5 Thoughts on PAC-12 Football Week 7

1. Oregon State is Really Bad: As mentioned before the season started, I thought OSU would be at the very bottom of the PAC-12. So far, they haven't disappointed. They were lucky to beat Portland State -- a team that had dominated them with the exception of turnovers -- otherwise, they'd be winless this year. Having said that, I don't understand Gary Andersen resigning at the midway point. Sure, the team has reverted back to the Pettibone era, but now the team is down a paid coaching position and recruiting still takes a hit. Whatever. Maybe OSU will get lucky and Mike Riley will become available in a couple of weeks?
2. Oregon is Still Average: It was a foregone conclusion that Oregon would lose to WSU, but it had nothing to do with the injury of Justin Herbert. Their secondary was the problem, going up against a really good passing team. And, as I mentioned two weeks ago, the reason why they had to beat Cal was that they were about to enter the hardest part of their schedule and might not win another game until they play their last two games -- Arizona and Oregon State. Now, with Herbert out 4-6 weeks (I doubt he comes back to play the final two games, though) it's even more likely that they end the season 6-6 at best. Arizona's been looking better, having barely lost to Utah and beating Colorado in Boulder, so, 5-7?
3. Washington Will Win PAC-12: They're not quite like the dominant USC teams under Pete Carroll, but they are damn consistent and solid. I've said this the past two weeks, now, especially in light of USC's difficulties, that USC might have better talent but Washington's done a better job with what they have. I don't particularly like the Huskies, truth be told, but you have to admire the job that coach Chris Petersen has done up there in all aspects of the game. The defense is flying around and holding opponents to an average of 10 points a game, while the offense is crushing it, averaging 43 points a game. Mind you, they're still not at the level of Clemson and Alabama in terms of talent, unlike USC. This is why USC, despite their poor level of play, remains a dark horse of sorts -- you never know if their talent will show up in a game and dominate.
4. Biggest Surprise is Colorado: I don't think anyone expected Colorado to lose their first three PAC-12 games. Sure, the loss to UW was expected, but to UCLA and Arizona? They've gone from the upper middle tier to the bottom of the middle tier (because Oregon State is in a bottom tier all by itself, so far separated from the rest of the league). It's extremely surprising because last year QB Steven Montez looked good when he was inserted to replace the injured Sefo Liufau, such that they had a mini QB controversy in the middle of the season last year. So what happened? They have two established senior wide receivers in Shay Fields and Devin Ross and senior Philip Lindsay at running back.
5. Midway Season Ranking: Now that we're halfway through the season, here's where I think the PAC-12 teams stand, in order from best to worst: Washington, WSU, USC, Stanford, Utah, UCLA, Oregon, Cal, Arizona, Colorado, Arizona State...
   
   
   
   
   
   Oregon State.