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Pac-12 North: Huskies defense, Bears offense prepare for showdown
Oregon and Stanford have had a strangle hold on the Pac-12 North since its inception in 2011. While both those teams remain strong, Washington and Cal may be gaining ground.
The Huskies and Bears prepare to meet in Seattle on Saturday and whichever team walks away with the victory may find itself competing for the Pac-12 North crown.
This matchup pits one of the most dynamic offenses in college football against one of the conference’s premium defenses.
Cal QB Jared Goff, who threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the Bears’ 45-44 win over Texas this past Saturday, leads an attack that is ranked No. 11 in total offense, No. 9 in yards per play, No. 8 in passing yards and No. 7 in scoring offense.
Of Goff and Cal’s offense, Washington head coach Chris Petersen said, “I mean, (Goff is) really, really good. He gets it out really fast. He’ll hang in the pocket and sit on his back foot. That guy can throw it down the field 40 yards on his back foot, I mean, on a line. So they’re good.”
Meanwhile, the Huskies are ranked No. 7 in scoring defense, No. 34 in pass defense, No. 16 in yards per pass play and No. 15 in rush defense.
Needless to say, this is a serious strength-on-strength matchup. On the other side of the ball, Cal’s defense struggled mightily against a Texas team that only scored three points against Notre Dame, giving up 650 yards.
Washington’s offense hasn’t been spectacular, but true freshman Jake Browning had a breakout performance in the Huskies' 31-17 win over Utah State last week, throwing for 368 yards and three touchdowns.
"I'll tell you, he's doing a good job,” Petersen said of Browning. “... It's a little bit like that teacher that's one step ahead of the student a little bit. We throw a lot at him, and he's got a lot on his plate and every now and again, something will show up. But it is amazing. We won't slow down because of him."
The Bears offense may be facing a depleted Washington defense on Saturday as the Huskies’ best defensive player, safety Budda Baker, is “week to week”, according to Petersen. If Baker isn’t able to play, look for Cal to go deep early and often. If the Bears decide to go that route, watch out for Cal wide receiver Kenny Lawler.
Will the real Stanford team please stand up?
Stanford’s 41-31 win over USC in Los Angeles shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was. After all, USC and Stanford have played incredibly close games over the past half-decade.
After the win at USC, it looks more like Stanford’s 16-6 loss in the opener to Northwestern may be an aberration. As QB Kevin Hogan said after the Southern Cal game, Stanford’s so-called demise may have been overblown.
"I think a lot of people underestimated us as a team," Hogan said. "We gave them that ability after our loss in Week 1, but we're going to get better every week. We're already talking about next week."
We’ll know more this week as Stanford travels to Oregon State on Friday night (FS1, 10 p.m. ET) and even more once the Cardinal play Arizona and UCLA before mid-October. If Stanford sweeps those three games, that season-opening loss will be long forgotten.
The key for Stanford, obviously, is the play of Hogan, who was phenomenal versus USC, going 18-of-23 for 279 yards and two touchdowns. When Hogan plays well, Stanford is almost unbeatable.
No QB controversy at Oregon
While redshirt junior QB Jeff Lockie had an efficient, productive game for the Ducks in their 61-28 win over Georgia State, he did not take Vernon Adams Jr.’s job.
Lockie could see duty if Adams is unable to return from his finger injury for Saturday’s game against a tough Utah team, but make no mistake, this is Adams’ team.
After watching Lockie take on Georgia State, it’s easy to understand why Adams was able to steal away the QB job in three weeks. While Lockie is efficient, he does not have the playmaking abilities of Adams and struggled to get anything going in the vertical passing game.
Quick hits: Adams says his broken right index finger is “80 percent” … Oregon State QB Seth Collins ranks third in the nation in rushing yards by a QB with 294 … WR Bralon Addison took a handful of snaps at QB for Oregon on Saturday out of the wildcat formation … Washington State is the only Pac-12 North team with a bye this week.
Jason Gold is a writer covering the Pac-12 for FOX Sports. Follow Jason on Twitter @TheSportsGuy33.
