The Pac-12 finally kicked off its season, beginning its short sprint to the finish line with hopes of ending a three-year College Football Playoff drought.
The college football season is now 10 weeks old, but it wasn’t until Saturday that the Pac-12 finally joined the fray in what’s been a most unusual campaign. It didn’t take long for the league to follow suit with the rest of the country—by Friday evening, two of the six games scheduled had been canceled due to COVID-19 and contact tracing protocols. Welcome to 2020, Conference of Champions.
That left four games to be played, beginning with a first-of-its-kind Pac-12 After Dawn showing at 9 a.m. PT between No. 20 USC and Arizona State in Fox’s coveted Big Noon Kickoff time slot that did not disappoint. The league offered a little bit of everything during its debut weekend, so let’s take a look at what transpired as the Pac-12 began its short sprint of a season.
Team of the week: Representing the Pac-12’s best chance at ending its College Football Playoff drought, Oregon is clearly the league’s headlining act on a week-to-week basis. But the team of the week has to be Colorado, which raced out to a 35–7 lead against UCLA and hung on to win, 48–42. It’s been mostly an uphill slog for the Buffs since joining the conference, with eight losing seasons and four different head coaches in nine years. Karl Dorrell, who was UCLA’s coach from 2003–07, won his debut against his former team behind a senior quarterback in Sam Noyer, who was making his first career start at the position after moving from safety. Noyer threw for 257 yards and ran for 64 more as Colorado took advantage of UCLA’s mistakes and played a clean game with no turnovers.
Best game: If the goal for the Pac-12’s bite-sized season was to be as entertaining and chaotic as possible, then the league picked the perfect game to lead things off with USC and Arizona State. The Sun Devils led, 27–14, with just over four minutes left when the Trojans mounted a frantic comeback featuring an onside kick recovery and two touchdowns that came on fourth-down plays. The rest of the Pac-12 slate was more or less devoid of any real drama, but this game picked up the slack and then some.
Highlight of the week: Can we pick the entire last two minutes at the Coliseum? ESPN’s win probability chart gave the Sun Devils a 99.9% chance at victory with just over three minutes left in the game before all hell broke loose. To settle on a single winner, the go-ahead 21-yard touchdown pass from Kedon Slovis to Drake London on fourth-and-9 was a preposterous play all around.
Offensive players of the week: The UCLA defense leaves a lot to be desired, but Noyer deserves recognition for looking like a seasoned vet after spending last year mostly on the defensive side of the ball. He and the Buffaloes took advantage of sloppy play by the Bruins, who turned the ball over four times in the first half. Jarek Broussard led a dominant rushing performance with 187 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries. Elsewhere, Washington State wideout Travell Harris caught seven passes for 107 yards and two scores, while adding 49 yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Defensive players of the week: Arizona State linebacker Evan Fields was all over the field against the Trojans, leading the way with 17 tackles and two forced fumbles in a losing effort. Teammate Merlin Robinson also stood out, with 10 tackles (one tackle for loss) and an interception.
Special teams player of the week: There weren’t a ton of standout plays in the return game this week, so the nod goes to USC’s true freshman kicker Parker Lewis, who was perfect on PAT’s and delivered the flawless onside kick that enabled the Trojans to complete their comeback.
Big picture: The Clemson-Notre Dame game no doubt took a bite out of the primetime TV viewership, but Oregon handled its business against a Stanford team that was without starting quarterback Davis Mills and wideout Conor Weddington. Ducks quarterback Tyler Shough was steady in his first start, and Oregon’s offensive line didn’t appear to miss last year’s Outland Trophy winner Penei Sewell. The Ducks ran for 269 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per carry and didn’t allow a sack. Their advantage in the trenches is the biggest reason why they’re positioned as the Pac-12’s best shot at making it to the College Football Playoff. The defense was a tad shaky, and a road trip to Washington State should provide a test after the Cougars’ strong debut against Oregon State.
Lookahead: Will the Pac-12 get six games in next week? Like the rest of the country, this will likely be a hold-your-breath-until-kickoff scenario each Saturday. The league left itself has no wiggle room in its schedule, putting even more pressure on an already compressed season. Assuming the game will be played, Cal’s trip to Arizona State should be the most compelling matchup of the week. The Bears’ defense is strong, and though Sun Devils quarterback Jayden Daniels was shaky against USC, he should present a difficult challenge.