Pac-12 Notes

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Pac-12 Notes – Washington Week

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November 24th 

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Arizona State ends Oregon’s playoff hopes with 31-28 win 

From ESPN … Freshman Jayden Daniels completed 22 of 32 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns and Arizona State intercepted two of Justin Herbert’s passes in the fourth quarter, helping the Sun Devils upset No. 6 Oregon 31-28 on Saturday night.

Arizona State (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) ended Oregon’s College Football Playoff hopes and its nine-game winning streak. The Sun Devils snapped a four-game losing streak with their first victory over a top-five team since Oct. 14, 2017, against then No. 5 Washington.

Oregon (9-2, 7-1) has clinched the Pac-12 North title and a place in the conference championship game.

The Sun Devils held on after Oregon scored three touchdowns in a 6:38 span in the wild fourth quarter.

The Ducks, down 24-7 with 8:42 to play, scored twice on three-play drives. It took them 59 seconds to make it 24-14 on Cyrus Habibi-Likio’s touchdown run, then 43 seconds to get Herbert’s scoring pass to Johnny Johnson III.

Then, with Arizona State facing third-and-16, Daniels hit Brandon Aiyuk in stride for an 81-yard touchdown strike with 3:54 to play.

Herbert and Johnson connected again for a touchdown with 2:04 left, but Arizona State was able to run out the clock.

… Continue reading story here …

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Utah rolls past Arizona, 35-7, to keep playoff hopes alive

From ESPN … Zack Moss was barreling through the line for big gains nearly every time he touched the ball. Tyler Huntley’s passing was almost flawless. Utah’s defense was dominant, making one of the Pac-12’s top rushing teams look extremely average.

Another weekend, another blowout.

And now, Utah is the last team standing in the Pac-12’s quest for a spot in the College Football Playoff after crushing Arizona 35-7 on Saturday night.

Utes coach Kyle Whittingham undeniably has his team playing at a high level. So at this point, he’s just guarding against complacency.

“Never take winning for granted,” Whittingham said. “Don’t get bored with winning.”

The Utes looked plenty interested on Saturday, bringing their usual brand of physical football. The 5-foot-10, 222-pound Moss ran for a season-high 203 yards and averaged 7.8 per carry.

Utah (10-1, 7-1 Pac-12, No. 7 CFP) has won seven straight games and is the league’s lone playoff hope after No. 6 Oregon lost to Arizona State 31-28 earlier on Saturday.

… Continue reading story here …

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November 23rd 

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Arizona fires a third assistant coach, this time DL coach

From Tucson.com … With the 2019 season slipping away and external pressure mounting, Arizona Wildcats coach Kevin Sumlin isn’t waiting to make significant changes.

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November 21st

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Wilner: Arizona State will upset Oregon 

… Note … FWIW … Wilner is also picking the Buffs to cover against Washington, but not win the game … 

From the San Jose Mercury News … The Hotline sees an Oregon loss this week in Tempe, and we see it from both directions: Looking down from 30,000 feet and looking up through the details of personnel, schemes, matchups and trends.

First, the broader view: No team in the 12-school era has gone undefeated in conference play.

But for those seeking concrete evidence for an upset, we’re happy to go granular …

Style of play: Herm Edwards manages the game like he’s in the NFL. His approach is a bit more conservative with regard to play-calling on third down (live to play the next series), to possession counts and to field position. That’s one reason the Sun Devils are +15 in turnover margin under his watch.

Edwards’ goals — shorten the game but enhance ASU’s chances for victory — might seem incongruous, but they’re aligned.

He wants a fourth-quarter game, where one big play or bad blunder frames the outcome.

And no team in the conference has more experience in close games … no team does a better job remaining patient … than ASU.

Matchups: Oregon’s offensive front has a significant advantage on the line of scrimmage, but ASU’s linebackers and defensive backs are athletic, active and opportunistic.

They fill running lanes and tackle in space and will challenge Oregon to stick with its running game despite early struggles.

Lure the Ducks into a one-dimensional approach, with a heavy reliance on Justin Herbert, and ASU’s job becomes vastly easier.

Flip the matchup, and the Sun Devils possess the playmakers to stress an Oregon defense that allowed more than 30 points to each Washington school.

In fact, they have a better one-two playmaking punch, in tailback Eno Benjamin and receiver/returner Brandon Aiyuk, than does Oregon.

Aiyuk has emerged as one of the best big-play threats in the conference — a mini-version of N’Keal Harry — and Benjamin is more than capable of producing both tough yards and big gains.

Then add to the mix freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has won games with his arm and his legs.

Daniels has been overwhelmed only once, at Utah — in an environment, and against a defense, that he won’t face again — and he should be completely at ease Saturday under the spotlight.

Finally, the timing: The Ducks are vulnerable, not so much in personnel as mentality.

They’re cruising through the conference, they’re in the playoff chase, and they’re a huge favorite against an unranked team that has dropped four in a row and just lost to Oregon State.

If anything can undermine the Ducks’ sense of urgency — their level of healthy fear — it’s facing a team that just lost to the Beavers.

… Continue reading story here …

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November 20th

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USC’s Mike Bohn: No immediate decision on Helton’s fate

From the Los Angeles Times … Over the course of a whirlwind first week that saw him crisscrossing campus, meeting with coaches and players, glad-handing with donors and fans and attending every possible event he could fit into his schedule, Mike Bohn didn’t exactly ease his way into his new job as USC’s athletic director.

“It’s been exhilarating and it’s been inspiring,” Bohn said during a brief respite outside of Heritage Hall on Tuesday.

Though the new athletic director has hurried to ingratiate himself with the university, Bohn told The Times in an interview that there’s no such urgency to make a decision on the status of embattled football coach Clay Helton, even as questions over his uncertain future loom large over the final week of USC’s regular season.

“Any time you’re a part of a significant enterprise in something that so many people are invested in, it’s something we don’t want to race into,” Bohn said. “We’re not on a specific timeline that would do anything to jeopardize momentum or opportunities that exist, regardless of what those are. Revealing any type of timeline or plan at this point would be premature and probably inappropriate.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Arizona’s leading rusher, J.J. Taylor, will not return next season; opts for NFL

From Tucson.com … Arizona Wildcat tailback J.J. Taylor said Tuesday that he plans to enter the NFL draft after this season.

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November 19th

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Washington coach Chris Petersen on CU: “They play hard … you can see that” 

From DawgMan.com … Washington Head Coach Chris Petersen took questions from the media Monday ahead of their game at Colorado this coming weekend, and the press took a cue from Pete: instead of asking a ton of questions about the opponent, it was mostly about the Huskies and what’s going on with the offense, specifically the pass game.

Petersen said that if it was just one thing wrong with that aspect of the offense, it would be an easy fix, but like most things it’s a combination of failures at different times. Sometimes it’s quarterback Jacob Eason not finding the right read or throwing it on time. A lot of it has to do with the receivers not getting separation, or making key drops at critical times.

The UW coaches took the bye week to get things together, and while they didn’t do the super self-scout they did after the first bye week, they definitely took a long look at why they weren’t able to put points on the board at Oregon State, and how that had mostly to do with the passing game.

On Colorado…

“I’ve been impressed with those guys. They play hard. I mean you can see that. I know anytime there’s a coaching change it takes most times a minute to get everybody on the same page, all those type of things. But the one thing that jumps out to me is those guys play hard. Every game. You never know. You hear a teams’ record, you look at it, and you think – you put the tape on and you’re like ‘oh this is different than you think’. And that’s probably the one thing that has really grabbed my attention. I don’t think you pay attention to the records. I really don’t. I think they play hard. Coach (Mel) Tucker has done a nice job of getting those guys to play inspired. I think their crowds – from what you can see on tape – and that’s a tight venue down there where the stadium is right on you. They’ve had good crowds most of the whole season. I think that helps them. They play well at home. I think that’s another thing. So late, cold night, grass all those type of things. It’ll be a good challenge.”

… Read full transcript here …

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November 17th

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Pac-12 lines: Buffs a two-touchdown underdog at home against the Huskies

From VegasInsider …

— USC … a 13.0-point favorite at home against UCLA … Saturday, 1:30 p.m., MT, ABC

— Stanford … a 2.5-point favorite at home against Cal … Saturday, 2:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks

— Arizona State … a 16.0-point underdog at home to No. 6 Oregon … Saturday, 5:30 p.m., MT, ABC

— Washington State … a 12.5-point favorite at home against Oregon State … Saturday, 7:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks

— Arizona … a 23.0-point underdog at home to No. 7 Utah … Saturday, 8:00 p.m., MT, FS1

— Colorado … a 14.5-point underdog at home to Washington … Saturday, 8:00 p.m., MT, ESPN

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November 16th

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No. 7 Utah rolls UCLA, 49-3

From ESPN … Zack Moss ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns and added 65 receiving yards to help No. 8 Utah rout UCLA 49-3 on Saturday night.

Moss moved into second-place for career all-purpose yardage at Utah. Tyler Huntley threw for a season-high 335 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-18 passing. Brant Kuithe had a career-high 132 yards and a touchdown on five catches.

The Utes (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12, No. 7 CFP) beat the Bruins for the fourth straight season. Utah totaled 536 yards on offense.

UCLA (4-6, 4-3 Pac-12) saw a three-game winning streak snapped after committing five turnovers and averaging just 3.7 yards per play. Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 219 yards, but he had a pair of interceptions and a pair of fumbles. Thompson-Robinson was also sacked five times.

Utah overwhelmed UCLA in every possible way starting in the second quarter. The Utes totaled 189 yards on 15 plays in that quarter alone and forced a pair of Bruin turnovers. UCLA drove deep into Utah territory on multiple drives only to see each drive end in a turnover or a flurry of sacks.

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Oregon State hands Arizona State its fourth straight defeat, 35-34

From ESPN … Jake Luton passed for 288 yards and four touchdowns, leading Oregon State to a 35-34 victory over Arizona State on Saturday night.

Oregon State’s defense came up with two second half turnovers, and a key stop on a 2-point conversion attempt to help preserve the win.

The Beavers (5-5, 4-3 Pac-12), who won just two games last season, are one victory away from becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2013. Arizona State (5-5, 2-5) lost its fourth consecutive game after a promising start.

The outcome was in doubt until the final seconds.

On fourth-and-8 from the Beavers 12-yard line with less than two minutes left, ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels delivered a strike over the middle to Brandon Aiyak for a touchdown.

The Sun Devils elected to go for the 2-point conversion but running back Eno Benjamin had nowhere to go on a pitch left and his desperation heave into the end zone was intercepted by cornerback Nahshon Wright.

OSU recovered the onside kick. On fourth-and-2 with 42 seconds left, Luton’s pass intended for Trevon Bradford was incomplete, but cornerback Jack Jones was called for pass interference to give the Beavers a first down.

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Anthony Gordon throws for 520 yards and five touchdowns as Washington State overwhelms Stanford, 49-22

From ESPN … Washington State quarterback Anthony Gordon threw for 520 yards and five touchdowns in a victory over Stanford, and coach Mike Leach was full of praise for the senior on Saturday.

“Right now he is probably playing quarterback better than anyone in the country,” said Leach, who has coached many top quarterbacks. “He made play after play in that game that other quarterbacks can’t do.”

Washington State scored the final 24 points of the game in beating Stanford 49-22, to move within one win of becoming bowl eligible. It was their first victory in almost a month.

“It was our most complete game of the season,” Leach said.

Gordon completed 44 of 60 passes and was intercepted once. He now has 39 touchdown passes on the season, which leads the nation and is a team record.

“He’s real accurate,” Leach said of Gordon. “He throws for a great deal of yards. When pressured he can do something with the ball. He typically doesn’t take many sacks.”

“That’s quite the compliment coming from coach Leach,” Gordon said.

“But I haven’t reached my ceiling yet,” he said. “I can improve.”

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November 12th

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LSU new No. 1 in Playoff rankings; Oregon and Utah both move up a spot

From CBS Sports … The second College Football Playoff Rankings of the 2019 season have arrived, and after LSU defeated Alabama on the road in Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Tigers have jumped Ohio State for the No. 1 spot. The Buckeyes move to No. 2 after smothering Big Ten tomato can Maryland. LSU’s tremendous performance to this point will be tough to topple, particularly if it runs the table, but there is not much of a difference between it and OSU. They may flip back and forth over the next few weeks, but probably not this week as Ohio State plays an even worse team in Rutgers.

Behind those two, Clemson and Georgia move from the first teams out of the field to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. These Tigers remain undefeated after obliterating NC State 55-10 last week, while the Bulldogs are the top-ranked one-loss team and are coming off a 27-0 win against Missouri.

Georgia over Alabama is the most talked about — and overreacted to — placement. It does not matter whatsoever where these teams are placed now. What matters is that Georgia does not need help from anyone to make the College Football Playoff.  Win out, become a 12-1 SEC champion, and the Dawgs are in. The No. 5 Crimson Tide need help, maybe a lot of it. That would be true if their rankings were switched this week.

1. LSU (9-0)
2. Ohio State (9-0)
3. Clemson (10-0)
4. Georgia (8-1)
5. Alabama (8-1)
6. Oregon (8-1) 
7. Utah (8-1)
8. Minnesota (9-0)
9. Penn State (8-1)
10. Oklahoma (8-1)
11. Florida (8-2)
12. Auburn (7-2)
13. Baylor (9-0)
14. Wisconsin (7-2)
15. Michigan (7-2)
16. Notre Dame (7-2)
17. Cincinnati (8-1)
18. Memphis (8-1)
19. Texas (6-3)
20. Iowa (6-3)
21. Boise State (8-1)
22. Oklahoma State (6-3)
23. Navy (7-1)
24. Kansas State (6-3)
25. Appalachian State (8-1)

Minnesota was the big mover this week, up nine spots from No. 17 to No. 8.  The Golden Gophers vaulted on the strength of a win over former No. 4 Penn State. The CFP Selection Committee has always said that head-to-head is a factor but not the only one.  With the Nittany Lions falling to ninth, they have shown that at least in this case, it was a factor in the ranking.

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Fox Analyst: Arkansas should go “all in” in pursuit of Mike Leach

From CougFan.com … The coaching search is on in Fayetteville and if the Razorbacks want a guaranteed home run, there’s only one coach worth calling, according to FOX Sports analyst Clay Travis.

Washington State’s Mike Leach, who ripped his players for a second time this season following Saturday’s loss to Cal, is known for his boisterous — and often quite weird — personality and would inject interest in the Arkansas program nationally.

“I think he would be an incredible fit for Arkansas. I would go all in after Mike Leach,” Travis said Monday on his Outkick the Coverage show. “Not sure you would get him, but I would go all in after Mike Leach if I were hiring for the Razorbacks.

“I think he’d be entertaining and he would be fun. I think he’d win seven or eight games a year, which, let’s be honest, Arkansas, if you can win seven or eight games in a year, you need to crawl before you can walk, and maybe hope like he did at Texas Tech and like he’s done at Washington State — every fourth or fifth year, he can cycle up and give you an opportunity to actually compete for an SEC Championship. That’s the most you can hope for at Arkansas, especially as competitive as the SEC West is right now.”

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November 11th – Veterans’ Day!

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Pac-12 lines: Blowouts expected from the top teams

From VegasInsider …

— Washington State … a 10.5-point favorite at home against Stanford … Saturday, 2:30 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks

— Oregon State … a pick ’em game at home against Arizona State … Saturday, 5:30 p.m., MT, FS1

— No. 8 Utah … a 21.0-point favorite at home over UCLA … Saturday, 6:00 p.m., MT, Fox

— California … a 6.5-point underdog at home to USC … Saturday, 8:00 p.m., MT, FS1

— No. 6 Oregon … a 26.0-point favorite at home against Arizona .. Saturday, 8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN

… Idle … Colorado and Washington …

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Pac-12 admits officials made 57-yard error in WSU/Cal game

… Related … “Pac-12 officiating blunder is a symptom — conference needs a total reboot” … from the Oregonian

From the San Jose Mercury News … For the third time this season, the Pac-12 has issued a statement about in-game officiating.

It’s not the third admission of error, however:

The first statement acknowledged the crew working ASU-Michigan State missed a leaping penalty on the game-tying field goal attempt.

The second statement was a clarification: Officials got the call right in the Cal-Mississippi game.

This one … this one is bad.

The conference announced Sunday evening that there was a “mechanical error” in the Cal-Washington State game in which the wrong team was penalized.

They assessed the Cougars with a hands-to-the-face infraction on a kickoff return that was actually committed by the Bears.

WSU should have been awarded a first down on Cal’s 35.

Instead, after the officials marked off 15 yards from the spot of the penalty, the Cougars took possession at their own 8.

That’s a 57-yard difference.

The Cougars trailed 20-11 at the time.

As Ron Burgundy might say: It was kind of a big deal.

… Continue reading story here …

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Mike Leach at it again: Calls team leaders “frauds”

... Note … Mike Leach’s name has been associated with the coaching searches for Florida State and Arkansas – perhaps it’s time for he and WSU to part ways … 

From NBC Sports … Washington State coach Mike Leach is never one to sugarcoat things (or even speak in politically correct platitudes) and it certainly does not appear as though he’s going to change anytime soon.

The latest example comes after the Cougars ugly 33-20 loss at Cal on Saturday. It was a key game for the team in the division and to their hopes of making a bowl game but they struggled all night. According to SFGate, their head coach did not mix words afterward when discussing his team and how receptive (or not) they were to his staff’s message before and after kickoff.

“Well, that’s a great question because we as coaches think about that, talk about that, all the time. And somehow we’ve failed to reach the group,” Leach remarked to the Washington State IMG Sports Network. “Our team leaders in the group; they’re either frauds, or they haven’t reached the group either.”

Earlier this season Leach banned his players from social media as it labeled a distraction and called them soft, fat, dumb and happy after getting blown out by Utah. So it’s not like this is out of left field or abnormal for either the head coach or the program.

Wazzu hosts Stanford next week in a game where the loser is very likely not going to make a bowl game so we’ll see if the Cougars start to hear what their coach is saying by then.

One thing’s clear: it’s not easy living that pirate life when things are going wrong.

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Minnesota jumps over Utah in latest AP poll

From CBS Sports … The new AP Top 25 poll is out and Minnesota has entered the top 10 following its 31-26 win over Penn State on Saturday. The Gophers (9-0) move up six spots to No. 7 while Penn State falls four spots to No. 9. Minnesota, one of college football’s best surprises of the season, travels to No. 23 Iowa in Week 12. The Gophers can clinch the Big Ten West division with a win and a Wisconsin loss to Nebraska.

LSU retains its top spot after beating Alabama 46-41 in Tuscaloosa, but the Crimson Tide fall just two spots to No. 4. Most of the top 25 looks the same after Week 11, but three new teams entered the rankings: No. 22 Texas, No. 24 Indiana and No. 25 Oklahoma State. The Hoosiers are ranked for the first time since 1994.

Here’s how the rest of the poll shakes out:

1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Oregon … up one spot from last week
7. Minnesota
8. Utah … same spot as last week
9. Penn State
10. Oklahoma
11. Florida
12. Baylor
13. Auburn
14. Michigan
15. Wisconsin
16. Notre Dame
17. Cincinnati
18. Memphis
19. Boise State
20. SMU
21. Navy
22. Texas
23. Iowa
24. Indiana
25. Oklahoma State

Others receiving votes … Appalachian State (73) 8-1; Kansas State (67) 6-3; Texas A&M (42) 6-3; Wake Forest (38) 7-2; Louisiana Tech (25) 8-1; Virginia (12) 7-3; San Diego State (7) 7-2; Iowa State (4) 5-4; Virginia Tech (4) 6-3; Washington (3) 6-4; Air Force (2) 7-2; UCF (2) 7-3; Pittsburgh (2) 6-3; Illinois (1) 6-4; USC (1) 6-4

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Arizona State on a three-game losing streak: “We’re just good enough to lose to a team we should beat”

From SunDevilSource.com … Hiking up the mountain of its 2019 season, Arizona State had the summit in its sights through the first six games of the year.

Herm Edwards and the Sun Devils had conquered what appeared to be several of the ridge’s most difficult sections — road wins over then-ranked Michigan State and Cal and a comeback win over Washington State in Tempe — without any bumps or bruises. A home loss to Colorado aside, ASU made what should have been a difficult climb for a team led by a freshman quarterback look at least somewhat routine.

However, the Sun Devils’ climb for the summit was seriously harmed by a painful 21-3 loss on Oct. 19 at Utah, in which they were dominated by the Utes. The loss sent ASU careening down the mountain, a tumble that picked up momentum in a surprising, emotionally-charged 42-32 loss at UCLA.

On Saturday, the Sun Devils’ violent roll backward continued with a 31-26 loss to USC in front of 54,191 fans. It is the first time ASU has lost three straight games since Edwards took over the program prior to the 2018 season and drops its record to an unsightly 5-4 overall (2-4 Pac-12). The Trojans improved to 6-4 (5-2 Pac-12).

“It was a game of dropped balls and missed opportunities for us,” Edwards said. “Some penalties called some plays back and all those things — when you do those things, we’re not a good enough football team to overcome those things. To [our] credit, [we] fought back into the game and gave ourselves a chance to win but again, we fell short. This is another learning game for them but we have to stop doing this to ourselves.”

… Continue reading story here …

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This post, about the Washington game, from the 2019 Season, is filed under Article.
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