Pac-12 Football: Holiday Wish List for Every Team
Not every Pac-12 team is going bowling this holiday season, but everybody could use a few presents, and we're here to help pick out the very best ones.
For the league's lone playoff participant—the Oregon Ducks—there's nothing Nike Chairman Phil Knight can't buy that he hasn't already bought, and with the team going 12-1 and getting a shot at a national title, the wish list isn't too long.
On the other end of the spectrum, Colorado and Washington State could use a number of presents ranging from improved defenses to better recruiting and everything in between.
But whether your favorite team is coming off a two-win season or leaving behind a 12-win path of destruction, there's always room to improve. Let's take a look at the holiday wish list for every team in the Pac-12.
Arizona Wildcats
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Holiday Wish: A dose of confidence and health for starting quarterback Anu Solomon
The last time we saw Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon, he was putting together a dreadful Pac-12 championship performance in which he completed just six of 12 passes for 34 yards. The Wildcats were held scoreless against Oregon with him in the contest.
Given that he's thrown for nearly 3,500 yards and has 27 touchdown passes to just seven picks on the season, we're inclined to believe the season finale was an anomaly. There's no reason to think Solomon isn't still one of the nation's most promising young signal-callers.
But he clearly wasn't himself against the Ducks, and while specific injuries weren't really discussed, it was clear that Solomon wasn't at full strength. Once Oregon clamped down on the receivers and started getting pressure, his confidence was shot as well.
With it back, the Wildcats shouldn't have much trouble dispatching Boise State and earning one of the biggest wins in school history. But the offense—and the entire team, to an extent—goes as Solomon goes, and he'll need to shake off the loss to the Ducks.
Arizona State Sun Devils
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Holiday Wish: Having the right focus for bowl season
Arizona State had a remarkably similar 2014 campaign to the one it experienced a year ago, with the chance to reach a major bowl game taken away in the season finale and landing in a decent bowl game against an opponent it's expected to beat.
But Texas Tech scoffed at the notion of the underdog role in the 2013 Holiday Bowl and stomped on the Sun Devils 37-23. After being so close to a Rose Bowl appearance, the underwhelming effort wasn't completely unexpected. But heading into the offseason with a win in tow is so much better than the alternative, and Arizona State should make sure it doesn't happen again.
This time, the opponent is Duke in the Sun Bowl, and on paper, it shouldn't really be close. The Sun Devils have too many weapons on offense, including wide receiver Jaelen Strong, who will be looking to leave a lasting impression in his final college appearance. The game itself is somewhat meaningless as far as the history books go, but the Sun Devils need to finish off 2014 the right way so they can start 2015 on the right foot.
California Golden Bears
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Holiday Wish: For head coach Sonny Dykes—or somebody on staff—to figure out how to fix the defense
A team that finishes second in the Pac-12 in scoring offense shouldn't be heading home for the holidays, but Cal's inability to stop opponents from reaching the end zone has made it so. Despite averaging nearly 40 points per game, the Bears gave up a similar number and fell one win short of getting back to a bowl game.
While the Bears offense was occasionally bogged down, it had little trouble against the majority of the league. Against the eventual conference champion Oregon Ducks, Cal scored 41 points, a number that should always be good enough to win. Against Marcus Mariota and company, it was still 19 points short.
Quarterback Jared Goff has a definite future in the NFL, and when he has time to throw, he's as dangerous as any signal-caller in the country. His receivers are talented, and the running game behind Daniel Lasco has also emerged. If the defense can knock another 10 points per game off its scoring average, the Bears will be able to hang with anyone and perhaps even contend in the North Division.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Colorado Buffaloes
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Holiday Wish: An infusion of Pac-12 talent
Colorado's holiday wish remains the same as it has been over the last few years. Without ragging on the current crop of Buffaloes, this team is in dire need of some major conference talent at multiple positions.
Quarterback Sefo Liufau looks the part, as does wide receiver Nelson Spruce and linebacker Addison Gillam. To be honest, no one expects Colorado to have a wealth of All-Americans anyway. But when you watch this team play, it's brutally obvious that the talent level isn't where it needs to be to compete in one of the toughest divisions in the game.
Is it improving? Absolutely, and one need only look at close losses to UCLA and Utah as justification. We're not calling out anyone specifically, but head coach Mike MacIntyre needs to find a way to take that next step and become a bowl team. With that, the program will attract better recruits, and the snowball will be off and rolling. For now, the Buffaloes just don't have the players needed to win more than a few games in the Pac-12.
Oregon Ducks
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Holiday Wish: The defensive line keeps its mojo
Nothing concerning dates beyond Jan. 1 is on Oregon's wish list, as the Rose Bowl against Florida State is the second-biggest game in Ducks history behind its lone national championship appearance in 2010. Recruiting is important, as is retaining players like DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead, but those issues pale in comparison to the current goal of knocking off the Seminoles and reaching a second national title game.
For the Ducks to have any chance of winning, the offense will have to pick up where it left off against Arizona and, frankly, perform to the level we've come to expect with Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota at the helm. But that's not so much a wish as it is something we can assume will happen. Florida State is the most athletic team the Ducks will have played, but scoring shouldn't be a huge problem.
What could be the game-changer is another dominant effort out of the defensive line similar to the one we saw against Arizona in the conference title game. The Ducks held Arizona to just 111 yards rushing—85 below its season average—and third-string quarterback Jerrard Randall had 81 of those yards. If the Ducks can pressure Jameis Winston and keep Dalvin Cook bottled up, a victory should follow.
Oregon State Beavers
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Holiday Wish: Top-notch set designers
The scene in Corvallis has looked similar for the past five seasons with Mike Riley and the helm, and it's one that everyone from the administration to the backup kickers has become accustomed to. But now, Gary Andersen is in charge, which means for the first time in over a decade, there will be a new set for folks to get used to.
It's going to involve a different style of coaching, a different culture than the one created by Riley and different characters with the departure of quarterback Sean Mannion and some key players on defense. The best set designer can make the transition as smooth and as comfortable as possible for everyone involved, and Oregon State can't afford to take a step back in the middle of it all.
Players will need to show up for spring practice ready to go, not ready to ease into life under a new coach. The more seamless the transition, then the better prepared the Beavers will be when the 2015 season gets under way.
So if any A-level set designers are in need of work, Corvallis—and, more specifically, the Oregon State football program—is about to undergo a makeover.
Stanford Cardinal
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Holiday Wish: Several pages of the Oregon playbook
For years, the Stanford formula has been elite defense coupled with a ball-control offense that limits opponents' number of possessions and wears out teams through hard-nosed, physical play from both sides of the ball.
Perhaps 2014 and the five losses that came with it were an anomaly, but it seems more likely it's the start of a trend. While some semblance of a defense is needed to win championships, football has become more about scoring points. The Cardinal allowed an incredible 16 points per game in 2014 with only one team—Oregon—topping the 30-point mark.
But David Shaw's team averaged fewer than 26 points per game, which tied with Oregon State for last in the Pac-12. A total overhaul is unnecessary, but Stanford needs to find other ways to do damage on offense, especially in the best offensive league in college football.
Maybe the Cardinal can open up games trying to run the ball, and with leads in the second half, Shaw can go to his bread and butter. But if it becomes apparent that more than 25 points will be necessary to win, quarterback Kevin Hogan and company need to be able to open things up and move the ball in chunks.
UCLA Bruins
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Holiday Wish: That quarterback Josh Rosen is the real deal
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong for UCLA in 2014, and many teams will scoff at the notion that 9-3 would be considered a failure. The Bruins had a lot go right, but compared with the expectations that they would win the South and compete for a spot in the inaugural playoff, critics are giving this one two thumbs down.
It was the offensive line that came under fire during the first part of the year and especially in losses to Utah and Oregon. The defense started out on fire but ended up allowing over 27 points per game. Ultimately, the biggest issue was quarterback Brett Hundley being unable to make plays downfield.
The junior had 27 touchdown throws two years ago and then 24 in 2013. This year, that number fell to 21. With a shoddy line protecting him, Hundley found himself scrambling for his life more often than not and making questionable decisions.
Perhaps Asiantii Woulard or Jerry Neuheisel will do enough to win over Jim Mora in spring ball, but the ideal scenario is for touted recruit Josh Rosen to step in and wow everyone from day one. If he does, the offense should take a massive step forward, and with it, winning the Pac-12 becomes a real possibility.
USC Trojans
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Holiday Wish: A mirror for Coach Sarkisian
If the USC team from 2014 had been playing in 2006 or 2008, it would have won the conference. The Pac-10 just wasn't talented enough to keep up with the Trojans from 2002-2008, and as a result, USC needed to do little more than trot out its army of All-Americans and play ball.
Pete Carroll may have had a little something to do with that, of course, but Steve Sarkisian needs a mirror so he can look at himself as well as the program and figure out what needs to change. USC will continue to have the most talent on the West Coast, especially now that the NCAA sanctions are gone, but it won't be enough to rack up conference titles.
It's going to take innovation on offense and the understanding that the rest of the league is much better than it's been in quite some time—maybe ever. None of the current offense needs to be abandoned, but the days of draw plays on 3rd-and-long are over.
As the man tasked with getting the Trojans back to a championship level of play, Sarkisian needs to look himself in his holiday mirror, understand the landscape of the Pac-12 and make the necessary changes because hoping that simply adding depth will get the trick done isn't going to work.
Utah Utes
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Holiday Wish: Getting a commitment from in-state linebacker/running back Osa Masina
Utah polished off a solid 2014 season by stomping Colorado State 45-10 in its bowl game, and the future couldn't be brighter. The same could not be said a year ago, with the Utes coming off back-to-back five-win campaigns.
So with a pair of starting-caliber quarterbacks returning along with a defense that isn't about to lose its physical identity anytime soon, what could a program heading in the right direction possibly want? At the top of the list as far as impact goes would be a commitment from in-state prospect Osa Masina, a 4-star athlete who can play on either side of the ball and is coveted by everyone from USC to Oklahoma.
The biggest impact would be felt on the field, where Masina would immediately compete for playing time, but it would also send a message to anyone still looking at the Utes program as a notch below everyone else. If it's locking up elite prospects and winning battles with the Trojans and Bruins, the sky becomes the limit.
Masina is the type of recruit who can contribute right away, and securing his commitment would be big for a program starting to make a splash in the Pac-12.
Washington Huskies
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Holiday Wish: Shaq Thompson returning for another season
The strength of Washington in 2014 was its defense with three All-American players in Hau'oli Kikaha, Danny Shelton and Shaq Thompson. The strength could flip to the offense in 2015 with the loss of all three, but Thompson still has the option to return for his senior season.
He's done everything but see the program knock off Oregon and compete for a North Division title, and if those goals are important to him, he'll return. Then again, passing up first-round money won't be so easy, and if Thompson opts for the NFL draft, no one would be calling it a mistake.
But despite having its best defense in years, the Huskies still lost five games and failed to beat an FBS team with a winning record. Thompson's return should eliminate a drop-off on defense, and with the expected maturation of the offense and quarterback Cyler Miles, the potential for 10 wins is very real.
But if Thompson does hop over to Sundays, it could mean another season of building for the future.
Washington State Cougars
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Holiday Wish: The taste of a big win
When is the last time Washington State scored a major victory? Oh, at Utah back on Sept. 27? That definitely counts, but when was the last time the Cougars won a game and it meant something—as in, it was the catalyst for a win streak?
After opening the 2014 season with a narrow loss to Rutgers, Washington State lost to Nevada. It nearly beat Oregon, it did beat the Utes, and then it lost a heartbreaker to Cal. Before the surprising victory against Utah, the Cougars had only beaten two ranked opponents since 2006 (No. 25 Washington in 2012, No. 25 USC in 2013). This is a team that, even in close games against good opponents, doesn't have the belief that it can win.
What Washington State needs is that moment that sends a message not only to the rest of the league but to its own players that winning is possible and should be expected. Mike Leach is a good coach, and the offense has talent. The defense needs work, but the ingredients are there for this to be a bowl team. A big win, perhaps at Rutgers in 2015, could be the perfect spark to change the direction of the program.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
