The conference is getting a chance to tune-up, but the big games are there for the LA teams to make some noise. Check out the fearless predictions and game previews for all the Week 1 Pac-12 games.
Pac-12 Week 1 Game Previews & Predictions
Pac-12 Conference Games of the Week
Thursday, September 1
Oregon State at Minnesota Game Preview & Fearless Prediction
9:00 PM, BTN, TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
Friday, September 2
Kansas State at Stanford Game Preview & Fearless Prediction
9:00 PM, FS1, Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA
Colorado State vs. Colorado Game Preview & Fearless Prediction
8:00 PM, ESPN, Sports Authority Field, Denver, CO
Saturday, September 3
Rutgers at Washington Game Preview & Fearless Prediction
2:00 PM, Pac-12 Network, Husky Stadium, Seattle, WA
UCLA at Texas A&M Game Preview & Fearless Prediction
3:30 PM, CBS Kyle Field, College Station, TX
Alabama vs. USC Game Preview & Fearless Prediction
8:00 PM, ABC, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Arizona vs. BYU Game Preview & Fearless Prediction
10:30 PM, FS1, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
Thursday, September 1
Southern Utah at Utah
Pac-12, Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, UT
23rd-ranked Southern Utah come into the season with a dangerous passing attack and a great defense, but more than anything else – if they’re anything like they were last season – they’re not going to screw up. Utah isn’t going to get any easy chances against the team that led the FCS in turnover margin.
However, the Thunderbirds aren’t going to do enough against the Utah ground game that’ll ease the offense into the season by pounding away. The O line is the Utes’ biggest strength – or close to it – allowing new starting QB Troy Williams time to operate.
The defense will keep this from ever being too scary, but it’ll still be a bit of a fight against a Southern Utah defense that won’t let this get out of hand. The Utes will get what they need going into the showdown against BYU, but they’ll need to work into the second half to breath easily.
Fearless Prediction: Utah 31, Southern Utah 13
Line: No Line
Must See Rating: 5: Any Ryan Lochte interview – 1: Bridget Jones’s Baby … 1.5
Saturday, September 3
UC Davis at Oregon
5:00 PM, Pac-12 Network, Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR
Uh oh. Oregon is paying for a scrimmage, and that’s what it’s going to get.
Oregon needs a warm-up before hosting Virginia and going to Nebraska, and they’ll be able to do whatever they want to against a UC Davis team with a questionable run defense coming into the season.
New Oregon quarterback Dakota Prukop just has to get the ball out of his hands in a hurry and let his high-octane skill players do the rest. The Aggies have a good passing game and should get a few good drives in late, but they’ll blink and be down big. The Ducks should be able to relax in the second quarter and start working in the reserves to see how all the pieces fit.
The final score will be whatever Oregon wants it to be.
Fearless Prediction: Oregon 65, UC Davis 13
Line: No Line
Must See Rating: 5: Any Ryan Lochte interview – 1: Bridget Jones’s Baby … 1.5
Eastern Washington at Washington State
8:00 PM, Pac-12 Network, Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
No, really – who wants to see lots and lots and lots of passing?
Eastern Washington led the FCS in passing yards last season, throwing for 353 yards per game, even though Vernon Adams was slinging it for Oregon.
Ranked 17th in the preseason Coaches Poll, the Eagles should be even more dangerous offensively this season thanks to the return of QB Jordan West and WR Cooper Kupp – who caught 114 passes for 1,642 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.
There was one problem, though, with last season’s team – it wasn’t even remotely close to stopping anyone with an offense.
The Eagles were a nightmare against the run, but they didn’t do much against the better passing teams, either. Get ready for Washington State to do what Washington State does, with Luke Falk putting up over 400 yards without breathing hard in a wild and fun shootout. The Cougar secondary is good enough to keep this under control, but the Eagles will have their moments.
No Portland State openers this time around for Wazzu.
Fearless Prediction: Washington State 52, Eastern Washington 34
Line: No Line
Must See Rating: 5: Any Ryan Lochte interview – 1: Bridget Jones’s Baby … 3
Northern Arizona at Arizona State
10:45 PM, Pac-12 Network, Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ
The Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona came up with a good 2015 thanks to the most efficient passing game in the FCS and most dangerous offenses. Sophomore QB Case Cookus has the talent to bomb away against the okay ASU secondary and keep up in a possible shootout. Ranked 18th to start the season, this is a very, very dangerous NAU team – in the FCS.
As good as they were last year, the Lumberjacks also lost to Arizona 77-13 and got ripped apart by anyone who could throw a forward pass. They’ll get in their yards, but Manny Wilkins and the Sun Devils will crank out huge numbers in a shootout game to get ready for an even more explosive date with Texas Tech next week.
Fearless Prediction: Arizona State 52, Northern Arizona 27
Line: No Line
Must See Rating: 5: Any Ryan Lochte interview – 1: Bridget Jones’s Baby … 2.5