There are two Pac-12 teams that so far look head and shoulders above the rest of the conference: USC and Washington. No surprise there. With both, their offense is really clicking and they have talent and depth.
Then there are three Pac-12 teams that already probably are thinking about next year. While ASU losing to San Diego State and Arizona losing to Houston had both facing decent out-of-conference competition, with them losing at home and not looking great doing it, they face long seasons. As for the third team, Oregon State, what can you say? I still contend that Jon Embree's teams could have easily beaten them.
Then there are seven Pac-12 teams that look decent but also vulnerable. So far, the best of them has been UCLA with an offense that's really performing -- Josh Rosen finally is living up to his billing. Oregon also is has an offense that's performing, although Leavitt's defense seems to be their weakness.
As for the other five teams that have looked good, Utah is Utah, serviceable but not going to overrun you with talent; Cal has surprised, and may again this week against Ole Miss, but then they're likely to lose their next four games. Stanford showed weaknesses against USC, but overall they're still a solid outfit. And Washington State proved they can win against a decent team without Falk playing, with Tyler Hilinski coming around as a nice backup.
Then there's CU. Wow, where'd that defense come from in the first two games? You have to be impressed. They're finding themselves, learning and growing each week, and already are beginning to establish an identity. As for the offense, let's just say its underwhelming. Montez isn't as sharp as he should be, and that's against weak defenses. And there are some passes that "the best WR corp in the nation" ought to be catching. The play calling is, at best, uninspiring. Let's just hope that they've been holding back, with their real poker hand not to be played until 9/23. Oh, and (surprise) the kicking game finally is coming together.
There are seven games CU should win (the first three, of course, as well as OSU. Zona, Cal, and ASU.) The Buffs also could win at Wazzu and Utah, making it possibly nine total wins. Then, the remaining three games. CU, if things happened right, could shock against UDub and/or USC, but something big has to change on offense for that to occur. And, the UCLA game right now is looking a whole lot tougher than it did before the season.
Then there are three Pac-12 teams that already probably are thinking about next year. While ASU losing to San Diego State and Arizona losing to Houston had both facing decent out-of-conference competition, with them losing at home and not looking great doing it, they face long seasons. As for the third team, Oregon State, what can you say? I still contend that Jon Embree's teams could have easily beaten them.
Then there are seven Pac-12 teams that look decent but also vulnerable. So far, the best of them has been UCLA with an offense that's really performing -- Josh Rosen finally is living up to his billing. Oregon also is has an offense that's performing, although Leavitt's defense seems to be their weakness.
As for the other five teams that have looked good, Utah is Utah, serviceable but not going to overrun you with talent; Cal has surprised, and may again this week against Ole Miss, but then they're likely to lose their next four games. Stanford showed weaknesses against USC, but overall they're still a solid outfit. And Washington State proved they can win against a decent team without Falk playing, with Tyler Hilinski coming around as a nice backup.
Then there's CU. Wow, where'd that defense come from in the first two games? You have to be impressed. They're finding themselves, learning and growing each week, and already are beginning to establish an identity. As for the offense, let's just say its underwhelming. Montez isn't as sharp as he should be, and that's against weak defenses. And there are some passes that "the best WR corp in the nation" ought to be catching. The play calling is, at best, uninspiring. Let's just hope that they've been holding back, with their real poker hand not to be played until 9/23. Oh, and (surprise) the kicking game finally is coming together.
There are seven games CU should win (the first three, of course, as well as OSU. Zona, Cal, and ASU.) The Buffs also could win at Wazzu and Utah, making it possibly nine total wins. Then, the remaining three games. CU, if things happened right, could shock against UDub and/or USC, but something big has to change on offense for that to occur. And, the UCLA game right now is looking a whole lot tougher than it did before the season.
