[d4cohn]

I was pretty shocked at how ordinary SC looked. They're going to finish around 7-5.

That said, the secondary played at a very, very high level. I do think the refs were determined to not call any PIs tonight, which of course benefited the secondaries for both teams.

The Stanford offense? Start with the penalties, throw in the predictable first-down runs, the complete lack of a third wide out--not a stellar night. That said, when you have a (hopefully healthy) Costello, Love and JJAW all playing at a high, high level, the offense is....almost as good as it was at the end of last year.

I completely agree with your assessment of SC. I simply wonder who is going to win the South now, because for SC's struggles, they still have the easiest Pac-12 schedule remaining of all the South contenders (SC, Utah, Colorado, Arizona State) by far. SC has already played Stanford, avoids Washington and Oregon entirely, and gets ASU and Colorado at home (Utah road). Otherwise, SC's remaining road Pac-12 games are at Arizona, Oregon State and UCLA (all terrible). 

In contrast, Arizona State has road games at both Washington and Oregon (brutal), at Colorado, at USC, home Stanford. Utah has road games at Washington State, Stanford, Colorado and ASU, and home games against UW and Oregon. Colorado has road games at USC and Washington. 

SC might not be great, but based on their schedule, could win the Pac-12 South by default. I think the Pac-12 North's dominance of the conference will return after a one-year absence.

[d4cohn]

I was pretty shocked at how ordinary SC looked. They're going to finish around 7-5.

That said, the secondary played at a very, very high level. I do think the refs were determined to not call any PIs tonight, which of course benefited the secondaries for both teams.

The Stanford offense? Start with the penalties, throw in the predictable first-down runs, the complete lack of a third wide out--not a stellar night. That said, when you have a (hopefully healthy) Costello, Love and JJAW all playing at a high, high level, the offense is....almost as good as it was at the end of last year.

I completely agree with your assessment of SC. I simply wonder who is going to win the South now, because for SC's struggles, they still have the easiest Pac-12 schedule remaining of all the South contenders (SC, Utah, Colorado, Arizona State) by far. SC has already played Stanford, avoids Washington and Oregon entirely, and gets ASU and Colorado at home (Utah road). Otherwise, SC's remaining road Pac-12 games are at Arizona, Oregon State and UCLA (all terrible). 

In contrast, Arizona State has road games at both Washington and Oregon (brutal), at Colorado, at USC, home Stanford. Utah has road games at Washington State, Stanford, Colorado and ASU, and home games against UW and Oregon. Colorado has road games at USC and Washington. 

SC might not be great, but based on their schedule, could win the Pac-12 South by default. I think the Pac-12 North's dominance of the conference will return after a one-year absence.