Boise State was believed to be the strongest team in the Pac-12 Conference during the summer, ranked at the top of various power rankings and polls, and not much has happened in non-conference play to change that.<\/p>\n
The Broncos do have issues, including a pass defense that ranks in a tie for 129th in the nation in allowing 17 explosive pass plays of 20 or more yards. They also are 138th and last, allowing 12 pass plays of 30 or more yards and 10 plays of 40 or more yards.<\/p>\n
But they were in it at then-No. 15 Oregon, losing by seven, and knocked off Memphis and Western Michigan, two long shot contenders for the Group of Six entry into the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n
After the Broncos, some teams have played their way in and out of title contention.<\/p>\n
San Diego State, for one, has struggled on both sides of the football and is 1-3. Its lone victory came in its opener against FCS (football championship subdivision) Portland State. Washington State also has one win, that one victory coming against an FCS opponent, in what has been not the greatest start for the conference.<\/p>\n
Pac-12 schools are a combined 15-17, and six of the victories have come against FCS opponents with a seventh the Fresno State victory over Sacramento State, which is routinely getting spanked in its first season playing at the FBS level. A Pac-12 school, Utah State, also has a loss to a FCS team on its resume, losing its opener to Idaho State.<\/p>\n
Of the other nine wins, eight have come against teams either at the .500 mark at 2-2 in non-conference play, or have a losing record. There also are no wins against Power Four conference opponents and though a couple of those games have been close, the average margin of defeat in those 12 games is 19.5 points.<\/p>\n
Resetting the conference race, one month and four games into the season, there are some changes to be made among contenders, teams with the potential upset and teams that already could look ahead to next season.<\/p>\n
THE CONTENDERS<\/p>\n
BOISE STATE (3-1)<\/p>\n
The Broncos have the best wins in the conference, beating Memphis and Western Michigan. The question is, how large of an issue is that pass defense? If it remains a problem, the potential for a bad loss is there when matching up against the likes of Oregon State, Colorado State, Texas State and even Fresno State. Boise State has allowed opponents to complete only 59.5% of their passes, but they have been beaten by some big plays and the Beavers in particular are not shy about taking shots \u2014 20.1% of their passes go 20 or more yards down the field. The Broncos could be stressed in some of these games, which opens questions regarding their offense and the play-making ability of quarterback Maddux Madsen. In games the Broncos have won over the past three-plus seasons, Madsen has posted a passing efficiency rating of 159.46 and in games they have lost that rating drops to 109.86.<\/p>\n
FRESNO STATE (3-1)<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs are where they should be after four games, 3-1 with victories over Sacramento State, San Jose State and Rice following a humbling opening loss at USC. Fresno State has a lot to prove, on both sides of the football, but are a contender in the conference race. Jayden Mandal has a more diverse skill set than what Fresno State had at the quarterback position last season, but the Bulldogs will have to use more of it in the run game as the fourth-year junior continues to develop in his first season as a starter. The Bulldogs\u2019 rushing numbers look legit \u2014 4.7 yards per rush, seven touchdowns. But nearly 70% of Fresno State\u2019s 639 rushing yards came against Sacramento State and Rice, which are ranked 103rd and 124th in the nation in rushing yards allowed per play. It needs some help. Staying on the field on third-downs also has been an issue \u2014 just 36.2%, and on 3rd-and-short the Bulldogs are just 3 of 11, and two of those conversions were pass plays.<\/p>\n
OREGON STATE (2-2)<\/p>\n
The Beavers could make a surprise run at a conference championship coming off a coaching change and a 2-10 season, though it does have the most difficult road of the three teams in this top tier, with games on the road at Boise State and at Fresno State. First-year coach JaMarcus Shephard appears to have the Beavers playing solid football, losing to two ranked teams to start the year before demolishing FCS Montana and Texas-El Paso. The offense a year ago was dreadful, averaging just 18.1 points per game. But sophomore quarterback Braden Atkinson has supplanted Maalik Murphy, who reportedly received $1.5 million from the Beavers a year ago, transferring in from Duke. Atkinson has hit 65% of his passes and averaged 355.3 yards per game with 11 touchdowns. The Beavers\u2019 defense is also leading the league with 14 sacks and is third with 22 tackles for loss.<\/p>\n
UPSET ALERT<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON STATE (1-3)<\/p>\n
Rough start for coach Kirby Moore, the former Fresno State receivers coach and offensive coordinator under Jeff Tedford. The Cougars scoring differential in three losses against FBS-level opponents is alarming (13.7 to 30.7), particularly on offense. But they have played three Power Four opponents in Washington, Kansas State and Arizona and all of them are ranked in the Top 40 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing less than 20 points per game. The Pac-12 does not have that same degree of difficulty, which gives quarterback Caden Pinnick and the offense a chance to improve some dismal numbers against FBS opponents \u2014 247.7 total yards per game, 19.4% third-down conversion rate, 7.7 tackles for loss allowed. The Cougars get Fresno State and Boise State at home, which could help. Boise State lost only four conference games its final four seasons in the Mountain West, three on the road.<\/p>\n
COLORADO STATE (2-2)<\/p>\n
The Rams have allowed 41 and 59 points in back-to-back losses to No. 10 BYU and at Texas-San Antonio, and open conference play against two of the highest scoring teams in the Pac-12 in Texas State and Oregon State. Even if Colorado State can\u2019t figure out how to play competent defense under coordinator Tyson Summers, who served as interim coach last season after Jay Norvell was fired, it will be a tough matchup for anyone in the Pac-12 because the Rams can score. They are averaging 40.3 points a game, albeit while allowing 34.3. The Rams are second in the Pac-12 in passing offense, third in rushing and have taken care of the football, turning it over just three times while a plus-7 in turnover margin. Colorado State scored 35 points against Wyoming, which has allowed 20.5 per game. It put up 23 on BYU, which has allowed just 15.7 per game. It scored 45 on UTSA, which has allowed 29.3.<\/p>\n
TEXAS STATE (2-2)<\/p>\n
The Bobcats made the biggest jump moving into the Pac-12 from the Sun Belt Conference, but with a returning starter at quarterback in sophomore Brad Jackson and an offense that can cause some issues for opposing defenses it has a shot to win. Texas State is seventh in the nation in total offense. Like Colorado State, though, Texas State has and will continue to struggle to stop anyone, particularly through the air. It allowed 29 points a game last season in the Sun Belt, which was not loaded with high-scoring teams; nine of its 14 teams averaged less than 28 points per game. The run defense has been solid \u2014 Texas State has allowed just 3.6 yards per rush, best in the Pac-12 \u2014 and could cause run-first offenses like Boise State and Fresno State some problems. But it also ranks last in the nation in passing defense by a sizable margin, allowing 348.3 yards per game. Marshall is 137th, at 296.3 yards per game.<\/p>\n
WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR<\/p>\n
SAN DIEGO STATE (1-3)<\/p>\n
The Aztecs\u2019 defense is trending downward, having lost a ton of experience from a year ago. San Diego State allowed 41 points in a loss last week at Toledo \u2014 34, not including a Pick Six thrown by Jayden Denegal. It allowed 425.3 yards per game against FBS non-conference opponents, after allowing just 284.7 against a comparable schedule last season. That is not good, because offense continues to be a struggle. Quarterback play has been an issue at San Diego State for years, and reinvesting in Denegal doesn\u2019t appear a wise move for coach Sean Lewis. Even from a clean pocket, Denegal has completed just 58.4% of his passes and thrown four interceptions, according to Pro Football Focus. He is, basically, the same as a year ago, a low percentage passer in an inefficient offense. Denegal was replaced by redshirt freshman Draiden Trudeau in the fourth quarter at Toledo. A change would not be a surprise.<\/p>\n
UTAH STATE (1-3)<\/p>\n
The Aggies opened the season with a loss to FCS Idaho State, and though the last time Utah State lost to a FCS team it was able to rebound and make it to a bowl game the odds are stacked against them. Over the past five seasons, FBS teams that lost to FCS opponents finished with a combined winning percentage of just .276 (111-291). The defense has been solid \u2014 it is allowing just 5.1 yards per play, best in the Pac-12. But Utah State will have little margin for error in games with its inconsistent quarterback play and a run game that is averaging just 3.6 yards per play and produced just one touchdown in four games. The Aggies have played two quarterbacks, senior Grady Brosterhous and junior McCae Hillstead, and they have a passing efficiency rating of just 107.76 and combined to throw nine interceptions. They are ranked 134th of 138, and tied for last in the nation in those two categories.<\/p>\n
Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boise State was believed to be the strongest team in the Pac-12 Conference during the summer, ranked at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-480772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}