On the Pac-12 bowl picture, the Heisman, the Eagles’ curious two-point call and more …

A few football thoughts, along with a closing note about golf …

Rose Bowl Stadium (rosebowlstadium.com)

• The lineup of Pac-12 bowl affiliates has been slimmed considerably with the shut-down of the Sun, Holiday, Redbox and Las Vegas Bowls for this year due to COVID-19 complications.

That leaves the Rose Bowl — a CFP semifinal game this year, meaning that the Pac-12 will almost certainly not be a participant — the Alamo Bowl, the L.A. Bowl and the Independence Bowl. The Pac-12 requires a team to be .500 or better to be bowl eligible, so if a team is able to get in its scheduled seven games, it must go 4-3.

The conference has yet to announce a plan for the final weekend of regular-season play (Dec. 18-19).

“We have made the determination to preserve as much flexibility for those games as possible given the potential for COVID-19 disruptions that could lead to the need to reschedule important matchups,” writes Josh Ishoo, the Pac-12’s football media relations director, in an email. “We plan to review games for this week closer to the end of the season and will make an announcement at that time on our approach.”

The initial plan was to match the corresponding teams in the North and South divisions in terms of standings — No. 1 against 1, No. 2 against 2 and so on. But with so many cancellations and postponements — Arizona State has played only one game, Utah, Washington State and Colorado two — the conference wants to make it possible for the Apple Cup, for instance, to be played the final weekend.

Pac-12 schools, of course, are free to make their own deals to participate in non-affiliated bowl games. There are still 35 remaining on the national calendar, including the national championship game Jan. 11 in Miami. If the pandemic continues at its current level or worse a month from now, I wonder how many teams will be healthy enough, or interested in, playing in a bowl game.

Might the Pac-12, then, might relax its restriction on .500 or better to allow a 3-4 team to participate? We’ll see what happens.

Jermar Jefferson (osubeavers.com)

• I’m a voter for the Heisman Trophy and have compiled a short list of about eight candidates. Oregon State junior running back Jermar Jefferson — second nationally in rushing yardage per game at 168.8, with a gaudy 7.4-yard average — is unlikely to get much national recognition, due in part to the Beavers’ record and also to the Pac-12 scheduling so few games.

But this week, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde includes Jefferson with three other players — Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson, Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith and Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins — as worthy of a special nod. Writes Forde: “If you don’t give them the Heisman, at least give them some love.”

Coach Doug Pederson (philadelphiaeagles.com)

• I have a friend who is known by his cronies as “Earthquake Anderson.” He claims he is a former gambler, though I have no proof the “former” part is true.

For years he has railed about the “fix” being involved in sporting events that come down to a final play or two and go the unlikely way. Somebody paid off the referees to cheat, or a player or coach was on the take. I’ve always laughed it off as just the way the chips have fallen.

But what I saw Monday night in Seattle’s 23-17 victory over Philadelphia gave me pause.

I was dumbfounded — well, at least quite surprised — when Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson chose to go for a two-point conversion late in the game because, frankly, it made no sense.

The scenario: The Eagles had just scored on a Hail Mary pass with 12 seconds to go to close the gap to 23-15. It seemed elementary the Eagles would kick the extra point to make it 23-16, then attempt an onside kick. The traditional school of thought is — at least, I think it is — to put off going for two until it’s absolutely necessary. With the PAT, another TD and another PAT, they could have forced overtime. A missed two-point conversion meant the Eagles would need an additional TD and two-point conversion before the clock struck zero in order just to get into an extra session.

But Pederson went for two, and the Eagles ran it in to cut the margin 23-17.

The ensuing onside kick was unsuccessful and the Seahawks ran out the clock, so no big deal — except to gamblers who had bet with Seattle taking 6 1/2 points.

According to reports, one bettor at BetMG had wagered $500,000 to win $454,545 on the Seahawks minus 6 1/2 points. That’s a swing of nearly $1 million.

I saw no explanation anywhere from Pederson after Monday’s game on why he went for two. But he has seemingly gambled in similar situations before.

Two weeks earlier, down 21-17 late in what would be a 27-17 loss to the New York Giants, Pederson went for two points. Carson Wentz got sacked on the play. The coach’s explanation then: “We had just converted one before and felt good about the play call. You go for it and make it when the field goal can win the game for you later in the fourth quarter. At least it gives you an opportunity to know what you need to do to win the game.” And: “We have a two-point chart based on points and win probability. Down four, to go down two in that situation, your win probability goes way up.”

The Eagles’ two-point chart must say to go for two trailing by eight points late in a game. I sought out old friend June Jones — the long-time coach, most recently head coach of the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks — for an opinion. After checking with his “two-point chart guy,” Jones told me, “the chart says within the last four to five minutes of a game, down by eight points, go for two.”

Jones acknowledged that, on the surface, it doesn’t make sense.

“But the odds must go that way,” he says. “I use those charts. Everybody does. It eliminates the thinking right at that point. But with 12 seconds left in the game? I’d have just kicked it.”

With due respect, I have a hard time believing it’s ever best to go for two when trailing by eight in the closing minutes, unless you’re concerned about the point spread.

• Jones, incidentally, believes the XFL — which closed down its 2020 season in April after five weeks of games due to the pandemic — will resurface in 2022.

“The plan is to rehire everyone around the first of June (in 2021), have OTAs and then training camp in December and then tee it up in 2022,” Jones says.

Jones — an NFL head coach for four seasons and a man who has also coached in the CFL, the USFL and 16 seasons as head coach at the FBS level — expects to be back with the Roughnecks if the XFL resumes. They were 5-0 when the league went dark in April.

“We’re the only undefeated team in pro football history along with the (1972 Miami) Dolphins,” the former Grant High and Portland State quarterback laughs. “I’m going to get rings for all the guys. It was a lot of fun.”

Coach Brent Brennan (sjsuspartans.com)

• Under-the-radar success is happening at San Jose State under fourth-year head coach Brent Brennan, the former receivers coach at Oregon State. The Spartans are 4-0 heading into Saturday’s matchup with Hawaii.

In 2017, Brennan took over a San Jose State program that had experienced one winning seasons the previous 11 years. The Spartans went 3-22 in Brennan’s first two years at the helm, but were 5-7 last season, including a 31-24 win over Arkansas — the school’s first-ever over an SEC program.

Brennan’s staff is filled with familiar names. Associate head coach/defensive coordinator Derrick Odum and offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven both coached with Brennan at OSU.

Others who worked with Brennan in Corvallis: quarterbacks coach Ryan Gunderson, receivers coach Kevin Cummings, defensive line coach Joe Seumalo and offensive line coach Josh Oglesby. Gunderson and Cummings are also former Beaver players.

Jeff Sanders (Sportfive)

• I hate to see the demise of the Winco Foods Portland Open, the Korn Ferry men’s pro golf tour event that had been staged at Pumpkin Ridge the past seven years.

The Korn Ferry Tour is the secondary tour to the PGA Tour, meaning it features the next-best 144 players in the world. While that doesn’t move the needle for a lot of sports fans, those who know golf understand the level the Korn Ferry’s up-and-comers were playing at. Many of them are tomorrow’s stars on the PGA Tour.

Winco Foods’ sponsorship contract was up after this year’s event in August. Jeff Sanders, executive vice-president for golf at Sportfive, which operated the Portland Open, tried to negotiate an extension, but the pandemic was working against him. There will be no Portland Open in 2021.

“In this environment, it’s very challenging to find a title sponsors,” says the former U of O All-American, who played five years on the PGA Tour. “You try to get a sponsor to commit to three to five years, but nobody knows when (the pandemic) is going to end.”

Over its seven-year run, the Portland Open contributed nearly $7.5 million to Portland-area charities. It also graduated 175 players to the PGA Tour and showcased the likes of such stars as Justin Thomas, Sungjae Im, Xander Schauffele and Carlos Ortiz. Until this year, it served as the final regular-season event on the Korn Ferry Tour. At the end of each tournament, Sanders would extend PGA Tour cards for the following year to the top 25 money-winners on the Korn Ferry circuit.

Plus, Sanders made it fun for the fans, using a “golf festival” model to feature food, beer, wine and musical entertainment. And it was affordable at $25 for a weekly pass.

“It really was a great tournament,” Pumpkin Ridge general manager Jeff Muller says. “It was fun for the club, for our membership and for Portland golf fans. Jeff and his (management) team did an excellent job hosting the event. It definitely will be missed. You hope at some point it will come back.”

Sanders hopes so, too. His Sportfive management group continues to operate the Albertsons Boise Open on the Korn Ferry Tour as well two tourneys on the PGA Tour — the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif., and the American Express in La Quinta, Calif.

“It’s super disappointing to have an event that’s been successful and enjoyed by that many people,” says Sanders, a Sunset High grad. “It’s a sign of the times. I’ve been in the golf event business since 1985, and this is by far the most challenging time to secure new title sponsors.

“But hopefully it’s short term. Our model is tested and highly successful. I’d love to see a Portland-based company step through the door, pick the ball up and run with it.”

Readers: what are your thoughts? Share your comments below.

Reach out to Kerry Eggers here.

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