30 Comments

I didn't want to put this in the recap, but tonight I also learned that Diddy Riese has joined the 21st century and now accepts credit cards. This is a new and potentially terrible development for me personally.

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OMG - glad I’m not local

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Wow the world is upside down! We’ve been going to Diddy Riese since 1985!

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Credit cards are more 20th century. Hopefully, they got a new credit card reader. It would be hilarious if they got one of those old imprint devices. If Diddy Riese put out an app, then they would be part of the 21st century.

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Incredible giant chocolate chip cookies aside, it still has to be a front for something nefarious or a money laundering piece, right?

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At 5-2 I feel like I should be excited, but I’m still not convinced about the direction of the team. For 9mil though, let’s see what happens over the next 12 months.

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ASU lost to Utah...watch as we fail to re-take the lead in Pac-12 South. We won, but like Arizona...there were misstep after misstep. Why is it one play the tackling is good, and then it's horrible the next? I saw several plays that Udub gashed us...had the initial defensive player "wrapped them up" would not have been 1st down after 1st down. Oh! ...and how many times did the announcer say "soft coverage"? I have an idea for a new UCLA drinking game...

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Couple of other things I noticed. When we blitz Blaylock is vulnerable deep and it was good to see someone else but Phillips and Dulcich catch the ball.

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In other news, if I read the box score right, ASU gave up 28 unanswered second half points, so either they’re not as good as advertised or our loss to them was horrible. Or maybe both?

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I was dozing in and out by the 4th quarter of the ASU-Utah game, but it was a tale of two halves. I think ASU has the most talent in the Pac, but they aren't disciplined and they got out-coached in the 2nd half. So many big penalties! I'd love to hear the perspective from one of our football experts, but I gotta think Wittingham (IMO best coach in the Pac) made some great adjustments and gave a great talk at halftime. ASU went from the best team in the Pac in the first half to a train wreck in the 2nd. They couldn't do anything. I think Utah is our toughest game remaining.

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My honest opinion of the conference in general is that no one is actually good by national standards, but there are a few teams that are good by the much-lower Pac-12 standards.

Oregon is the most talented team in the conference, and have the best coordinator in the conference in Joe Moorhead, but they're going to stunt their potential because they are committed to the idea of making Anthony Brown work. Also I assume Cristobal is eyeing both the Miami and LSU jobs (USC was never an option for him) which is affecting things.

Arizona State has a ton of talent, but they're a soft team. I don't think it's a coincidence that they lost to the two toughest teams they've faced in BYU and Utah. They can still win the conference but they have flaws that can be attacked.

Utah has the best head coach in the conference but they're hurt by talent, and their development isn't where it has been in the past. Still, they're a physical team and smart enough to know how to beat teams, which is why they're always a tough out.

And that's really it from the "good" teams. It's a bad conference in general, not even getting to the train wreck that is Southern Cal at the moment.

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Thanks for the insight Dimitri!

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Utah is always hard to beat, especially at Rice Eccles. They didn't quit.

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Utah played like the Utah we were expecting. Excellent on D and Rising played well at QB. However, I only watched the 2nd half. They dominated.

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We might be catching oregon at the right time. They seem to be struggling and i gotta imagine Chip knows how important this game is to the season.

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At what win/loss ratios this season should Kelly remain as coach?

10/2

9/3

8/4

7/5

6/6

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7/5 a winning record, I hate firing coaches with a winning record.

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8-4. Anything less should be grounds for dismissal.

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8/4 for me

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This is…interesting…

QB Rating thru Week 7

156.1—DTR, UCLA

152.6—J. Daniels, ASU

151.3—C. Nolan, OSU

150.6—T. McKee, Stan

150.3—J. de Laura, WSU

149.1—C. Rising, Utah

139.3—A. Brown, UO

133.8—K. Slovis, USC

130.1—C. Garbers, Cal

122.8—D. Morris, UW

119.2—B. Lewis, CU

114.6—G. Cruz, UA

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So DTR is supposedly the best QB in the Pac12?

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According to Twitter. I don’t remember the name of the account, the numbers seem suspect though on closer examination. They also posted UCLA as second n scoring at 33.7 or something like that and first in run yards which sounds right.

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My eyes tell me he isn't. I'll have to look up his QBR.

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I guess if we can run for200+ all we need is for the pass to set up the run…

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In fairness to DTR, he doesn't get to throw against the Bruins pass defense. Everyone else should get knocked down a bit for that.

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Just for fun, I checked TWWL's QBRs for Pac12 2021, and they tend to fall kinda in order, with the QBs at the top of the list tending to outperform those at the bottom, with Rising from Utah garnering top score (QBR defined as Adjusted Total Quarterback Rating, which values the quarterback on all play types on a 0-100 scale adjusted for the strength of opposing defenses faced). I left them in the original order Runfast posted for comparison's sake:

DTR, UCLA - 76.7

Daniels, ASU - 73.2

Nolan, OSU - 74.7

McKee, Furd - 76.1

de Laura, WSU - 59.3

* Rising, Utes - 83.5

Brown, Ore - 61.4

Slovis, SUC - 56.3

Garbers, CAL - 61.2

Morris, Udub - 44.7

Lewis, CO - 27.3

Cruz, AZ - 41.6

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DTR still looks really good! No doubt the low number of interceptions and fumbles helps a lot I would think…Also the ASU defense must’ve got dinged pretty badly after Saturday’s fiasco. Slovis is not looking too good. I think we can take em this year.

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DTR has missed on plenty of passes but he only has 2 picks. I an only recall him having 1 fumble. So, that is definitely better on the turnovers. I understand and feel the frustration with his inconsistency, but he plays hard and isn’t turning the ball over. Our D is more likely to let us down than DTR.

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Vegas apparently whiffed on UCLA-Oregon line. Opened Ducks -3. Hours later, it's Bruins -2.

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I felt like this was a team that UCLA should have blown out, and they just barely squeaked by.

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