This was the kind of Saturday the Pac-12 had been avoiding this year.
We hadn’t seen the crazy upsets which upend the Pac-12’s College Football Playoff hopes. We hadn’t seen the chaos which usually leaves the Pac-12 on the outside looking in. We hadn’t seen the face-plants, stumbles, and slip-ups which ruin this conference’s postseason picture.
Just wait until November. It eventually happens.
To be sure, we were all stunned that Washington went into Autzen Stadium and beat Oregon, and we were shocked that UCLA couldn’t score even as many as 30 points against Arizona, an unfathomably bad showing by the Bruins. Merely 35 points against an atrocious Wildcat defense would have been enough.
Yet, as shocking as Saturday was within the 2022 season itself, it certainly wasn’t shocking in a larger historical context. This is what happens to the Pac-12 on a regular basis.
It has also happened to Chip Kelly in particular. Let’s review: