David Marsh

Well the Pac-12 made this easier on me this week, everyone who was predicted to win did in fact win. So there is some changes but nothing too drastic. The game that would have made the biggest change in cementing the pecking order of the Pac-12 wasn't even played as Cal v USC was postponed. 1. Oregon (9-1) (6-1) - Oregon beat Washington State and barring a catastrophe in the last two games, Oregon will have complete control over the North. They will have to beat Utah twice in order to win the Conference Championship but in truth Oregon does match up better against Utah than Washington State. 2. Utah (7-3) (6-1) - Utah is clearly the No. 2 team in the Pac-12 at this point. They had a scare against Arizona but they did manage to finish that game out with a win. Oregon and Utah square off next Saturday which will determine which team leads the PAC. 3. Washington State (5-5) (4-3) - Washington State could not survive Oregon's rushing attack though they did prove to be pretty difficult with their downfield passing game. This team can score points and their defense is certainly annoying. For the time being they are the No. 3 team in the Pac-12, mostly because they have lost to those ranked above them and beaten those ranked below them... all except USC that is. The placement of WSU is also troubling because they are still not bowl eligable. However, that should change when they play Arizona this weekend, or not in which they will not belong at No. 3. 4. Arizona State (7-3) (5-2) - Should Arizona State be ahead of WSU? Maybe, however, ASU also lost pretty badly to WSU at home. So for the time being they can sit here at No. 4. Arizona State has to travel to Corvallis this weekend to play Oregon State. Arizona schools and North West Schools tend not to fair well in each other's climates in November. This may be a difficult game for them. 5. Oregon State (6-4) (4-3) - This is the first time since 2013 that Oregon State is bowl eligible. They could also very well rise in these rankings after this weekend with a win against ASU at home. OSU has been a strong team at home this year but not so much when they are on the road. So playing this game at home gives Oregon State an even greater edge as it will be a cool November night, possibly with rain, that will make the Sun Devils uncomfortable. 6. UCLA (6-4) (4-3) - UCLA is another team to join the Pac-12's bowling club. They defeated Colorado quite soundly to reach their sixth win. UCLA looks like a good team but certainly no where near the top of the Pac-12. Will a bowl game win be enough to save Chip's job though? We will have to find out. This is also the Battle for LA weekend, so a win over the Trojans would also go a long way for job security. 7. Washington (4-6) (3-4) - Washington once again sits perfectly in these rankings. They have lost to all the teams above them and beat all the teams beneath them. That should continue to hold true after this week where Washington gets Colorado. However, Colorado may take advantage of Washington's coaching problems and beat them. To make this even more of a terrifying possibility for Husky fans this game is away from the safety of Husky Stadium. Washington has only won one game on the road in two years. 8. USC (4-5) (3-4) - USC sits at No. 8 because I cannot in good faith but them any higher. They are without their top receiving target in Drake London and that plays a bigger role than the problem of having two quarterbacks, which usually means they have no starting quarterback. 9. California (3-6) (2-4) - The game Cal was supposed to play against USC on Saturday was cancelled due to covid protocols. This game will be made up from the sound of it and in truth both teams do have time to actually make this game up this season. Neither team is bowl eligible and it is unlikely either team at the end of the season, so it is unlikely this game will determine either team's bowl eligibility. So might as well let the Cal and USC game be their "bowl" game. 10. Colorado (3-7) (2-5) - Colorado has a real opportunity this weekend against Washington. Washington has better athletes on paper than Colorado but the coaching at Washington is a mess. Colorado has started to figure out its offensive problems and their defense remains decent. Washington's offense isn't any better after the firing of Donovan and Lake but just created more program instability. There is an opportunity here for Colorado to score a final win of the season. Lets see if they can take it. 11. Stanford (3-7) (2-5) - Stanford has had to dig deep into their reserves. If only Oregon faced Stanford now instead of when we did, there would be no doubt who would win that game. Stanford has Cal this weekend, which hopefully happens. If Stanford is still playing their reserves like they are then Cal should win that game, even coming off a covid lockdown. This game will probably be more competitive than it should. 12. Arizona (1-9) (1-6) - Arizona has reliably been at the bottom of the conference and that will not change. However, Arizona is playing with a whole lot of heart and determination. I have said it time and time again, but I think this Arizona team is pretty well coached and will be a threat in a few years time. Though the question is, can they beat Washington State and with the performance they put on against Utah the answer is a solid... maybe. I don't think it is likely, I think WSU will have too much firepower for them to match but maybe Washington is hung over from their Oregon loss and that would be all it takes for Arizona to win. The season is fast approaching and these rankings are going to shift very little. There are a couple opportunities for teams to change their status but for the most part the top half and the bottom half are pretty much set in stone. Where teams come in those halves is the real question. The Pac-12 has five bowl eligible teams now, it would be nice to have at least six and have half the conference go bowling, and WSU is the most likely team to be that sixth team but there will not be seven Pac-12 teams that go bowling unless there are some major upsets. Please disagree with me if you feel I have gotten something wrong. I always love to talk about this stuff.

I do think Oregon's offense and defense match up pretty good against Utah. Utah has liked to be the physical team and bully teams at the line of scrimmage and if they can't do that then it starts to go poorly for them. Utah wants to run the ball first and if Oregon can shut down that run game then they will be looking at long third downs, which in truth hasn't been an Oregon strong point, but still much rather have long third downs than short ones. I also expect Cardwell to make a bigger impact this game than against WSU. He had some very nice runs, he also had a couple runs that were for a whole lot of nothing but he is improving quickly. He is a bigger back than Dye and that could pay dividends.

He got his hands in deLaura's face a lot during the game. The scheme WSU was using really kept Sewell from making too many big plays. So I guess WSU managed to scheme out one of our front seven stars... but not the other (the other being KT)

Wonderful explanation. Though I would also like to say Cradwell's patience waiting for the play to develop was incredible. His feet were moving but he kept himself under control and then exploded once the gap opened up. That is some incredible patience and vision from a freshman runningback. If he was running any faster the whole play wouldn't have gone anywhere because it wouldn't have had time to develop.

The truth of the matter is that this duck team isn't expirenced or good enough at this time to realistically give too many snaps to the back ups. Well that is actually not true at all. This team has given a TON of snaps to back ups. Just not in garbage time. There have been so many injuries this year that basically only a few freshman will be redshirting. Everyone has been pressed into service at some point this year. Even Thompson and Butterfield during the Stony Brook game. We have only started the same defensive starters in two games this year. We have started the same offensive line in like maybe 3 games this year. Back ups are seeing playing time as starters or immediate back ups who are needed on the field. But... Yes... The coaches are betting the house on Brown to date with these runs... And to be honest... I love that Cristobal is willing to take the risk. Will he be taking the risk next year with Thompson or Butterfield? Probably not ... Both are primary passers who can run. Brown is more of a runner who can throw a bit. So use his strengths and let those youngsters develop a bit.

I love this line because it sums up the PAC so beautifully. This conference is so much fun because everyone knows they can take anyone else out if the conditions are right. So why fear anyone? Just create asuch chaos as possible. Now if they could take that attitude out if the conference and win some early ooc games and some bowl games I'd be a whole lot happier.

I don't think that is unreasonable for them. WSU needs someone who can recruit and coach in their difficult location. If Dikehert wins out and gets WSU to a bowl game... Why not promote him? More importantly for the conference he needs to win that bowl game. USC is another matter. To be honest I would be surprised if they promote from within... But I doubt they will. Granted they have examples of failing to promote from within and failure because they promoted from within all in their recent history.

Because as Cristobal said when asked about it after the Arizona game they had a "real relationship" and I believed Cristobal then and I believe it all the more now. Now... contrast this with what has gone down with Washington. If Lake had real relationships with his players, he would still have his job, regardless of the record. His players would have pulled for him to stay. Instead... well Lake is gone and I haven't seen any tears over that. Same thing goes for Helton at USC, if Helton had strong relationships with his players, his players would have pulled for him to stay. Cristobal has his player's backs and his players have his back. That is a real relationship.

Yes... It would be possible... But will they hire the right person? They don't have a great track record at this time.

True... But there was also an investigation going on for other incidents where they may have found another one... They honestly didn't dig too deeply. Overall this just became an excuse to fire him and they'll happily pay him to leave. So we will just have to see who they pick next.

I agree that this Oregon team hasn't done this regularly... But I would say they are getting better at it. If they called the Brown touchdown correctly and not as a fumble... Which by the sound of it was due to a lack of cameras because if ESPN... They Oregon really would have buried WSU better. However, the past few games have ended with Oregon with multi score victories. Getting better... But still a ways to go. Just hoping they beat Utah and OSU by multiple scores.

I could see Norvell or DeBoer having mutual interest. Maybe even Brennan. I Wilcox I give a maybe... This is the second year in a row that Wilcox has been derailed by covid. He might be interested in Washington as they do have more resources or I could see him wanting to stay put. Moving too much means constant rebuild rather than an actual build. I see Washington looking for a successful group of 5 coach. As for Kelly... He is not leaving UCLA for Washington and if he is fired no one is going to hire him. Also Kelly won't be fired at UCLA until mid January so he will have to leave... Which may be possible... But I don't think he'd find any more success as Washington than he has at UCLA. Moorhead... Possible but unlikely... I think he has been given some insight into the hatred of the Oregon and Washington and I don't think he wants to be on Cristobal's bad side. I think he gives the Washington job a pass if he is looking for a new HC gig.

Southern Georgia just hired him. (I think it was South Georgia... It was a directional school in Georgia for sure).

The day one question that Petersen got in his introductory press conference was "how long until you beat Oregon" the answer... Two years and the complete collapse of the Oregon program... Then two wins, until Cristobal turns the program around and back to losing.

Would Washington fans even tolerate someone who just coached at Oregon? Probably not. I don't know if Moorhead wants to deal with Cristobal. Washington may try to dip into the Petersen tree again... Or try to find someone splashy. Washington thinks they are desirable job wise... But all the big names right now will probably turn them down.

I would like to say that Arizona may not be a good team but they are a well coached team that is playing above their talent level. Granted their talent level is pretty bad. In a year or two, if these coaches stick around, Arizona may be one of the better pac-12 south teams. They just completely lack the talent needed to compete. Next week Arizona plays WSU... Those two have more comparable talent. That will be a game to watch. But back to Utah... I think Oregon marches up better against Utah than they do against WSU.

Turns out Washington is firing Lake. Though I am slightly surprised they are not firing him for cause.

On several plays... on some of those plays where they got the edge there were some holds that weren't on KT. It is very difficult to shed a blocker when they are holding. Credit to the Ducks for not letting that beat them. Though... if they were called think of how many of those positive plays would have been called back and then gone for negative penalty yards. I appreciated not having a billion flags in the game... but at the same time.. when I can easily see stuff like holding, especially with ESPN's cheap footage... it would be nice for those to be called.

No... but not when it comes to on-field results. The bigger question for Herm is the long, slow, and painful process of NCAA investigations into him and ASU about recruits on campus during the Covid Dead Period.

And the refs sided with them... because that last call... Yes... that call is going to stick with me for a long while.

I can see Benson going to the portal for running backs. Ashford for the QB spot... Or do they look at changing his position to keep his athleticism around? Probably wouldn't happen. As for wide outs... Maybe Crocker ... He was getting close to seeing the field and was looking good in the spring game... But the youngsters have passed over him on the roster now. I doubt we lose any freshmen because so many have seen playtime and beyond that we will be losing some old vets especially at wr. JJ3 and Redd will both be gone after this year.

I have also heard a rumor that Cristobal may be moving his mom to Eugene. If that happens then we all know for sure he is here for the long haul.

I think Oregon players like an angry crowd too. I know what they don't like... No crowd at all. Some of their worst play has come in quiet stadiums either because fans weren't allowed or because those aren't energetic stadiums anyways.. looking at you cal and Stanford.

Cardwell has incredible vision and patience which is something that Verdell doesn't really have and has been missing for the past several years. Verdell runs hard and hits whatever hole he gets with a whole lot of speed and power. If he breaks through he can he gone... As we have seen with some of his long runs... Most notably against Ohio state this year. But if there isn't a play to be had, he just slams into defensive players and often falls forward for a couple yards and that's about it. Dye is like a knife where he can shoot through a small hole and power forward. He is a bit more like Verdell in that regard but dye does have better vision and will bounce if he sees it early enough. Cardwell is next level. He reminds me a lot of Freeman... A bigger back that can run physically but knows he doesn't have to and can explode with some surprising speed. Maybe even a Thomas tyner type back... For the short about of time tyner was healthy that is. I'm only making more recent comparison because it's what I know. I am sure there are better ones and I saw some better ones posted above.

Anyone else yelling at the tv with all the obvious holds WSU is getting away with?