5 Thoughts on Week 4 in the PAC-12

I meant to pop this out days ago, but I've been preoccupied. Hey, at least I got it out before tonight's game.

1. Oregon Blues: Losing on the road in Tempe isn't the worst thing in the world, but it does signal that they're not "back" quite yet. A good team can win on the road, but Oregon hasn't hit that level, it appears. They should be able to beat Cal in Autzen, but then they hit the hardest part of their schedule against Wazzu, at Stanford, at UCLA, Utah, and at UDub. If they don't win a single game in that stretch, at best, they'll finish 6-6. If they lose to Cal this weekend, the natives will be restless, knowing what's coming up in their schedule.
2. Washington is PAC-12's Best: Going into Boulder and blowing the Buffs up was huge. Between this blowout win and last year's PAC-12 Championship blowout win, the Huskies definitely pwn Colorado. In four games, they've shown a remarkable consistency of a championship-caliber team, regardless of opponent. This makes them a better team than USC, right now. USC might have greater talent and higher potential, but all of that is a waste if they don't play consistently and up to their potential in every game as it will eventually catch up to them and one bad loss is enough to keep a team out of the playoffs.
3. Oregon State is PAC-12's Worst: I watched their game against Portland State, and it's fair to say Oregon State was lucky to get a win. Were it not for a handful of mental errors, PSU dominated the Beavers. Last year, all four of their wins came at home at Reser Stadium. The remaining four home games consist of UW, Colorado, Stanford, and ASU in that order. It's an iffy proposition that they'll beat ASU, and if so, it's the Jerry Pettibone era all over again. 1995 was the last time OSU posted a one-win season. Even if they beat ASU, it'll just be their 8th win in three seasons with head coach Gary Anderson.
4. USC Might Lose In Pullman: Going into the season, I thought that the secondary would be USC's strength given how two of them have been around for a few years and should be ready to step up, but it hasn't necessarily been the case against passing-oriented teams. Combine that with a modestly performing USC passing game, and this one has the hallmarks of a big upset and I'm not talking a single-digit loss. On the other hand, WSU might always 'coug it'.
5. PAC-12 Refs: I didn't watch all of the games, but of what I'd watched in week 4, it seems clear that the PAC-12 refs are once again seeing phantom fouls while failing to see the infractions right in front of their faces. USC had a phantom clipping while not a single ref noticed the two-player shift (without reset) in a punt formation. I have no idea how the refs failed to see the illegal shift from the punt formation -- it's not so difficult to track movement by players who're supposed to be stuck in their stances. I can only imagine how much we'd be complaining about the PAC-12 refs if they didn't have the ability to review plays to correct some of their calls. Everyone makes mistakes, but how do you call a foul that you didn't actually see, and how can you not see the infractions right in front of your face?