There’s enough going on in the “Conference of Champions” *Bill Walton voice* for a round up following the previous week’s contest. Here’s a roundup of 6 takeaways from week two in the Pac-12 that was headlined by a road upset of the Washington Huskies.
1 – I don’t think anyone foresaw what was coming in the Pac-12 after dark nightcap of Washington vs Cal. It started with a two-hour delay and the Huskies never arrived. The Cal defense was elite, Jacob Eason played sloppy and the Huskies front seven looked suspect in the run game. Cal could be a dark horse in the North division.
2 – I know it’s just one game, but DAMN Kedon Slovis! The firework show he put on against Stanford almost forces you to have the knee jerk reaction of; are they better without JT Daniels?
3 – Has Stanford lost its toughness? One thing you could always count on were the Cardinal controlling the line of scrimmage in each game. They were completely dominated on both sides of the ball against SC.
4 – Arizona State’s ground game has been one of the most electrifying in the conference since Eno Benjamin’s arrival. Perhaps they were looking ahead to their ranked match up with Michigan State this upcoming Saturday. However, 24 rushes 69 yards against Sacramento State for Benjamin seems criminal. It’ll be something to watch against the Spartans.
5 – Can we get a line in Vegas for who gets fired first between Chip Kelly at UCLA and Jonathan Smith at Oregon State? Both teams are 0-2 and it seems like a forgone conclusion that the UCLA will lose to Oklahoma on Saturday. A loss to Hawaii for the Beavers seems embarrassing until you realize those same Rainbow Warriors beat Arizona.
6 – Mel Tucker had his first signature win beating Nebraska at home Saturday. A HUGE rally for the Buffalo’s after trailing 17-0 at the half. What was eye opening about of the 4thquarter 24-point outburst was all of this was done with their top target, Laviska Shenault Jr., being non-existent.
It’s a fairly slow week this upcoming Saturday. The two key matchups to watch will be Arizona State vs. Michigan State and USC vs. BYU. A Cougar team that’s riding high after a Herculean type effort to come back and beat Tennessee on the road.
