Pac 12 Power Rankings and Stockwatch for Week 2
The Chip Kelly Division
On paper, the Oregon – Michigan State game looked like a rare treat for college football fans. The Pac-12 and B1G preseason favorites facing off in September just doesn’t happen. In fact Michigan State had never been in a Top 10 battle in September in the entire history of their program.
And it wasn’t just two good teams. If styles make fights, this one looked to be incredible with last season’s best defense taking on the most explosive offense in college football.
But to close observers of the Pac-12 Saturday’s game looked awfully familiar. Each year, Oregon faces a high ranked team that comes in and plays the Ducks close for the first half, puffs out it’s chest thinking, “We’re right with these guys!”. Then, suddenly, the dynamite goes off and the challenger finds itself buried under an avalanche of 2nd half points.
Last season the #12 ranked Bruins came into Autzen with a defense loaded with NFL talent. The Bruins looked great, playing the Ducks to a 14-14 tie through 2 quarters. But in the 4th quarter, the dam broke and the Ducks scored three touchdowns in a span of 5 minutes. The Final score was an ugly 42-14.
The Ducks had similar games against #16 Oregon State in 2012, and #18 ASU in 2011. We tricked ourselves into thinking this MSU game might be different because the Spartans are built like the Stanford team that has kept the lid on the Ducks for the past two seasons.
The problem is, it took Stanford years to learn how to handle Oregon. Don’t forget, In 2010, and 2011. Top 10 ranked Stanford teams with outstanding defenses traded punches with the Ducks through one half. Both years the Ducks boat-raced them in the 2nd by a combined 59-14.
If Jim Harbaugh was watching the game on Saturday night, Oregon’s 28-3 2nd half domination of Sparty was a flashback to his time at The Farm.
It was a “welcome to the Pac-12” moment for the visiting Spartans and sent a message to the rest of the country that even if some teams in the Pac were starting slow, the top level of the conference is as good as anyone in the country.