Oregon ducks, 2020 Pac-12 Champions.
Pacific Northwest Sports concludes our PAC-12 football power rankings for 2020. We were going to run this feature through the last Bowl game. Because all but two conference schools opted to skip playing in Bowls, we thought it best to finish here.
Last week, COVID-19 again made a mess of the conference schedule. North Division Winners, the Washington Huskies were unavailable to play in the Conference Championship game. Oregon replaced UW and scored a huge upset.
Colorado, originally scheduled to face Oregon, was ghosted by the Pac-12 and didn’t play. Additionally, we’ll never know if Arizona could have avoided a winless 2020. Their game against Cal was canceled. The rest of the conference finished out their seasons.
Here are our final PAC-12 Football Power Rankings for the week ending December 20, 2020, with a Pacific Northwest twist.
Last Game: (12/13) This was ugly. Arizona suffered its worst loss in Territorial Cup history as the Wildcats were trounced by Arizona State 70–7. Even Arizona’s star running back, Gary Brightwell had a horrible game with 49 yards on 17 carries with three fumbles.
After the embarrassing loss, head coach Kevin Sumlin was fired. He still had two years left on his contract.
Parting Words: Arizona had a chance to avoid a winless season and end their 12-game losing streak at California. The game was canceled because of coronavirus on both sides. Neither team could field enough players. Some cynical fans out there might contend that Arizona didn’t field a competitive team all season anyway.
Last Game: (12/6) Cal got its first win of the year. Better yet, it was they upset then 23rd ranked Oregon. A 28-yard touchdown pass from Chase Garbers to Nikko Remigio was the only score of the second half. It gave the Golden Bears a lead they never lost.
Parting Words: Cal had nothing to gain and everything to lose by playing Arizona. It’s probably better for the Bears to end their season on a high note.
Last Game: The Washington State Cougars looked like world-beaters in the first half against Utah. After a slow start on their first two offensive possessions, Wazzu scored touchdowns four of the next six times they had the ball. There was a great mix of run and pass plays as the offense operated like a high-performance car.
Defensively, the Cougs hard-hitting defense was superb. They allowed 217 yards of offense, but 91 of them came on one play. Additionally, WSU’s defense forced three Utes turnovers. The Cougs went into halftime with a 28-7 lead. It was so bad for Utah QB Jake Bentley that he was benched at the break.
Then came the second half. It was a complete reversal of the first half. Suddenly Utah was able to run for big plays and effectively throw the ball all over the field. Conversely, the Cougars were stuck in neutral. Then the car went into reverse as they turned the ball over on four straight fourth quarter possessions.
Parting Words: This was a hard way for the Washington State Cougars to go out. Head coach Nick Rolovich seems like a good fit in Pullman. I’m looking forward to next season when the Cougs have both a full spring and summer camp to fully learn his run and shoot offense.
It was also great to see running back Max Borghi take the field after sitting out with a back injury. He and Deon McIntosh make a great one-two punch.
Last Game: Beavers QB Chance Nolan connected with Tyjon Lindsey on a 12-yard touchdown pass during OSU’s first possession to take an early 7-0 lead. From there, it was downhill. Arizona State put the ball into the endzone their next four times they had the ball while the Beavs went punt, fumble, punt. The teams traded scores for the rest of the game, but the damage was already done.
OSU’s game against Arizona State was effectively over in the second quarter. The first 15 minutes resulted in a 7–7 tie, but
Parting Words: At halftime of the Stanford game, I was making my preliminary power rankings and had the Beavers as high as fifth. That game fell apart, and then they were beaten soundly by ASU.
Last Game: It was a double-overtime extravaganza in Los Angeles. The Bruins trailed 20–3 at the half. They responded with 31 unanswered to take a 14-point lead with 5:39 left in the game. Then Stanford rallied with a pair of TD in the final two minutes to tie the game.
What killed UCLA was a fumble by quarterback Chase Griffin on a third and eight from Stanford’s 25. A field goal would have locked up the game and a winning season.
Parting Words: How much time does Chip Kelly have left at UCLA? This makes three straight losing seasons and a combined 10–21 record. It’s been 22 years since the Bruins last went to the Rose Bowl. The natives are restless.
Last Game: Arizona State made a statement in their final game of 2020. They scored early and often at Arizona State en route to a 46–33 win at Oregon State. They added seven touchdowns to the 10 scored last week against Arizona.
The Sun Devils grounded and pounded OSU into submission. Herm Edwards team ran for 375 yards, led by junior Rachaad White, who had 158 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
Parting Words: There are two teams to Pac-12 teams to feel bad for this season. Arizona State is one of them. The Sun Devils had a very good team this year. Under ordinary circumstances, they could have challenged for the South Division. Instead, they lost a one-point game to USC in the opener, and then their squad was ravaged by COVID.
Last Game: For the second week in a row, Utah fell behind by double digits in the third quarter. And for the second week in a row, the Utes came back with a vengeance. This time it was a 38–0 second half rout that propelled them to victory.
Ty Jordan ran for 154 yards and three scores on 22 carries, to lead the offense. Mr. All-Purpose, Britain Covey had 170 combined yards, including a 91-yard second quarter TD.
Parting Words: It’s hard to keep a good team down. The Utes may have started their season two weeks late and then with a pair of losses, but the cream rose to the top. Kyle Whittingham is a good coach who runs a fantastic program.
Last Game: There were some great games during the Pac-12’s limited 2020 run. This might have been the best one. Stanford pulled out to an early 17-point lead only to get blown away by an avalanche of UCLA scoring. Following a Davis Mills pick-six, which put his team down 14 with 5:39 left, The Cardinal went to work.
They scored a pair of touchdowns sandwiched around a late UCLA turnover to tie the game and send it into overtime. Stanford scored two more TD in the extra periods, winning on a failed two-point conversion. Final score 48–47 in Stanford’s favor.
Receiver Simi Fehoko was Stanford’s offensive superstar with 16 receptions for 230 yards and three touchdowns. Malik Antoine and Levani Damuni combined for 26 tackles to lead the defense.
Parting Words: Stanford looked like roadkill in their opener against Oregon. Then a close loss to Colorado seemed to cement the Cardinal’s status as a conference also-ran. To their credit, the team rallied and won four straight, some in dramatic fashion. All of their wins this year were by less than a touchdown with only “W” by more than a field goal (31-26 over Washington).
Last Game: (12/6) What a disappointment for the Washington Huskies. They were undefeated and cruising towards the Pac-12 Championship game. UW had a home game against home-less Stanford. It seemed like the stars were aligned. Then came the kickoff.
Stanford came at the Huskies like Utah did a week earlier, but with greater and more prolonged success. UW had a good opportunity to score a touchdown on their second possession, driving the ball down to Stanford’s eight-yard line. Despite first-and-goal, the Washington Huskies managed two yards on three plays and had to settle for a field goal.
Boosted by their defensive stand, Stanford only needed nine plays to punch the ball into the endzone again. One more Cardinal field goal and the deficit was 24–3 at the half.
Just like the previous week, the Huskies came out on fire in the second half. They scored their first touchdown on the first possession of the second half. Unlike last week Stanford answered with a TD of their own. From there, Washington went on a 13–0 run (Stanford blocked an extra point for the second straight week).
UW had their chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter after forcing a fumble and running the ball back to Stanford’s 10-yard line with 10 minutes to go. Instead of punching the ball into the endzone for a potential tying score, Washington went backward due to a pair of holding penalties and had to kick a 45-yard field goal.
The Cardinal controlled the ball for the rest of the game. Washington’s defense must have made their stand on the previous series because this one lasted the final 7:47.
Parting Words: It was a better than expected start to Jimmy Lake’s head coaching career. This team and its coach still have lots of growing to do. Depending on who comes back next season, the Huskies may be favorites to defend their Pac-12 North title.
Last Game: (12/13) The Colorado Buffaloes’ 2020 season, what could have been. Aside from Utah’s opening drive for a touchdown, the Buffs defense controlled the first half. Their special teams weren’t too bad either. Brenden Rice returned a late second quarter punt for a touchdown to put his team up 14-7.
On the first play of the second half, Sam Noyer connected with Rice on a 61-yard touchdown pass. Colorado went up by 11 points and were on their way to 5–0. Then all the magic the Buffaloes had this season ran out. Utah went on a 28–0 run and Colorado’s undefeated season was over.
Next game: Valero Alamo Bowl – Tuesday, December 29, San Antonio, Texas vs. No. 20 Texas Longhorns. Was Colorado for real this year? Their matchup with UT should provide an answer.
Parting Words: If another team had to fill in for Washington, it should have been the Buffs. They were done a big disservice by the Pac-12 this year.
Last Game: Oregon made the most of an opportunity many felt they didn’t deserve against USC. The Ducks jumped out to an early 14-point lead in the first quarter. After that, the teams traded touchdowns for the rest of the game.
On the subject of making the most of an opportunity, Oregon converted two of USC’s three interceptions into touchdowns. They had to because UO was “out-offensed “ 358–243. In the end, that was the difference between winning and losing.
The Oregon Ducks are your 2020 Pac-12 Champions.
Next game: Playstation Fiesta Bowl – Saturday, January 2, Tempe, Arizona vs. No. 10 Iowa Cyclones.
Parting Words: You can’t convince me that putting Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game was the right thing to do. It doesn’t matter that they beat USC. The Ducks didn’t belong there, and the conference slips further into a pit of irrelevance of their own making. The is no ill will toward Oregon specifically. If they were 6-0 or even 5-1, I’d have no issue with them representing the Pac-12 in the New Year’s 6.
Last Game: Let’s keep this short. Missing rushing leader Vavae Malepeai, who was out with an injury, USC couldn’t run the ball effectively. Despite the fact quarterback Kedon Slovis threw for 328 yards, he had almost as many picks in this game (3) as he did in USC five previous games (4).
A cursory glance at the scoreboard makes it look like USC’s defense had a bad game. Not true. Led by Kana’i Mauga, Talanoa Hufanga, and Isaiah Pola-Mao, who had a combined 36 tackles, the Trojans allowed only 243 yards to Oregon.
Parting Words: They had one job last Friday and couldn’t get it done. When they decided to skip Bowl season, it came off as sour grapes. Two black eyes in one week. Nice work, Clay Helton. Way to represent your school and conference.
Thanks for following our Pac-12 football Power Rankings this season. After the new year, we move to Pac-12 Basketball.