Fool's Gold: First impressions and false impressions from Week 2 in the Pac-12
On another Upset Saturday, Washington State made sure the Pac-12 wasn’t left out of the fun.
The Cougars’ 17-14 win at No. 19 Wisconsin was a program-defining win for Jake Dickert and his new coaching staff, reinforcing that the positive momentum that Wazzu started to build last year was no fluke. After two major disappointments last week with Oregon’s blowout loss to Georgia and Utah’s narrow defeat at Florida, watching Washington State go into Madison and stand toe-to-toe with the mighty Badgers was a major sigh of relief for Pac-12 fans who already felt a defeatist attitude.
The Pac-12 dropped the ball in some of its other Power Five matchups — here’s looking at you, Arizona schools — but Week 3 offers yet another chance at glory with Michigan State heading to Seattle to take on the Huskies.
Did the conference’s top teams discover something about themselves in Week 2?
And if they did, how much of it was fact? How much of it was fiction? Read below.
1. USC is the team we saw in the first half against Stanford
This is one of the craziest statistics I’ve ever seen in my life: USC’s offense was so good on Saturday in the first half of a 41-28 win over Stanford that the Trojans did not even have a 3rd-down attempt until less than a minute remained in the second quarter.
As good as we thought USC would look with its influx of transfer talent, no one could have predicted that good.
USC scored on its first 5 possessions, and Stanford rarely even challenged the Trojans defensively. Caleb Williams was good short, medium, and deep, connecting on passes of 10, 13, 20, 22, and 75 yards. And that was just the first quarter. He finished with 341 passing yards and 4 scores. Jordan Addison, the recipient of the 75-yard bomb, finished with 172 yards on seven receptions with two scores, and running back Travis Dye had 105 yards on 14 carries.
That kind of production may have been expected, but not in such ruthless fashion.
The Trojans took their feet off the gas pedal in the second half, but we’ve seen what they can do when they’re clicking. And it’s scary.
Verdict: First impression
2. UCLA can survive the loss of Dorian Thompson-Robinson and/or Zach Charbonnet
The Bruins knew they were going to be without their star running back, Zach Charbonnet, before kickoff on Saturday against Alabama State. Charbonnet was limited in practice during the week, and — whether a precautionary measure or not — Chip Kelly and Co. knew they wouldn’t need their hulking beast against an FCS HBCU program. And UCLA ultimately had little trouble in a 45-7 win over the Hornets.
But the loss of Dorian Thompson-Robinson before the second quarter? That one took Kelly by surprise.
Kelly was tight-lipped after the game, saying no more than both players were “unavailable.” Any extended absence for either will doom the Bruins, who have the depth to survive — but not thrive — the loss of their two veteran starters.
Ethan Garbers came in relief for DTR, and he was unexciting if efficient, completing 14-of-18 passes for 164 yards and no touchdowns with one interception. He did rush for two touchdowns, while Charbonnet’s primary replacement, Keegan Jones, had 10 carries for 33 yards and a score.
Verdict: False impression
3. Bo Nix is back
After a pitiful showing in Oregon’s season-opening, 49-3 loss to Georgia in Atlanta, Nix was nearly flawless in a 70-14 win over Eastern Washington in Week 2.
It wasn’t just Nix’s five touchdowns or his 277 yards. The embattled Duck went 28-for-33 passing and was rarely off against the Eagles, even adding three rushes for 18 yards.
The five TD passes were a high point in Nix’s career, two more than his previous high of three for Auburn against the likes of Arkansas, Kentucky, and LSU.
Eastern Washington is no LSU, so it’s hard to take this performance with more than a grain of salt.
Verdict: False impression
4. Washington State’s win at Wisconsin will be the Pac-12’s biggest this year
Considering how bad Notre Dame looks, and how good BYU and Michigan State look, the Cougars very well may come up with the biggest win in the Pac-12’s entire nonconference slate.
Even if Oregon survives BYU and Washington gets by the Spartans next week, Washington State’s 17-14 road win in Madison will go down as one of the grittiest, toughest, most impressive wins of the year.
The Cougars were far from perfect on Saturday, totaling just 253 yards and 10 first downs, but they were just a hair closer to greatness than the Badgers. Most importantly for Washington State, Cam Ward was efficient and smart with the football down the stretch.
Verdict: First impression
5. Oregon State’s two wins are the best in the conference
With all due respect to the Cougars, who won on the road at a ranked Big Ten team, their season-opening 24-17 win over Idaho was not impressive.
The Beavers, on the other hand, looked fantastic in a Week 1 win over Boise State, putting the clamps on the Broncos’ vaunted passing game, and they outlasted a tough Fresno State team on the road Saturday.
Like Washington State, Oregon State was far perfect, going 2-of-10 on third down. But also like the Cougars, the Beavers were tough, resilient, and showed tremendous fortitude in moving to 2-0 on the season.
Verdict: First impression
6. Arizona has a QB controversy
Just last week, I called Jayden de Laura the most important intraconference transfer of the offseason.
His play and body language on Saturday already have me doubting that.
No, the Wildcats don’t have a quarterback controversy at the moment, but Noah Fifita was a spark at the end of the game, while de Laura sulked on the sidelines and displayed a terrible attitude while discussing his shortcomings with head coach Jedd Fisch.
And there were shortcomings: de Laura completed just 23-of-45 passes for 220 yards with three interceptions in the 39-17 loss to Mississippi State.
It’s not that de Laura’s performance was so bad that he deserves a demotion. But his attitude was.
Verdict: False impression