This season, we’re rounding up our writers for their views on other conference games that took place during gameweek.
TD_24 – UCLA is escaping. They may not be as good as people think, but that remains to be seen.
Christopher_h – I was hoping for Sun Belt’s upset magic and was so disappointed when UCLA came back to win it.
Bear SG – Yookla is saved by a stunning decision not to kick an FG to go up a five with less than 3 minutes to go. I think it’s a blip and they’ll be rock solid the rest of the year.
Berkelium97 – UCLA was a very dumb coaching decision (South Alabama’s decision to go 4th-and-2 at UCLA 22 rather than throw a 39-yard field goal) away from possibly losing this one. It might not be another one of Chip Kelly’s no-bowl teams, but they’re definitely not in contention for the Pac-12 title.
Piotr T Le – Despite the pain of being a Cal fan, it’s worse to be a UCLA fan. Winning by the skin of the teeth against South Bama at home and that’s only because someone from the South Alabama team out of the galaxy surrounded the Colts on special teams and attempted a conversion despite a Obtainable FG. Unlike Cal, UCLA has an offense with a top 5th year QB and much better player recruiting and yet it literally took them the last second to earn their cupcake. At least Cal had to do it against UNLV.
Rob Hwang – Did UCLA really just play two Alabama schools (not named Alabama or Auburn) in consecutive weeks?
TD_24 – The Ducks seem to be turning things around. I can’t wait for their game against Washington State.
Christopher_h – Was rooting for Christopher Brooks this game, but Oregon’s lines proved too much for BYU…which kind of makes Georgia look like it’s on a whole new level.
Bear SG – I definitely thought this game would be sooner. Former Golden Bear Christopher Brooks struggled to generate reliable yards. Oregon, USC and Utah are still Pac class and I think that proves they’ll handle almost anyone pretty easily.
Berkelium97 – Raise your hand if you thought Oregon would enter the 4th quarter with a 31-point lead. If your hand is still up, you are lying. A very impressive performance to crush the Stormin’ Mormons like that.
Piotr T Le – Oregon had the ability to beat BYU all the time, all they needed was a good Bo Nix to come play. National media speculated that BYU would start their CFP campaign in Autzen only to get shoved by the Ducks.
TD_24 – I don’t know if Karl Dorrell will make it through the season.
Christopher_h – Each defeat is more embarrassing than the previous one. I’m pretty sure Colorado gave up football here.
Bear SG – Oh my God. CU looked unhappy. Like terrible on both sides. They could be winless.
Berkelium97 –Karl Dorrell must be feeling good that he wasn’t the first Pac-12 coach fired this season.
Piotr T Le – 2020 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Karl Dorell! Probably one of the bottom 5 teams in the country right now which means once they face Cal we’ll take them out or the game will come down to cause #JustCalThings
Rob Hwang – Imagine getting paid to hire Karl Dorrell.
TD_24 – The Washington State defense gave up a total of 24 points in three games. No matter how you cut it, it’s pretty good.
Christopher_h – Washington State is slowly developing into a strong team. The Pac-12 Nord is surprisingly strong this year.
Bear SG – It’s hard to read too much in this game. CSU is bad. And Wazzu is one of those third-quartile Pac teams that should probably be underdogs but will somehow beat a good team. I would put Cal in this level.
TD_24 – I tried to tell you to buy shares in Washington’s attack. Just keep Michael Penix Jr healthy.
Christopher_h – Big game for Michael Penix (I have to triple check my phone’s autocorrect here) and Ja’Lynn Polk. UW seems to be a much more offensive team this year.
Bear SG – Man, U Dub made the Spartan defense look bad. They are going to be tough to beat.
Berkelium97 – UW looks good. Like, fighting for the Pac-12 title is good. If Penix can clean up some of his inconsistencies (eg occasionally missing wide open receivers) this will be a very tough offense to stop. Though I wonder how much of that offensive outburst was down to MSU incompetence, because it was a garbage cover by their secondary.
Piotr T Le – I’m tired of the national media, it’s more obvious that most guys on the big pods just watch anything west of the Mississippi and can’t name 5 players on a Pac-12 team even though their life depends on it. Most were surprised that UW was a 3-point favorite over an 11-ranked Michigan State. The only thing that surprised me was how good RGIII was as an announcer.
TD_24 – Oregon State vs. USC next week has my intrigue.
Christopher_h – Montana State was in the FCS Championship last year and OSU dismantled them. Another surprisingly strong win for the Pac-12 North.
Bear SG – Jonathan Smith has something magical about OSU.
TD_24 – Utah got very physical and SDSU faded.
Christopher_h – I don’t think SDSU is as good as they have been for the past few years, but Cam Rising set them apart.
Bear SG – Utah is still damn good. Not good USC. But fight UCLA for the 2nd good.
Rob Hwang – This loss in Florida will fuel this team all season.
TD_24 – USC continues to score in clusters. Several key injuries to Evan Williams and Jake Haener will make life difficult for the Bulldogs going forward.
Christopher_h – Fresno State kept things close to OSU, but this one wasn’t.
Bear SG – Yeah. And that’s how good they are with new coaches, new teammates, new system, brand new? They are scary.
Berkelium97 – This offense is horrible.
Piotr T Le – Good USC = unbearable USC fans. Such is life in Eastern Europe…
TD_24 – NDSU ran like bulls on the field but Arizona finally stiffened in the 4th quarter saved them from an upset.
Christopher_h – From an embarrassing loss to a mediocre FCS team last year to a win over defending champions FCS, it’s amazing what replacing the entire roster with transfers can do.
Bear SG – Laura’s Jayden is still himself so he’s good for a game or two and then he won’t have a great game. God, I hope he’s the last.
Piotr T Le – Arizona is booming with this win. NDST haven’t lost an FBS match in a long time and despite their FCS affiliation they are a very good team. De Laura has one of the largest ranges of “holy shit” pieces both good and bad.
Rob Hwang – It’s going to be a ridiculous game against them this week isn’t it…
TD_24 – Well this is the Herm Edwards era.
Christopher_h – I had no upset from EMU and Herm Edwards immediately pulled my bingo card here.
Bear SG – The dumpster was already smoking and smelled of gas. This is the point where you hear a loud ignition hiss and hope no one innocent gets hurt afterward.
Piotr T Le – ASU despite losing won the game having cause to fire Herm. I’m a bit sad that we’re getting the better of the Zona teams this year.
Christopher_h – It’s hard to tell on the show (mainly because ND’s green stands out a lot more than Cal’s blue), but there were a ton of Cal fans at Notre Dame. Really proud of how Cal fans have travelled.
Bear SG – Preseason pretty much cemented what everyone was saying about teams with the minor tweaks that maybe Arizona, WSU and Oregon State are slightly better than expected and ASU, L Utah and CU are worse. Cal’s O and D lines are worse than I thought and unless they can be miraculously improved, I’m looking at 3-6 against the conference and 5-7 overall.
Piotr T Le – Despite being screwed over by the referees, I think there’s a worse fate than being a Cal fan: being a UCLA fan.
