SerpApi.Org
With football season almost here I wanted to do a quick pre-season check in on the old PAC-12 foes outside of the B1G. First up the two teams that remained in the PAC-12 that are now competing in the new PAC-12 that added:
- Boise State
- Fresno State
- San Diego State
- Texas State
- Utah State
- Colorado State
As an 8 team football conference the PAC-12 is trying a novel concept for the final game of the year in which the opponents will be flexed at the leagues discretion. This is largely for College Football Playoff reasons to try and secure the automatic bid that will likely go to 1 Group of 6 school. Please note that the Over/Under win totals are for the 11 game regular season not including the final flex week.
Oregon State
Over/Under Win Total: 3.5
SP+ Ranking: -6.3 (91st in FBS – 6th in the PAC-12)
Head Coach: JaMarcus Shephard – 1st Year
Offensive Coordinator: Mitch Dahlen – 1st Year
Defensive Coordinator: Mike MacIntyre – 1st Year
Projected Starting QB: Malik Murphy
It’s a fresh start for the Beavers after Trent Bray was head coach for their first year and half in the wilderness post PAC-12 break-up and after Jonathan Smith left. Bray was fired fired mid-season last year after going 5-14 as head coach.
Shephard will look to give the Beavers their first real momentum post 2023 in their new conference as a first time head coach. He has spent the last 15 years serving in various offensive assistant roles primarily as a receivers coach with stops most recently at Washington and Alabama working under Kalen DeBoer.
Dahlen is another coach that worked under Kalen DeBoer the past 4 years at Washington, Alabama, and Fresno State while MacIntyre is the grey beard in the room who has been coaching since the early 90’s but is most known for his 5 year run as head coach at Colorado that saw him lead the Buffaloes to their only 10 win season in the past 25 years in 2016.
At QB the Beavers appear to be running it back with Malik Murphy who was the starting QB last season.
Washington State
Over/Under Win Total: 4.5
SP+ Ranking: -5.3 (85th in FBS – 4th in the PAC-12)
Head Coach: Kirby Moore – 1st Year
Offensive Coordinator: Matt Miller – 1st Year
Defensive Coordinator: Trent Bray – 1st Year
Projected Starting QB: Caden Pinnick
Washington State has seen immense turnover since 2023 as they are already on their 2nd head coach post Jake Dickert. After Dickert left for Wake Forest the guy who replaced him, Jimmy Rogers, took the vacant Iowa State head coaching job. Kirby Moore was most recently the offensive Co-Ordinator at Missouri the past 3 seasons and this will be his first head coach job.
His offensive co-ordinator is his former teammate at Boise State Matt Miller, no not that Matt Miller. Miller worked at his Alma mater since 2020 before coming over to be a first time coordinator at Washington State this season while the defensive co-oridnator is none other than Trent Bray, the same Trent Bray that was Oregon State’s head coach these past two seasons.
At QB the Cougars are going with a sophomore transfer from UC Davis, Caden Pinnick who started and posted impressive raw stats at the FCS level as a freshmen.
