For years, dating to the latter stages of the Bowl Championship Series through the start of the College Football Playoff, teams in the Pac-12 Conference have pointed to a unique argument when plugging the league’s postseason case: Unlike the rest of the Power Five landscape, we play nine conference games and a championship game.
The argument remains unique. It simply holds less water after an opening-weekend performance that can only be termed a disaster for a Pac-12 pegged as one of the top two conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Utah and UCLA have beaten non-conference Power Five opponents, Michigan and Virginia, that are trying to resurrect their programs, but their good work was undermined Saturday.
The league lost two games against teams from the Mountain West Conference: Washington fell at Boise State, and Colorado did the same at Hawaii. Washington’s in the midst of a rebuilding project, while Boise State stands as the strongest team on the Group of Five level. Colorado’s loss is a poor omen for the Buffaloes’ own quest for respectability.
Stanford was barely recognizable against Northwestern, managing just two field goals against a team with just six wins in its last 20 games. Those waiting for the Cardinal’s eventual offensive breakthrough should reconsider their optimism; Stanford clearly took nothing from last season’s late shift toward an up-tempo slant.
Washington State lost by a touchdown to Portland State, an also-ran from the Football Championship Subdivision. That the Cougars weren’t expected to make noise in league play doesn’t change the overall sentiment: An FCS defeat is now on the Pac-12’s ledger.
Next week’s slate pits the conference against Utah State, Michigan, Rutgers, San Diego State, UCF and, most notably, Michigan State. The latter provides perhaps the Pac-12’s marquee team, Oregon, a chance for a résumé-rebuilding victory.
It’s also a potential tipping point: Another momentum-robbing defeat would feed into a contrary point of view, which cites an unsuccessful September to negate the impact of the Pac-12’s nine-game conference schedule. It’s never too early to consider the arguments at the Playoff selection committee’s disposal.
All that said, the Big Ten had a mixed start to the 2015 season as well, with Nebraska losing a heartbreaker to BYU, Penn State looking inept at American Athletic Conference member Temple, and Indiana barely escaping vs. FCS-level Southern Illinois.
This week's winners and losers:
WINNERS
Northwestern: The air went out of Northwestern on Oct. 5, 2013, when a prime-time loss to Ohio State — coming on the heels of a 10-win season, a bowl win and a perfect September — deflated a football program seemingly destined for Rose Bowl contention. Pat Fitzgerald spoke this offseason of rediscovering what once made this program tick: defensive aggressiveness, a spread-based offensive system and an underdog's mentality. More than anything, however, Northwestern needed a marquee win to reverse a troubling trend.
Saturday's 16-6 victory against No. 21 Stanford will move the Wildcats' arrow upwards for the first time in two seasons. The defense limited Stanford to small chunks of yardage, which should force an offense stuck in the previous century to once again revisit its style and philosophy of choice. Northwestern's own offense has found an answer at quarterback: Clayton Thorson gives the Wildcats athleticism under center for the first time since Kain Colter's departure.
The same formula, tweaked slightly for personnel, should fare well once the calendar turns to Big Ten Conference play. And in the big picture, the victory itself should move Northwestern back onto the national radar; it should also begin the process of eroding the thought that Fitzgerald’s tenure had grown stale.
Josh Rosen: There are freshmen quarterbacks, there are promising freshmen quarterbacks, and then there's freshman Josh Rosen, who might just be the most polished first-year quarterback in recent FBS history. In his debut for the No. 14 Bruins, a 34-16 win against Virginia, Rosen completed 28 of 35 attempts for 351 yards and three scores. This is just the beginning.
Temple: The Owls' victory against Penn State ends one of the longest head-to-head losing streaks in the history of college football: Temple's last win in the series came on Oct. 18, 1941. Yet this breakthrough was coming for a team and program propelled by recent bumps in the road, from a 10-loss 2013 season through the disappointment of reaching bowl eligibility a season ago but being denied a postseason berth.
LOSERS
Kansas: It was never going to be easy, but Saturday's 41-38 loss to South Dakota State raises the specter of a winless season for Kansas and first-year coach David Beaty. The schedule now turns to Memphis and Rutgers, the latter on the road, before turning to Big 12 Conference play. The Jayhawks' best in-conference chance at a win, against Iowa State, comes on the road.
Penn State: Temple is a tough team, especially on defense, but there's no excuse at this point for the Nittany Lions to muster 103 passing yards from quarterback Christian Hackenberg and less than 200 yards of offense in total. Penn State gave up more sacks (10) than it gained gained first downs (9).
Nebraska: A maddening debut for Mike Riley as Nebraska's coach ended with a last-second winning touchdown pass by BYU. Nine wins was considered a mediocre bar under Riley's predecessor Bo Pelini. A review of the Cornhuskers' schedule makes nine wins in 2015 seem iffy.
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