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Can Pac-12 regroup after disappointing Week 1?

By Brenton Lillie

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After a brutal opening weekend for many Pac-12 fans, can the conference bounce back against more tough competition in Week 2?

There were plenty of big games for the Pac-12 conference during the opening weekend of college football, but with Utah being the lone exception, it was a mostly disappointing performance by west coast teams. The Utes handled the new look Michigan Wolverines, now coached by Jim Harbaugh, but that win was overshadowed by the debacles suffered by Arizona State, Stanford, and Washington State.

First, the Stanford Cardinal came out and laid an egg against a lower tier Big Ten team in the Northwestern Wildcats, losing 16-6, and putting their head coach David Shaw on the hot seat before conference play even starts. While the defense gave up 138 years to Wildcat running back Justin Jackson, it was the offense that looked really ugly.

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An inability to get into the end zone, a problem through most of last season, popped up again despite senior quarterback Kevin Hogan running the team. Worse, Shaw again played ultra-conservative, at one time punting from the enemy 37 yard line on a manageable fourth and five.

Good teams go for it in that situation, especially given that the defense is the strength of the team. Instead, the Cardinal punted away, kicking the ball into the end zone for a touchback and a net gain of just 17 yards.

Luckily, Shaw and the Cardinal have an easy game against a woeful University of Central Florida team upcoming. The UCF Knights lost to even more woeful Florida International over the weekend, and are the perfect opponent for a reeling Stanford team.

However, if Shaw does not stop punting on the other side of the 50-yard line, and if Hogan cannot get the ball down the field, then it will not matter who the Cardinal play. Still, this week will offer a reprieve, and a good showing will help the reputation of both the Cardinal and the conference.

In another “get well game”, the Arizona State Sun Devils will welcome the juggernaut of the college football world, Cal Poly, into Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday after the disaster that befell their team in Houston.

The Sun Devils were dominated by the Texas A&M Aggies in a brutal four-quarter beat down. Poor pass protection, ill-timed fumbles, abysmal special teams play, and unimaginative play-calling led to the worst loss by a Pac-12 team in recent memory. While fans of the program take heart in the fact that many of the issues seem fixable, the glorified scrimmage against Cal Poly will do little to wash away the bad taste of a bad loss in a big game.

Speaking of a bad loss, how bout them Cougars?

Washington State team hosted Portland State last Saturday and promptly lost, 24-17. This is an embarrassing loss, but not unprecedented in the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon State Beavers have played terribly against their FCS regional cousins for years. No one expected the Cougars to be world beaters this season, but most hoped for at least a respectable squad capable of testing the power teams for at least a half.

Instead, the program has stayed in the immutable depths of despair with their performance. Their season is most likely lost, and the Cougars will drag down the conference’s reputation even farther.

There is still a chance, though, that Washington State can help turn things around in their upcoming trip to Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are not a good program, and turmoil surrounds the program after some off-field incidents. If the Cougars can summon their inner strength and pull a surprising upset, then perhaps they could lift their program out of irrelevance.

Of course, there are games in week two that are from irrelevant. Oregon travels to East Lansing, Michigan, to face off against the No. 5 Michigan State Spartans in what is the biggest game of the weekend. The Ducks played a tougher than it should have been game against Eastern Washington in week 1, and while Oregon eventually ran their opponent off the field, it was not the greatest showing.

Still, all the signs were there of a trap game, as the Ducks were certainly looking ahead to the Spartans, while the Eagles of Eastern Washington had all the motivation they needed and then some, playing against a national power featuring a quarterback in Vernon Adams disliked by the team after he transferred from the Eagles program. The hope is that now the Ducks will be focused and ready to prove that they are still the class of the conference. A big win here and the disappointing losses the conference suffered in week one will be forgotten.

West coast football fans need not fret just yet over the state of the conference, as it is a long season still ahead. Sure, some of the hype has been tempered by poor performances, but there are just as many good surprises in store.

No one saw the performance of UCLA and was disappointed. Josh Rosen and the Bruins look like playoff contenders right now. USC also looked fantastic while stomping Arkansas State. The Cal Golden Bears lit up Grambling State for 76 points and feature a dark horse Heisman candidate in Jared Goff.

The conference will be just fine. It is more the media, and Kirk Herbstreit, who could be in trouble with their poor predictions.

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