Puppies run a pro style offense, with even worse O line than SC. The big questions is how well Tree's offense can produce. Tree's should win this week though might be by a field goal.
Could be right... UW better have a plan to get the ball out of Price's hands quick. USC's line>>>>>>>>>>>>> UW's line
Considering USC has a plethora of O-line talent yet was still screwed with by Stanford, yeah, UW is going to get screwed.
I'm wondering what this upset means. LSU beat Washington 41-3. Washington beat Stanford 17-13. Stanford beat USC 21-14. I know that the transitive property doesn't really apply to college football, and anyone can win on any given,... Thursday, but that sort of dominant win by LSU probably says something about one of these teams. Is LSU that good? Was the Stanford win a fluke? Was the Washington win a fluke?
Regardless of associations to either university, how do ya'll interpret the outcome of this game in terms of it's broader meaning? Which game was a fluke... LSU stomping UW, UW in turn knocking off Stanford, or Stanford knocking off USC,... or do they all tell us that the Pac-12 is competitive, and LSU is really that good? Again, that sort of logic shouldn't really hold much water in college football, but with teams playing 12 games, while we're still in a BCS system, those implications mean a lot when it comes to BCS bids.
So many different offenses are run in College that its hard to say one domination/upset is cause for concern in the long run. In the short term its going to make the Pac-12 look weaker but I don't think it will have a lasting effect on rankings at the end of the season.
I think it's a matter of your system and a bit of luck. Stanford's power game gave USC fits, but UW had time to really gear up for it. Also, Montgomery dropped a few passes and two would have been TD's. It's a game of inches. As to LSU/UW, LSU is a typical SEC team that loves to pour it on as it's good for the rankings. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't see any 'flukes' out of those 3 games. Stanford beat a poorly coached USC, LSU ran it up against UW at home and UW geared up to stop a one dimensional team.
People forget that right before half of the LSU/UW game, UW should've gotten a fumble return for TD to make it 20-10 and keep it balanced. Instead, the fumble wasn't called, LSU scored to go up 27-3 and spent the entire second half pinning its ears back on D and overwhelming the UW O-Line. I don't see a lot of national folks calling the Pac-12 weak (not like, say, they're clowning on the Big 10 and Big East or ACC outside of FSU), and I think it shows that Stanford, USC and Oregon belong in the top 15 or so programs and UW and OSU are knocking on the door. Riley and Sarkisian are nationally recognized as good coaches, and I think are on their way to building the depth and speed needed to join Oregon/USC in the "I can hang with SEC teams" talk.
Here's how I picked the last two games upsets..... if it matters... Mental edge was huge for happy trees against the Trojans on the farm.... Stanford as of late have owned the Trojans but more importantly Barkley. That's however not why I picked Stanford to win. My two main reasons were, no Kalil and no starting center for the Trojans. Center/Qb rythm must be on point or the whole offense strains. Then throw in no all American to protect Barkley "Kalil" and you have a recipe for forced passes, offensive line collapse and Barkley hearing footsteps. I knew Stanford defense was solid and they are huge upfront so I figured USC would struggle. Ad on to that that Stanford's coach is better than Lamo and it just felt right to go that direction.... On the farm was the tripple threat... After watching the Stanford game I came away with the thought those Happy Trees can lay some wood on the defensive side of the ball but their new QB is noooooo Mariota and their offense although physically imposing on the TE and O line didn't seem very crisp and their plays seemed to me very defendable..... So UW/ Stanford was next.... The Puppies got thrashed by LSU so they were going to have to get this win to seem relevant even to themselves... It was a home game, Seahawk stadium on national TV. They had a good but not great freshman Qb for Stanford who'd made some pretty bad passes against USC coming into their turf. UW also has some pretty nice secondary players including Shaq Thompson that would give Stanford's receivers fits. Puppies seemed due and this was their best chance for an upset.
