Daily briefing: On the offense-minded Pac-12, Drake Maye and Bryan Harsin returning to Jordan-Hare

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

4 Pac-12 teams averaging more than 500 ypg

Four of the five most prolific offenses in the FBS play in the Pac-12. This is the first season that four teams from one conference are averaging more than 500 yards per game since the Big 12 in 2015, the first year of offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma and the last year of coach Art Briles at Baylor. Oh, yeah, and Texas Tech had a quarterback named Patrick Mahomes. That was a case of Air Raid gone crazy. The Pac-12 this season has Riley as coach at USC, of course, but that’s all the two seasons have in common. Chip Kelly at UCLA, offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham at Oregon and coach Gavin DeBoer and OC Ryan Grubb at Washington do their own deals. Not to mention that the Huskies’ Michael Penix Jr., the Ducks’ Bo Nix and the Bruins’ Dorian Thompson-Robinson are four-year starters. And Caleb Williams of USC, a second-year starter, is having the best year of all.

Result wasn’t what UNC wanted, but, man, Drake Maye is talented

Drake Maye didn’t perform as well in North Carolina’s two season-ending losses as he did in the 9-1 start that put him among the Heisman leaders. In the 30-27 double-overtime loss to North Carolina State on Friday, Maye threw for only 233 yards and one touchdown, along with one interception. But two throws he made on the Tar Heels’ game-tying drive in the final minute of regulation illustrated not only Maye’s prodigious talent, but how some rules don’t apply to everyone. On fourth-and-5 from NC State’s 13 with 36 seconds left, Maye scrambled to his right and threw across his body to the middle of the field, a move taught by no quarterback coach ever. Maye completed it to tight end Bryson Nesbit for 9 yards. Four plays later, with two seconds left, Maye scrambled left and threw against his body again. Antoine Green caught it for the touchdown that sent the game into overtime. Two directions, two difficult passes, two critical completions. Maye is on a pace to finish his freshman season with more than 5,000 yards of total offense. Will he be any better if he ever follows the rules?

Bryan Harsin’s son a QB in state title game

Bryan Harsin is expected to return to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Wednesday, a sentence that normally might cause chaos in the streets of Auburn. But fear not, Tigers fans. Harsin’s son, Davis, a junior, is the starting quarterback for the Auburn High Tigers, who will play Alabaster Thompson for the 7A state title Wednesday night in Jordan-Hare. In one sense, the apple won’t fall far from the tree. Davis will be leading his team against a Goliath of a cross-state opponent. Thompson is looking to become the first team to win four consecutive 7A championships since Hoover High did so from 2002-05. (Thompson beat Auburn for the title in 2020 by scoring 10 points in the final 18 seconds.) It will be interesting to see if and where Bryan Harsin is coaching next season. If he takes another job, some high school coach may have a very good quarterback fall in his lap.