Pac-12 Football Roundup: Backup QBs Take the Stage; No Bowl for USC
The final weekend of the Pac-12’s crazy regular season is in the books, and it was a doozy.
Three issues stood out on the final weekend:
---Backup quarterbacks were a major factor in every game.
---The Pac-12 champion (Oregon) was 25th in the final College Football Playoff rankings on Sunday. The champions from the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, American, Sun Belt and Mountain West conferences as well as the top independent were all ranked ahead of the Ducks. Colorado, which was 25th in last week's CFP rankings, were dropped from the top-25 after not playing this weekend.
---The Pac-12 team that finished with the highest AP ranking won’t be playing in a bowl game, and is one of five bowl-eligible Pac-12 teams that won’t play n the postseason.
Taking the last issue first, USC officials stated on Saturday that the Trojans have opted not to play a bowl game, even though they are 5-1 and ranked No. 21 in this week’s AP poll.
Also, Stanford (4-2 and winner of four straight), Washington (3-1 and winner of the North Division), Arizona State (2-2 and winner of its last two games) and Utah (3-2 and winner of three straight) also were eligible to play in the postseason, but they all decided not to. You can understand why after being away from their families for so long, daily testing and the threat of further virus-related issues.
It leaves two Pac-12 teams in bowl games: Conference champion Oregon (4-2) is headed to a New Year’s Six Bowl (probably the Fiesta Bowl), and Colorado (4-1) will go to the Alamo Bowl after the Buffaloes were left without a game on the final weekend.
The backup quarterback issue will be addressed in each game.
Oregon 31, USC 24
Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown, a grad transfer from Boston College, had not played a single snap before he was inserted into Friday’s Pac-12 championship game during Oregon’s first possession. On his first play as an Oregon quarterback, he threw a touchdown pass to put Oregon up 7-0. He threw a second TD pass in the second half to put Oregon ahead 28-14. For the game, Brown went 3-for-4 for 17 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a total quarterback rating of 94.7.
That was better than Ducks starter Tyler Shough, who was 8-for-15 for 91 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and a QBR of 27.6.
And better than USC’s Kedon Slovis, who threw three interceptions and had a QBR of 53.2.
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Utah 45, Washington State 28
After Utes starting quarterback Jake Bentley threw an interception that led directly to a Washington State touchdown that gave the Cougars (1-3) a 28-7 lead late in the second quarter, Bentley was replaced by Drew Lisk, a redshirt senior who had not played at all this season before entering with 1:21 left in the first half.
Lisk led five scoring drives on eight second-half possessions, four of which went for touchdowns, as Utah outscored the Cougars 38-0 in the second half.
Lisk, who had played in just six previous games in his college career, all in mopup duty, got the game ball from coach Kyle Whittingham in the winning locker room. It presumably was Lisk's final college game (pretty cool):
Stanford 48, UCLA 47
When UCLA freshman Chase Griffin replaced injured Dorian Thompson-Robinson with three minutes left in the first half, Stanford led 13-3 and would take a 21-3 lead into halftime.
But Griffin went 9-for-11 for 127 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions while leading the Bruins to a seemingly safe 34-20 lead with 5:39 left in the fourth quarter.
Backup UCLA running back Brittain Brown, starting in place of injured Demetric Felton, was also in line to be an unlikely hero, rushing for 219 yards in the game.
However, the Bruins (3-4) could not handle Stanford wide receiver Simi Fehoko, who had a Stanford-record 16 receptions for 230 yards and three touchdowns. His first touchdown catch with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter got the Cardinal within a touchdown, his second with 18 seconds left tied it, and his third, in the second overtime, gave Stanford a 48-41 lead.
Griffin responded with a touchdown pass in UCLA’s ensuing possession to make it 48-47, but after the Bruins’ first two-point attempt was erased by offsetting penalties, Brown was stopped a yard short on the second two-point attempt on a run up the middle.
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Arizona State 46, Oregon State 33
Oregon State backup quarterback Chance Nolan, starting in place of injured Tristan Gebbia, threw a touchdown pass on the Beavers’ first possession to give Oregon State (2-5) a 7-0 lead in rainy and cold Corvallis, Oregon, Saturday night.
But it was downhill for Nolan after that. He finished 9-for-23 for 114 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and 60 yards rushing.
The Beavers’ Jermar Jefferson had 103 rushing yards, but ASU’s Rashaad White had 158 yards and two touchdowns.
Arizona State had three touchdown plays of more than 50 yards, and over its final two games, ASU amassed 1,000 yards of offense and 116 points.
Here are the College Football Playoff pairings:
Cover photo of Chase Griffin by Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports
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