Uncle Utah's pre-camp PAC-12 North thoughts

[Utah]

Oregon – I’m curious to see how Oregon does. They have Justin Herbert, who by all accounts is the next amazing QB. Everyone is in love with this guy. BUT, a part of me wonders if we have some BYU syndrome going on here. NOW, by far his best game was when he absolutely DEMOLISHED us as a freshman. 30/43, 324 yards, 3 TD’s, 0 INT’s. But after that, he beats up bad teams and is ok vs really good teams. His best win by far is vs us in 2016. His best win in 2017 over a 7 win Arizona, 7 wins ASU or 8 win Wyoming team. Versus 9+ win teams, he is 1-4, again, beating us. Plus toss in a new HC that was terrible as a G5 HC…I dunno. I’m not completely sold on Oregon. Problem with Oregon is that their schedule is so easy, they will probably only lose 2-4 games, at worst. If they lose more than 4 games, their coach will be fired.

Stanford – Listening to Stanford’s beat writer this offseason was like listening to Dick Harmon a few years ago. Stanford’s QB is amazing, their defense is amazing, it’s all sunshine and rainbows in the land of the trees. Stanford does miss Arizona so they have that going for them. They play USC week 2, which is Stanford’s (and Utah’s most important game that doesn’t involve Utah. If Stanford wins that game, Utah has a great shot at winning the south. If Stanford loses to USC, then Utah has close to a zero percent shot at winning the south). I see Stanford losing 2-3 games at worst.

Cal – I’m going to be honest. I know NOTHING about this team. I know that Stovall dumped us for them and then transferred out of Cal. That is all.

Oregon State – They suck. Big time.

WSU – They have a new QB, Hercules is going to be gone, and they had a horrific tragedy. That spells for a not so good season. Plus, you have to figure in Mike Leach’s 1-2 good seasons, 1-2 crappy seasons formula. I could easily see them not bowling this year.

Washington – Everyone is in love with them for a lot of reasons. I see a mirror image of Utah. The Utah of the North. Or we are the Washington of the south? We have a better QB. They have a better OL. RB is a wash. Both DL’s have great players and questions at other positions but their coaches always do a great job. Two top 5 secondaries in the country. That game vs them will be a game for the ages. I hope it is a great game and it should be. They have three big games. Auburn, Utah, Stanford. All three games could be losses for Washington. Especially Stanford. They play 10 straight games to start the season and finish that stretch with Stanford. That is a tall order. I could see Washington losing 1-3 games. I really don’t see how Washington beats Stanford. That is a scheduled loss. Washington and Utah are in the exact same situations. Their best teams talent wise in 20+ years, but a really, really hard schedule. The PAC-12 absolutely SUCKS in scheduling and anyone who wants to schedule up is dumb.

Here is how I see the North finishing:

1 – Stanford/Washington. This probably comes down to the Utah games. If Stanford beats USC and Utah, they win the North. If Washington beats Utah, then they win the north. Either way, the winner will have one or more losses.
3 – Oregon. Their schedule is too easy, but they aren’t good enough.
4, 5, 6 – holy s**t storm. These last three teams will suck. It’s too bad we can’t swap out Stanford for one of these three teams. I don’t think any of these teams go bowling.

[wcrunner]

Thanks for the analysis.  I’m from the bay area and Stanford has no defense.  That is why I would pick Wash over them.  It has been at least 3 years since they had a D that could really stop people.  To beat Wash they are going to have to out score them, and I think Wash D is too good for that.  With the run game that Wash has, they may be able to keep Love on the sideline for a good part of the game.  I’d love to see Stanford win though.

[Utah]

That is a great point. They are rebuilding their front seven. I’m not in love with them. They are Bryce Love and a lot of questions. 

That USC/Stanford game is literally Love vs the rest of USC with a “true freshman who was a JR in high school last year QB holding them back”. 

I think Stanford can confuse USC’s QB enough to get them the win. If USC wins that game, then game over for Utah, USC wins the south. 

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