Gold: 1 thing I learned about every Pac-12 team in Week 2
One week after kicking off the 2022 campaign in the depths of despair, the Pac-12 bounced back in a big way Saturday.
Even if was not the usual suspects.
Washington State waltzed into Madison, Wisc., and handed the No. 19 Badgers their first nonconference home loss since 2018. Oregon State moved to 2-0 with a big win over Fresno State, and Oregon and Utah rebounded from SEC losses to put up 70 points against cupcakes.
The big road wins from the Pacific Northwest’s baby brother programs change the dynamic of the Pac-12 postseason race. Both the Beavers and Cougars will receive AP poll votes, even if they don’t end up ranked. A couple of early conference wins, though, and both will be given national respect.
What about some of the other Pac-12 teams? Arizona and Arizona State lost respect from Week 1 waylays of San Diego State and Northern Arizona, respectively, and Colorado never had any to begin with.
Here’s one thing I learned from every Pac-12 team on Saturday …
Arizona: Wildcats regress in a big way after poor passing attack
Last week in a big win over San Diego State, Arizona’s passing game led the way. Jayden de Laura was fantastic and star wideout Jacob Cowing was one of the league’s Week 1 breakout stars.
Against Mississippi State in a 39-17 loss, de Laura took far too many chances, almost single-handedly causing 3 interceptions when he tried to force passes into traffic or got turned around. His body language on the sidelines was terrible, as was his communication with head coach Jedd Fisch, with whom he struggled to make eye contact as his coach talked to him following his third pick.
The rapport de Laura built with Cowing was nearly non-existent. After 152 yards in the opener, Cowing had just 38 on Saturday.
Arizona State: Sun Devils spend little time in Oklahoma State backfield
Arizona State’s defensive pressure was just about non-existent in a 34-17 loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater. The Sun Devils finished with zero sacks of Cowboys quarterback Spencer Sanders, who finished with 268 passing yards and 2 touchdowns and 54 rushing yards and a score.
Forget the zero sacks — ASU only hurried Sanders twice.
Oklahoma State, however, had 10 hurries of Sun Devil quarterback Emory Jones, while sacking him 3 times.
Cal: Jaydn Ott relegated to the sidelines after big game
Just last week, Bears running back Jaydn Ott became the first freshman since Shane Vereen to top 100 yards in his Cal debut.
And what was Ott’s prize after gaining 104 yards on 17 carries a week ago?
Just 7 carries in a 20-14 win over lowly UNLV.
Ott did his damage — 52 yards and a score on his 7 carries, plus 16 receiving yards and a touchdown — but it’s a surprise Cal didn’t give him the rock more against the Rebels. The Bears haven’t had a lead back this dynamic in a while.
Colorado: Offense struggles against Air Force
The good news for Colorado: Air Force managed just 8 yards passing on Saturday.
The bad news: The Falcons rushed for 435 yards, including 174 and 3 touchdowns from fullback Brad Roberts, in a 41-10 win.
Worse for Colorado, its own passing game was compromised, as J..Shrout managed just 51 yards on 5-of-21 passing. The Buffaloes also finished with just 111 yards on the ground against the Falcons.
There’s anemic offenses and then there’s Colorado’s. Forget anemic, who knows if the Buffaloes have any blood pumping whatsoever?
Oregon: Don’t count the Ducks’ passing game out
No one in their right mind could compare Eastern Washington with defending-champion Georgia, and there was nothing the Ducks could do against the Eagles that could make up for the embarrassment of a 49-3 loss to the Bulldogs in Week 1.
But Oregon was one of two Pac-12 teams to hit the 70-point threshold, with Bo Nix finding his rhythm after a horrendous game against Georgia.
Nix had five touchdowns and 277 yards on 28-of-33 passing, while 14 Ducks had at least one reception, in the 70-14 win.
Oregon State: Jonathan Smith, onions
Beavers head coach Jonathan Smith was 0-6 against Fresno State coming into Saturday’s matchup.
He might’ve been 0-7 if not for one of the gutsiest calls you’ll see from a college head coach.
Down three points with three seconds left and the ball on the Fresno State 2-yard line, Smith eschewed traditional thinking and went for the win instead of the tie. Smith called on do-everything Wildcat quarterback Jack Colletto, who ran it in for the 35-32 win and announced the Beavers as a conference contender.
Given that Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener was hitting everything (30-for-46 for 360 yards) and Bulldogs running back Jordan Mims was taking it right to the Beavers, maybe Smith’s call was not so unorthodox.
But if I’m an Oregon State player, I’m loving Smith’s faith in me right now. The Beavers mean business.
Stanford: Miscues doom the Cardinal
Given the way USC’s offense was playing on Saturday night against Stanford in a 41-28 win, it would’ve been a tough task for the Cardinal offense to beat them even if it was operating on all cylinders.
Two of Stanford’s four turnovers came inside the USC 5-yard line. Get those touchdowns back and all of a sudden it’s a pretty close game. The Cardinal actually outscored the Trojans (14-6) in the second half and generally moved the ball on USC.
Stanford isn’t going to take a pyrrhic victory out of this one, but if the Cardinal clean up the mistakes, the offense can move.
UCLA: Was Chip Kelly playing it safe against Alabama State?
You’ve got Jonathan Smith going all-in with a last-second play call that could define the season for Oregon State.
And in Westwood, you’ve got Chip Kelly holding Zach Charbonnet out of the game and pulling Dorian Thompson-Robinson before the second quarter of a 45-7 win.
We still don’t know the extent of either of UCLA’s star backfield’s injuries, but I wonder how much of this was legitimate “injury” versus playing it safe against a patsy opponent, albeit one with a big historical component. It’s very cool that UCLA played an HBCU for the first time, but will the Bruins look back on this game in two months? Yes, it was Michigan that backed out of a home-and-home, causing UCLA to have to scramble. But might there have been a better opponent available?
USC: When the Trojans are on, good luck stopping them
For the first five drives on Saturday against Stanford, the USC offense was at the top of its game in the 41-28 win.
And that is a pretty darn high top. Before the Cardinal knew what hit them, Caleb Williams had four touchdowns — including two to Jordan Addison — and Travis Dye had a nice, long touchdown run.
Stanford caught up a bit in the second half, outscoring the Trojans 14-6, but the damage had been done.
The Cardinal aren’t exactly the Georgia Bulldogs, but USC dropping 41 points is no small feat. The Trojans are one of the most dangerous offenses in the country.
Utah: Utes pile up 10 touchdowns in get-right game
In one of the most lopsided victories in recent college football history, the Utes had an emotional bounce back from a season-opening three-point loss at Florida.
We all knew Utah was going to handle Southern Utah, but 31 first downs, compared to four for the Thunderbirds? A 599-85 yardage advantage, including a 352-42 passing yard disparity?
No one could’ve expected a 73-7 win, and though we won’t learn much from any margin of victory over Southern Utah, the Utes have to feel at least a slight smile after last week’s depression.
Washington: Last week, the Huskies found their man; now he’s found his man
One of Washington’s biggest needs last season was a No. 1 receiver to provide some consistency and normalcy for starting quarterback Dylan Morris.
With Michael Penix Jr. stepping into the starting role and playing well the first two weeks, perhaps the biggest advancement for the Huskies has been the play of Jalen McMillan. McMillan led Washington in receiving last year but managed just 470 yards on 39 receptions with three scores.
Through two games, McMillan has 214 receiving yards on nine grabs with three scores already.
He was terrific on Saturday against Portland State in a 52-6 win, catching an 84-yard touchdown en route to a four-catch, 127-yard day.
Washington State: Cameron Ward preserves upset win with heady play
Cameron Ward has had a so-so start to his Washington State career, and he was certainly humbled by Wisconsin, which held him to 17-of-28 passing for 200 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
But he was terrific on a clock-killing final drive, which chewed the final 5:14 off the clock. Ward completed his first three passes on the drive and he sealed the game by running the final six seconds off the clock instead of punting it.
Ward still hasn’t put up the kind of production he did at Incarnate Word, but he’s 2-0 and the Cougars just won in Madison, 17-14.
You can’t knock that.