Describing every Pac-12 team with one word through Week 6
While past seasons have seen the Pac-12 conference act as a punching bag for the college football world at large, usually sitting as the worst of the Power 5 conferences and failing to get out of its own way long enough to compete for anything at the highest level, 2022 has been different.
At the moment, four Pac-12 teams are ranked inside the top 25, with No. 6 USC, No. 11 UCLA, No. 12 Oregon, and No. 20 Utah leading the way. Earlier in the year, Washington was ranked as high as No. 15 before dropping a pair of games, and teams like Washington State and Oregon State have been just on the outside of the rankings looking in over the past few weeks.
It’s still early, to be fair, but the Pac-12 does indeed look to be having a breakout season that was sorely needed after all of the conference realignment talks that preluded the season.
During Oregon’s advantageous bye week ahead of the showdown with UCLA next week, we’ve spent some time taking stock of the season and assessing how we got here. Part of that was a midseason check-in with Matt Zemek at Trojans Wire, while also getting a sense of where Oregon fans should turn their attention this weekend.
Now we want to look at the Pac-12 as a whole and see if we can sum up their 2022 season using just one word. Here’s our best attempt:
Arizona Wildcats
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
One Word: Encouraging
After only managing to win one game last year, I have to say that it’s been pretty encouraging to see what Jedd Fisch is putting together down in Tucson, getting Arizona out to a 3-3 record early in the 2022 season. With Jayden de Laura at QB and an unbelievable abundance of talent at the WR position, the Wildcats’ offense is for real, and they are heading in the right direction. It may be hard to find more than 1 or 2 more wins on the schedule this year to become bowl eligible (6 wins needed), but the fact that we’re considering that as a possibility is a win for Arizona.
Arizona State Sun Devils
One Word: Disjointed
There’s always something going on down in Tempe. The year started with the endless drama surrounding the investigation into Arizona State’s recruiting violations, and the resignation of both the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator during the offseason, along with many other position coaches. On top of that, the Sun Devils got out to a blistering 1-4 start with a glaring loss to Eastern Michigan in there, resulting in Herm Edwards’ firing. It appears to be a season from hell for Arizona State, and it can’t come to an end soon enough.
California Golden Bears
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
One Word: Meh
I’ll admit that when preparing for this article, I had to take a second and go into California’s schedule to really get a feel for what they’d done this year. They haven’t been bad — the Golden Bears are 3-2 on the season — but the most impressive thing they’ve done thus far is losing to Notre Dame by only 7 points. For the most part, they’ve flown under the radar and stayed out of the headlines.
Colorado Buffaloes
Russell Lansford-USA TODAY Sports
One Word: Dismal
Good lord. If there’s one team that can take a bit of heat off of Arizona State in the Pac-12, it’s Colorado. They’re 0-5 and have seen their head coach fired already. There doesn’t seem to be much upside in sight, and at this point, the Buffs are in contention as arguably the worst team in college football.
Oregon Ducks
(Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)
One Word: Revitalized
The 2021 season ended in a pretty rough way, with 3 of the final 4 games ending in a blowout defeat and the head coach bolting for what looked like greener pastures at the time. However, Dan Lanning came in and has brought new life to the program, appearing to revamp the culture and take some of the talent that Mario Cristobal recruited to Eugene and putting it to good use with impressive in-game coaching from a first-year head coach. The Ducks stumbled early against Georgia, but are on track to compete for a Pac-12 Championship and potentially sneak into the College Football Playoff at the end of the year. The vibes are strong at Oregon.
Oregon State Beavers
Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sport
One Word: Almost
The team that Jonathan Smith as put together in Corvallis is quite impressive. They have shown time and again that they are gritty, and can compete with some of the best teams in the Pac-12. They’re almost there. They just need a quarterback who can get the job done. Chance Nolan has shown flashes, but time and again his mistakes of proven to cost the Beavers. If they can figure that position out, look for the Beavers to make some noise.
Stanford Cardinal
(Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)
One Word: Uninspiring
Last year Stanford finished with a 3-9 record. Two years before that, they were 4-8. The days of the Cardinal being a dominant force out west seem to be over, and at any other university, it likely would result in the head coach being canned. Yet, David Shaw is still standing. I don’t see a turnaround any time soon, though.
UCLA Bruins
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
One Word: Expected
It’s about time that Chip Kelly started to find success again, isn’t it? After he revolutionized the game of college football in Eugene, Kelly flamed out in the NFL and has struggled in his first few years at UCLA. But the Bruins got things going this year, and they look like one of the best teams not only in the Pac-12 but potentially in the country. We’ve been waiting.
USC Trojans
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
One Word: Enthralling
I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy watching the USC Trojans. Fandom and home-town school allegiance aside, the Trojans are fun to watch. With Caleb Williams, Travis Dye, and Jordan Addison being led by Lincoln Riley, USC is electric on offense, and their defense has turned out to be incredibly opportunistic, creating turnovers in all but one game this year. We’ll see how things go as they face some tougher competition later this season, but I can’t wait to watch how it all turns out.
Utah Utes
Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
One Word: Dissatisying
After the dominant finish to the 2021 season and a thrilling finish in the Rose Bowl against Ohio State, we expected Utah to repeat as Pac-12 champions and get the conference back into the College Football Playoff. Instead, the Utes lost their first game of the year to Florida and then dropped one to UCLA last week. They can still turn things around and compete for the conference championship if some chaos happens in the Pac-12, but I’m afraid their dreams of getting into the CFP are over.
Washington Huskies
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
One Word: Premature
Those “Washington is back!” chants got pretty loud pretty quickly, didn’t they? The Huskies got out to a 4-0 start with a nice win against No. 11 Michigan State, and they were ranked as high as No. 15 in the nation before dropping back-to-back games to UCLA and Arizona State. Still viable to make some noise in the conference, I’m afraid it may be another year before Washington can compete nationally.
Washington State Cougars
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
One Word: Gritty
I’ve been incredibly impressed with Washington State this season. They aren’t the best team in the conference, but they may be the No. 1 team that nobody wants to play. With Cameron Ward tearing it up on offense and a defense that has really found its footing, the Cougars are giving everyone a tough test and hanging around in games. Jake Dickerson really has a nice thing going up in Pullman.
