kirklandduck

Ok so the drama never stops apparently. After UNLV and SJSU seemingly reaffirmed their commitment to the MWC, UNLV now appears to be reconsidering after watching Utah State commit to the Pac-6. They are expected to restart talks with the Pac soon. Sources: UNLV exploring options after Utah State joins Pac-12 - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM UNLV is expected to reengage in conversations with the Pac-12 after its commitment to the Mountain West earlier in the day was not formalized, sources told ESPN

Both the Pac and the MWC are in weirdly similar spots now. I read somewhere that the MWC's current media deal expires in just 20 months so both conferences are in a grey area where negotiating new rates are tricky given that the rosters are in flux. That puts both in the position of providing "estimates" and "theoretical" media rates to prospective members which doesn't provide much confidence for joining either. Utah State sounds like they're going to join the Pac while UNLV and SJSU are rumored to stick to the MWC. This puts either conference at 7 members at the moment.

I was skeptical of those far flung AAC schools joining...they're G5 schools with much lower budgets than any P4 school so the cost impact of all that potential long distance travel is much higher for them (plus the exit fees from the AAC are high). Apparently now UNLV and Utah State are the primary focus but there are a ton of local politics in play for UNLV that may get in the way.

Looks like the Pac has stalled! Memphis, Tulane, USF, UTSA commit to AAC amid Pac-12 interest - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Some of the highest-profile targets of the Pac-12's expansion have rebuffed its interest, as Memphis, Tulane, USF and UTSA all publicly committed to stay in the American Athletic Conference on... I think their attention will now turn towards UNLV for the market and geographic sense. However the MWC has added money to the pot to keep it's remaining members home.

There's so much talent in the WR group that I think it can't be helped that the ball has to be spread around as much as possible. That being said we should see some great individual performances in different games due to the situational matchups.

I think Georgia will win too. DeBoer is only a few games into his 1st year at Alabama so his systems and schemes are still in the middle of being implemented while Smart's has been fully established for years.

Agree, this might be the same situation where there's enough talent to win the ACC *despite* Mario not because of him.

I know it’s beating a dead horse but Colorado’s OL is objectively awful.

Baylor is tackling horribly right now.

Another failed tackle allowing for a Colorado TD.

Yikes that was some horrendous tackling by the Baylor defense, they had Shedeur dead to rights for that sack. If I were Dave Aranda I’d be pissed!

USC has been terrible in the trenches for years and I didn't expect a significant difference this year even with the new DC. Michigan on the other hand has had a solid defense for a while, it was the offense that was a concern for this season. Seems they may have found a solution in Orji.

Flipping through the channels I saw Neuweasel on CBS. I dryheaved then moved to ABC.

I hope this happens. OL recruiting has been a bit too quiet lately. This would make some serious noise. I wouldn't mind DL and Terry recruiting a center as well.

We'll see those numbers take a big jump after UCLA.

The RBs are good but make no mistake the strength of the offense is at QB and WR. I think going forward we're going see the passing game become the dominant aspect on that side of the field. DG has shown that he has the ability to consistently throw fast, accurate darts to his receivers in the short and intermediate zones even in very tight windows. That's what opposing defenses will have to stop and when they try, then the RBs do their work smashing for 7 yards a carry. It's a nasty double-edged sword that I wouldn't want to defend against.

Agreed. That auto qualifier becomes a really large selling point for those upper tier G5 or lower tier P4 teams and they will give the Pac-12 a serious look because of it.

The moral high ground went out the window when USC/UCLA backstabbed the rest of the conference and caused its downfall. Right now it's just a matter of survival for OSU/WSU. I don't like that they pilfered all that money from the departing schools in court but I do understand their efforts to survive. I think they know that even if they're able to pull 2-4 other G5 teams (probably from the AAC) they understand that they're still a G5 conference. It's really a matter of stability at this point. But I also think that they are playing a longer game with plans to re-invite Stanford and Cal when/if the situation becomes right. The ACC is on shaky ground right now and if it implodes in the next off-season it would be a no-brainer for those two to go back to a place that makes more geographical sense. ***Plus if they get teams like UTSA and Tulane, that might provide an argument to pull another ACC team in that same approximate area. If that happens then you have 4 former P5 teams in the mix and that puts the Pac-12 in this weird grey area in between the G5 and P4 where they're sort of stronger than those mid-tier conferences but definitely weaker than a P4. I have no idea what happens at that point. ***EDIT: Additional thought

Offensive line showed good consistency and stability, they picked up their blocking assignments and had no(!) penalties. This lineup might be the one that stays for the rest of the season. Will they keep up that level of performance? Let's see as they open up B10 play with the hapless Bruins. Defense was pretty inconsistent in the 1st half, some lackadaisical tackling effort allowed the Beavos a higher number of 3rd down conversions than I was comfortable with. Halftime adjustments alleviated most of that concern as they shut them down in the 2nd half. Special teams didn't wow like last game but it was pretty mistake free and there's just a delicious irony having Atticus Sappington hitting two FGs against his former team. For it all comes down to incremental improvement. Today's improvement was more than incremental and I don't expect such big steps every week but as long as there's *some* kind of improvement in an important area that bodes well for the rest of the season.

If they score another TD then I’d like to see Dante Moore and Austin Novasad get some game time snaps.

Yeah it is. But maybe not shocking given that Nishad was an experienced starter at East Carolina playing LG while Pickard is a lifetime walk on (probably for good reason).

That’s not roughing the passer or targeting. Garbage call.

Feels like the Beavos OC is throwing out a bunch of different looks to eat up clock and grind for 1st downs.

This is the offense that’s been bubbling under the surface waiting for the OL to catch up.

I’ll still take it. Good teams take advantage and make it count!