I’m not a coach or player in the Pac-12 Conference, therefore based on the expertise of Oregon Offensive Coordinator Scott Frost, I’m truly incapable of an opinion regarding anything on or around the football field.
However, in spite of the evidence stacked against me, I’m going to take a shot a handful of things I believe to be true about the power conference closest to our home.
Wish me luck.
First, Jim Mora and Todd Graham are dead to me until one or both manage to meet preseason expectations…once. If these guys are so good, how is it that seemingly every year they’re picked to win or compete for championships, but fail to do so? With their coaching reputations, coupled with the inherent recruiting advantages that come with both UCLA and Arizona State, it matters that they’ve failed to win anything of note. Mora is 36-14 in his first four years at UCLA, is 22-12 in the conference, and has never lost fewer than 3 games in any season. Graham is 33-17 at ASU, has the same 22-12 conference record, and this season his Sun Devils stand at 5-5, 3-4 in conference, amidst a year some picked them to make it into college football’s championship playoff. Until either of them prove worthy of the praise they continuously get, I’ll stick with the Oregon and Stanford’s of the conference as the only real national competition.
Second, Oregon is stacked at running back. Royce Freeman may be the best back in the conference, Kani Benoit and true freshman Taj Griffin have been spectacular in relief, Tony Brooks-James is a 4-star redshirt freshman who can’t get on the field, and they have a commitment from 4-star back Vavae Malepeai, who just became the all-time leading rusher in the history of Hawaii high school football. Oh, and if Thomas Tyner chooses to come back next year, you can throw him into the mix as well.
Pass Interference (PI) calls are out of control. I feel for these defensive backs, because it appears they literally can do nothing to defend a pass in the game today. Watch a game, any game and you’ll see DB’s called for PI for simply trying to cover a guy. These things are happening nationwide, but as an example, in last week’s Stanford/Oregon game, Duck defensive backs were twice called for pass interference on fade routes when replay showed no violation occurred. These fade routes are a joke; the receiver simply needs to body-up the DB, push him off while the balls in the air, and he either makes the catch or is the recipient of a PI call. The offensive player can use his hands to create separation, but the defensive player can’t create any contact without an immediate flag. Who doesn’t hold their breath seconds after every pass-break-up? And who else is surprised when it doesn’t warrant a flag? Something needs to change.
Next, Oregon State’s rebuild appears a bit more complex than even new coach Gary Anderson could’ve expected. They are young, but I don’t think anyone outside of the program truly knew just how lacking they were from a talent standpoint.
Continuing, the 2015 version of the Pac-12 Conference lacks a great team. A bunch of good/capable teams, but nary a great one worthy of this year’s college football playoff. Sure, there are a few teams who could hang if you threw them into the mix, but truly great teams don’t lack the consistency and fortitude that all of this year’s teams seem to. Yes, the league has cannibalized itself to a point, but the depth isn’t so great that a worthy team like an Oregon or Stanford of recent years, couldn’t have made their way through unscathed. It’s just not the Pac-12’s year, and I’m fine with that.
And, quarterbacks matter. Oregon might be 9-1 even with that defense if not for Vernon Adams’ broken finger. Utah would be a legit national contender if they had an above-average quarterback. Washington’s Jake Browning has been pretty good for a true freshman, but even his struggles have left the Huskies for the most part inept offensively. And Arizona looked like an entirely different team last week after Anu Solomon was knocked from the game with a concussion. This isn’t really news, but every year seems to cement the reality that if – barring an elite defense – you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have a chance in today’s game of football.
Lastly, Colorado is getting better. Forget the fact they’ve got some wins this year, the Buffaloes simply look more like a legitimate football team. They’ve been competitive in the majority of their games, and if not for losing their quarterback during last week’s game versus USC, I think it’s relatively safe to say they would’ve upset the Trojans in Boulder. I’m not a CU fan, but it’s necessary that they at least become viable in this conference.
There you have it, a handful of observations based simply on what I’ve seen over the course of the last couple of months. But then again, what do I know?
Right, Scott?
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