Pac-12 College Football Preview 2022: Where Does USC Fall?
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The Pac-12 (as it's known for now) has one of the most interesting conference races in college football. The defending-champion Utah Utes return much of their team from a season ago, but have to fend off newly-invigorated USC and an always-relevant Oregon.
What might the Pac-12 look like in the 2022 college football season?
Battle-Tested And Ready
The highs of Oregon's 2021 were through the roof, but they were majorly overshadowed by the lows. Coming out of Week 2 and a massive upset over Ohio State on the road, they were the Mighty Ducks.
Just two weeks later, Oregon was bested by Stanford. Then they were decimated by Utah twice by a combined 76-17 score (including in the conference championship) and boat raced in the Alamo Bowl just days after their head coach left town.
Oregon hired Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning to spearhead their program, who brought over Florida State offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham. Dillingham's hire helped persuade Auburn transfer Bo Nix to come to Oregon.
While defense was the root cause for all four of Oregon's losses in 2021, it's primed to be their premiere unit this coming season. RS freshman linebacker Justin Flowe returns after missing last year with an injury and complements All American Noah Sewell. Those two cement the Ducks as having one of the best linebacking corps in the nation (ranked No. 4 by Phil Steele).
However, can Nix inspire the offense that was dragged down by Anthony Brown a year ago and lost multiple pieces to the transfer portal?
We'll learn a lot about what Oregon's made of in Week 1 when they travel to Atlanta to face Georgia as multiple-touchdown underdogs.
Light Up The Scoreboard
Did you know Washington State finished second in the Pac-12 North last year? Not many people did.
While Wazzu only returns 50% of their production from last season, they get a jolt of energy from lauded FCS transfer Cameron Ward. Ward moves to Pullman with his head coach from Incarnate Word, now Wazzu OC Eric Morris. Morris fixes to return the Cougs to a traditional Air Raid offense after a lost year in the run-and-shoot.
Three starters return at receiver for Ward to work with this season, led by rising sophomore De'Zhaun Stribling. Win or lose, Wazzu is going to score points.
The effectiveness of this offense will be tested early on as the Cougars travel to Wisconsin to face the Badgers in Week 2.
Check Your Rearview Mirrors
I won't waste time explaining USC's headline-dominating offseason– you already know the highlights.
The question is, how will the Trojans come together in Year 1 under Lincoln Riley? Quarterback Caleb Williams is a Heisman contender at sportsbooks and has a pair of ridiculously-talented receivers at his disposal: his No. 1 target at Oklahoma Mario Williams and Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison from Pitt.
Their game at Utah doesn't happen until mid-October and they don't handle Notre Dame until the last week of the season. Kicking the season off against Rice, Stanford, and a rebuilt Fresno State helps USC ease into the new era.
Power rating systems like the FPI and SP+ are bearish on USC's outlook; however, they're co-favorites in odds to win the Pac-12. So is this a 10-win team? A seven-win mess?
The answer is probably somewhere in the middle. However, the ceiling on USC is higher than any team in the Pac-12 this year.
Defending Champs Poised For Repeat?
Utah dominated Oregon twice last season and went toe-to-toe with Ohio State in their first-ever Rose Bowl appearance. While they lose a few pieces to the NFL, Utah returns a ton of talent.
Back is rising star Cameron Rising (pun intended), three of their top four rushers– spearheaded by 1,000-yard rusher Tavion Thomas– and four of their top five receivers. Tight end Dalton Kincaid will be a favorite target of Rising after finishing with a team-high eight touchdowns in 2021.
Cornerback Clark Phillips III leads another athletic defensive unit with a lot of new faces. However, don't expect this defense to take too far a step backward. Per Phil Steele, Utah's weakest-rated group on defense is their DL, which still checks in 17th in the country.
The biggest strength for Utah this year is their continuity– they're one of just 21 teams nationally to bring back their head coach, starting QB, and both coordinators. That head coach happens to be one of the nation's best in Kyle Whittingham.
The Utes are a bonafide top-10 team this coming season with very serious Playoff potential.
Don't Sleep On These Teams
Star back Zach Charbonnet returns to UCLA despite having a good chance to have been drafted highly in the 2022 NFL Draft. Charbonnet finished last season with over 1,100 rushing yards and 13 TDs. However, most of the Joe Moore Award-finalist OL departs for the NFL, as does OL coach Justin Frye (Ohio State).
Also back for the Bruins is Dorian Thompson-Robinson, one of the Pac-12's best playmakers. The combination of DTR and Charbonnet will make UCLA at least competitive offensively.
Defensively, they only return two starters. They have a favorable schedule (Bowling Green, Alabama State, South Alabama out of conference) and are likely looking at another eight-win season for good or ill.
Despite major turnover, the Washington Huskies should return to being competitive in the conference this year. Fresno State's Kalen deBoer takes over UW and he brings over much of the staff he worked with at his previous stop.
DeBoer brings in Indiana transfer QB Michael Penix Jr.– a player he helped coach to career numbers in Bloomington as the Hoosiers' OC (2019). Washington is a good example of a team that gains a lot by those who left the program and should be back on track with a strong defense in 2022.
Sizing Up The Rest Of The Pac-12
Oregon State is likely the strongest contender of the remaining teams. QB Chance Nolan and four of the Beavers' top five rushers return. Three starters on an OL that was named a Joe Moore Award finalist squad are also back along with eight defensive starters. However, this was a seven-win team that lost their bowl game to Utah State a season ago.
Arizona will be much-improved in 2022, adding a ton in the transfer portal. UTEP star WR Jacob Cowing comes to Tucson (choosing the Cats over programs like Florida and Oregon), as does Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jayden de Laura at QB. The good news for Arizona is that one- and two-win seasons are likely in the past.
Stanford and Cal are two programs who may be looking at new coaches despite the Cardinal being pretty firmly married to David Shaw. However, Stanford hasn't been ranked since 2019 and hasn't won 10 games since 2016. Cal coach Justin Wilcox is loved in Berkeley, but he carries a sub-.500 record in five seasons.
Colorado was a team stripped of its best parts in the transfer portal and has gone 4-8 or 5-7 in each of their last four full seasons.
Arizona State is one of the biggest powder kegs in the country this season. A slew of violations reported by the NCAA, an indifference for head coach Herm Edwards and multiple assistants being fired sets them up to implode. As an opposing coach quoted in Athlon Sports' preview magazine, "This is the biggest dumpster fire in college football."
2022 Pac-12 Standings Projection
Note: The Pac-12 will keep divisions for the 2022 football season, but the championship game no longer features each division winner. Rather, the top two teams in the conference as a whole.
North
- Oregon Ducks
- Washington State Cougars
- Washington Huskies
- Oregon State Beavers
- Cal Golden Bears
- Stanford Cardinal
South
- Utah Utes
- USC Trojans
- UCLA Bruins
- Arizona Wildcats
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- Colorado Buffaloes
Pac-12 Championship: Utah OVER Oregon
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