Pac-12 teams have been stellar on the road. Why? No one is sure.
Home field, schome field.
Pac-12 teams do better on the road, actually. At least that’s what early season evidence indicates. Utah beat Oregon on the road last weekend, while UCLA and USC also beat up on the Arizona schools in Arizona. Pac-12 teams are 6-0 on the road this season in conference games. So if that trend holds, it means Washington State should beat Cal in Berkeley this weekend, right?
We’ll see. In the mean time, Cougars coach Mike Leach is as curious about the Pac-12’s streak of road wins as anyone else out there.
“That’s a strange deal. I don’t know why,” Leach said Tuesday on the Pac-12 coaches’ conference call. He proffered a theory that Pac-12 stadiums are not as loud as other stadiums – but that doesn’t hold water in my book because Autzen Stadium, for one, has long been known for its crowd noise.
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Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez suggested that home field advantage has shrunk over the years because the quality of players across the board is higher than ever before.
“The talent has spread so much that gotten to the point where being a home team might give you a little advantage, but if you’re not sharp at home, you’re going to get beat,” Rodriguez said.
The true reasons behind this season’s most intriguing Pac-12 trend are a mystery to most, but Leach also believes his team plays better on the road in general.
“We seem to be a more focused team (on the road),” Leach said. “Whether it’s the isolation or whatever, we focus on ourselves in better fashion.”
The data is inconclusive, however. Of the 14 games the Cougars have won in the Leach era, exactly half have come on the road, with the other half coming in Pullman.
Now, some links:
— Check out where WSU stands in our Seattle Times Pac-12 Power Rankings
— RB Jamal Morrow has been overshadowed by Gerard Wicks and Keith Harrington this year, but Leach says he still has a role in the offense.
— Connor LeTourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle compares the Cougars and the Golden Bears statistically
— Here’s Cal’s depth chart vs. WSU
— According to this Rivals.com piece, Cal QB Jared Goff is still viewed as the No. 1 NFL-ready quarterback prospect nationally
— RB Daniel Lasco, who’s missed two games with a hip muscle strain, will likely be back in action for Cal this week against WSU