I'm really impressed with UW and Chris Petersen. Both did they look well coached and athletic. For a team as young as they are and they are close to Cal 2013 young, they are playing good football. I suspect the rest of the season is a struggle for them as their depth gets depleted and the youth gets more exposed but given how well they are playing already and the recruiting momentum they have, their future is really bright under CP.
Oregon is showing that many of us were wrong about their plug and play QB situation. Adams is hurt, didn't have enough time in the system to properly prepare and is too much of a riverboat gambler to keep the offense at an elite level. That said, I believe their offense will be solid the rest of the year. What's killing them is their defense. 2nd year without Aliotti and not enough horses on the DL or at DB.
USC has the most offensive talent in the country IMO. Their OL is VERY good. Kessler is an exceptional college quarterback and they have special talent at WR and RB. Their defense? Not so much. Some great pieces but plenty of holes. They need to step up on defense to become an elite team. Sarkisian is also a wildcard of inconsistency and if his teams reflect him the way his past teams have, they will lose 2 more conference games
I was dead wrong on ASU. They are a mess, primarily because of poor play on both lines. Their OL is a pass protection sieve giving up 14 sacks in only 157 attempts or nearly 10% of pass plays. And they don't have much in the way of run blocking. Their D line is better but not nearly as good as expected and their secondary has been awful.
UCLA is the best team in the Pac 12 through four games IMO. Despite a true frosh QB and tons of injuries on defense, they have the best combination of a stout OL and DL in the conference. That makes life easier for Rosen as he has a great running game and good pass protection to rely on. Defensively, they'll give up some big plays but they are generally stout. Will see how those injuries impact them down the line but right now they are the class of the conference IMO.
I think WSU is scary right now in the sense that we don't know much. They looked good on paper coming into the year and then laid an egg vs. PSU. They've since beaten two bad teams and not handily but they've shown signs of an improved running game and defense to go along with Leach's touted passing attack. Vegas thinks they suck and they very well might but I haven't seen enough to form an opinion. I don't like that their talent seems to be Leach's best and his back is against the wall.
Stanford has ZERO pass rush yet is still playing decent defense. Their run defense looks decent and while one would expect the lack of a pass rush to result in bad pass defense, they've found a way to be okay. Offensively, they are clearly better than we expected. They have skill talent and Hogan is playing well. I think they are very much alive and in the race to win the North.
Oregon State is a bad team. They are two years away from having a winning record in Pac 12 play. They are going to lose a lot of games this year.
Colorado is improved. Despite the opening loss to what we now know to be a decent Hawaii team, they are much better. Defense has been stout and the offense is finding itself. I like them to give Oregon a great game this week in Boulder. They will win 2-3 P12 games this year at least.
Arizona is a hot mess. If Anu doesn't get healthy, they are going to have a long season. Horrific pass defense is very Cal like in that they can stop the run but it doesn't matter as they can't stop the pass. Too many injuries here. They are a .500 team at best IMO
Utah as I said elsewhere is overrated IMO. They are not a great offensive or defense team yet they are winning. Exceptional STs, very few mental mistakes, good with turnovers and just enough on the OL and DL to play games tough. At home, I think they are going to be hard to beat but I don't see them not losing at least two Pac 12 games. Wilson is not a great QB and they lack the playmakers they've had in the past at WR and DB. They are 11th in the Pac 12 in yards per play on offense and yards per play given up on defense. That isn't going to win the Pac12 South.
Our Bears? We're okay but not great. Still don't see great confidence as evidenced in our inability to put teams away. Our athleticism on defense is average at best for a Power5 team, our STs are not good and our OL is inconsistent. That said, we've got some upside. I think the OL can become a lot better as the season progresses and that will make our offense lethal. Defensively, if Kragen, Johnson and Looney continue to play well, our DL will be solid. And Drew and White are on the cusp of having AP12 type seasons. I'm less worried about depth than I have been in a long time as well. I still don't see our defense finishing above 6th or 7th in yards per play allowed so for us to have a special season we're going to have to continue our good run on turnover margin and we're going to need to win some close games in the 4th quarter.
Oregon is showing that many of us were wrong about their plug and play QB situation. Adams is hurt, didn't have enough time in the system to properly prepare and is too much of a riverboat gambler to keep the offense at an elite level. That said, I believe their offense will be solid the rest of the year. What's killing them is their defense. 2nd year without Aliotti and not enough horses on the DL or at DB.
USC has the most offensive talent in the country IMO. Their OL is VERY good. Kessler is an exceptional college quarterback and they have special talent at WR and RB. Their defense? Not so much. Some great pieces but plenty of holes. They need to step up on defense to become an elite team. Sarkisian is also a wildcard of inconsistency and if his teams reflect him the way his past teams have, they will lose 2 more conference games
I was dead wrong on ASU. They are a mess, primarily because of poor play on both lines. Their OL is a pass protection sieve giving up 14 sacks in only 157 attempts or nearly 10% of pass plays. And they don't have much in the way of run blocking. Their D line is better but not nearly as good as expected and their secondary has been awful.
UCLA is the best team in the Pac 12 through four games IMO. Despite a true frosh QB and tons of injuries on defense, they have the best combination of a stout OL and DL in the conference. That makes life easier for Rosen as he has a great running game and good pass protection to rely on. Defensively, they'll give up some big plays but they are generally stout. Will see how those injuries impact them down the line but right now they are the class of the conference IMO.
I think WSU is scary right now in the sense that we don't know much. They looked good on paper coming into the year and then laid an egg vs. PSU. They've since beaten two bad teams and not handily but they've shown signs of an improved running game and defense to go along with Leach's touted passing attack. Vegas thinks they suck and they very well might but I haven't seen enough to form an opinion. I don't like that their talent seems to be Leach's best and his back is against the wall.
Stanford has ZERO pass rush yet is still playing decent defense. Their run defense looks decent and while one would expect the lack of a pass rush to result in bad pass defense, they've found a way to be okay. Offensively, they are clearly better than we expected. They have skill talent and Hogan is playing well. I think they are very much alive and in the race to win the North.
Oregon State is a bad team. They are two years away from having a winning record in Pac 12 play. They are going to lose a lot of games this year.
Colorado is improved. Despite the opening loss to what we now know to be a decent Hawaii team, they are much better. Defense has been stout and the offense is finding itself. I like them to give Oregon a great game this week in Boulder. They will win 2-3 P12 games this year at least.
Arizona is a hot mess. If Anu doesn't get healthy, they are going to have a long season. Horrific pass defense is very Cal like in that they can stop the run but it doesn't matter as they can't stop the pass. Too many injuries here. They are a .500 team at best IMO
Utah as I said elsewhere is overrated IMO. They are not a great offensive or defense team yet they are winning. Exceptional STs, very few mental mistakes, good with turnovers and just enough on the OL and DL to play games tough. At home, I think they are going to be hard to beat but I don't see them not losing at least two Pac 12 games. Wilson is not a great QB and they lack the playmakers they've had in the past at WR and DB. They are 11th in the Pac 12 in yards per play on offense and yards per play given up on defense. That isn't going to win the Pac12 South.
Our Bears? We're okay but not great. Still don't see great confidence as evidenced in our inability to put teams away. Our athleticism on defense is average at best for a Power5 team, our STs are not good and our OL is inconsistent. That said, we've got some upside. I think the OL can become a lot better as the season progresses and that will make our offense lethal. Defensively, if Kragen, Johnson and Looney continue to play well, our DL will be solid. And Drew and White are on the cusp of having AP12 type seasons. I'm less worried about depth than I have been in a long time as well. I still don't see our defense finishing above 6th or 7th in yards per play allowed so for us to have a special season we're going to have to continue our good run on turnover margin and we're going to need to win some close games in the 4th quarter.
