2021 Pac-12 Conference football season


The 2021 Pac-12 Conference football season was the 43rd season of Pac-12 football taking place during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on August 28, 2021, and ended with the 2021 Pac-12 Championship Game on December 3, 2021, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
The Pac-12 is a Power Five conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 Conference, Big Ten Conference, and the Southeastern Conference. The 2021 season is the eleventh for the twelve Pac-12 teams to be divided into two divisions of six teams each, named North and South.

Preseason

2021 Pac-12 Spring Football and number of signees on signing day:
North Division
  • California – 21
  • Oregon – 23
  • Oregon State – 15
  • Stanford – 17
  • Washington – 16
  • Washington State – 23
South Division
  • Arizona – 26
  • Arizona State – 17
  • Colorado – 19
  • UCLA – 17
  • USC – 26
  • Utah – 22

Pac-12 Media Days

The Pac-12 conducted its 2021 Pac-12 media days at the Loews Hollywood Hotel, in Hollywood, California, on July 27, 2021.
The teams and representatives in respective order were as follows:
† ''Washington State Head Coach Nick Rolovich did not attend the conference, and instead participated remotely.''

Preseason Media polls

The preseason polls were released on July 27, 2021. Since 1992, the credentialed media has gotten the preseason champion correct just five times. Only nine times has the preseason pick even made it to the Pac-12 title game. Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses. For the 2021 poll, Oregon was voted as the favorite to win both the North Division, as well as the Pac–12 Championship and USC was voted as the favorite to win the South Division.
1Oregon238
2Washington138
3California140
4Stanford137
5Oregon State71
6Washington State65

Media poll --
1Oregon27
2USC10
3Utah3

Preseason awards

Individual awards

‡''Arizona State's Michael Turk announced his intention to transfer after the media voting window ended.''

Preseason All Pac-12

First Team
†California's Michael Saffell announced his medical retirement after the media voting window ended.
‡Arizona State's Michael Turk announced his intention to transfer after the media voting window ended.
Second Team
All Pac–12 Honorable Mention :

Head coaches

Coaching changes

There was one coaching change before the 2021 season. On December 12, 2020, Kevin Sumlin was fired from Arizona after three seasons. Jedd Fisch was hired to serve as the new head coach on December 23, 2020.
On September 13, 2021, Clay Helton was fired as head coach of USC. Donte Williams was named interim head coach.
On October 18, 2021, Nick Rolovich was fired as head coach of Washington State. Jake Dickert was named interim coach.
On November 14, 2021, Jimmy Lake was fired as head coach of Washington. Bob Gregory was named interim coach.
Washington State removed the interim head coaching tag on November 27, 2021, making Jake Dickert the 34th coach in team history. On November 29, 2021 Lincoln Riley was hired as the 30th head coach in USC history. The Washington Huskies hired Kalen DeBoer on November 30, 2021, making DeBoer the 30th coach in team history. Mario Cristobal accept the coaching vacancy at Miami (FL) on December 6, finishing the season with a 10−3 record. He finished his career with a 35−13 record. He was replaced for the Alamo Bowl on interim basis by passing game coordinator and wide receivers Bryan McClendon.

Coaches

Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2020 season
TeamHead coachYears at schoolOverall recordRecord at schoolPac–12 record
ArizonaJedd Fisch11–10–01–0
Arizona StateHerm Edwards417–1317–1311–11
CaliforniaJustin Wilcox521–2121–2111–20
ColoradoKarl Dorrell239–294–23–1
OregonBryan McClendon10–00–00–0
Oregon StateJonathan Smith49–229–227–18
StanfordDavid Shaw1190–3690–3662–24
UCLAChip Kelly456–2810–2110–15
USCDonte Williams10–00–00–0
UtahKyle Whittingham17134–66134–6645–41
WashingtonBob Gregory10–00–00–0
Washington StateJake Dickert10–00–00–0

Note:
  • Clay Helton was fired from USC on September 13 after a 1−1 start. He finished his tenure with a 46–24 record.
  • Nick Rolovich was fired from Washington State on October 18 after a 4−3 start. He finished his tenure with a 5–6 record.
  • Jimmy Lake was fired from Washington on November 14 after a 4–5 start. He finished his tenure with a 7–6 record.
  • Mario Cristobal was hired at Miami (FL) on December 6, finishing the season with a 10−3 record. He finished his tenure with a 35–13 record.

Schedules

All times are in Pacific Time. Pac-12 teams in bold.
† denotes Homecoming game
Rankings reflect those of the AP poll for that week.

Regular season

The regular season is scheduled to begin on August 28, 2021, and end on December 3, 2021.

Week 7


Week 14

  • ''The USC vs Cal football game was rescheduled from November 13 because of Covid-19 issues within the Cal football program.''

Pac-12 Championship Game

The Pac-12 Championship Game, the conference's eleventh championship game, will be played on December 3, 2021, at the home stadium of the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. It will feature the teams with the best conference records from each division, the North and the South. Utah, the South Division winner, will play Oregon, the winner of the North Division.

Postseason

Bowl games

For the 2020–2025 bowl cycle, The Pac-12 will have annually seven appearances in the following bowls: Rose Bowl, LA Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl, and Sun Bowl. The Pac-12 teams will go to a New Year's Six bowl if a team finishes higher than the champions of Power Five conferences in the final College Football Playoff rankings. The Pac-12 champion are also eligible for the College Football Playoff if they are among the top four teams in the final CFP ranking.
Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Pacific Time Zone. Pac-12 teams shown in bold.

Selection of teams

  • Bowl eligible : Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington State
  • '''Bowl-ineligible : Arizona, California, Colorado, Stanford, USC, Washington'''

Head to head matchups

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.
''Updated with the results of all games through December 3, 2021.''

Pac-12 vs Power Five matchups

The following games include Pac-12 teams competing against Power Five conferences teams from the. All rankings are from the AP Poll at the time of the game.
DateConferenceVisitorHomeSiteScore
September 4SECNo. 16 LSUUCLARose Bowl • Pasadena, CAW 38–27
September 4Big TenOregon StatePurdueRoss Add Stadium • West Lafayette, INL 21–30
September 4Big 12StanfordKansas StateAT&T Stadium • Arlington, TXL 7–24
September 4IndependentArizonaBYUAllegiant Stadium • Las Vegas, NVL 16–24
September 11Big 12CaliforniaTCU
Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX		L 32–34
September 11Big TenNo. 12 OregonNo. 3 Ohio StateOhio Stadium • Columbus, OHW 35–28
September 11SECNo. 6 Texas A&MColoradoFolsom Field • Boulder, COL 7–10
September 11IndependentNo. 21 UtahBYULaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UTL 17–26
September 11Big TenWashingtonMichiganMichigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MIL 10–31
September 18IndependentNo. 19 Arizona StateNo. 23 BYULaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UTL 17–27
September 18Big TenMinnesotaColoradoFolsom Field • Boulder, COL 0–30
September 18SECStanfordVanderbiltVanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TNW 41–23
October 23IndependentBYUWashington StateMartin Stadium • Pullman, WAL 19–21
October 23IndependentUSCNo. 13 Notre DameNotre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, INL 16–31
November 27IndependentNo. 13 BYUUSCLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CAL 31–35
November 27IndependentNo. 5 Notre DameStanfordStanford Stadium • Stanford, CAL 14–45

Pac-12 vs Group of Five matchups

The following games include Pac-12 teams competing against teams from the American, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt.
DateConferenceVisitorHomeSiteScore
August 28Mountain WestHawaiiUCLARose Bowl • Pasadena, CAW 44–10
September 4Mountain WestFresno StateNo. 11 OregonAutzen Stadium • Eugene, ORW 31–24
September 4Mountain WestNevadaCaliforniaCalifornia Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CAL 17–22
September 4Mountain WestSan Jose StateNo. 15 USCLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CAW 30–7
September 4Mountain WestUtah StateWashington StateMartin Stadium • Pullman, WAL 23–26
September 11Mountain WestHawaiiOregon StateReser Stadium • Corvallis, ORW 45–27
September 11Mountain WestSan Diego StateArizonaArizona Stadium • Tucson, AZL 14–38
September 11Mountain WestUNLVNo. 23 Arizona StateSun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZW 37–10
September 18Sun BeltArkansas StateWashingtonHusky Stadium • Seattle, WAW 52–3
September 18Mountain WestFresno StateNo. 13 UCLARose Bowl • Pasadena, CAL 37–40
September 18Mountain WestUtahSan Diego StateDignity Health Sports Park • Carson, CAL 31–33 3OT

Pac-12 vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include Pac-12 teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn or UMass.

Pac-12 vs FCS matchups

The Football Championship Subdivision comprises 13 conferences and two independent programs.
DateVisitorHomeSiteScore
September 2Weber StateNo. 24 UtahRice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UTW 40–17
September 2Southern UtahNo. 25 Arizona StateSun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZW 41–14
September 3Northern ColoradoColoradoFolsom Field • Boulder, COW 35–7
September 4MontanaNo. 20 WashingtonHusky Stadium • Seattle, WAL 7–13
September 11Portland StateWashington StateMartin Stadium • Pullman, WAW 44–24
September 18Northern ArizonaArizonaArizona Stadium • Tucson, AZL 19–21
September 18Sacramento StateCaliforniaCalifornia Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CAW 42–30
September 18Stony BrookNo. 4 OregonAutzen Stadium • Eugene, ORW 48–7
September 18IdahoOregon StateReser Stadium • Corvallis, ORW 42–0

Pac-12 records vs other conferences

2021–22 records against non-conference foes:
Regular season
'''Post-season'''

Awards and honors

Pac-12 individual awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Pac-12 Conference football coaches at the end of the season.
AwardPlayerSchool
Offensive Player of the YearDrake LondonUSC
Defensive Player of the YearDevin LloydUtah
Offensive Freshman of the YearJayden de LauraWashington State
Defensive Freshman of the YearJunior TafunaUtah
Scholar Athlete of the YearBritain CoveyUtah
Coach of the YearKyle WhittinghamUtah

All-conference teams

The following players earned [List of List of All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-12] honors. Any teams showing following their name are indicating the number of All-Pac-12 Conference Honors awarded to that university for 1st team and 2nd team, respectively.
First Team
Second Team
Notes:
  • RS = Return specialist
  • AP/ST = All-purpose/special teams player
  • † Two-time first team selection;
  • ‡ Three-time first team selection
Honorable mentions

All-Americans

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable-mention and fourth-team-or-lower recognitions are not accorded any points. College Football All-American consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.












*

National award winners

''2021 college football award winners''

Home game attendance

TeamStadiumCapacityGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5Game 6Game 7TotalAverage% of Capacity
ArizonaArizona Stadium50,78239,09733,48143,258†30,88030,67732,008—209,40134,90068.72%
Arizona StateSun Devil Stadium56,63444,45642,91844,80346,19246,13653,926†52,305330,73947,24883.42%
CaliforniaCalifornia Memorial Stadium62,46735,11731,98240,28636,26438,57242,076†—228,29738,05060.91%
ColoradoFolsom Field50,18344,15347,48248,19749,806†47,98441,284—278,90646,84893.35%
OregonAutzen Stadium54,00043,27642,78250,02450,00851,44952,32756,408†346,27449,46891.60%
Oregon StateReser Stadium43,15427,70126,79733,73330,20335,129†29,579—183,14230,52470.73%
StanfordStanford Stadium50,42447,23631,61028,01426,41049,265†31,571—214,10635,68470.76%
UCLARose Bowl80,61632,98268,123†50,69840,52255,67536,57336,156320,72945,81856.83%
USCLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum77,50054,39856,94551,56454,08852,43568,152†55,926393,60756,22772.55%
UtahRice–Eccles Stadium51,44451,51151,48351,72451,92252,724†51,538—310,90251,817100.72%
WashingtonHusky Stadium70,08361,03658,77260,10462,26663,19357,85868,077†431,30661,61587.91%
Washington StateMartin Stadium32,95224,94422,65124,71424,15726,171†22,54117,344162,52223,21770.45%

Bold – Exceed capacity
†Season High

NFL draft

The following list includes all Pac-12 players who were selected in the 2022 NFL draft.
PlayerPositionSchoolRoundOverallTeam
Kayvon ThibodeauxDEOregon15New York Giants
Drake LondonWRUSC18Atlanta Falcons
Trent McDuffieCBWashington121Kansas City Chiefs
Devin LloydLBUtah127Jacksonville Jaguars
Kyler GordonCBWashington239Chicago Bears
Drake JacksonDEUSC261San Francisco 49ers
Abraham LucasOTWashington State272Seattle Seahawks
Greg DulcichTEUCLA280Denver Broncos
Rachaad WhiteRBArizona State391Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sean RhyanOTUCLA392Green Bay Packers
Cade OttonTEWashington4106Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jack JonesDBArizona State4121New England Patriots
D. J. DavidsonDTArizona State5147New York Giants
Thomas BookerDTStanford5150Houston Texans
Otito OgbonniaDTUCLA5160Los Angeles Chargers
Kyle PhilipsWRUCLA5163Tennessee Titans
Teagan QuitorianoTEOregon State5170Houston Texans
Luke WattenbergCWashington5171Denver Broncos
Keaontay IngramRBUSC6201Arizona Cardinals
Quentin LakeSUCLA6211Los Angeles Rams
Cameron GoodeLBCalifornia7224Miami Dolphins
Chase LucasCBArizona State7237Detroit Lions
Jaylen WatsonCBWashington State7243Kansas City Chiefs
Brittain BrownRBUCLA7250Las Vegas Raiders
Elijah HicksSCalifornia7254Chicago Bears