Storyline: Week 1 was a mixed bag for the PAC-12: Stanford and Washington looked good and WSU and USC did not. Top game this week is BYU at Utah.
Saturday, September 10th
(PAC 12-Network) Utah St. vs USC, 2pm- USC -16.5
(PAC 12- Network) Idaho vs. Washington, 5:00 – Washington -37
(NO TV) Idaho St. vs. Colorado, 5:30 – NO LINE
(FOX) BYU vs. Utah, 7:30 – Utah -3
(PAC 12 – Network) UNLV vs. UCLA, 8:00 – UCLA -26.5
(FS1) Texas Tech vs. Arizona St., 10:00 – Arizona State -3
(ESPN 2) Washington St. vs. Boise St., 10:15 – Washington St +11
(CBSSN) Cal vs. San Diego St., 10:30 – Cal +7.5
(ESPN) Virginia vs. Oregon, 10:30 – Oregon – 24.5
(PAC 12- Network) Grambling St. vs. Arizona, 10:45- NO LINE
BYES: Stanford and Oregon St.
Overview: The PAC-12 enters Week Two having mixed feelings after last week’s results. Overall the league finished Week 1 with a 7-5 record. Stanford looked strong taking care of Kansas St. Washington made a minor statement, throttling Rutgers, 48-13. And Colorado looked surprisingly impressive dismantling in-state rival Colorado St., 44-7.
But both UCLA and USC came up short. The Bruins showed fight, but still came up on the losing end against Texas A &M. The Bruins trailed 24-9 with 5 minutes to go and rallied to tie the game, only to lose, 31-24, in OT. USC looked non-competitive against Alabama, getting hammered, 52-6.
Ten of the twelve conference teams take the field this week. Cal plays again after having a bye last week. Stanford and Oregon St. have the week off.
Mike Leach watched a bad start last week against EWU (photo, spokesman.com)
Will Washington St. Regroup?: Washington St. had a good season last year. Expectations were high that the uptick would continue in 2016 as WSU returned one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Luke Falk. The fireworks were supposed to begin last week against FCS Eastern Washington, but someone forgot to tell EWU it was supposed to roll over. Although the offense wasn’t an issue for Wazzu (42 points), the defense was pathetic, giving up 45 points. This week the Cougs have the “fun task” of traveling to Boise St. to take on a Bronco team that hammered Louisiana-Lafayette, 45-10. No doubt BSU QB Brett Rypien, who threw for 347 yards, is licking his chops! Washington St. is staring down the barrel at a 0-2 start. Can they pull off the upset and get their season back on track? It doesn’t look good for Mike Leach and his boys.
PAC-12 Home Cooking: Week 2 for the PAC-12 features a ton of home games, eight to be specific. Only WSU and and Cal (at San Diego St.) are on the road. Six of the eight home teams are heavy favorites and should win comfortably–including both UCLA and USC bouncing back in big ways. Utah will host in-state rival BYU in a huge game for both teams. BYU already put a dent in the PAC-12 after beating Arizona 18-16 last week on a last-second field goal. Arizona St. welcomes Texas Tech to Tempe Saturday night in a battle of 1-0 teams. The winner will start the campaign 2-0 with a quality win mixed in.
Thank you, Idaho: Let’s send a shout out to the state of Idaho. UI will be making a trip to Seattle this week and Idaho St. will be taking its show to Boulder. On Sunday Idaho residents can talk about whether or not their state schools made the right decision in playing those games.
Courtesy: Twitter
Game Of The Week, BYU vs. Utah: Both teams come into the game with confidence. The Utes offense wasn’t stellar against Southern Utah last week, but the defense did pitch a shutout. The Utes will rely on D again this week. Both teams have the opportunity to get off to a 2-0 start. This game has low scoring written all over it. BYU is a bit ahead of Utah right now. I say: BYU by 6.
Under Radar Game Texas Tech vs. Arizona St.: Arizona St. came into the season as a swing teams in the PAC-12. The Devils handled business last week against Northern Arizona. Now a Power 5 conference team comes to Tempe. Texas Tech can really move the football, which will test the Sun Devil secondary. The Sun Devils will have a great chance to start the season 4-0 with a win this week. Unfortunately, ASU isn’t ready. I say: Red Raiders by a TD.
Upset of The Week, Cal vs. San Diego St.: Will this be an upset? Cal is young and inexperienced. San Diego St. is a sleeper team out of the non–power 5 conference pool. San Diego St. is playing at home and is tough to beat there. But, what the heck…. I say: Cal by 3 (late).
Courtesy: lasportshub.com
Lock of the Week, Utah St. vs. USC: We got off to a nice start last week by taking Oregon St. +13 against Minnesota. This week I have anger on my mind. USC was embarrassed by Alabama last week–the Trojans worst loss in 40 years. So it’s time to lick wounds and respond against a Utah St., a team that plays hard but just doesn’t have the talent to compete with Southern Cal. USC (-16.5) will start its season turnaround. I say: USC 38-13
