Is it tougher, easier or about what you thought it would be?
I think Texas' collapse last week is misleading. The botched punt clearly broke the camel's back emotionally with the team as the rift between Mack recruits and Strong recruits became public and ugly. We still beat a team with great athletes and good coaches. We had the challenge of facing Heard without much if any film. Now that teams now he can't read progressions, they are dropping safeties deep to prevent the long ball to his fleet WRs and 7 guys are spying Heard to run. That's destroyed their O
SDSU looks "okay" but not good. I think UW is going to surprise folks however the frosh QB is going to limit the # of wins they get. Still, expect a lot of close games with the Dawgs this year. WSU looked like the Cougars we expected preseason on Saturday. I think they win 3-4 P12 games.
From here, Utah is better than expected although a 7 point dog to them on the road is likely not far off what most on here thought going into the season. Oregon and ASU look far worse than we expected. UCLA may be entering a rough patch now that teams have had time to scout Rosen and the injuries on defense are starting to be exploited. I think Stanford beats them soundly before we arrive on the scene.
USC is all offense, no defense, with a coach who is as inconsistent on the field as he is in his personal life. Oregon State is almost assuredly the worst team in the Pac 12 in 2015. Stanford looks better than most expected and I believe it's for real (to a point). Their OL is very good and they have enough skill position talent to score points, especially if they can wear you down. Their defense is more suspect than it's looked. Razor thin depth but an excellent scheme and a group that is very sound in what they do. I think they win a few more games in October before starting to fade in November. They land at good but not great IMO.
I believe we can beat every team on the schedule and we have no gimmees save perhaps for OSU. I like our depth and our QB leadership to finish strong but our OL will keep me awake at night.
I think Texas' collapse last week is misleading. The botched punt clearly broke the camel's back emotionally with the team as the rift between Mack recruits and Strong recruits became public and ugly. We still beat a team with great athletes and good coaches. We had the challenge of facing Heard without much if any film. Now that teams now he can't read progressions, they are dropping safeties deep to prevent the long ball to his fleet WRs and 7 guys are spying Heard to run. That's destroyed their O
SDSU looks "okay" but not good. I think UW is going to surprise folks however the frosh QB is going to limit the # of wins they get. Still, expect a lot of close games with the Dawgs this year. WSU looked like the Cougars we expected preseason on Saturday. I think they win 3-4 P12 games.
From here, Utah is better than expected although a 7 point dog to them on the road is likely not far off what most on here thought going into the season. Oregon and ASU look far worse than we expected. UCLA may be entering a rough patch now that teams have had time to scout Rosen and the injuries on defense are starting to be exploited. I think Stanford beats them soundly before we arrive on the scene.
USC is all offense, no defense, with a coach who is as inconsistent on the field as he is in his personal life. Oregon State is almost assuredly the worst team in the Pac 12 in 2015. Stanford looks better than most expected and I believe it's for real (to a point). Their OL is very good and they have enough skill position talent to score points, especially if they can wear you down. Their defense is more suspect than it's looked. Razor thin depth but an excellent scheme and a group that is very sound in what they do. I think they win a few more games in October before starting to fade in November. They land at good but not great IMO.
I believe we can beat every team on the schedule and we have no gimmees save perhaps for OSU. I like our depth and our QB leadership to finish strong but our OL will keep me awake at night.
