I'm picking OSU over Utah by at least 1 point.
- Thread starter froropmkr72
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I think osu wins anyways. Time for the pac 12 to start their annual beating up on each other so we can get Alabama Georgia and Ohio State in the CFP again.
The only problem is OSU has DJ U at QB. If they continue to play him like he is a "featured" passing QB, which limits their play calling, they will struggle. They were better last year when they conceded that they had a game manager at QB, and that they needed creative play calling to move the ball. It kept defenses off balance. Now they have a game manager, and they don't seem to want to acknowledge it.
Personally, I think DJU is extremely overrated. Let me clarify this. He would be a fantastic Mountain West QB.
Oregon State went for it, hook line and sinker. It was risky take a former, (not a good fit, or rejected) Clemson recruit? We all know that "stars"....5 Stars or 4 Stars out of high school doesn't guarantee anything at this level. Look at Texas A & M. Look at JDL? Arizona fell for it too. He's still a good QB, but....(fill in the blank).
Clemson appears to be trending downward big time. Jonathan Smith can do better than this.
Utah is going to spank Oregon State. We were their first test. Utah will be their second test. Then Sunday....they're out of the Top 25.
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What's sad about college football is that even though it's obvious to everyone that the Pac-12 is the deepest, strongest conference this year, there's already discussion that both Ohio State and Notre Dame would still have a shot at the playoff with 1 or 2 losses where we all know that a loss virtually dooms a Pac-12 team, particularly someone like Oregon State or WSU.
Barring upsets, either OU or Texas is going to make the playoff. Ohio State is a lock as long as they lose no more than one game and they probably won't lose any cause the B1G sucks. Georgia doesn't face a Top 15 team until the SEC championship where they likely play Alabama, who also won't face another Top 15 team the rest of the season. Florida State gets to coast until the end of the season and likely won't face a Top 20 team the rest of the way. Duke and Miami are both in the Top 20 right now, but both have likely losses coming soon. Duke plays Notre Dame and Miami will likely be an underdog against both UNC and Clemson. The ACC championship looks like 12-0 FSU vs 11-1 UNC.
So, just like any other year, one loss by a Pac-12 school and we are on the outside looking in because other conferences are just better at propping up their contenders.
Agreed, but still better than a G5, that takes an act of congress to get into the Top 25. Look at Fresno.
Clemson has been ranked in the final AP Top 15 in 11 straight seasons and was #3 in 2020. They are trending downward, particularly this season, but they are loaded with talent. Massey's computer model still thinks that they finish 9-3 and likely in the Top 15 again this year. I'd love for WSU to be as irrelevant as Clemson has been.
That said, OSU's QB looked pretty fraudulent on Saturday. Ward got bailed out by great WR play but if not for a couple PI calls that kept drives alive, DJU would have broken barely 100 yards against our passing defense, which isn't known to be that stellar.
Fair enough. I revised my post, regarding Clemson. Agreed. "Trending downward" is more accurate.
Actually, there have been 2 times since the CFP was established that the Pac-12 had 1-loss teams. Both times (UO and UW), those teams made the final four cut. So history doesn't support the notion that a one-loss Pac-12 team will be on the outside looking in.
Glad Cougar
It will certainly be interesting to see what they do if there’s a 1 loss P12 champion this year that’s up against a 1 loss SEC/B10/B12 team. Hard to argue this isn’t the strongest conference in the country top to bottom this year. Been a long while since we could say that.
Not uncommon. Remember Jake Heaps?
Some of these kids have such a significant talent advantage in HS it’s like playing catch in the backyard. Still have talent but college is the first time they’ve ever actually had to read a defense, move on to 2nd or 3rd option, and lead their receivers open. It’s why you take a QB in every class and sometimes 2. Even a decent chunk of 5* never pan out.
DJ played at St. John Bosco, a national power, with 4-5 star recruits aplenty, 90% of the kids having D1 aspirations. Other than playing Mater Dei, annually, they are a man's team, playing boys. So there were very few situations when his metal was tested. When they played Mater Dei, real competition, he lost 3 out of 4.
From what we saw Saturday, he didn't deserve a 5 star ranking. Probably not even 4.
He's not accurate, he doesn't see the field well. All his throws are the same, he doesn't have touch where it's needed. And he doesn't handle pressure well. I don't remember him making stupid throws into coverage, but he missed several throws to receivers who were reasonably open, including the horrifying overthrow on one of their 4th down attempts to a wide open receiver who he inexplicably overthrew by easily 5 yards. He runs the ball OK, but he's never going to beat anyone with his arm.
We are ranked 24th in defensive efficiency in the country right now too. Not like we’ve played any amazing QBs but 1/3 of the way into the season might be time to admit our pass defense is pretty good. Those corners have been solid in coverage and supporting the run and Hicks is a monster.
The Cougs are good. How good we'll see starting on Oct 7. Beating the Beavs was impressive, although not unexpected. Regardless of where we land, we have gotta hold on to Dickert and staff.
Leach used to talk all the time about prioritizing accuracy over any other measurable. Now, the position has changed a lot over the past decade where run/pass QBs have more leeway with regard to their drop back passing, but you have to be either an elite runner or passer to be a 5-star. DJ is a 2 star passer and maybe a 3 star runner.
Those rankings account for the strength of teams played against as well. So we’ve had enough of a sample size. That said sports is often about matchups and teams coming up will provide challenges not seen before. Should be fun.
I think you may be under-rating him as a runner. But yes, a 2 star passer.
I think his natural position may be as a D back. It is certainly the only way he will sniff the NFL, and he may be a good enough athlete to make that work.
DJ is a 3 star passer, 4 star runner.
He made 1,2,3,4 really good passes.
1 of which was about a 30 to 33 to 35 to 37 yard pass to a OSU WR that was in a small zone spot, running down field towards the sideline, between the sideline, and the beat CB, and the bracket safety, and DJ ACCURATELY zipped, dropped it right to the WR .
The problem is that DJ is not CONSISTENT in doing that, hence he is better then 2 star passer, as a 3 star passer, but lacks 4 star consistency, and makes mistakes, etc.
DJ has about a 13 to 15 to 17 yard run to sideline for first down.
And he ran for a 27 yard TD run.
That's 4 star running ability.
That said a lot of what being said about DJ is semi accurate.
If the Beavs shift back to the play calling that gave us fits last year, and use DJ's size and legs as a significant weapon, DJ won't need him to read defenses well or throw that accurately, because their, WSU's own Jim Michalczik coached, OL is the best in the conference. And that ain't a fluke, Jim has coached 19 1000 yard rushers, including one 2000 yard rushers, in his career. Hopefully, Coach Smith's flirtation with DJ "Air" Beaver is over here-on-out. That said "prize" QB recruits do have a habit of f-ing with otherwise good team dynamics. We learnt that with both Bledsoe and Rypien.
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