Oregon Ducks

Pac-12: Conference needs Oregon to step up after disastrous first weekend

Published Sep. 8, 2015 11:16 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

“It’s not where you start, but where you finish that counts.” The Pac-12 is hoping that adage rings true. For a conference that some said was the deepest in college football, Week 1 did nothing to back up that narrative. In short, the week was an unmitigated disaster.

Sure, Utah kicked off the week with a strong victory over Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan squad and Oregon’s offense looked as potent as ever under the guidance of quarterback Vernon Adams. The LA schools also took care of business and both USC quarterback Cody Kessler and UCLA true freshman QB Josh Rosen looked like Heisman contenders.

Those were about the only positives to come out of the season’s first week for the Pac-12.

Colorado lost at Hawaii on Thursday night, and then Washington lost at Boise State on Friday. On Saturday, Washington State -- a 31-point favorite, mind you -- fell to FCS opponent Portland State, who was picked to finish No. 12 out of 13 teams in the Big Sky.

Colorado, Washington and Wazzu weren’t exactly expected to be world-beaters. However, Stanford and Arizona State were. They did not live up to expectations.

Stanford went to Northwestern and played perhaps its worst game since before the Jim Harbaugh era began in 2007. The Cardinal, with fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan running the show, couldn’t move the ball against a solid Northwestern defense. Head coach David Shaw drew up one of the most conservative game plans in recent memory and the Cardinal failed to score a touchdown, losing 16-6. It was a flat out embarrassing performance, especially for a team some pegged to be national champions (cough, cough Desmond Howard).

Lastly, Arizona State’s 38-17 loss to unranked Texas A&M was an exclamation point. Yes, Texas A&M was likely underrated by pollsters, especially consider FOX Sports’ Stewart Mandel has A&M making the Playoff this season, but Arizona State was expected to be an offensive juggernaut. ASU gained 291 yards in total, including 92 yards on the ground on 41 carries. That’s 2.2 yards per carry against a team that ranked No. 111 against the run in 2014.

Pac-12 fans can take comfort in knowing that the Big Ten had an even worse start to the 2014 season and that conference ended up with the Cotton Bowl champs and the National Champions.

In order for the Pac-12 to get back on track, the conference needs for Oregon to go to Michigan State, as 3.5-point underdogs, and pick up a victory.

The Ducks’ offense was as efficient and deadly as ever versus Eastern Washington and Adams was marvelous in his first start. In total, the Ducks scored 61 points and ran for 485 yards (the most in CFB last weekend and the third-most in school history). However, there are concerns about Oregon’s defense, which gave up 42 points and 438 yards through the air.

While a win for the Ducks would be huge and would give them an early inside track at a Playoff spot, the game may mean even more to a conference that took it on the chin in Week 1.

UCLA, USC look ready to take leap under Kessler, Rosen

The expectations for UCLA’s true freshman QB Josh Rosen were through the roof heading into the Bruins’ opener on Saturday. It’s safe to say that Rosen outkicked his coverage. On the day, Rosen went 28-of-35 for 351 yards and three touchdowns in his debut. For his effort, “The Rosen One” was named Walter Camp Offensive player of the week and Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week.

If Rosen is able to keep his composure and not let the hype get to him, UCLA could be in a great position to take control of a Pac-12 South division that may not be as tough as it was initially thought to be.

Meanwhile over at USC, Cody Kessler had a fantastic start to the season and the Trojans had a drama-free week as they trucked Arkansas State 55-6. If the first week is any indication, the battle for the South may come down to the Nov. 28 matchup between the rivals.

Quick hits: Injuries were costly for Pac-12 contenders this week as Arizona LB Scooby Wright was lost for a month after knee surgery and UCLA DL Eddie Vanderdoes was lost for the season after tearing his ACL against Virginia … Adams left the Ducks’ opener after taking a hit to the head; however, after the game he said he’s “feeling good” and will play against Michigan State … Washington struggled offensively against Boise State, but its defense looked stout and its special teams came up huge. … After gaining a paltry 240 yards against Northwestern, Stanford head coach David Shaw came under fire for his play-calling. Some went as far as to call for a Shaw to relinquish his play-calling duties. After the game, Shaw told reporters, “Tell me what we didn’t run and I’ll get it into next week’s game plan.”

Jason Gold is a writer covering the Pac-12 for FOXSports.com. Follow Jason on Twitter @TheSportsGuy33.

share

Get more from Oregon Ducks Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Oregon Ducks