they're serious about contending for the Pac-12 South.

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Comments

I’m withholding my confidence until three or four weeks into the remaining stretch. The team has been solid, but I want to see a win in a tough fought, well played game.

For some reason I’ve been looking forward to the Washington game more than any other besides SC. Rice Eccles is going to be LOUD and I’m excited for the atmosphere. First Pac 12 game in Utah, then will it truly settle in that we are finally here.

by UtahUte16 on Sep 22, 2011 10:44 PM MDT reply actions

I'm not completely sold on Utah, either...

But I’ve liked their play the last two weeks. This team just feels different from last year’s.

by JazzyUte on Sep 22, 2011 10:54 PM MDT up reply actions

This team is different.

First off they don’t wilt under pressure as we learned against USC.
We also learned that they can get over a tough loss.

And probably most importantly this seems to be a second half team who gets better not only as the game goes by, but seems, through three weeks, to be getting better as the season goes on.

by UnHoly Ram on Sep 23, 2011 8:42 AM MDT up reply actions

This year vrs. last year

I think to me the biggest difference between this year and last year is the defense. Last year we hardly had any big plays, any take-aways. This year we look like the 08 team on defense. That 08 team offense didn’t really take off the third quarter of the OSU game. Even then they only looked great on offense twice (BYU, Alabama).

This defense really excites me.

by JoeBountiful on Sep 23, 2011 1:32 PM MDT up reply actions

Washington hosts the Bears, not the other way around.

by Ute in DC on Sep 22, 2011 10:49 PM MDT reply actions

Thanks!

by JazzyUte on Sep 22, 2011 10:50 PM MDT up reply actions

Just scored some tickets to the Washington game

SWEET. I got suckered for $80, but well worth it for the tickets I got.

by jim2 on Sep 23, 2011 9:23 AM MDT reply actions

Definately games to keep our eyes on this week

Obviously, for the fans, USC and AZ. State will be a big focus. If USC pulls it off, then thats good for Utah. If AZ. State wins (and I think they will), then it sets up a big showdown in two weeks.

Want to see someone really get their brain twisted up? Try explaining the Monty Hall problem to them....

by BigBenSportsGuy on Sep 23, 2011 9:24 AM MDT reply actions

What a pleasure

To read about the U in the company of these teams. It makes my morning coffee that much better.

Soon I’ll be watching my other alma mater in the ACC. Well in basketball.

by LeftCoastMan on Sep 23, 2011 9:24 AM MDT via iPhone app reply actions

Google search d-bag and that dude showsupp

Yay were #1 twice

by aUTmanAMi on Sep 23, 2011 12:30 PM MDT via mobile reply actions

I certainly don’t mean to argue with your rankings or anything, and this comment isn’t born of sour grapes of feeling butt-hurt from lack of respect, but your comment about Cal seemed to not jibe with your otherwise well-informed content:

“I don’t know quite what to make of Cal. They’re undefeated, but haven’t played anyone.”

Not for nothing, but Fresno State had about as good a showing against Nebraska as UW did, and Cal beat them pretty easily. And despite shitting the bed against Hawai’i, Colorado looks much better than they did last year, and Cal beat them in Folsom.

Of course, this Saturday will be pretty informative for both the Bears and Huskies. But your rationalization of not knowing what to make of Cal could easily apply to UW. They haven’t actually beaten anyone of merit yet, and only lost to a Nebraska team that itself could be described as not having yet played anyone.

I’m just sayin …

Being an Old Blue means never accepting success.

by SoCal Oski on Sep 23, 2011 1:11 PM MDT reply actions

Fair enough...

What I do know is…

Fresno State struggled just as much against a FCS school as they played well against Nebraska two weeks ago. So I really do believe we don’t know much about Cal. The Bulldogs are not the same team that built itself into BCS buster in the early-to-mid 00s and have been pretty mediocre the last five or so seasons under Pat Hill.

But your own post pretty much sums up what I said – though maybe with a bit more positive spin.

Is Colorado good? Good enough to beat the Rams, of course, but they were good enough to do that last year, too. It didn’t amount to much (5-win season). Other than that, they lost, at home, to Cal, and didn’t contend very well against a Hawaii team that got its butt kicked by UNLV – who, mind you, looked worse against Washington State than they did Wisconsin.

So I do stand by my statement that we don’t know much about Cal. They might be undefeated, but their schedule ranks 137th according to Sagarin.

Beat Washington and I’ll quickly change my tune and start believing Cal’s record is more a product of good play and not a favorable schedule.

by JazzyUte on Sep 23, 2011 1:52 PM MDT up reply actions

But you're right. We don't know much about Washington, either...

They struggled against Eastern Washington, beat a meh Hawaii team, and played Nebraska straight up for a half.

I think Cal and Washington, at the moment, are interchangeable.

by JazzyUte on Sep 23, 2011 2:08 PM MDT up reply actions

Like I said, my comment wasn’t based on offense at all. If anything, it’s more based on the fact that you tend to have some pretty knowledgable stuff here, so for you to just say you don’t know much about Cal suggested to me that you either couldn’t be bothered, or hadn’t seen anything of note on which to form any opinion.

Both of which are fair.

But, here’s what we know about Cal: We’re much improved at QB. Oh, sure, Maynard may toss a pick a game, but honeybadger don’t give a shit, he keeps throwing and running backwards and eating snakes.

We also know that the run defense is just nasty good, but the passing D can be susceptible.

Anyway, carry on …

Being an Old Blue means never accepting success.

by SoCal Oski on Sep 23, 2011 4:08 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs

I hope Cal is worse than Washington...

@ Cal is going to be a much harder game than home v. Washington…

…when you factor in that Whit has never lost after a bye, & it’s homecoming.

…whereas @ Cal will be following @ Pitt. Quite the road swing.

P.S. How is playing in Pac Bell Park…or whatever they’re calling it these days. Has it affected the “home field advantage” in any way, in your estimation?

by Middy_U on Sep 23, 2011 4:14 PM MDT up reply actions

PacBellSBCAT&T Park

Presbyterian last weekend was the first at AT&T(FSU was at Candlestick) and it felt like a spring scrimmage with a flyover but it would have felt that way anywhere. Stadium seats ~45K configured for football with the sideline bleachers they put in center/right field. Much smaller than old Memorial (72K) but the biggest issue is that it’s just not home. Cal practiced at Memorial before the renovation so it was more than just their stadium it’s where they spent all their time.

A partisan home crowd, no plane travel or time/weather change, the student section(moved to the end zone from the 50 for this season only), the band, the visiting fans in an upper deck corner, homer PA announcer… theoretically every home field advantage is intact but it won’t be the same. Can’t wait for 2012.

by OskiGoDumb on Sep 24, 2011 3:49 AM MDT up reply actions

I guess I didn't articulate myself very well...

I didn’t mean I didn’t know anything about them. I meant, at this point in the season, I don’t know how good they are. Are they 3-0 solely because of their 137th ranked schedule or are they vastly improved over last year’s 5-7 team?

Right now, there isn’t much body of work evidence for me to say definitively whether this is a good team, a very good team or a team feasting on bad opponents.

I don’t think that’s too negative of opinion. As I said, Washington should give us a better idea of what this team is really made of and whether they’re going to make some noise in the Pac-12 North.

by JazzyUte on Sep 23, 2011 5:36 PM MDT up reply actions