It is often said that hindsight is 20/20. But if you’ve covered or closely followed a Pac-12 football team over the last five seasons, you’ll know it can be a bit more complex than that.
In August, I (and four other State Press writers and/or editors) voted in the Stanford Daily’s Preseason student media Pac-12 football poll.
More often than not, a prediction remains just that, and it’s rare to see them realized.
I went back to find my ballot to see just how far off I ended up, and offered up some new (and hopefully more educated) predictions now that the regular season has finished.
I also explained some of my picks that even I now consider to be head-scratchers.
As a bonus, because the Pac-12 unveiled its 2015 All-Conference team today, I offered my own amendments to the list. You’ll likely disagree with some of them, and I’d be concerned if you did in fact agree with all of my picks.
The Pac-12 was blessed with an elite class of running backs and linebackers, and has a healthy amount of depth at just about every position, which meant some tough omissions were in order.
Here's my "Then and Now," plus my 2015 All-Conference team.
Then
Offensive Player of the Year: Royce Freeman
"How could you not make this a three-way tie between Freeman, Devontae Booker and Christian McCaffrey?" you ask. I don't believe in ties – that's why I only picked one quarterback, who in his own way merited substantial consideration for this honor as well.
Don't think for a second that I've forgotten about Demario Richard, who will leave no doubt that he belongs in this conversation for the next two years.
Defensive Player of the Year: Ishmael Adams
Admittedly, I wasn't quite thinking the way most were, going with the consensus pick in Arizona's Scooby Wright. But I'll maintain that Adams is an elite defensive back whose excellence was overshadowed by Adoree' Jackson across town, a two-way (sometimes three-way) player who was as explosive in the return game this season as Adams was last year.
Coach of the Year: David Shaw
Newcomer of the Year: Vernon Adams
Conference Champion: ASU
Most Improved: California
Most Disappointing: UCLA
Predicted order of finish: (If you'd like to compare, here are the actual standings.)
North
- Oregon
- Stanford
- California
- Oregon State
- Washington
- Washington State
South
- ASU
- USC
- Arizona
- UCLA
- Utah
- Colorado
Now
Offensive Player of the Year: Royce Freeman
Defensive Player of the Year: DeForest Buckner
Scooby Wright's injury kept him out of the running, which certainly tilted the race in Buckner's favor. There are plenty of deserving candidates, but none quite so impactful as Buckner. The defensive end's game rose with the heightened stakes in consecutive wins over Stanford and USC, the two teams left standing to play for the Pac-12 Championship.
Coach of the Year: David Shaw
After his team mustered just six points in a road loss to Northwestern, Shaw's Cardinal are poised to play for their third Pac-12 title in four seasons. All of this, of course, has happened in a year in which Stanford was finally supposed to regress back to the mean and slip out of Pac-12 contention. Shaw's response to the doubters has been a resounding "No."
Newcomer of the Year: Vernon Adams Jr.
This didn't materialize as quickly as most observers hoped – Adams struggled with injuries for much of the first half of the season, and as ASU fans know well, was at his best scrambling to create something positive out of a broken play. Oregon fans surely are disappointed they didn't get to see Adams fully unleashed, but he'll likely dazzle whichever defense has the misfortune of meeting him in a bowl game.
Iman Marshall of USC earns an honorable mention, though UCLA's Josh Rosen would also be a fine choice.
Conference Champion: Stanford
A rejuvenated USC with freshly-named head coach Clay Helton will make the Trojans a tougher matchup, even though the Cardinal already conquered former coach Steve Sarkisian's squad in late September. Stanford still has an outside shot at the College Football Playoff, and they'll ensure that their pursuit of a final four berth doesn't end in Santa Clara on Saturday.
Most Improved: Washington State
Remember when the Cougars lost to Portland State in their season opener? No team epitomizes the insanity that is the Pac-12 quite like Washington State. This group was a missed field goal away from knocking off Stanford, lost to Cal by a touchdown, and very nearly flipped their record to the inverse of 2014's 3-9 finish. Oh, and they were without Luke Falk for the Apple Cup, instead suffering a blowout loss to Washington.
For a team that has been perennial Pac-12 bottom-dweller for the better part of a decade and a half, this season was the best since 2002 when the Cougars went 6-2 in conference in 2003 and 7-1 in 2002, finishing as the runner-up to USC both times.
Most Disappointing: ASU
It is only fitting that in a season saturated with hyperbole, embellished and inflated by bold preseason expectations (I'll assume responsibility for my vote) both nationally and locally, that the Sun Devils managed to grab the saddest superlative of the bunch.
To be fair, the disappointment in performance, coaching, play-calling, and all the variables that were within the team's control were also inhibited by injuries and some particularly awful officiating decisions. But those are obstacles that ASU has overcome in the past, and it won't earn them (or any other team) sympathy points here.
Pac-12 All-Conference Team (First Team Only)
Offense
QB Luke Falk, Washington State
RB Royce Freeman, Oregon
RB Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
WR Bralon Addison, Oregon
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, USC
WR Nelson Spruce, Colorado
TE Thomas Duarte, UCLA
OL Jake Brendel, UCLA
OL Tyler Johnstone, Oregon
OL Kyle Murphy, Stanford
OL Joshua Garnett, Stanford
OL Joe Dahl, Washington State
Defense
DL DeForest Buckner, Oregon
DL Kenny Clark, UCLA
DL Aziz Shittu, Stanford
DL Lowell Lotulelei, Utah
LB Su’a Cravens, USC
LB Antonio Longino, ASU
LB Salamo Fiso, ASU
DB Budda Baker, Washington
DB Lloyd Carrington, ASU
DB Randall Goforth, UCLA
DB Sidney Jones, Washington
Special Teams
PK Conrad Ukropina, Stanford
P Tom Hackett, Utah
RS Adoree’ Jackson, USC
AP/ST Charles Nelson, Oregon
Related Links:
Kelly named Pac-12 football Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Reach the sports editor at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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