Top Pac-12 Football Storylines Heading into November
For as thrilling as the Pac-12 has been so far in 2014, much of what we anticipated happening back in August has played out to form, including Marcus Mariota as a Heisman Trophy candidate, the Pac-12 South as one of the deepest divisions in the country and outstanding quarterback play from almost every team.
Some of the preseason storylines have been wiped off the board as well, such as Sean Mannion playing his way into elite status, the UCLA Bruins becoming national contenders and the continuing maturation of Kevin Hogan at Stanford.
Finally, brand-new narratives have developed over the past couple months that will provide us with many great chapters of football in November and on into the future as well.
Let's take a look at some of the most captivating storylines as we reach the home stretch of the Pac-12 football season.
All stats via CFBStats.com.
A Heisman in the Midst?
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The Pac-12 conference hasn't had a Heisman Trophy winner since Reggie Bush (it was later vacated due to NCAA violations), and while fans around the league can gripe all they want about the current state of the award, it's about time the bronze statue was brought back to the West Coast.
We know several factors that go into winning the Heisman, and the first—fair or not—is that the player belongs on a winning team. At this point, only Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Oregon have one loss, so that has to be where you start.
Of those four teams, you have many players putting up career numbers, but let's be honest: Marcus Mariota is the only player left with a chance to win the award.
He put together sensational efforts in 2012 and 2013, and he is set to exceed those marks this year, resulting in a resume that could be bolstered by a Pac-12 title as well.
To date, Mariota has 24 touchdown passes with just a lone interception, and he has 2,293 yards through the air.
He hasn't needed to run the ball as much as he did during the past couple seasons, although he still has 325 yards and five scores on the ground. He even has a 26-yard touchdown reception just for good measure.
On top of the numbers, Mariota also has several Heisman-reel plays, such as his brilliant escape on 3rd-and-11 against Michigan State and his flying touchdown against Wyoming.
He'll need to get the Stanford monkey off his back on Saturday, but if the Ducks continue to win and Mariota puts up solid numbers the rest of the way, the Heisman could be headed to Eugene for the very first time.
Pac-12 South Nuttiness
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We knew the Pac-12 South would be crazy, but not many expected the wackiness of having five good teams, each capable of winning the division.
Surprisingly, UCLA and USC both have two conference losses and the steepest hills to climb, and the Bruins in particular have looked awful on more than one occasion.
But Utah, Arizona and Arizona State only have one loss each. As only the football gods would have it, they still have to play each other, which should make for a thrilling November.
USC already knocked off Arizona and lost close games to the Sun Devils and Utes, while the Bruins beat Arizona State, lost to Utah and now face Arizona on Saturday.
It's really anyone's guess as to who will walk away with the division, but give credit to Utah and the Arizona schools for making their marks on the 2014 season.
Utah looked like a team in serious transition after Travis Wilson's injury and two straight 5-7 campaigns. But running back Devontae Booker gave the offense a powerful back who can wear down defenses, and Wilson—while still shaky at times—has done enough for the most part.
Rich Rodriguez is working wonders at Arizona, and one needn't look further than the win over Oregon in Autzen Stadium as proof. Even more impressive is that the success is due in large part to a pair of freshmen on offense—quarterback Anu Solomon and running back Nick Wilson—and a young receiving corps.
Arizona State not only has an offense that can light up the scoreboard, but the defense has become one of the league's better units as well after giving up 62 points to UCLA.
There's no safe bet as to who will ultimately win the division, and that alone should make for some seriously entertaining football.
UCLA's Critical Juncture
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It seemed reasonable to assume that USC was quickly turning things around after hiring Steve Sarkisian, reeling in a phenomenal recruiting class and looking at the strong finish to the 2013 season.
What figured to throw a wrench into the eventual Trojan dominance was the emergence of a long-dormant UCLA program under passionate coach Jim Mora. Most preseason predictions had the Bruins as the second-best team in the conference, if not the premier program in the league.
The season started with less-than-impressive victories over Virginia and Memphis, but sometimes offenses take time to find their groove.
Then came a gritty victory over Texas in which backup quarterback Jerry Neuheisel took over for an injured Brett Hundley and proceeded to throw a pair of touchdown passes, including the game-winner.
A 62-27 shellacking of Arizona State almost two weeks later appeared to have righted the ship and brought Hundley back into national discussion. Nothing since that game has been positive.
Start with a home loss to Utah in which the offense once again struggled. Then it was a beatdown at the hands of the Oregon Ducks in which Mark Helfrich and Co. had a 42-10 lead at one point.
The last two weeks have seen wins over Cal and Colorado, but they came by a combined five points, and neither team is very good. The UCLA team we expected to see should have had a pair of blowout victories.
The reality is that the Bruins just might not be as good as we thought, and what happens next? UCLA has Arizona, Washington, USC and Stanford remaining on the schedule, and losing all four contests is a real possibility.
UCLA has a lot of talent and can still be seen as a great team, but if late-season improvements aren't made and the Bruins can't scrape out more than a single win, will Mora be safe? Or will the program start to think about flipping the page yet again?
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The Return of the Running Back
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The only returning 1,000-yard running back in the Pac-12 in 2014 was Oregon's Byron Marshall, and his primary position is now wide receiver.
The talent has always been there in the conference, but most fans were waiting to see who might emerge as the next crop of elite runners.
So far, USC's Javorius "Buck" Allen, UCLA's Paul Perkins and Utah's Devontae Booker have carried the mantle and won back some of the power that has recently belonged to the quarterbacks.
Don't misunderstand what we're saying here—the signal-callers still run the show. But there are multiple running backs now who have next-level potential and star power.
All three aforementioned backs rank in the top 20 nationally in yards per game, and Arizona freshman Nick Wilson checks in at No. 30 with just under 100 yards per contest. Then there's Oregon's Royce Freeman, a powerful true freshman who ranks sixth nationally in rushing touchdowns with 13.
The Washington Huskies have a pair of exciting young tailbacks, too: Lavon Coleman and Dwayne Washington.
What this means is that when the conference loses Mariota, Hundley, Mannion, Kelly and Wilson at quarterback, there will be plenty of young running back talent to take over the reins. Of course, Jared Goff and Anu Solomon may have something to say about that, but the balance is coming back.
Which One-Loss Team Can Break Through to the Initial College Football Playoff?
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You could make a pretty strong argument that the champion of the Pac-12 deserves to be in the initial College Football Playoff, even if that team has two losses.
But that argument would fall on deaf ears nationally and to the CFP committee, so the only realistic chance for the Pac-12 to be involved is for either Oregon, Utah, Arizona or Arizona State to win out.
Only one of the four teams will be able to do that, since the latter three are in the South and would presumably face Oregon in the conference title game. Who will step up and make it happen?
The safe bet would be on the Ducks, who must get through tricky tests against Stanford and Utah before games against Colorado and Oregon State round out the schedule. Mariota and the offense are clicking on all cylinders, and the road ahead isn't terribly difficult.
But the Utes have shown plenty of moxie in wins at UCLA and against USC. Can they keep chugging along and beat UCLA, Oregon, Arizona State and Arizona? Or will it be one of the Arizona schools that breaks through?
For as strong a reputation as the league has built, the Pac-12 needs to have a representative in the four-team playoff. Call it cannibalism or simply having no weeks off, but the league is deep and talented and more than deserving of submitting a potential national champion.
But again, we know how these things work, and a two-loss team just isn't going to make the cut.
So, Ducks, Wildcats, Sun Devils and Utes, which one of you will take charge and win the month of November, earning a spot in the CFP?
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