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Unlike last year, there aren't nearly as many questions surrounding the Washington defense as the Huskies head into the final stretch before fall camp.

Last year a new scheme and new coaches were being installed, headlined by new defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox. The Huskies' defense was abysmal in 2011 -- so head coach Steve Sarkisian blew it up and started from scratch.

Now the Huskies are looking to build off of the momentum they gained in 2012 when they made huge strides in one year under Wilcox & Co.

"The numbers don't lie," Sarkisian said.

They certainly don't.

The biggest advances were in the secondary, where the Huskies jumped from 87th to 27th in pass efficiency defense, 106th to 31st in total defense, 108th to 39th in scoring defense and 116th to 23rd in pass defense. They had 17 interceptions last year compared to 10 the year before.

"Our secondary really had a very good season for us last year," Sarkisian said. "I thought Justin Wilcox, Keith Heyward, our secondary coach, really came in and did a great job. ... You look at the increase in play we had in the secondary -- our pass defense numbers, our ability to create turnovers -- I think really speaks volumes to their coaching and their ability to develop our players."


That's what Sarkisian is banking on in 2013 -- player development. More specifically, at the cornerback spot where they have to replace first-round draft pick Desmond Trufant. Sarkisian called the competition "healthy" this spring, but isn't anywhere closer to declaring anyone as the leader in the clubhouse for that starting spot. And it might end up being by-committee or which player has the hot hand that week. A few defensive backs have switched positions or spent time at safety and corner in an effort to make the defensive backfield deeper and more versatile.

With Marcus Peters, who started the final eight games opposite Trufant last season, back on one side, the competition heated up over spring between Travell Dixon and Greg Ducre. Sarkisian said that redshirt freshman Cleveland Wallace has also made a big push. Dixon is a JC transfer (once committed to Alabama) and Ducre had 15 tackles while appearing in 13 games last season.

"Desmond Trufant was a great player for us," Sarkisian said. "Anytime you have a first-round draft pick at corner it tells you the quality of player you have. But I think we've got some really capable guys that are stepping in."

If the Huskies can shore up that spot, expect the secondary to make even bigger strides in 2013. Sean Parker, who started all 13 games at safety, returns as the unquestioned leader of the secondary. Will Shamburger, who started two games last year, will see a larger role. But there's some good competition there as well. Tre Watson (who can pitch in either at corner or safety) is in the mix, and early enrollee Trevor Walker had a strong first spring. Brandon Beaver, who converted from corner to safety late last season but was limited in the spring, is also going to press for playing time.

Lots of names. But that also means lots of depth.

"We've got a good amount of talent back there," Sarkisian said. "It's about finding the right combination of those guys. For some of those guys who were redshirt players for us last year, Travell, Brandon, Cleveland, fall camp is going to be big for them. This spring was good to get the terminology and fundamentals and techniques after spending all year on the service team last year. There is a healthy competition going on back there and the end result is we're fortunate to have good depth and good coaches and we feel good about our pass defense when the fall rolls around."

When you ask Washington's second-year defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox to describe his base scheme, his answer comes down to "somewhere in between a 4-3 and a 3-4," which means it's got a little bit of everything.

"This day and age, I think all defenses are multiple," he explained.

Wilcox turned in one of nation's best coaching jobs last fall. He took a defense that was among college football's worst in 2011 and made it more than respectable.

Improvement? The Huskies surrendered nearly 100 fewer yards and 12 fewer points per game than they did the previous season under Nick Holt. A unit that had been ranked 106th in the nation in total defense, ranked 31st. A unit that had been ranked 108th in the nation in scoring defense, ranked 39th.

And you could make a case that the Huskies talent was not appreciably better in 2012 than in 2011.

That said, it was far from perfect. The Huskies got pushed around by more physical teams (LSU, 41-3) and were worn out and outrun by up-tempo, spread teams (Oregon, 52-21, and Arizona, 52-17). And they turned in an execrable fourth quarter against Washington State, surrendering 18 points in a shocking overtime defeat.

In the other nine games, they yielded an average of 15.3 points per game.

So when you ask Wilcox what didn't please him, he goes general: "Consistency," he said.

Just like his defensive scheme, that encompasses a lot. For one, the Huskies still need to get bigger and faster and deeper. They have solid talent on defense but they won't yet be mistaken for Alabama or Stanford. To be consistent on defense, starters need to win one-on-one battles and there can't be a significant drop-off when the first-team guy is getting a necessary breather.

The Huskies also seemed to get overwhelmed at times, mentally as well as physically, particularly on the road. Washington played timidly in the first half at LSU, and both Oregon and Arizona had 21-point quarters at home to put those games away in the first half.

With eight starters back and improving depth, as well as a year of seasoning under Wilcox's coaching and schemes, Washington should take another step forward in 2013. It has two big questions: 1. Improving the pass rush, one of the few numbers that was statistically worse in 2012 compared to the previous fall; 2. Replacing cornerback Desmond Trufant, the most significant of two voids in the secondary and the defense as a whole.

The latter won't likely get done. While Trufant's play fell off a bit over the final third of the season due to his playing hurt -- "Dinged," Wilcox called it -- he's still a likely first-round NFL draft pick next week.

"I don't know if we have a guy on our roster who can replace what Desmond Trufant did," Wilcox said. "You try to get guys -- it might be one guy, it might be three guys -- to try and gain the productivity at the position he gave us."

Wilcox did say that cornerback Marcus Peters, who struggled at times opposite Trufant as a redshirt freshman starter, "has flashed." Senior Sean Parker is established at one safety spot, but the competitions at the other two secondary voids remain wide open as the Huskies prepare for their spring game on Saturday, Wilcox said.

As for the pass rush, that starts with junior rush end Josh Shirley, who Wilcox believes played better than was commonly thought among the Huskies fan base.

"He did a good job rushing the passer last year," Wilcox said. "He had six and a half sacks last year but he had the opportunity to have 12 or 13 if he would have finished better."

Shirley also forced six fumbles, tied for first in the conference.

It would be a huge boost if defensive end Hau'oli Jamora is able to come back in the fall after knee injuries killed his past two seasons, but that's not something Wilcox can count on. Jamora looked like a budding star as a true freshman starter in 2010.

"I love the guy. He works and is studying," Wilcox said. "He's doing everything humanly possible to get back ... that would be huge."

The idea, of course, is to "effect the quarterback with a four-man rush." Over-reliance on blitzing and rushing five or six guys is where a defense gets into trouble -- see the 2011 Huskies. It's also not just about sacks. It's about making a quarterback move and adjust and feel uncomfortable.

The challenge of every Pac-12 coordinator is the variety of Pac-12 offenses. There are a wide variety of up-tempo spreads that don't particularly resemble each other -- the Huskies are even going mostly no-huddle this spring -- and then there are pro style offenses such as Oregon State, Stanford and USC. A defensive coordinator in the conference can't scheme -- or recruit -- only one way.

So even with a year under his belt at Washington, expect to see some tweaks from Wilcox next fall.

What's his scheme?

Said Wilcox, "It's identifying what we think we can be good at and catering the scheme as best we can to fit the players were have."

Washington's dramatic improvement and blossoming promise since going winless in 2008 yielded to a frustrated "what if?" and "not yet" in 2012 under fourth-year coach Steve Sarkisian.

Yet when you roll together the mixed bag of red-letter wins and bad losses and the lessons both entail, and then toss in impressive returning talent, there's reason to believe the program might turn the reopening of renovated Husky Stadium into a welcome-back party for a program that's been off the college football map for more than a decade.

Washington features 20 returning starters with A-list talent on both sides of the ball. After three consecutive seven-win seasons, which have grown progressively less satisfying for fans, the Huskies seem poised to take the proverbial next step.

"I'd say so, without a doubt," said Sarkisian when asked if this was his most talented team. But then he added, "If we'd finished the last two games, we'd have finished last season as a 9-4 team. But we didn't get it done."

Not getting it done -- at least not yet -- is why some seem intent on putting Sarkisian on the hot seat.

Washington, despite playing one of the nation's toughest schedules in 2012 -- six top-20 and four top-10 teams -- seemed on the cusp of a nine-win season in November. All the Huskies had to do was hold on to an 18-point fourth-quarter lead against Washington State and then win a bowl game.

Neither happened, and the Huskies' worst fourth quarter in Apple Cup history left an ugly smudge on Sarkisian's generally strong résumé.

Further, the 2012 season played out in surprising ways, positively and negatively.

The Huskies' biggest questions before the season were defense and running back. But the defense was vastly improved under first-year coordinator Justin Wilcox, and Bishop Sankey rushed for 1,439 yards. Meanwhile, the biggest certainty was QB Keith Price, who'd ranked seventh in the nation in passing efficiency in 2011, with 33 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 67 percent completion rate.

Price was touted as a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate. But he started slowly and never found his rhythm. He finished eighth in the Pac-12 in passing efficiency with 19 TDs and 13 picks.

That had many folks wondering if he'd keep his job in 2013. Before spring practices began, Sarkisian essentially said it was Price's job to lose, but he certainly could lose it if he got outplayed.

After six practices -- Washington returns to the field on April 2 after spring break -- Sarkisian said Price looks more like his 2011 self, particularly after the Huskies concluded their first session with a scrimmage.

"That was probably the best practice he's had in over a year," Sarkisian said. "He played really well."

A lot of Price playing well has to do with his health. His legs seemed shot much of last season. Not only was he not running well, he wasn't moving in the pocket and his throws lacked velocity and accuracy, two qualities that are often connected. The offseason priority has been getting Price's leg strength back.

"Not that Keith is ever going to be a runner, but he's at his best when he can avoid the initial pass rush and is able to buy time and keep his eyes downfield and create plays," Sarkisian said. "We've definitely seen that this spring."

It's not all on Price, though. The Huskies were beaten up on the offensive line last fall, and the lack of depth showed -- see 38 sacks surrendered. Further, there were times when the Huskies didn't seem mentally tough. They seemed intimidated at LSU, which fell into a pattern of woeful performances on the road -- see Oregon, Arizona and Washington State.

The difference between teams that win six or seven games and those that win nine or 10 or more is often consistency of performance.

"There are a couple of key things for taking a next step, for this to be our best team," Sarkisian said. "Yeah, I know it's our most talented team. But are we really going to be a team that goes on the road and it doesn't matter what time, or what the weather is, or who the opponent is, or what their record is? That stuff can't matter to us anymore. We've got to play our game."

When asked if he feels like he's on the hot seat, Sarkisian said, "Not at all."

On paper, hot-seat talk should give way to high hopes. The grounds for optimism are solid. The Huskies have the talent and experience to end up in the top 25.

But Washington needs to eclipse being a team of "not yet" and "what if?"

Despite making a huge impact on a defense that shaved off an average of 11 points per game between 2011 and 2012, Shaq Thompson doesn't feel like he did much. Despite earning Pac-12 honorable mention as a true freshman, he felt more like a supporting player than a leading man.

All that changes in 2013, the highly touted sophomore proclaimed.

"I feel like I could do more on the field," Thompson said after a recent practice. "It was my first year and I felt more like I was helping rather than doing. I feel like I could have contributed way more. There were games where I felt like I could have left more on the field.

"Sophomore year, I'm going to leave it on the field every game. Go hard or go home."

Appearing in all 13 games last season, Thompson totaled 74 tackles (44 solo) and was second on the team with 8.5 tackles for a loss. He also shared the team high with three interceptions. Defining Thompson isn't always easy. He's been called a safety, a nickelback and a linebacker. He joked that it just depends what day of the week it is. Because in truth -- while he's officially a linebacker -- the Huskies want him to be that versatile of a player.

It's what's expected when one of the top recruits in the country commits to your school.

"When I got here, they put a lot on me," he said. "But I took it. When you're highly recruited, you just have to drop all of those stars and you have to play. You have to grow up on the field."

Like all rookies, Thompson said one of the biggest adjustments was the speed of the game. He said it took him about three games to really grasp the ebb and flow of college football. But there were also the mental aspects that needed re-tooling. As a successful prep player, he sometimes had to subdue his instincts to try to be all over the field at once.

"In high school, you run Cover 2 and man up the rest of the way and you can do a lot more," he said. "Here, you realize that there are 10 other guys on the field and they are all really good. You have to trust your brothers. Trust your family. Focus on your assignment. Because if you miss your assignment, it could be a busted play and go for a touchdown and that's on you. Don't worry about anybody else's assignment. Worry about yourself."

While Thompson learned on the job, so did the defense around him. Washington made huge strides under new defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox -- catapulting from 106th in defense in 2011 to 31st in 2012. The year before they allowed 35.9 points per game compared to 24.1 last season.

Those numbers are nice, but they didn't help at the end of the year when the Huskies dropped their final two games. The first was an overtime upset loss to rival Washington State in the Apple Cup -- a game where the defense blew an 18-point fourth-quarter lead. Then in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas they rallied from an early 18-3 deficit to eventually go ahead late in the fourth. But they couldn't hold and fell 28-26 to Boise State.

"It hurt. It's frustrating," Thompson said. "We still think about those games. They were big and we let up. We should have had those. We let up in the Apple Cup and we let up against Boise State. But all we can do is learn from it and build off it."

This year, look for Thompson to spend more time up in the box since he's officially been slotted as a linebacker. While he's versatile enough to step back in the secondary, he believes this plays better to skill set. And his mentality.

"I like the contact," he said. "I like to get physical. The hard part is taking on the linemen. Those guys are 100 pounds more than you so you really have to work with your hands and learn to get off blocks. It gets mean down in the trenches."

Call them seeming contradictions if you will, but Washington begins spring practices Tuesday with two mixed messages.

• Senior Keith Price is the Huskies' starting quarterback. Unless he isn't.
• There is a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the Huskies' potential in 2013. And general frustration with the program.

With 20 starters back, including a handful of seeming budding stars, the Huskies have the look of a top-25 team that could make some noise in the rugged Pac-12 North Division after three consecutive 7-win seasons, campaigns that have progressively soured fans pining for the proverbial "next step."

This, coach Steve Sarkisian acknowledges.

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t be in a position to compete for a division championship," he said.

Sarkisian also acknowledged the Huskies' offensive struggles in 2012. While an equal share of the blame should go to poor offensive line play, which was aggravated by injury issues, the easy guy to point the finger at is Price, whose play decidedly regressed after a strong debut season in 2011.

Price went from a darkhorse Heisman Trophy contender to eighth in the Pac-12 in passing efficiency, trailing three first-year starters and California's oft-criticized Zach Maynard. The Huskies averaged just 24 points per game, down nine from the 2011 season.

"We need to get our offensive numbers back to where they were two years ago," Sarkisian said.

And that starts with Price. Unless it doesn't.

"Keith Price is our starting quarterback -- the goal is to get Keith Price back to playing the way he was two years ago," Sarkisian said. "But there are four guys behind him who are going to be chomping at the bit to get an opportunity to make this thing into a competition that either is going to push Keith to be better than he's been or, ultimately, try to surpass him."

So this is Price's job. Unless... "As I've said to Keith," Sarkisian said, "we're not going to be stubborn enough that if we think another guy is playing better that guy won't get that opportunity to beat him out."

Those four guys trying to raise an eyebrow at Price's expense: Redshirt freshmen Cyler Miles, Jeff Lindquist, sophomore Derrick Brown and true freshman Troy Williams.

The bottom line meaning behind Sarkisian's statements is fairly straightforward: 1. He wants Price to win the job; 2. But he wants the Huskies to win as many games as possible in a critical season for him and the program; 3. He's going to play the guy who gives him the best chance for No. 2.

The quarterbacks will be working with a new position coach, Marques Tuiasosopo, whose name immediately evokes pleasant memories for Huskies fans. He quarterbacked the program to a No. 3 final ranking after the 2000 season, the Huskies' last Rose Bowl victory. A former dual-threat player, he's got an NFL pedigree, an easy-going style and a natural follow-me-to-the-gold! ability to lead. He also will allow Sarkisian to be more big-picture with the offense.

If the Huskies get the Price of 2011 -- or someone else who can produce a top-10 in the nation passing efficiency rating -- there are a lot of toys to play with, starting with RB Bishop Sankey, WR Kasen Williams and TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins. A young offensive line that got pushed around in 2012 should be much better, and the (eventual) return of former starters Colin Tanigawa and Erik Kohler will provide another boost.

The dramatic improvement of the defense in Year 1 under coordinator Justin Wilcox also suggests strong reasons for optimism.

Of course, the program has been glutted with optimism the past few seasons. Seven wins were a revelation in 2010. Not so much in 2012, particularly when the Huskies blew their final two games, most notably a shocking fourth-quarter collapse against Washington State, something that Cougars fans never, ever, ever bring up these days.

Sarkisian, as is his wont, can find a silver lining even there.

"I don’t think that taste is going to go anywhere for awhile, which is OK," he said. "We lost two games that we should have won. The end result is we are sitting here talking about a 7-6 football team when we could have been here talking about a 9-4 football team. But I don’t know if that’s all bad. If we would have finished 9-4 and found a way to finish those last two games, I don’t know what January or February would have been like for us as a football team. We may have still been hungry and I would like to think so and striving for more. We might have grown a bit complacent. What I do know is there is zero complacency in our locker room right now."

That lack of complacency must start with Price. He needs to regain his mojo. The same could be said for Sarkisian.

Washington will open a remodeled Husky Stadium this fall, a facility that will immediately rank among the nation's best. That will add to the anticipation of a special season, one that Huskies fans have turned purple -- appropriately -- holding their collective breath anticipating.

Said Sarkisian of Price, "We've been through a lot together and we've got one chapter left that we want to make a great ending."

Washington (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12) vs. Boise State (10-2, 7-1 Mountain West)

Who to watch: After his "Hello, world" moment against Baylor in a 67-56 loss in the Valero Alamo Bowl last year, Washington quarterback Keith Price seems to have regressed this year. His completion percentage is down and he's thrown 18 touchdowns compared to 29 at this point last year. He has the same number of interceptions, 11. After some early struggles and inconsistencies, Boise State quarterback Joe Southwick seems to have finally settled into his role as "the guy after Kellen Moore." He's completing 66.7 percent of his throws with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In the last three games he's completed 70 percent of his throws with seven touchdowns and no interceptions.

What to watch: How does the Boise State defense defend Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins? The Mackey Award finalist has game-changing size and speed. Maybe more to the point -- how does Washington use him? If Seferian-Jenkins gets 7-10 touches, it could be the difference in the game. But Boise State is stingy against the pass, having allowed an FBS-leading three touchdown passes in 337 attempts this season. The Broncos rank in the top 10 in pass defense and pass-efficiency defense.

Why to watch: Boise State has won its past three bowl games -- the last loss coming to TCU in the 2008 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. If the right Washington team shows up -- the one that knocked off Stanford and Oregon State -- this could be one of the more entertaining games of the bowl season. If the Huskies still have a hangover from their Apple Cup loss, Boise could cruise.

Prediction: Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox has made a world of difference at Washington this season. He knows Chris Petersen and how he preps -- having served on his staff as defensive coordinator. Plus, Washington has played a far more vigorous schedule -- going 2-2 against top-10 teams. Boise State has seen just one Top 25 team and that was in the season-opening loss to Michigan State. Washington 24, Boise State 17.

Our question this afternoon: "What's next for USC?"

Well, what's immediately next is the Trojans looking up at UCLA in the Pac-12 pecking order and Notre Dame in the national one. How 'ya like them apples, 'SC?

UCLA is the likely pick to repeat as Pac-12 South Division champions in 2013. They've got the QB in Brett Hundley and lots of talent coming back on both sides of the ball. And they have a decisively better coaching staff than USC, at least if we are allowed to extrapolate on the evidence we repeatedly saw on the football field this year.

A year ago, while UCLA and Notre Dame were seemingly floundering, it appeared the Trojan colossus was again rising under coach Lane Kiffin, whose bad reputation was undergoing a generous reevaluation. Yet the stratospheric expectations inspired by a 10-2 2011 season have yielded to desperation and recrimination just a year later.

The big 2013 story for USC? Kiffin's hotseat.

And yet.

While USC under Kiffin certainly no longer has a buy rating, it might be premature to sell all your shares.

For one, the team coming back in 2013 certainly won't be untalented, including 17 returning position player starters (though a few with remaining eligibility might opt to enter the NFL draft). QB Max Wittek hinted against Notre Dame that the transition to him from Matt Barkley might not be too bad. He has a wicked strong arm that could make beautiful music with receivers Marqise Lee and Robert Woods, if Woods opts to return for his senior season.

Further, you'd think the Trojans would be plenty motivated. They were the biggest punchline in college football this year. Yeah, bigger than woeful teams like Colorado. They were historically bad as a team that was ranked No. 1 in the preseason. They were beaten soundly by archrivals whom they whipped just a year ago.

This season was an unmitigated failure.

It might be easier for Kiffin to get his guys focused and motivated when everyone is taking shots at them instead of celebrating their potential awesomeness. The Trojans should be plenty angry heading into 2013. They chiefly should be angry at themselves, but here's a guess that the preseason talk -- regionally and nationally -- will give them plenty of names for an enemies list.

But before we look ahead to USC as angry underdog playing the "us against the world" card in 2013, there needs to be some rigorous backward looking evaluation of what went wrong this fall.

In this column , Steve Bisheff did an outstanding job of breaking down the difficult decisions ahead for Kiffin. We're about to second much of what he said.

First off, Kiffin needs to hire two new coordinators, which means he must dump two guys by the name of Kiffin: Himself on offense and his dad, Monte Kiffin, on defense.

Monte Kiffin is one of the all-time great defensive minds. His legacy is assured. But his work has been middling-to-poor at USC. He's gotten less from USC's talent than he should have.

If Lane Kiffin needs a role model for tough decisions, he could look to his buddy Steve Sarkisian at Washington, who dumped Nick Holt as defensive coordinator last year. Holt, Kiffin and Sarkisian go way back, but Holt was doing a lousy job. That was made even clearer this fall when new coordinator Justin Wilcox produced substantial improvement with arguable less to work with than Holt had in 2011.

Then, if Kiffin feels guilty about terminating his father, he can take out his ill will toward the responsible party by firing himself. It's not just that Kiffin didn't do a good job calling plays this year -- and he didn't -- it's that he neglected other aspects of his team that, as a head coach and CEO, he should have been on top of.

Oregon's Chip Kelly can micromanage his team and call an outstanding game. Kiffin can't. That's been made clear.

There's also this: USC has the resources to hire just about anyone Kiffin wants. He could pay both coordinators $1 million. If they are worried about job security due to Kiffin's hot seat, Kiffin could give them multiyear contracts. That alone would perk up the ears of just about anyone in the country, including top NFL guys.

Remember that list of candidates we made up for the head coaching vacancy at California? Kiffin probably could get a lot of those "hot" coordinators to come work for him.

With good coordinators, the Trojans are a nine- or 10-win team next year. With no changes, the good money would be on there being no Kiffins inside Heritage Hall in 2014.

Kiffin's survival also depends on more than Xs and Os, though.

As Bisheff covered at length, Kiffin often overthinks things, and this often leads to substanceless gestures, such as not allowing teams to do Friday night walkthroughs at the Coliseum, or trying to fool woeful Colorado with players switching jerseys.

Kiffin needs to learn that the USC head coach doesn't need to outsmart his opponents, much less use gamesmanship against them. He simply needs to put a disciplined, focused product on the field with a sound plan. Talent then takes over.

If there are competing simple and complicated ideas for something at USC, about 99.9 percent of the time, the simple one would work best.

What's next for USC? Well, if you are looking three-to-five-years down the road, I'd expect the program to again be in the Pac-12 and national title hunt on a consistent basis.

USC is not going to blow up and go all Paul Hackett Era again. Athletic director Pat Haden is too smart to let that happen.

The question is simply who will be fronting the program: Kiffin or someone else.

If Kiffin clings to the status quo, it will be someone else.

For much of the past two seasons, as Jeff Tedford sat firmly on the proverbial hot seat, the question was whether California could afford to fire its winningest coach. There was no buyout in Tedford's contract, so it would cost nearly $7 million to dispatch him, and that didn't include paying off his coaching staff.

And, of course, there were issues of loyalty. Tedford transformed a program that went 1-10 and played in a crumbling, half-empty stadium the season before he arrived, building it into a consistent winner that could afford massive facility upgrades.
On Tuesday, Cal administrators concluded that they couldn't afford not to fire Tedford, who completes the longest continuous, and current, tenure in the Pac-12 with an 82-57 record in 11 seasons in Berkeley.

The reasons for the not-unexpected firing are obvious. Tedford is 15-22 overall and 9-18 in Pac-12 play since going 8-5 in 2009. The Bears went 3-9 this year, the worst record of Tedford's tenure, including a five-game losing streak to end the season. Crowds at newly remodeled Memorial Stadium were dwindling, threatening Cal's Endowment Seating Program, which was supposed to play a central role for financing the stadium renovation.

Over the past four seasons, California lost 16 games by at least 17 points, and it is riding a three-game losing streak in the Big Game to Bay Area rival Stanford, which could end up in its third consecutive BCS bowl game this January.

The program has been in a downward trend and showed no signs this season of reversing that negative momentum. Fans were turning away just when they -- and their money -- were needed most. So, it was decided, a coaching change was critical to reverse the tide.

“This was an extraordinarily difficult decision, one that required a thorough and thoughtful analysis of a complex set of factors,” Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour said in a statement. “Ultimately, I believed that we needed a change in direction to get our program back on the right track. Cal football is integral to our department and our university, and its influence can be felt well beyond the walls of Memorial Stadium."

So what's next? Well, Cal first has to decide how much it's willing to pay.

Tedford's 2012 salary is $2.3 million, which is a lot to most of us but not that much among elite coaches, particularly when you adjust for the Bay Area's cost of living. That's like making $1.6 million if you lived in Tuscaloosa, Ala. If Cal wants to pursue, say, Cincinnati's Butch Jones, they'd have to pay him $2.3 million just to match the value of Jones' current $1.6 million salary.

A front-line head coach likely will cost at least $2.5 million to $3 million. And then you have to hire his staff. Top coordinator salaries have risen to between $500,000 and $1 million. Washington is paying defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox $750,000 this year.
So this could get expensive.

Of course, the Bears also could do what they did when they hired Tedford away from Oregon: Find a hot coordinator.

Names you likely will hear: Wilcox, Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, Stanford offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason.

Bears fans have been frustrated by Cal's QB play since Aaron Rodgers went to the NFL. Well, UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone rebuilt two offenses -- and two QBs -- in the past two seasons (at Arizona State and now with the Bruins).

Then you could trot out some other hot names in no particular order: Charlie Strong, Louisville; Art Briles, Baylor; Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech; Willie Taggart, Western Kentucky; and Gary Anderson, Utah State.

And coordinators: Kirby Smart, Alabama; Chad Morris, Clemson; Todd Monken, Oklahoma State; Brent Venables, Clemson; Lorenzo Ward, South Carolina; Kalani Sitake, Utah; Pat Narduzzi, Michigan State.

Or Cal could look to the NFL.

From the Cal statement: "Barbour said that a national search for a new head coach, which will be aided by the firm of DHR International, will begin immediately. She did not indicate a timetable for hiring a replacement, adding that Cal Athletics will have no further comment on the search until a new coach has been selected."

Tedford will land on his feet. He is plenty respected among other coaches. Don't be surprised if he lands another job in a major conference. Or the NFL.

He has proved he can build a program. As we've previously noted, in 24 seasons before he arrived in Berkeley -- 1978 to 2004 -- Cal won three or fewer games 10 times while winning seven or more games four times. Tedford suffered just two losing seasons in 11 years and has won 10 games twice and nine games once. Before he took over, Cal's last winning season came in 1993.

But football is a zero-sum game. You either win or you lose. Tedford set an early pattern of winning, but losing was the recent trend. The program seemed to plateau, then slide.

Further, Stanford's fortunes were rising, as were other Pac-12 teams with new coaches, such as UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State.

In the big business of college football, losing isn't accepted, particularly when rivals are winning.

In the preseason, if you penciled in Washington at 6-4 heading into the season's final two weekends, you would have been branded an optimist. The Huskies faced a brutal schedule, perhaps the toughest in the nation, and it's become even tougher than it looked in August as the season played out.

Anyone project San Diego State as an 8-3 team? Or Oregon State as a top-10 team much of the season?

The Huskies posted wins over both those teams, and when you toss in a victory over Stanford, you have three wins over teams that are presently a combined 23-7.

The only true hiccup this season was at Arizona, a listless 52-17 defeat. But the Wildcats, also 6-4, are pretty darn good. They have wins against Oklahoma State and USC and nailbiting losses to Stanford and Oregon State.

While the Huskies haven't been strong on the road this year, they will be favorites in their final two regular-season games, at Colorado on Saturday and at Washington State in the Apple Cup on Nov. 23. That means they have a good shot at an eight-win regular season, with a chance at a ninth in a bowl game.

The last time the Huskies won eight games? That would be 2001. That means most of the current Huskies can't even remember the last time it happened.

And, yet, during a three-game midseason slide, some people were questioning the trajectory of the program under coach Steve Sarkisian.

People! Don't they just drive you crazy?

You get the feeling that a lot of those same people came around at some point last Saturday during the Huskies 16-play, 82-yard, fourth-quarter TD drive, which lasted 8:43 and put a dagger into Utah.

Sarkisian called the 34-15 victory the Huskies' most complete performance. The defense under new coordinator Justin Wilcox is astronomically better than a year ago, and QB Keith Price has started to look like his old self, completing 24 of 33 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He also rushed for a TD.

"I thought that was by far and away [Price's] best game of the year," Sarkisian said, then added. "I just think from a mental standpoint he is healthy. He's back to Keith Price as I know him, which is fun to be around... He is exuding a tremendous amount of confidence and leadership, and in the end I think our team feeds off of him."

Of course, there are other schools of thought, ones that hear about playing well in all three phases and yawn. These people prefer the "Hat Over Visor Theory."

Sarkisian is a visor guy, like Steve Spurrier. But it seems the Huskies are now 4-0 when he wears a hat. This has become a fairly big deal in Seattle. Really.

"I haven't spent that much time delegating over what to wear in the game," Sarkisian said. "But now, it's pretty clear to me the hat, it's just unbelievable the success we have with me in the hat. So we'll continue with the hat."

Sark is laughing at the question, but here's a guess that he will be wearing a hat until the magic -- and it is clearly hat magic -- goes away.

And, with a 9-4 finish with a bowl victory as a potential outcome, which could earn the Huskies a top-15 2013 preseason ranking as they move back into a fancy new Husky Stadium, hat magic is just fine.

On Oct. 20, things were pretty dreary for Utah and Washington. The Utes had just lost their fourth Pac-12 game in a row at Oregon State. The Huskies had just lost their third conference game in a row at Arizona. Each season was at a proverbial crossroads, and the upcoming opponent was a tough one.

Both, however, got off the canvas, wiped away the blood shed the previous weeks, and came out swinging. The Utes dumped California and Washington State over the next two weeks, and the Huskies bested Oregon State and Cal.

Now both have seen sagging bowl hopes rise. Yet they stand in each others' way on Saturday. Utah visits Washington at its home-away-from-home, CenturyLink Field, with both trying to set a positive trajectory for the final quarter of the season.

For both, the uptick should be first traced to the schedule. It's gotten easier.

But both team are playing better, particularly the Utes previously-sputtering offense. Coach Kyle Whittingham noted that things have started to click in every area, see consecutive games with 49 points.

Said Whittingham, "I think it's the evolution of our quarterback, [true freshman] Travis Wilson. I think [offensive coordinator] Brian Johnson is starting to feel more comfortable. I think the offensive line has continued to improve. You've got guys making plays. Very few mistakes. We're not dropping footballs and committing ignorant penalties. I think it's all the way around. John White is back on track."

The formula is efficient play from Wilson and 100-yard efforts from White. The Utes are 11-0 over the past two seasons when White hits the century mark, which includes the last two wins.

As for the Huskies, the offense has been consistently underwhelming, but the defense has taken a big step forward under first-year coordinator Justin Wilcox. The Huskies are giving up 26.3 points per game, nearly 10 fewer than a year ago, an 393.4 yards per game, 60 fewer than last year. Last year, they gave up 6.4 yards per play, this year they are yielding 5.8.

The big issues here will be the play of the offensive lines, and Wilson dealing with a boisterous road crowd. Wilson's first two starts were on the road, and the Utes scored just 21 points combined at UCLA and Oregon State.

As for the lines, both have been works in progress throughout the season. And both have played better of late.

"I feel good about the progress that we have made," Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian said. "I think they have matured especially the last two weeks and hopefully we can continue that the next three weeks.''

The Huskies young line should have its hands full with the Utes tough front-seven, led by All-American defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, who figures to command two interior blockers.

"Star is a tremendous player," Sarkisian said. "It starts right there in the middle with 92."

For the Utes offense, it starts with establishing White and not putting pressure on Wilson to throw on the road.

If Washington wins, it will improve to 6-4 and become bowl eligible with winnable games ahead at Colorado and Washington State.

If Utah wins, it will even its record at 5-5 and only need to split its final two games with Arizona and at Colorado.

It's fair to say that the winner will be on the cusp of a successful season, while the loser might feel like it's Oct. 20 again.

It has to be unsettling for Steve Sarkisian, Justin Wilcox, Bishop Sankey and everyone else who rocks the purple and gold. Each game day they wake up and hope that team shows up; the one that is resilient, tough-minded, physical and plays with a bit of nastiness. But inconsistencies throughout Washington’s 4-4 season have left all of the above questioning exactly which team would show up each week.

Eight games into the season, the personality of the 2012 Washington Huskies is yet to be defined.

“The personality is we’ve been schizophrenic,” said Wilcox, Washington’s defensive coordinator. “Consistency on our part has to improve. We have to continue to find the reasons why. But that’s something that’s shown up every week. Speaking from our side of the ball, we’ve played better against certain styles of teams. But at the end of the day it’s confidence in your technique and scheme and abilities.”

Saturday night at CenturyLink Field -- that team showed up; the one that punches first and asks questions later; the one that dictates and isn’t dictated to. And for the second time this year the Huskies knocked off a top-10 team by topping the No. 7 Oregon State Beavers 20-17 -- prompting another field-storming from the fan base. In fact, it was one month ago to the day that the Huskies stunned No. 8 Stanford 17-13.

But that game also marked the last time they had picked up a victory. A three-game skid followed, including losses to ranked Oregon and USC and blowout loss last week at Arizona. On the south side of .500 and needing to inspire his team, Sarkisian got back to some basics in practice last week with some physical hitting drills usually reserved for fall camp.

“We needed [a victory] for our own well-being,” he said. “It wasn’t so much about the record, it was for what’s inside of us. Pride is a powerful thing. You earn pride. It’s not given. We earned it tonight.”

Moving forward, slowly but surely, Sarkisian said his team’s identity is starting to take shape. And Saturday night was a big step forward.

“I don’t doubt our toughness,” he said. “What I’m figuring out week after week is the maturity level. Which of our young players is growing up each week? A guy like Jaydon Mickens made a couple of plays and started to grow up. I’ve seen Kendyl Taylor start to grow up. Each week I feel like we’re getting one more guy and one more guy. That’s all going to help shape our personality. Until then, we’re going to continue to be a blue-collar, lunch-pail, hard-hat kind of team. And that’s OK. You can win that way. It just makes it a little harder.”

And Saturday wasn’t easy. Sankey rushed for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns against one of the top rushing defenses in the country while the defense intercepted Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion four times.

“I feel like we have our own personality,” Sankey said. “We’re continuing to develop that. This past week we had to get down to the nitty-gritty. We’re making strides each day, each week. This past week was a big week for us in getting back to the basics -- working hard and hitting. It paid off tonight.”

When points were at a premium, the Huskies held a 10-0 advantage at halftime following a 45-yard field goal from Travis Coons and a 1-yard touchdown run from Sankey. It was the first time this year that Oregon State (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12) had been blanked in the first half.

“We couldn’t get anything going in the first half and we turned the ball over, so it was a two-fold problem,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. “Then we moved the ball [in the second half] and we still turned it over.”

This was Mannion’s first game back since having minor knee surgery three weeks ago. And he didn’t look good, completing 18 of 34 passes for 221 yards with one touchdown and four picks. Prior to this game, he had four interceptions for the season.

“I think [turnovers] probably will be the thing we regret the most,” Riley said. “Having the ball with some opportunities and turning the ball back to them when we had scoring opportunities. As you can see in a game like that, even if one of those opportunities, if one or two would have turned into field goals, it makes a big difference.”

It didn't help, either, that Markus Wheaton was knocked out of the game after taking a hard hit in the second quarter. Fellow receiver Brandin Cooks turned in another sensational performance, catching nine balls for 123 yards with a score.

Mannion was eventually replaced in the fourth quarter by Cody Vaz -- who had led the Beavers to a pair of victories during Mannion’s rehabilitation. Vaz sparked the offense with a seven-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Connor Hamlett that tied the game at 17-17.

But the Huskies moved the ball to the Oregon State 12 and Coons converted a 30-yard field goal with 1:20 left in the game.

Washington’s offensive struggles also continued. The Huskies were outgained 427-293 in total yards. Quarterback Keith Price was 18-of-30 for 194 yards with an interception. But winning the turnover battle by a 4-to-1 margin helps.

“At the end of the day, I don’t know how pretty it was,” Sarkisian said. “We had some penalties and things; that’s a good football team, obviously, in Oregon State. I was proud of the character our guys possessed, their ability to preserve with the game could have really started swaying in Oregon State’s favor when they notched it up at 10-10. But our defense continually came up with stops.”

With four consecutive games coming up against unranked teams, it stands to reason that the Huskies could probably end the year on a five-game win streak.

But then again, no one really knows for sure.

Welcome to the mailbag.

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To the notes.

Kevin from San Antonio writes: Was ASU totally exposed last night vs. Oregon or is Oregon so much better than everyone else that you can't use the game as a measuring stick for ASU?

Ted Miller: Neither.

Before I go off on a tangent of Football Game Rationalizing 101, let me establish what matters: Winning.

A team is what it does. Judgments in football -- all sports, really -- are what the scoreboards say when the clock expires. You can hush a guy playing football "What if?!" by merely noting, "Sure, if what happened didn't happen then the game would have been different. I will grant you that."

So, duly noted.

I suspect -- and away we go -- that the Oregon-Arizona State game would have been much different if Arizona State defensive tackle Will Sutton didn't get hurt on play No. 2. The supporting evidence I have for that position is twofold: 1. Sutton caused a fumble on play No. 2, his last in the game; 2. Sutton is a freaking beast and no defensive player in the conference has been better this fall.

Do I think Arizona State wins if Will Sutton doesn't get hurt? No. When Kevin and I both picked Oregon to win we did so assuming both teams would be at full strength.

Before the game (with a healthy Sutton), I thought Arizona State was an eight-win team, which is well ahead of where I saw them in the preseason, when I thought it was a five-or-six-win team. What I've seen this season is encouraging for the program in general, even with that dreadful first half against the Ducks.

Before the game, I thought Oregon was a top-five team and a legitimate national title contender. I feel more confident in that position after the game.

What I've learned through the years while covering something like 160 college football games live is that they are fragile things. Dumb luck plays a much bigger role in games than folks typically allow, just as one boneheaded lapse of concentration can cause massive and irreparable hemorrhaging. And a coach can roll the dice on a scheme or play call and become a genius/idiot when he truthfully is neither.

Coaches often say one play doesn't decide a game, but I think that's frequently wrong. A Stanford fan could give you two examples over the past year.

The very best coaches are able to create winning cultures that reduce the random variables and maximize their teams' performance. Such teams dominate most days and find ways to win on the rare occasions when they are out of sync. Yes, we're talking about the Oregons and Alabamas of the world.

I think if Oregon and Arizona State played 10 times at full strength in Sun Devil Stadium, half of those games would be far more competitive than what we saw Thursday night. And I think the Sun Devils might steal one. You probably could say that about most good teams matched against great teams.

Now, let's return to the part where I remind myself and you that imaginary college football doesn't matter.

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John from Lake Oswego, Ore., writes: If Oregon wins out and the only loss for the Beavs is to Oregon. Could Oregon go to the natty and the Beavs to the rose bowl or would a pac12 south team go to the Rose Bowl?

Ted Miller: Did you just use the word "natty"? For shame.

John, you are not allowed to read the answer to your own question. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office. You're fired.

Stop peaking, John. You have been sanctioned. Don't make me send Kevin after you. He's from San Diego. You know what they say about hardcases from San Diego, don't you? The mild weather makes them most unpleasant, particularly in October, when the fish tacos take an inexplicable but inevitable dip in quality.

If Oregon State finishes 11-1, and Oregon wins the Pac-12 North and advances to the NATIONAL TITLE GAME, the Beavers would almost certainly go to the Rose Bowl.

Why? Because, if Oregon finishes undefeated, there isn't a scenario where the South Division loser in the Pac-12 title game wouldn't have at least three defeats. It's difficult to imagine that any team with three defeats, including one on the last weekend of the season, would be ranked in the top 14 of the BCS standings, which is required for a team to be picked for a BCS bowl.

Even if, say, USC was 9-3 and ranked 14th, the Rose Bowl would almost certainly pick a one-loss, top-10 Oregon State team, even though the Trojans are a big ticket TV attraction.

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Erik from Seattle writes: I'm a concerned Husky fan. I love the staff that [Steve Sarkisian] has built and I think he's doing a solid job recruiting. I don't doubt that he was the right guy to turn this program around post-Willingham, but I walked away from the LSU, Oregon, and USC games wondering if he's the right guy to take us to the next level. How much more time do we give him? Not to be selfish, but what if he's a 7-5, 8-4, middle of the road guy? We're not competitive with Oregon, LSU, and often on the road. I know that very few teams have been competitive w/ Oregon recently and it's nearly impossible to win in Death Valley at night, but do you see him as a next level guy? Talk me off the ledge, Ted.

Ted Miller: In the six seasons before Sarkisian was hired, the Huskies won 18 games. In three and a half seasons under Sarkisian, they've won 22.

Sarkisian took over an 0-12 team and went 5-7. The Huskies hadn't won a bowl game since 2000 when Sarkisian led the Huskies to a Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska in 2010.

Further, when things didn't take a step forward in 2011, he took aggressive action to fix things, firing Nick Holt -- a longtime coaching friend -- and most of his defensive staff and hiring Justin Wilcox and luring away Tosh Lupoi from California.

Next year, Sarkisian moves his team from decrepit Husky Stadium into a newly remodeled Husky Stadium, which might be the best venue on the West Coast (we'll see).

Sure, it would be nice for Huskies fans if the program were headed for the Rose Bowl in year four under Sarkisian. But Sark inherited a major rebuilding job. He's laid a nice foundation. There are plenty of reasons for optimism.

Is he a sure thing? No. Few coaches are.

But he's a highly respected guy. He's a good recruiter. I'd advise patience. I have a hunch you might see some rewards for it in 2013.

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Nick from Boise writes: I am one of those rare objective Duck fans. Among an undefeated Oregon, an undefeated K-State, a one-loss Notre Dame, and a one-loss SEC team, who deserves to play Alabama for the National Championship? My gut says the SEC team based on quality of opponents, but it is likely the computers give the edge to Oregon. And the computers are supposed to take in strength of schedule, so that must be the right answer, right?

Ted Miller: An objective Duck fan? I feel like I stepped out my front door and saw an ivory-billed woodpecker!

We've got so much football left that speculating on these sorts of scenarios is pretty useless. What if Notre Dame's one loss is a blowout defeat at USC? And what if the Big 12 starts devouring itself and Kansas State ends up with no wins over teams with fewer than three losses? And which SEC team? Not all SEC schedules are created equal.

Further, unbeaten in an AQ conference almost certainly would trump any 1-loss team in an AQ conference. If Oregon is 13-0 and the only or one of two unbeaten teams, it's almost certainly going to play for the title.

Further, the polls form two-thirds of the BCS standings versus one-third for the computers. That means if Oregon is No. 2 in both the coaches and Harris polls, its computer ranking will have to be pretty terrible for it to be eclipsed by a team beneath it in the human polls.

So, as I've said and typed before, the odds are extremely favorable that Oregon, at 13-0, would play for the national title.

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Robert from Greenwood Village, Colo., writes: I just wanted to comment on the use of "curb stomp" in your article about the arizona state-oregon game. I don't think it is appropriate to use that phrase. I think by using the phrase you are paying homage to the act itself which is horrible. I think using that phrase goes right along with "oregon raped arizona state" on the level of classy that it isn't. I have heard those phrases used by young people and I think we don't need a public figure, especially one that predominately has a sphere of influence in young males, to use such barbaric language. Just keep in mind how playing football, coaching, watching and reading about football are all ways to reach people. I think that "curb stomping" is not an appropriate when considering how influential you are.

Ted Miller: I agree. A bad and pretty darn thoughtless choice of terms on my part. I winced when I re-read it.

I was writing quickly last night. Quickly and witlessly. My bad.

EUGENE, Ore. -- At some point, Washington is going to beat its arch-rival Oregon again, but the odds seem stacked against the Huskies tonight.

For one, the Ducks are playing in Autzen Stadium. They are 34-4 at home since Chip Kelly first arrived in 2007 as their offensive coordinator.

Second, the Ducks are again strong on both sides of the ball. Their offense is among the nation's leaders in rushing, scoring and total offense. The defense is better than its numbers suggest, considering its starters have played little in the fourth quarter this year. The Ducks' 4.55 yards per play ranks third in the Pac-12.

The Huskies? They are much better on defense, giving up just under 19.8 points per game -- virtually the same as the Ducks. But they are struggling offensively due to a injury ravaged offensive line that is down three starters from what it thought it would be. The Huskies are scoring 23.3 points per game, which ranks 10th in the conference.

Oregon averages 52.4, tops in the Pac-12 by a wide margin.

So the Ducks are going to need to be much below their average tonight, while the Huskies need much better, for Washington to have a chance.

The key will be big plays that go against Oregon, which is not typically how things go here. The Huskies need to slow the Ducks running game and force redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota to make mistakes passing. And they need to take advantage of those miscues.

The Huskies offense, meanwhile, needs to create some sort of running threat that keeps the Ducks honest, while quarterback Keith Price needs to time to hook up with tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins and receiver Kasen Williams.

It will help the Huskies that the Ducks, already young at safety due to the season-ending knee injury to John Boyett, might be without weakside linebacker Michael Clay, who was hurt last week against Washington State.

Oregon has been a second-half team under Kelly. It tends to make good adjustments to other teams' schemes and it also wears down opposing defenses with its tempo. That said, if the Huskies can keep things close into the fourth quarter, it's possible that Mariota will feel some pressure, and press as a result.

Perhaps a few Oregon miscues would open a door for the Huskies to end an eight-game losing streak in the series?

A few storylines to keep an eye on this week.

1. Oregon-Washington: Let's just get this one out there first. One of the best nontraditional rivalries in the nation features both teams in the Top 25: the Ducks at No. 2 and the Huskies at No. 23 after last week's victory over Stanford. It's the first time since 2000 that both teams are ranked in the Top 25 for this game. Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox was brought in to make the Washington defense better. And so far it has been -- especially last week, when it held Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor to 75 yards and kept the Cardinal offense out of the end zone. But in case anyone needs reminding, Oregon is not Stanford. The Ducks rank fourth nationally in scoring offense, averaging 52.4 points per game. We'll see how far the UW defense has really come, and if it isn't emotionally/physically drained after already knocking off one top-10 team this year.

2. Ranked vs. unranked: Who is on upset alert this week? (Gosh, that would make a great poll question for later on this afternoon, hint, hint.) With ASU and Colorado both on bye and ranked teams Washington and Oregon going at it, that leaves the rest of the ranked Pac-12 teams facing unranked opponents. No. 13 USC is at Utah tonight, No. 14 Oregon State returns home to face Washington State, No. 18 Stanford hosts Arizona and No. 25 UCLA travels to Cal. Are there any Top 25 upsets out there this week?

3. Critical stretch: Arizona and Stanford are both at a critical junction. The Wildcats -- once 3-0 and ranked -- are in the midst of a two-game losing streak. And after playing the Cardinal, they face three more teams currently ranked: Washington, USC and UCLA. Stanford, meanwhile, has to figure out a way to get some offense going. Quarterback Josh Nunes -- though he has the confidence of his head coach behind him -- looked bad against Washington. The rest of the offense didn't do much to help him. If the Cardinal can pick themselves up, it will be a confidence boost heading into Notre Dame and then The Big Game. Arizona played Oregon State close, but will it be able to stop the run as effectively as Washington did?

4. No complacency: The Beavers are back at home for the first time in almost a month -- and they bring a 3-0 start and a top-15 ranking with them. The hype machine is in overdrive given the fact that OSU has, arguably, the three best wins in the nation with victories over ranked Wisconsin and UCLA and once-ranked Arizona. In theory, 2-3 Washington State should be relatively easy compared to the schedule OSU has faced so far. But players said they aren't overlooking anyone -- and they are motivated by their 3-9 record last season. Washington State, meanwhile, played a very good 30 minutes against Oregon last week. It didn't get the win, and no one likes morale victories. But it was really the first time we saw the Cougars play confident football for 60 minutes. Travis Long (quietly tied for the conference lead in total sacks) continues to be a bright spot on defense.

5. Make an impression: After falling out of favor, USC and its quarterback could go a long way toward getting some pollsters -- Heisman or otherwise -- back on their side with a nationally televised game against Utah tonight. The Utes' defensive front will do what it can to make life uncomfortable for Matt Barkley, and you can expect Rice-Eccles to bring the noise. A solid performance from Utah could erase some bad memories from earlier this year. A strong showing from the Trojans could be just what they need to kick-start the team.

6. The good and the bad: There is a lot of negativity surrounding the California Bears. Conversely, there is a lot of positive vibes flowing around the Bruins. Every coach will tell you that each game is a must-win game. But some games are more must-win than others. And this is one of those for the Bears. If they fall to 1-5, their bowl chances are almost extinct with a second half that includes Stanford, Washington, Oregon and Oregon State. Plus they travel to Pullman and Salt Lake City. A win over a Top 25 team could change the entire trajectory of the season. But UCLA is thinking the same thing. The Bruins are still a young team learning how to handle success. They run the ball very well (ranked second in the conference) and Cal has had issues stopping the run (worst defense in the conference). On paper, this seems like a no-brainer. But this one might not be so simple. Teams can be scary when they are backed into a corner. And the Bears are certainly in a corner.

Be prepared. Oregon coach Chip Kelly won't talk big picture this week. He won't talk about national perception or the beauty contest that college football is. A reporter will note to him that Oregon has beaten Washington eight consecutive times by at least 17 points, and he'll shrug.

(I bet inside he'll go, "Sweeeeet!" but outside, he'll shrug).

And he'll be right. Oregon has done a pretty good job under Kelly -- to the tune of 39-6 over three-plus seasons -- focusing on the present moment rather than looking ahead or back.

While it's perfectly reasonable for civilians to wring their hands over how a victory looked, as Oregon fans have over the first-half sloppiness against Washington State, Kelly's Ducks have a pretty simple formula ahead of them. If they win all of their games -- pretty or not -- the odds are extremely high they will play for the national championship. Again.

So, let's note in advance that the Ducks don't really need style points against Washington on Saturday in Autzen Stadium. They don't need to ring up a ninth consecutive blowout over that team in purple whom Ducks fans regard with such loving warmth. They don't need to match the domination of LSU's 41-3 beatdown of the Huskies a couple of weeks ago in Baton Rouge.

But it certainly wouldn't hurt.

A dominant win would further cement the national perception of the Ducks as the nation's No. 2 team behind Alabama. Perception, as you know in this, our penultimate year yoked by the BCS system, matters. A tight game going into the fourth quarter might cause some voters to reconsider Florida State, LSU, Georgia or a Big 12 front-runner.

In the event of there being three or more unbeaten teams at season's end, then perception takes over. And don't forget those fickle computers.

The Ducks are 24-point favorites. So the expectation has been set high for an impressive win. Falling short of expectations could have short-term consequences that, potentially, could resonate negatively throughout the regular season.

Of course, the Huskies aren't looking to be a doormat that Oregon can decorate with footprints. They're nationally ranked and feeling pretty rejuvenated after beating then-No. 8 Stanford, a game for which few -- yes, both of your humble Pac-12 bloggers -- expected them to be terribly competitive.

You might recall Oregon's worst offensive performance under Kelly was his first game as the Ducks' head coach, in 2009 at Boise State. In a 19-8 defeat best remembered for LeGarrette Blount's meltdown, the Ducks gained just 152 total yards and six first downs and were 1-for-10 on third-down plays. Suffice it to say, it provided no hints of the offensive pyrotechnics that were ahead for the program.

The Broncos' defensive coordinator on Sept. 3, 2009? That would be Justin Wilcox, who is now running the Huskies' defense.

That has Washington fans crossing their fingers that they can slow the Ducks' offense enough to give QB Keith Price and company a puncher's chance.

Kelly will shrug about Wilcox, too. He'll graciously praise him as a defensive coach. He'll claim the Boise State game holds no sway over his present thinking. He'll talk only about what he and the Ducks can control: their preparation, their attitude and their effort. Hey, it's not personal -- it's business.

But here's a little secret: Kelly is not a robot. He hasn't completely cleansed himself of the emotions -- personalized emotions -- that attach themselves to competitive people. Just as he's well aware that his fans relish the recent domination of Washington probably as much as three consecutive Pac-12 titles, he's also well aware that scoring 50 on Saturday against Wilcox would feel pretty good.

I suspect he'd like to score 50 more than he typically would. (Editor's note: As some of you have noted, he did get 48 against Wilcox when the Ducks visited Tennessee in 2010).

At the very least, doing so would eliminate an annoying angle a reporter can ask him about or write about.