It was a season of big-time quarterback play and explosive offenses in the Pac-12.

But in the end, it was Utah’s always-steady defense that reigned supreme.

Despite losing one of college football’s best linebackers to the NFL and despite the in-season loss of their best pass rusher, the Utes stood firm when it mattered most, handling the potent USC offense in the Pac-12 title game. Sure, the Trojans were banged up on offense and Caleb Williams was barely walking, but that’s besides the point. Utah was good all year.

Other league defenses? Not so much.

Here is a ranking of the Pac-12 defensive play callers, with Pac-12 defensive rankings included:

12. Chris Wilson, Colorado

Scoring: 12th (44.5)
Total: 12th (509.75)
Rushing: 12th (245.08)
Passing: 9th (264.67)

Wilson has an impressive lineage, having worked for USC, Georgia, Oklahoma and Mississippi State, but he was unable to help the Buffaloes achieve much of anything in 2022. Unlike the Colorado offense, which was just about the worst offense in the conference in years, the Buffaloes were merely bad on defense. Not historically bad, but bad nonetheless.

That may have been to be expected with the loss of several key players in the transfer portal. But with Deion Sanders in the fold this year, the Buffs may be the biggest recipient of the transfer portal this time around.

11. Johnny Nansen, Arizona

Scoring: 11th (36.5)
Total: 11th (467.67)
Rushing: 10th (209.08)
Passing: 6th (258.58)

While the Wildcats’ offense was drastically improved, a terrible defense took precious few steps forward in 2022. The Wildcats were soft in the middle and crumbly on the outside, tying with the Buffaloes for the more first downs allowed per game in the conference (nearly 26). The Wildcats finished with just 3 interceptions on the year, though they did come up with a dozen forced fumbles.

If Nansen keeps his job, he’ll have to recruit, recruit, recruit to get more talent to Tucson.

10. Lance Anderson, Stanford

Scoring: 10th (32.17)
Total: 10th (434.08)
Rushing: 11th (224.42)
Passing: 2nd (209.67)

A much-improved pass defense featuring some nice individual pieces did little to stem the tide for the Stanford defense, which surrendered more than 32 points per game, including 40-plus 5 times. The Cardinal generated few forced turnovers, including 6 interceptions on the year, while finished with just 23 sacks.

Gone are the days of sideline-to-sideline stud linebackers, but Stanford should be able to field a better unit than this.

9. Peter Sirmon, Cal

Scoring: 7th (27.83)
Total: 9th (428.58)
Rushing: 8th (149.08)
Passing: 12th (279.50)

The Bears’ porous pass defense could not stop anyone this season. During a 6-game midseason losing streak that followed a 3-1 start, Cal allowed an average of 36 points per game.

Kudos to the Bears, though: They started playing better later in the season and nearly scored a huge conference upset in a 35-28 season-ending loss to UCLA.

8. Donnie Henderson, Arizona State

Scoring: 9th (31.42)
Total: 8th (421.5)
Rushing: 9th (188.08)
Passing: 4th (233.42)

The Sun Devils showed surprising moxie despite the loss of a lot of defensive talent, but there were random breakdowns that doomed the entire season. The pass defense was certainly inconsistent, but the run defense broke down at the worst time, letting Arizona sprint past them in the Territorial Cup.

Once the home of hulking defensive linemen, new head coach Kenny Dillingham needs to get back to business up front.

7. Bill McGovern, UCLA

Scoring: 8th (28.33)
Total: 6th (399.83)
Rushing: 3rd (124.17)
Passing: 11th (275.67)

For a while there, the Bruins looked like the sins of the pass-defense past had been erased. UCLA’s pass defense looked much improved early in the season but showed increasing cracks down the stretch, culminating in huge games by Arizona and USC in a pair of late-season losses.

The Bruins’ rush defense was its usual sturdy self, but even an improved pass rush did little to limit both yardage and points. McGovern was an improvement over Jerry Azzinaro, but not enough of one.

6. Alex Grinch, USC

Scoring: T-4th (26.33)
Total: 7th (405.25)
Rushing: 7th (142.42)
Passing: 8th (262.83)

Oft-criticized and probably for good reason, Grinch’s defense was far too yielding in terms of yardage, even if the scoring wasn’t too painful. At times, that is. Those 90 combined points allowed to Utah will sting for a great while.

Given how opportunistic the defense was, it’s hard to consider it a total failure. The Trojans forced 27 turnovers while surrendering just 4, one of the best turnover ratios in years. They also tied with Washington for the league lead in sacks.

But way too often, teams pulled off big plays and the defense looked silly. If it wasn’t taking too many risks, it was poor tackling. Just silly.

5. Jake Dickert, Washington State

Scoring: 3rd (22.42)
Total: 5th (394.08)
Rushing: 6th (127.42)
Passing: 10th (266.67)

The Cougars brought in Brian Ward to serve as defensive coordinator, but Dickert still played a major role in the defensive coaching game. Washington State was impressive at times, and it’s hard to blame the Cougars for 3 midseason losses to USC, Oregon State and Utah when they allowed 30, 24 and 21 points, respectively.

But with as much individual talent as it had, the unit wasn’t as potent as it should have been, particularly in the passing game. They didn’t do the offense many favors by leaving opposing offenses on the field.

4. Tosh Lupoi, Oregon

Scoring: 6th (27.42)
Total: 4th (386.08)
Rushing: 4th (125.5)
Passing: 7th (260.58)

Lupoi, long regarded as one of the top recruits in the country, led a solid if unspectacular Oregon defense alongside first-year head coach Dan Lanning. The Ducks may have played beneath their talent level this year, given the individual talent like Brandon Dorlus and Noah Sewell, DJ Johnson and Christian Gonzalez.

Oregon allowed 30 points or more in 5 games, including 49 points in Week 1 against mighty Georgia. Late in the year, with the offense struggling because of Bo Nix’s bum wheel, Oregon’s defense couldn’t seize the moment. The Ducks allowed 37 points to Washington in Week 11 and 38 points to Oregon State in the season finale.

3. William Inge/Chuck Morrell, Washington

Scoring: T-4th (26.33)
Total: 3rd (368.75)
Rushing: 6th (127.0)
Passing: 5th (241.75)

The Huskies’ first-year co-defensive coordinators teamed up to lead one of the most improved defenses in the conference. While the Washington offense got a ton of credit, and deserved it, for their 2022 performance, the Husky defense was aggressive and punishing at times, if inconsistent. The Huskies came up big late against Oregon in a huge 37-34 Week 11 win, and they were sturdy in a 51-33 Apple Cup win in Pullman. They also allowed 45 points to Arizona State, somehow.

Washington was led by its impressive front seven, which helped Washington tie USC for the league lead in sacks with 35 on the year.

2. Trent Bray, Oregon State

Scoring: 2nd (21.42)
Total: 2nd (342.25)
Rushing: 2nd (114.0)
Passing: 3rd (228.25)

A homegrown talent — Bray starred for the Beavers from 2002-05 — he returned to the fold as linebackers coach in 2018 before being promoted to defensive coordinator late last year. In 4 games last season at the helm, Bray’s defense surrendered an average of 21.5 points per game. They were right around there this season, which shows terrific consistency.

The Beavers need to up their sack numbers next year, as they averaged just 1.33 per game.

1. Morgan Scalley, Utah

Scoring: 1st (20.08)
Total: 1st (317.5)
Rushing: 1st (111.25)
Passing: 1st (206.25)

The former Ute defensive star is going on 15 years as a coach with the program, gaining defensive coordinator responsibilities in 2016. Since then, Utah has been a consistent force on the defensive side.

Those 4 numbers — best in the conference in the 4 standard defensive stats — tell the whole story. The Utes also forced the 2nd-most turnovers in the conference with 23 and allowed just a 31.43 opposing 3rd-down percentage. Utah boasted one of the league’s best defensive players in cornerback Clark Phillips III but lacked the defensive line explosiveness that has become their hallmark. The Utes still rang up 31 sacks, 3rd in the conference.