Bottom 11: Week One- Chip bad, Herm good?!?

Who is good enough to be second best?

By Mariotasmustache Sep 3, 2018, 12:17pm PDT

BOTTOM 11

WEEK ONE

We all know Oregon is the best school with the best fans, atmosphere and mascot, so in this weekly article we rank the other PAC-12 schools. Think of it like a power ranking, but incredibly biased, and fueled by pettiness, insecurity, hate and fear.

Rest assured, the huskies will always be ranked at the bottom of the bottom.

No. 12 - washington huskies (0-1)

OPPONENT: @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium vs No. 9 Auburn Tigers (1-0)

RESULT: Loss, 21 - 16

If the slew of analysts that said this was a must win for the PAC-12’s playoff hopes were right, then put away your ‘we want BAMA’ hats right now. Luckily, this is the first game of the season, and the PAC-12 shouldn’t feel too bad about washington’s close loss to a top ten team. Though Jake Browning did nothing to quiet his many critics. Here’s to hoping that Browning turns in another one-touchdown performance on October 13th.

NEXT UP: VS. North Dakota Fighting Hawks (1-0)

No. 11 - ARIZONA WILDCATS (0-1)

OPPONENT: Home against BYU Cougars (1-0)

RESULT: Loss, 28 - 23

What’s that sound? It’s the Khalil Tate Heisman hype train crashing into a wall. In a similar fashion to what Oregon did last year, BYU completely shutdown Tate, though many would argue that Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone helped the Cougars by having Tate throw the ball 34 times.

Tate had 197 yds and a touchdown in the air, and only mustered 14 yards and a single touchdown on eight carries. These are not Heisman numbers, and if their defense doesn’t improve quickly, this may not be a bowl team.

NEXT UP: @ Houston Cougars (1-0)

No. 10 - UCLA BRUINS (0-1)

OPPONENT: Home against Cincinnati Bearcats (1-0)

RESULT: Loss, 26-17

Reasonable observers knew that even the great Chip Kelly would need some time to build something out of this awkward cast of players at UCLA, still, the result was surprising and the team did not resemble a Kelly team.

Wilton Speight left in the first half of the game due to injury, which allowed Dorian Thompson-Robinson to step in and perform quite well. Unfortunately, Thompson-Robinson’s progress will likely mean little to the Sooners next week. A quick look at UCLA’s schedule and it seems less than likely that the Bruins get to six wins.

NEXT UP: @ No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners (1-0)

NO. 9 - OREGON STATE (0-1)

OPPONENT: @ No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0)

RESULT: Loss, 77-31

When you’re as bad as the Beavers were projected to be, a 77 to 31 loss can almost be chalked up as a win.

Against the Buckeyes’ infamous defense, the Beavers had three offensive standouts: QB Conor Blount (who replaced the concussed Jake Luton) was 12/19, with 169 yards, and two touchdowns. RB Artavis Pierce had 168 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. And Receiver Trevon Bradford caught both of Blount’s TD passes and contributed 104 yards on six receptions.

...of course, all this momentum will mean nothing should they lose to Southern Utah.

NEXT UP: VS Southern Utah Thunderbirds (0-1)

NO. 8 - USC TROJANS (1-0)

OPPONENT: Home against UNLV Rebels (0-1)

RESULT: Win, 43-21

No. 15 USC is one of many PAC-12 teams that took awhile to warm up against lesser competition. Though the Trojans eventually found their footing and toppled the Rebels, their victory certainly raised some questions about their defense, which allowed 308 yards on the ground.

Next week, USC will visit No. 13 Stanford. Bryce Love may have had a poor showing against an Aztecs team that was gunning for him, but it’s safe to say that Love will get his yards against the Trojans. This top 25 matchup will be Freshman Quarterback JT Daniels first real test.

NEXT UP: @ the No. 13 Stanford Cardinal (1-0)

NO. 7 - UTAH UTES (1-0)

OPPONENT: Home against Weber State Wildcats (0-1)

RESULT: Win, 41-10

Despite trailing Weber State 10-0 in the opening minutes (sound familiar?), Tyler Huntley eventually found his composure and thrilled the passionate Utah fans. Huntley finished with 253 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, but the most impressive side of the ball was the Utes’ defense, which allowed only 59 yards of offense (46 rushing, 13 passing.)

NEXT UP: @ Northern Illinois Huskies (0-1)

No. 6 - Washington State (1-0)

NCAA Football: Washington State at Wyoming

OPPONENT: Home against Wyoming Cowboys (0-1)

RESULT: Win, 41-19

Wyoming picked up a lot of momentum after their week zero win over New Mexico State, and due to the loss of Alex Grinch and the tragedy surrounding Wazzu’s projected starter at quarterback, this appeared to lean in the favor of the Cowboys,

But Mike Leach’s turned a 16-13 deficit at the half into a 22-point win. Their next opponent, San Jose State, plays Oregon in week 3, so Duck fans will have the opportunity to scout two opponents in one game.

NEXT UP: VS San Jose State Spartans (0-1)

No. 5 - California Golden Bears (1-0)

NCAA Football: North Carolina at California

OPPONENT: Home against UNC Tar Heels (0-1)

RESULT: Win, 24-17

It was ugly, it was defensive minded, but most importantly, it was a win for Justin Wilcox and his Golden Bears over a P5 opponent. Both teams looked pretty miserable offensively, but Cal’s defense seems to be trending upward in the long run. They will have to travel to BYU to play the Cougars, who are aiming to sweep their PAC-12 slate with wins over Cal, Washington and Utah now that they’ve beaten Arizona.

NEXT UP: @ BYU Cougars (1-0)

No. 4 - STANFORD CARDINAL (1-0)

NCAA Football: San Diego State at Stanford

OPPONENT: Home against San Diego State Aztecs (0-1)

RESULT: Win, 31 - 10

After pulling off the upset against the Cardinal last year, the Aztecs were hoping to repeat their success by stopping Bryce Love. And to their credit, they did. San Diego State held the Heisman frontrunner and human highlight reel to just 29 yards on 18 carries.

However, due to San Diego State’s focus on the run, K.J. Costello was able to rip apart the Aztecs through the air in the second half. Stanford’s large pass-catchers muscled their way to a 21-point win against a quality team. The clear standout was 6’3, 225 receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside, who racked up 226 yards and three touchdowns on six receptions.

NEXT UP: VS. USC Trojans (1-0)

No. 3 - COLORADO BUFFALOES (1-0)

OPPONENT: Home against Colorado State Rams (0-2)

RESULT: Win, 45-13

Steven Montez - 22/25 - 338 yards - four touchdowns - one interception

Scott Frost and his Bugeaters better watch out!

#Montezforheisman #Montezforpresident

NEXT UP: @ Nebraska Cornhuskers (0-0)

NO. 2 - Your Bottom 11 Champion...

ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (1-0)

OPPONENT: Home against UTSA Roadrunners (0-1)

RESULT: Win, 49 - 7

Any true PAC-12 fan should know to always root for and expect chaos. Yet still, we doubted the hiring of Herm Edwards. Well, Herm is here and he is spectacular.

Manny Wilkins looked like the best QB in the west, accumulating 237 yards on 16/24 passing and four touchdowns. Eno Benjamin and and Isaiah Floyd each scored, and N’Keal Harry continued to be Larry Fitzgerald with 140 yards and two touchdowns. What’s most shocking is that ASU’s defense held their opponent to 3 yards rushing.

But we all know that the Roadrunners aren’t exactly Clemson. However, should Herm and his Sun Devils find themselves undefeated going into October (meaning they would have wins over Michigan State, San Diego State, Washington, and the Beavers), all bets are off and we may be living in the upside down.

NEXT UP: @ No. 11 Michigan State Spartans (1-0)