Welcome to the Season of the Strange, the Half-Year of the Weird, the West Coast Collision. Seven games in seven weeks, baby, a conference season at 1.5 speed. One heck of a sprint.
Pigskin in a pandemic. Can you believe it?
It’s enough to make your head spin. A million-and-one questions. Everything feels out of focus.
So focus on the fact that three Pac-12 teams are breaking in new head coaches in the midst of utter chaos. Imagine that.
Imagine being Nick Rolovich, already reeling from trading the pristine coastline of Honolulu for the barren wasteland that is Pullman, Washington, and having to somehow follow the reign of Mike Leach. Imagine untangling that ball of fishing line. Where is he supposed to send Leach’s 117 books about the Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813? Or his study on Kublai Khan’s effects on the gentrification of outer Mongolia in 1292? What’s he supposed to do with all the swords?
More importantly: What is he supposed to do with Washington State’s offense, already tasked with replacing Anthony Gordon, the Pac-12’s most prolific passer, and without an entire spring football campaign, to boot?
Or how about Jimmy Lake, who takes over for Chris Petersen at Washington after only two years as a full-time defensive coordinator? Lake, like Rolovich, is only 41 years old, presumably able to relate better with his players than coaches a full two decades older. But how well were they able to relate this summer on Zoom conferences?
And then there’s Karl Dorrell, who, compared to Lake and Rolovich, might as well be a Pac-12 historian. The new Colorado coach both played and coached at UCLA, with previous assistant coaching stops at Arizona State, Washington and with the Buffaloes. After Mel Tucker absconded to Michigan State, all Dorrell needs to do is provide a warm blanket and a kind smile. A bowl appearance would be nice, too, considering Colorado has gone 5-7 in three straight seasons after a 10-4 finish in 2016.
The Buffaloes aren’t the only team in need of a jump-start, though.
Look no further than Tucson, where the Wildcats backslid from 5-7 to 4-8 in Kevin Sumlin’s second season. Sumlin could’ve used a full season worth of competition to prove his staying power in the desert, but six games will have to suffice. Can the Noel Mazzone-Grant Gunnell connection emerge enough to save a handful of jobs? That’s one big question.
Here’s another: What in the world is going on with Chip Kelly? Inheriting a talented but sloppy UCLA roster from Jim Mora Jr., Kelly cleaned the cupboard of malcontents in a three-win debut in 2018. He started restocking the shelves in 2019, improving by one win. At that rate, this year he gets to rearrange the cans of tomato sauce. And next year he’ll cook. Who knows? All UCLA fans know — aside from annual abject frustration — is that they expected a lot more than seven wins in two years when Kelly started.
And seven wins is exactly what the cream of the Pac-12 crop is seeking this year, assuming there actually will be a conference championship to cap this short season. Oregon, USC and Utah are all in the running, even if each team has glaring needs to address, and little time to address them.
Will it be Tyler Shough or Boston College transfer Anthony Brown who assumes the starting quarterback role for Oregon, replacing the erstwhile Justin Herbert? Who is going to help shore up a USC defense that allowed an uncharacteristic 29.4 points per game last season, including 140 combined against Oregon and UCLA in the regular season and Iowa in the Holiday Bowl? Can junior Devin Brumfield and sophomore Jordan Wilmore pair up to fill even one of Zack Moss’ shoes at Utah, where the now-Buffalo Bills running back finished with a school-record 4,067 rushing yards and 38 touchdowns?
We’ve got a thousand more questions and about zero answers.
Which feels about right these days.
