THE PAC 12 THREAD v.5

[WizardHawk]

Cals got no defense. USC and your Huskys proved that.
I said you should be nervous. Your teams got a lot riding on the next few games. That doesn't mean you shouldnt be feeling great. On paper the Huskys should beat USC. They are at home and haven't lost but I think you're underestimating how good USC is right now. Cal is no test for how you will play against USC. USC did exactly to them what you guys just did.

As far as I'm concerned Bama is probably the only team in the country I think could come into our house and win right now. On a neutral or road field there are probably 10 or more that would beat UW.

I already said we are on the edge of our seats for every game and of course weird shit can happen, but I'm just not that worried about USC because it's at home. Yes, USC is a very dangerous team and they are more athletic than Cal, but Cal's QB is among the top in all of college football and found out how solid UW's secondary was.

USC will score. I have zero doubt about that. Juju will have his numbers and scores will happen. But while you are banging your own drum look at the teams USC has beaten as well. The only one that was a real challenge was Colorado and USC managed only 21 points against them at home. The other 4 on this streak have all been hot garbage. USC has only one road win all year and that was against the hapless wildcats.

I'm feeling pretty good about our chances. Of course I need to see how the injury reports look as we had a few key guys banged up. That has me more concerned than anything else. Need Mathis back and need Victor to be ready to go.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

I see Husky fans are a little nervous about this new Trojan team with the conferences best young QB .lol
When USC was up 45 to 13 late in the third and began to just run it out I remember my friend telling me this is about the time when Chip Kelly would keep scoring.

SC is a whole new team with Darnold in there and he's going to make a name for himself by the time he leaves USC. No doubt about that. The thing working against him next Saturday is that he's still young and he's going to be playing in a super hostile environment to where its going to be so loud he's going to be lucky to hear himself think.

 

[socaljim242]

As far as I'm concerned Bama is probably the only team in the country I think could come into our house and win right now. On a neutral or road field there are probably 10 or more that would beat UW.

I already said we are on the edge of our seats for every game and of course weird shit can happen, but I'm just not that worried about USC because it's at home. Yes, USC is a very dangerous team and they are more athletic than Cal, but Cal's QB is among the top in all of college football and found out how solid UW's secondary was.

USC will score. I have zero doubt about that. Juju will have his numbers and scores will happen. But while you are banging your own drum look at the teams USC has beaten as well. The only one that was a real challenge was Colorado and USC managed only 21 points against them at home. The other 4 on this streak have all been hot garbage. USC has only one road win all year and that was against the hapless wildcats.

I'm feeling pretty good about our chances. Of course I need to see how the injury reports look as we had a few key guys banged up. That has me more concerned than anything else. Need Mathis back and need Victor to be ready to go.

It doesn't matter if a teams offense is good and their defense is bad. Most defenses in the PAC this year are really bad. Cal, ASU, Arizona, Oregon. Trash defenses with offenses that can score.

 

[socaljim242]

SC is a whole new team with Darnold in there and he's going to make a name for himself by the time he leaves USC. No doubt about that. The thing working against him next Saturday is that he's still young and he's going to be playing in a super hostile environment to where its going to be so loud he's going to be lucky to hear himself think.

Very true. But he's got some Brett Farve in him so don't think he's going to wilt under pressure. I worry about him making that one bad pass late in the game because he's trying to make something happen that isn't there rather than him being nervous.

 

[WizardHawk]

In UW's two close games they weren't outplayed. It wasn't the other team stopping them. They stopped themselves. They are a sketchy team on the road prone to making too many mental mistakes.

They are solid at home.

The fans will help that defense against any offense. And UW's offense really has no holes. You have two outstanding running backs and a solid run blocking line. Throw in a couple of speedsters that can run the sweeps or otherwise reach the edge and they have a very scary running game. Ross is the best receiver in the conference and one of the tops in the nation. No team has a corner that can match his speed so he commands a double team. With Pettis stepping up his game the way he has he's often left one on one and is tearing teams up when they leave him out there. And what can we say about Jake that hasn't already been said?

There is no way USC comes into Husky stadium and stops that offense. If it was on the road that's a different story, but not at home.

 

[socaljim242]

In UW's two close games they weren't outplayed. It wasn't the other team stopping them. They stopped themselves. They are a sketchy team on the road prone to making too many mental mistakes.

They are solid at home.

The fans will help that defense against any offense. And UW's offense really has no holes. You have two outstanding running backs and a solid run blocking line. Throw in a couple of speedsters that can run the sweeps or otherwise reach the edge and they have a very scary running game. Ross is the best receiver in the conference and one of the tops in the nation. No team has a corner that can match his speed so he commands a double team. With Pettis stepping up his game the way he has he's often left one on one and is tearing teams up when they leave him out there. And what can we say about Jake that hasn't already been said?

There is no way USC comes into Husky stadium and stops that offense. If it was on the road that's a different story, but not at home.

I don't know. Adoree and Biggie are future NFL CBs. Should be close.
People think R Jones and Juju when they bring up the offense. They are stars but Darnold has hit TEs for TDs alot because of teams focus on the WRs and RBs.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

 

[trojanfan12]

On USC/Washington:

USC has the frontline talent to compete with and beat Washington, even in Husky Stadium. What they don't have, is the depth and experience to do it. For USC to win, the defense has to get a couple of early stops, the offense has to be in rhythm from the opening snap and they need to build an early lead and hang on for dear life (basically the same formula they used to upset Oregon at Autzen in 2011).

For Washington to win, they need to show up and do what they do. If they are too jacked up because of who they are playing, College Gameday being there, playoff implications, etc. they will make mistakes that will make them vulnerable.

End of the day, these are college kids and part of the fun of watching is to see how they respond to these types of situations. Sometimes guys step up that you never expected and sometimes guys that you expect to come up big, don't.

 

[WizardHawk]

 

[WizardHawk]

On USC/Washington:

USC has the frontline talent to compete with and beat Washington, even in Husky Stadium. What they don't have, is the depth and experience to do it. For USC to win, the defense has to get a couple of early stops, the offense has to be in rhythm from the opening snap and they need to build an early lead and hang on for dear life (basically the same formula they used to upset Oregon at Autzen in 2011).

For Washington to win, they need to show up and do what they do. If they are too jacked up because of who they are playing, College Gameday being there, playoff implications, etc. they will make mistakes that will make them vulnerable.

End of the day, these are college kids and part of the fun of watching is to see how they respond to these types of situations. Sometimes guys step up that you never expected and sometimes guys that you expect to come up big, don't.

Both of these teams have upset each other a few times in recent history. Upsets in general happen every week in college football including in the top 10. I'm sure A&M fans were a lot more confident going into their game this week than the final score warranted.

I just love our chances right now. And I can't wait to be there. Going to be an outstanding atmosphere. Forecast is for showers and cooler temps. Perfect weather to welcome in your squad.

 

[socaljim242]

I remember Matt Barkley going to the Shoe and beating the highly ranked Buckeyes in his first road start. I think Darnold uses more weapons and he's got more play making ability when the play breaks down.

 

[WizardHawk]

I remember Matt Barkley going to the Shoe and beating the highly ranked Buckeyes in his first road start. I think Darnold uses more weapons and he's got more play making ability when the play breaks down.

Neither team has had anything near this kind of test. At least USC hasn't since Darnold was named starter.

The difference is it's at home and location is one of the most key elements of college football. Of all of the upsets of top 10 teams this year how many of them were at their home? Road upsets are so much more common.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

Neither team has had anything near this kind of test. At least USC hasn't since Darnold was named starter.

The difference is it's at home and location is one of the most key elements of college football. Of all of the upsets of top 10 teams this year how many of them were at their home? Road upsets are so much more common.

Noise will be the #1 factor. The Stanford QB's that they rotated vs Washington said they had problems with the play calling hence the reason they had so many OL getting penalties for jumping the gun.

 

[socaljim242]

Neither team has had anything near this kind of test. At least USC hasn't since Darnold was named starter.

The difference is it's at home and location is one of the most key elements of college football. Of all of the upsets of top 10 teams this year how many of them were at their home? Road upsets are so much more common.

Pretty sure I watched USC beat Oregon at home to knock them out of BCS consideration some years back. It can happen.

 

[trojanfan12]

I just love our chances right now. And I can't wait to be there. Going to be an outstanding atmosphere. Forecast is for showers and cooler temps. Perfect weather to welcome in your squad.

No doubt. I'd be loving our chances too if USC were in Washington's position. When we were in that position during the Pete Carroll era, I was always confident with just a little bit of nervousness that lasted until we got a 10+ point lead (or for the whole game if it was a Thursday night in Corvallis lol). Confident because I knew we were the better team, but a little nervous because there's always that chance that they may not bring their "A game" and knew that we were always going to get the opponents best shot.

As for the weather. Not too worried about it being cold, but am a little worried about showers. When we played Utah it rained and we lost 3 fumbles. We still almost won the game, but if we do that against Washington, it will get real ugly, real fast.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

We need some one week profile pic bets on this Saturday's game.

 

[TheDayMan]

@Not Neutral rates this bullshit...

 

[TROJAN-MAN]

It doesn't matter if a teams offense is good and their defense is bad. Most defenses in the PAC this year are really bad. Cal, ASU, Arizona, Oregon. Trash defenses with offenses that can score.

The PAC has 7 teams in the top 50 in total D, while the mighty SEC only has 5

 

[AlaskaGuy]

@Not Neutral rates this bullshit...

I don't know why he did that.

 

[TheDayMan]

I don't know why he did that.

He's always been salty about UW for some reason.