TERRY MOSHER
Mosher’s Pac-12 football poll:
- Washington State
- Utah
- Stanford
- Arizona State
- USC
- California
- Washington
- Arizona
- Oregon
- Oregon State
- Colorado
- UCLA
It was a crazy week in college football, especially in the Pac-12. But, for me, that is not unexpected. I have been watching or covering college football since almost the beginning of time and it’s my experienced based on that personal history that in every college football season there is going to be two weeks where stunning upsets are the rule and not the exception. That was especially true in the Pac-12. How do you explain Arizona blasting the Oregon Ducks 44-15, Oregon State beating the Colorado Buffalos in overtime 41-34, the Washington Huskies losing to California 12-10 and Arizona State defeating the USC Trojans 38-35? I can see Washington losing to California. The Husky offense is very vanilla, their defensive front is not exceptional and without pressure on the opposing quarterback, a secondary that is above average gets nicked here and there. You can’t blame injuries for Washington’s loss because all teams in football go through injuries; it’s the nature of a violent sport. Washington can still win the conference’s North Division by winning out, but it now looks like a long shot for team that most figured to be at least a top five team this season. I can’t figure Arizona beating Oregon or Oregon State taking it to Colorado. Those two are real head-scratchers. The end result now is that you have a conference that is viewed as the weakest of all five major power conferences and maybe having no real power team, although Washington State is beginning to present a case that it is. Washington State has the best pure passing quarterback in the country in Gardner Minshew II and it’s defense is better than expected. The Cougars are in the driver’s seat to win the North, capture the overall conference title and advance to the Rose Bowl game.
