David Marsh

Oh boy this last weekend created some big changes in the Pac-12. As always please disagree with me as it is always a good conversation. 1. Oregon (7-1) (4-1) - Well this week our Ducks are making this easy on me. They are far and away the best team in the Pac-12 right now and their offense is looking like it is finally coming together. They get the Huskies next and we all would love to see them leave Seattle with a big victory. If the offense and defense ever get in sync at the same time this could be a terrifying team. 2. Utah (5-3) (4-1) - Utah is getting better as the weeks go by. Their overall record doesn't look so good but they really have been the most dominant team in the Pac-12 South. However, they their only conference loss comes from Oregon State to date and that does tell us a lot about how weak the south may be on the whole this year. 3. Oregon State (5-3) (3-2) - Does Oregon State deserve its place at No. 3? Maybe, maybe not, they played very poorly at Cal on Saturday and really weren't ever in that game. Cal is rising pretty fast right now. Oregon State still has plenty of games left to play with Colorado and Stanford the next two up which they should walk away with two wins. Then they have Arizona State, at home which should give them a major advantage and then they finish the year against Oregon. I can see Oregon State going 3-1 in their last four games of the year. 4. Washington State (5-4) (4-2) - Washington State needed to do something to impress me to move up my power rankings and the did just that. Maybe this team doesn't need those five coaches who were fired? Or maybe they just caught Arizona State with their pants down and took advantage of the situation. With that win over ASU though it is really making Washington State reconsider how much they need Rolovich. 5. Arizona State (5-3) (3-2) - Arizona State didn't look good against Washington State by any stretch of the imagination. Honestly, I am conflicted whether they belong here in the rankings at all. However, the Pac-12 only has one bowl eligible team at this time, Oregon, and something has to be said for the the teams that only need one more win in order to make a bowl game being ranked above those who may miss a bowl game entirely. Arizona State beat UCLA in a head-to-head so they get the nod over UCLA for now. 6. UCLA (5-4) (3-3) - UCLA has come completely off the rails. KT and company completely trashed DTR and it resulted in DTR not playing at all against Utah and it showed. UCLA had a few good drives but the defense was run off the field and UCLA largely didn't look competitive. UCLA should win against their remaining schedule and make a bowl game as they have Colorado, USC and Cal left. UCLA is a better team than all of those but maybe Cal bites them as Cal is starting to peak right now. 7. California (3-5) (2-3) - Cal has been a team all year long where they have come up sort by a score. They beat a good Oregon State team at home and the previous week they beat Colorado. They are on a two game winning streak and they get Arizona, USC, Stanford, and UCLA to finish the year. Right now if this Cal team keeps up the pace they are looking at winning at least three of the four if not finishing the season undefeated. 8. Washington (4-4) (3-2) - Can Washington make a bowl game this year? Maybe... they have Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado, and Washington State left on the year. I see Washington losing to Oregon and probably Arizona State, unless Arizona State continues their decent which definitely looks like that is their current trajectory. Colorado is probably the only sure win left on Washington's schedule though if Colorado plays the way they did against Oregon they it could be a anyone's game. Additionally, if Washington State continues the way they have been they will beat Washington. I am just not quite sure what to make of Washington State still but for the moment they look good. 9. USC (4-4) (3-3) - USC lost their star receiver Drake London and that is the reason more than anything why I have dropped them this week. They beat Arizona but Arizona gave them a spirited game. Can USC make a bowl game? Its possible but without London that looks less and less likely. They might pick up one more win but unless something more disastrous happens to another team this could be as many wins as USC gets this year. 10. Stanford (3-5) (2-4) - This Stanford team is bad and sadly this is the team that Oregon bottomed out and lost to this year. Their remaining schedule is tough with Utah, Oregon State, Cal, and Notre Dame. It is unlikely for Stanford to win another game this year. Even with all that said they will only drop a spot in these rankings if Colorado manages to beat anyone on their remaining schedule. 11. Colorado (2-6) (1-4) - Colorado fired their offensive line coach last week and that may have helped them. They played far more aggressively and had some success. Oregon's defense was lacking due to injuries and half of Colorado's points came in the 4th quarter when Oregon was going deep into the bench but still, Colorado has some life and they might steal a game from someone but that is highly unlikely due to their remaining schedule. 12. Arizona (0-8) (0-5) - Arizona will sit at the bottom where they belong this year. They are putting up a fight but just vastly out gunned at this point. Again they may steal a game but that is looking less-and-less likely at this time. Well folks there it is... please agree or disagree with me as you please. Always fun to debate where these teams should rank.

Herbert with a Moorhead offense? That would be a nice option.

Especially if we can hold them to sub 20!

A deep threat wont happen with Brown... and I am ok with that if he continues to play efficiently in the short to intermediate game. I would love to see a deep threat but I don't think we will see that happen this year.

It was a fun game to watch and relaxing to not to have it close at the end that requires a defensive stand. I feel this was the offense that Oregon was initially promised... or to be more realistic... what we expected when Cristobal became the head coach. A bigger more physical offensive line that can maul the opposing defense while being able to spread the ball out and score lots of points. Now if the defense can not be on skates and get a few more stops that would be great to watch. It has been a few games without a turnover as well.

Both! I want both... But since I can't have both... high scoring offense. It is typically more fun to watch. Granted under MC I have come to appreciate an OCCASIONAL defensive slugfest and it is refreshing to see us actually come out of those with wins. Though more points please!

I have heard of him... but still... it is a pretty silly name to pick.

Always love the Pick... Also... who calls themselves "Softy"? I mean that's just a lame nickname. Come on die hard Huskies... at least give yourselves respectable nicknames. Or... better yet don't... it's better this way.

Which puts into perspective how little experience the coaches are working with and how good this team can be in years to come.

I am expecting Oregon to be no. 5 when all is said and done and going to a rose bowl. Ohio state will go to the playoff over us. Nothing to do with us but the blue bloods are strong and they'll get the nod over us. Oklahoma is figuring things out ... And the big-12 isn't that strong on the whole so they'll probably be in as well. Which leaves one more open spot ... I am including Georgia here because they are the team to beat right now. Cinci might be the first group of five team to make the playoff... They have 2 years of hype behind them and that might be what it takes.

The second string was also on the field on defense. The 2nd teamers were all getting reps. Colorado kept on the gas and the defense wasn't able to slow them down so to preserve a solid win MC out back in the 1s on offense to finish the game.

This is the AB that coaches have been telling us about. We also saw a glimpse at Thompson and got a feeling he might not be ready yet. The coaches do know their stuff... But as fans we don't get to see the practice effort only game day.

New version of Win the Day. Nothing wrong with it. I prefer the punchier WTD but whatever.

The secondary even did a nice job keeping a lid on the UCLA offense by stopping the threat of a deep ball. However, with this much pressure in the QB's face it would be nice to see the back end of the defense clamp down on the underneath passes that have been killing us. However... those short yardage passes didn't seem quite as effective has they have been against Oregon in previous games.

I don't think Oregon's offensive staff are working as a finely well oiled machine as Penn State was that Rose Bowl season. I think there will be a time he returns to the sideline if he wants to but for this season Oregon's offense has felt much better with him in the box. UCLA does have a bad back end to their defense but if this was a few weeks ago I don't think Brown would have been that effective against it as he was last weekend. So either Brown has taken some significant strides as a player, which is possible, or the playcalling was just better. Though I do agree we don't really have enough evidence to make a full determination as to whether Joe in the box or sideline is better at this time. We will have a better idea this weekend and the following week against Washington. I don't see him coming out of the box for quite a while due to health reasons.

We really haven't seen much use of the pistol in quite some time. They will use the formation sometimes which a lot of teams with highly successful offenses do but it is a sometimes formation not an exclusive formation. We are seeing more of Moorhead's stamp on this offense as he has had more and more time get everyone comfortable in his scheme and we are starting to see execution happen at a higher level now as well.

I probably should have clarified my question with... The last time he was actively looking at the playsheet. But in truth I didn't even notice he had it on him and I rewatched most of the game! Thanks for the picture.

I do like the bumblebee look. Though maybe not against Colorado who are black and gold as their primary colors.

Yes... Just one game but it was an overall improvement. It is marred by the two interceptions in the fourth quarter because if those did not happen Oregon probably would have won by 17+ points and would have gained more yards in the process. If this game was one or even two weeks ago I doubt we would have even won the game in truth.

I'd be shocked if they weren't. During fall camp there were some reports of just how good Thompson was in scrimmages and practices... But those were the highlights and the lowlights rarely make the practice reports. Though I do really look forward to seeing what these young guns can do when they get their chance.

Consistency is the most saught after quality in sports ... It is also the most difficult to achieve. If Pittman and Williams are getting consistent then that only means good things for Oregon's future. That consistency is also why Brown is still the starter even though everyone, including the coaches, knows that Thompson or Butterfield have way higher ceilings. Granted as fans we have been frustrated with just how consistently poorly Brown as played as well.

The media and many in the college football world have seen something in Brown we as fans haven't. I get really frusted when they credit his play for the win at Ohio state... Brown didn't mess up, threw formless than 200 yards and really just gave the ball to Verdell to let Verdell destroy Ohio State.

If I were to make an educated guess is that George K doesn't want to expand right now because he rather pursue the Alliance as a route to increase their leverage in media negotiations. The bigger problem in their expansion calculations is anyone they bring into the conference needs to expand the revenue enough to basically pay for themselves. I don't think there are many schools that make sense to really bring in from the remnants of the Big-12. I do think the Pac-12 should be more aggressive and look at picking up some key schools but I'm not sure which schools would bring in the revenue the Pac-12 needs. Lets hope Oregon can finish the year in the top 10 and another Pac-12 or two is ranked. The Pac-12's lack of a 2020 season has really shown just how far behind we are from the other conferences at this point. Change for change sake isn't going to help the long term health of the Pac-12... but we do need something to change.

The SI Power Rankings Mine are similar but they do love Arizona State slightly more than I do... just throwing out another power ranking for funsies.

What made it a close game were some unforced errors by Brown. Errors I hope he doesn't make a habit of repeating. Otherwise it would have been a decisive win. Granted unforced errors are part of the game and credit to UCLA for capitalizing on them in a big way and making it a close game. Also players getting hurt from being tackled too much is part of the game as well... so KT taking down DTR which forced a Freshman into the game who threw the game closing pick is also part of the game. These two teams could see each other again in the Pac-12 Championship game. I don't think it is terribly likely but it is possible.