2021 Pac 12 Thread

[Brutus Buckeye]

Ducks-Utes round 1 this week... 

[CatsbyAZ]

I'm jaded but when I see this all I think is Washington is trying to get out of paying him a buyout.

And it sounds like he’s getting his buyout after UW decided to avoid the civil court risks of trying to fire Jimmy Lake for cause.


https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1460017066942029825

[CatsbyAZ]

After another listless start which left the Bruins trailing hapless Colorado 20-10 at halftime last Saturday, UCLA roared back with 34 unanswered points to win 44-20, improve to 6-4, and qualify for their first bowl since 2017, which is a long time coming given this is year 4 under Chip Kelly.

Of note, UCLA might stupidly be in store for more than just a bowl bid (from YAHOO): “They have an easy finishing stretch with USC and Cal remaining, and 8-4 would be viewed as a strong improvement after 10 wins in Kelly’s first three years. It’s expected Kelly will be offered some sort of extension with a strong finish. Kelly is fiercely loyal to staff, so it’ll be interesting to see if the fate of embattled defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro factors into the calculus.” (https://sports.yahoo.com/2021-college-football-coaching-carousel-get-ready-for-a-chaotic-transformational-whirlwind-of-movement-191536455.html)

I’ve never heard of Jerry Azzinaro (partly by design – he refuses to interact with media) but his continued employment despite decades worth of underachieving defenses gives bizarre insight into Chip Kelly treating the UCLA job like a wine club for his long time buddies.

From SI: “The Bruins' scoring defenses have ranked No. 104, No. 116, No. 73 and No. 79 in the country over the past four seasons. Overall, Azzinaro's defenses have allowed 431.9 yards per game. That's the most by any UCLA defensive coordinator since Nick Aliotti, who had just one season of work in Westwood back in 1998.”

“Kelly was asked about his defensive coordinator's lack of public presence since arriving in Westwood before practice Wednesday, and he continued to show his support for Azzinaro. "It’s the United States of America, we’re not going to force anybody to do anything," Kelly said. "That’s his choice that he doesn’t want to speak to the media." And by making that choice, standing by it and having his friend come out and defend that choice on his behalf, Azzinaro continues to show a complete lack of maturity for a 63-year-old whose job is to lead young men on and off the field.” (https://www.si.com/college/ucla/football/secretive-historically-poor-tenure-of-ucla-dc-jerry-azzinaro-somehow-still-alive)

My sense tells me when Kelly was pursued by the higher paying, higher profile Gators job he had in mind all along to take the UCLA job precisely because there’s no way Florida fans would stand for Chip stockpiling his staff with underachieving buddies like he’s mostly getting away with in Westwood. Look at Florida firing Grantham this past week. No way Jerry Azzinaro lasts two seasons in Gainesville.


https://twitter.com/FootballByNikko/status/1459717748435472391

[CatsbyAZ]

Emerging from this weekend all the Pac 12 talk will be of Utah blowing out #3 Oregon because it’s the only game with any national relevance. But in LA, despite the UCLA defense characteristically giving up nearly another 500 yards in another characteristically half-empty Pac 12 stadium (see below), the Bruins delivered a memorable win over their crosstown rival.

After a slow start on offense thanks to two early Dorian Thompson-Robinson (DTR) interceptions, UCLA’s senior experience took over. It didn’t do USC any favors that four first half ref-ing calls brought back explosive plays. Two offensive pass interferences after long pass catches, an ineligible man downfield after a long pass catch, and an overturned catch after a long pass catch. However, USC’s big play dependent offense strikes right before the half to keep the Trojans in the game, trailing the Bruins 28-17.

The Trojans held on through about the third quarter until UCLA scored at will in a rout that amounted to a 62-33 win. So much went right for UCLA in the second half. In one moment, DTR hurdled a defender to cross the goal line. In another moment, DTR picked up a flag for celebrating another TD by signing a fan’s hat in the endzone. Among other moments: Michigan transfer Zach Charbonnet ran for 167 yards on 28 carries, upping his season rushing total to over 1000 yds. A special teams player took his first chance at RB to score a 42-yd run. A fifth year UCLA walk-on got the game closing sack. And Chip Kelly was all crooked smiles when interviewed after the game saying “hi” to his mom on the east coast, and ending the interview with “Go Bruins.”

[CatsbyAZ]

In what seems like a lost story amidst all the other badness of the Pac 12 this season, is anybody going to notice how far David Shaw and Stanford have fallen off??? Cal, with a large part of their roster emerging from Berkeley’s Covid protocol limitations, ripped apart Stanford last Saturday for over 600 yds on their way to a 41-11 route.

Earlier this season, at 3-2 and fresh off an early October win over a third ranked Oregon, Stanford has since lost SIX straight, FOUR of which by blowout. And if that isn’t bad enough, this Saturday Stanford hosts a Notre Dame squad intent on a blowout to impress the CFB Committee. With what might be the best Irish offense under Kelly, and coming off a 55-0 win over Georgia Tech in which Brian Kelly showed no signs of letting off the gas, how bad does Stanford’s season have to get before David Shaw’s job is put in question? I don’t hear any chatter from the usual beat writers questioning Shaw’s job status.


https://twitter.com/NickShepkowski/status/1462251652644225026

[betarhoalphadelta]

In what seems like a lost story amidst all the other badness of the Pac 12 this season, is anybody going to notice how far David Shaw and Stanford have fallen off??? 

If Pac-12 football falls in the forest and nobody is around, does it make a sound?

[CatsbyAZ]

Colin Cowherd, one of the few national level media voices that takes the time to follow and support college football out West, is ALL IN on Lincoln Riley to USC. Enthusiastically hosted him on his show yesterday.

“Why did Lincoln Riley leave Oklahoma? Listen, you want to get into the playoff? What’s the easiest route to the playoff? To battle Alabama and Georgia and LSU? Or to battle Oregon? You always want the best JOB in your conference. Alabama is the best JOB in the SEC. Ohio State despite this weekend is the best JOB in the Big Ten. Oklahoma for years was the best JOB in the Big 12 for years despite the Texas branding. And USC – look at the natties, the guys in the NFL, look at the conference championships, look at the Heisman winners, look at the downtown geography in Los Angeles. USC is easily, easily the best, most coveted job in the Pac 12 conference. Also know, if you star at USC it is a glamorous, high profile program. Networks are dying to put the Trojans on. Your next step will be to the NFL. Lincoln Riley to USC is a Grand Slam. He will win VERY quickly. And I get the move completely. Big game hunting, they landed their man.”


https://twitter.com/ColinCowherd/status/1465749101421621248

[Brutus Buckeye]

[CatsbyAZ]

Overshadowed by USC hiring Lincoln Riley is the Washington Huskies hiring Fresno State’s Kalen DeBoer. The headlines are positive: “All We Hear is Purple: All DeBoer DeKalen Train,” “Fresno St announcer: UW Huskies land ‘real deal’ in Kalen DeBoer.” And Huskies fans themselves, the whiniest, most embittered fans west of the Rockies, seem tempered with DeBoer for now, even the idiot Huskies who stupidly expected Bob Stoops to pursue the job. It helps that DeBoer is putting the Portal to use to bring several top Fresno State players to Seattle (see below) to include QB Jake Haener who previously played for Washington. Not sure if I’ve ever heard of a player transferring back to the school they’d previously transferred from.

DeBoer is a Midwest guy, coaching in South Dakota off and on since the 90s, and mixing in stops at Southern Illinois, Indiana, and Eastern Michigan before heading out West. If his time in Seattle goes well don’t be surprised if Big Ten country bids DeBoer back.


https://twitter.com/WestCoastCFB/status/1465867062975164417

[CatsbyAZ]

Another born & raised Midwest guy gets a Pac 12 job. Jack Dickert was officially named as Washington State’s acting head coach after piloting the Cougars to a 3-2 finish and a 40-13 blowout over rival Washington in the Apple Cup. Dickert was coaching on an interim basis thanks to Nick Rolovich’s refusal to vaccinate prompted his midseason firing. Until 2020 Rickert had never held a P5 coaching position, instead working his way up the ranks at Midwest outposts of North Dakota State, South Dakota, Southeast Missouri State, Augustana, and Minnesota State before Craig Bohl hired him as a defensive coach at Wyoming.

Washington State’s crushing of the Huskies certainly shored up Dickert’s hiring, as Cougars fans rushed the field in Seattle, a sentiment celebrated in spiteful terms by Cougars super fan and columnist Jim Moore whose Tacoma editorial was a mocking letter to Washington’s AD:

“Dear Jen Cohen, Just wanted to write to thank you for the colossal mess you’ve created at Washington and to offer some neighborly advice. I admit to being pathetic, enjoying Husky heartache as much as Coug success, and at the Apple Cup this year, we got a whole lotta both. It’s unbelievable, Jen — you’re usually blowing our doors off, yet there we were blowing yours off last Friday, posting the biggest Washington State win in Apple Cup history. That must have been hard for you to watch in your athletic director suite, seeing fans from your cross-state rival frolic on your field after the 40-13 victory.”

Now that’s some level of petty we should all strive for.


https://twitter.com/cougsgo/status/1465484683794214915

[CatsbyAZ]

In the aftermath of Oregon’s embarrassing blowout loss to Utah in last Friday’s Pac 12 Championship game, all attention shifted to the job status of Mario Cristobal, who, it turns out, was getting recruited since last month by Miami for the head coaching job that as of now – isn't it still filled by Manny Diaz? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a school openly hire a coach while a current, non-interim coach is still employed.

Cristobal was born in Miami, played for the Hurricanes and will now earn a reported $8M/yr because, you know, Miami’s way of making a splash is overpaying a slightly above average coach to win the headlines alongside the bloated +$90M contracts handed out by LSU, USC, and Michigan State. And Miami, for their veiled searching efforts, blocked their university’s private jet’s movements from flight tracking websites (see below). I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that either.

As for Oregon, this is a bunch that wasted no time running off Mark Helfrich after his big title run and never appreciated their Justin Herbert led Rose Bowl run two seasons ago. The Ducks deserve to get dumped.

Oregon’s early primary target is speculated as Chip Kelly, currently 18-25 at UCLA, as though the Ducks don’t realize this in no way is the same Chip Kelly from their success a decade ago.


https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/1467254154464616449

[Cincydawg]

I had a notion Kelly might do pretty well out there.