Around The Conference Table: Week 4

Pac-12 play begins

This season we go around our writers for their takes on the other conference games that went on in gameweek.

5 USC @ Arizona State (USC wins 42-28)

Former Twitter User MPete91 - USC Defense is very stinky. They'll be top 15 at the end of the year but not a playoff contender unless they fix the defense.

TD_24 - Even when USC looks bad, the offense is still find their results.

Bk97 - I expected ASU to get blown out, so I was quite impressed that they mostly kept pace with USC during the whole game. I hope we aren't lamenting the name Cameron Skattebo this time next week--he had a tremendous game.

Christopher_h - ASU played this game like they had nothing to lose: frequent trick plays, going for it on 4th down deep in their own territory, a surprise onside kick, etc. It was a great gameplan except for the fact that ASU lost the turnover battle. USC can count on their offense to score a quick touchdown, but they absolutely cannot rely on their defense to get a crucial stop or prevent a team from running the clock on them. So ASU had a great gameplan and it kept them close, but they needed to win to that turnover battle in order to steal an extra possession or two if they wanted to win that one. I think this game is a harbinger of USC's struggles when they hit the second half of their schedule, as their complete lack of a defense will be exposed by the truly complete teams of the conference (UW, Utah, and Oregon).

19 Colorado @ 10 Oregon (Oregon wins 42-6)

Former Twitter User MPete91 - Colorado finally wrote a check their team couldn't cash and man was it fun to watch.

TD_24 - Dan Lanning is one funny individual, it just remains to be seen if something he says comes back to bite him later.

Bk97 - Do you hear that? That's the sound of the media finally turning down the Colorado hype machine. This one was personal for Lanning, from the "They're fighting for clicks, we're fighting for wins" speech to the "I hope everyone that's been watching Colorado is still watching [in the second half]" interview heading into halftime. If Oregon plays like this every week, they will be a serious threat to Washington's bid to win the North.

Christopher_h - No one who was paying attention should be at all surprised by this result, and I was actually shocked that Oregon didn't win by more. I've been predicting UW vs. Utah for the conference championship, but Oregon may very well be in there instead depending on the results of Oregon @ UW on October 14th. The media is obligated to keep hyping up Colorado for their upcoming primetime matchup against USC (a team they've never beaten in history), and while Colorado will probably score some points, USC's blitz-heavy schemes should be enough to disrupt the Colorado offense.

22 UCLA @ 11 Utah (Utah wins 14-7)

Former Twitter User MPete91 - Ugly ugly win for Pac12 Champion Utah.

TD_24 - Utah: Eat, sleep, punish, repeat. Death. Taxes. Offenses going to die in Salt Lake City.

Bk97 - Another suffocating, dominating performance by the Utah defense (except for that one successful UCLA drive late in the game). With half the Utah offense injured, the defense shows that it can be relied on to win games for them (remember that feeling, Cal fans?).

Christopher_h - Both teams had stellar defensive lines able to harass the opposing freshman QB, neither of whom could get even the short passing game going, and instead had to rely on their run games instead. The final score is not indicative of the dominant performance the Utah defense put on UCLA, as the refs had some no-calls to let UCLA score on one quick drive late in the game. It's even more impressive that Utah is undefeated with their schedule given that Utah is playing with their entire second string due to an absurd number of injuries this season. TE Brant Kuithe and RB Micah Bernard are big losses on offense, but the return of a healthy QB Cam Rising should give some life to this offense.

Rob Hwang - Another one of those UCLA season’s where we won’t know what type of team is running onto the field every week.

14 Oregon State @ 21 Washington State (Washington State wins 38-35)

Former Twitter User MPete91 - Thus almost ends the Oregon State Pac 12 Champion run, but damn did they go down fighting.

TD_24 - The Cougs may absolutely be for real. What they do vs UCLA next weekend will be big.

Bk97 - Cam Ward needs to be a household name, not just in the Pac-12 but across the nation. He is quietly having a stellar year.

Christopher_h - To be clear, both of these teams have stellar and efficient offenses, but Wazzu definitely had the upper hand in this game, as the OSU defense struggled mightily. This game was also surprisingly chippy given that these two fanbases were supposed to be friends, but it didn't seem that way on the field. Both teams have stand-up dudes who happen to also be great coaches, but I don't know if they'll stick around for a Mountain West-sized payout (personally, I wouldn't if I were them), and that's a real shame. OSU/Wazzu seem to be mad at the entire conference when they should focus their ire on the TV networks and USC/UCLA for engineering this whole mess instead.

Rob Hwang - So this like the Champions league right? They play again at the end of the season and its Wins and then score aggregate?

Arizona @ Stanford (Arizona wins 21-20)

Former Twitter User MPete91 - LMAO.

TD_24 - Jayden De Laura may have just lost the starting job?

Bk97 - If anyone actually cared about Stanford football, there would be some hand-wringing about Troy Taylor's decision to kick a field goal while down 21-17 with 3 minutes left. But would you really trust that offense to convert 4th and 17? The odds of that seem lower than kicking the field goal, getting the ball back, and getting back into field goal range for a chance to get the win.

Christopher_h - Stanford correctly surmised they wouldn't be able to get a defensive stop late in the game after a late FG made it a 1-point game, but their onside kick attempts were marred with penalties and forced their hand. The more I root for our ACC bros, the more they lose. It's great.

Rob Hwang - How many more different ways is Stanford going to lose this year…

Any other thoughts?

Bk97 - Even with as poorly as Cal has played at times this season, they seem like they'd pretty easily be a bowl team in this year's ACC.

Christopher_h - I really hope Cal can figure it out on offense, especially if Cal is going to compete with any of the teams above.