Pac-12 Football Review: Oregon leads 2020 recruiting, BYU Games, KJ Costello

Oregon Ducks Holding onto Pac-12 Football Recruiting Dominance

247Sports Composite Pac-12 Football Team Rankings

With just one day away from National Signing Day, the Oregon Ducks remain at the top of Pac-12 football. Their 2020 class is highlighted by three five-star recruits:

  • Justin Flowe, ILB
  • Noah Sewell, ILB
  • Dontae Manning, CB

With a 247 Composite score of 256.52, Oregon’s recruiting also ranks 12th in the nation. The Ducks are riding high in their ability to gain quality commits. Oregon is a force and consistently competes. Their staff does an excellent job at scouting, recruiting and developing players.

Not too far behind, Washington’s nine four-star recruits raise them to near-Oregon status. Although they don’t have the five-star recruits the Ducks have, they certainly bolstered their team with an impressive amount of talent.

USC Needs to Make Moves

But, we already know that Washington and Oregon are currently the programs to beat in recruiting power. The big surprise is USC. After ranking 3rd in Pac-12 football and 20th in the nation, they fell hard in 2020. Currently, USC ranks 10th in the Pac-12 Conference and 52nd nationally. If they want to build a team around Sophomore Kedon Slovis, they need to gain 2020 commits.

Stanford Adds Four Games to their BYU Football Series

https://twitter.com/BYUfootball/status/1222572467178237952
  • November 28th, 2026
  • November 25th, 2028
  • August 30th, 2031
  • September 1st, 2035

In the 2020’s, Stanford faces off against BYU six times. Surprisingly, they only have five games against Utah in the same decade. Yes, Utah is in-conference. However, this BYU series is extremely important to Stanford and the Pac-12.

With regard to the Pac-12 football conference, BYU adds a lot of value. Because they are an independent school, programs like Stanford can fill in gaps in the late season with a solid competitor. In the past 15 years, BYU has 13 winning seasons and only one losing season. Additionally, they ranked in the AP-25 polls 8 times, twice in the top-10. It’s a solid football program.

Because Pac-12 football routinely earns little respect from other conferences, regular matchups (and wins) against BYU will help this. Our conference desperately needs appreciation.

Stanford Graduate K.J. Costello Transfers Joins Mike Leach at Mississippi State

Even though Mike Leach departed the Pac-12, he managed to bring grad-transfer, K.J. Costello, with him. In three seasons and 29 games, Costello compiled:

  • 6,151 Passing Yards
  • 49 Touchdowns
  • 18 Interceptions
  • 143.8 Quarterback Rating
  • 62.6-Percent Completion Percentage

It’s a known quantity that Mike Leach’s Air Raid Offense is extremely quarterback friendly. Nabbing a veteran quarterback like Costello is an excellent transfer for Mississippi State’s depth.

Arizona State’s Defensive Line Coach Jamar Cain Departs for Oklahoma

Losing Jamar Cain is a big one for Arizona State. Cain, in just one season with Arizona State, improved them drastically. Most notably, Cain’s recruiting lifted the program higher. He is responsible for recruiting Daniyel Ngata, Elijhah Badger, and Omarr Norman-Lott.

Because of his abilities, he was considered the fifth-best recruiter in the Pac-12. Thankfully for ASU, they at least got one year out of him. But, Arizona State is going to miss him. Great signing for Oklahoma. Big loss for the Sun Devils.

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