Week 8 Pac-12 weekend in review

Last week we saw Stanford and Christian McCaffrey tear apart UCLA on Thursday night then Washington State handled Oregon State with ease, Washington came up short for the 12th straight time against Oregon, and Arizona fought back after trailing by a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

There continues to be great games in the Pac-12 as we saw two upsets of ranked teams and records continue to fall.

Here is how the conference stands after this week:

#20 California (5-2) @ UCLA (5-2) -  24-40

The California defense struggled to stop UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen threw for 399 yards while going 34/47 and also threw 3 touchdowns. He also set a school record with those 34 pass completions. The Bruins rushing attack was not far behind their pass game as they ran for 174 yards and scored a touchdown on 42 carries. California quarterback Jared Goff threw for 295 yards and 3 touchdowns while going 32/53. None of the Bears running backs could find their groove as they had 7 different guys run the ball for 131 yards on 35 carries. This game was close after the first quarter but the Bruins were able to figure it out and outscored California 30-13 in the second and third quarters including a 60 yard field goal by Ka'Imi Fairbairn for UCLA to end the half.

Final thoughts: California has now dropped 2 consecutive games after starting 5-0, not the team we expected? UCLA stumbled against two good teams and are working their way back.

#3 Utah (5-1) @ USC (4-3) -  24-42

Utah started out strong as they held a 14-7 lead but USC was able to outscore them 21-3 in the second quarter to give the Trojans an 11 point lead heading into halftime. USC scored a touchdown in each of the final quarters and Utah was not able to catch up but did score a touchdown after the game was all but over. Trojan quarterback Cody Kessler went 21/28 for 264 yards and threw a touchdown. The Trojan rushing game was led by Ronald Jones II who had 73 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and Justin Davis who had 66 yards on 19 carries and also scored a touchdown. Travis Wilson went 24/36 for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns but threw 4 interceptions. Devontae Booker led the Ute's rushing game with 62 yards on 14 carries.

Final thought: It's the Pac-12, expect the unexpected. Utah will be back and the Trojans still have a mess to clean up.

Washington (3-4) @ #10 Stanford (6-1) -  14-31

Washington was held scoreless through the first half and Stanford was able to shake off a slow start to never let the Huskies into the game. Washington went with K.J. Carta Samuels after Jake Browning was out with an injury. The Huskies youth and lack of experience in their depth really showed as Jeff Lindquist has struggled lately as well. Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan went 17/24 for 290 yards and 2 touchdowns while also throwing an interception. K.J. Carta-Samuels at quarterback where he went 9/21 for 118 yards, he also scored a touchdown on the ground. Myles Gaskin Led the Huskies running backs with 108 yards on 18 carries and scored a touchdown. Christian McCaffrey led Stanford with 109 yards on 23 carries and scored a touchdown while also having 5 catches for 112 yards and another touchdown.

Washington State (5-2) @ Arizona (5-3)  -  45-42

Washington State went into this game as underdogs but certainly did not start out that way. Luke Falk threw for 2 touchdowns to Gabe Marks in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead into the second. The Cougars have had struggled with their special teams and that showed again on Saturday as Nate Phillips returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown to tie the game up for Arizona. It took Falk less than 6 minutes to get their 14-point lead back as he hit Gabe Marks for his third touchdown of the game. The Cougars went into halftime with a 31-21 lead and struggled in the second half as Arizona scored two touchdowns in the 4th quarter to bring the game within a field goal. Falk finished the day 47-62 for 514 yards and 5 touchdowns. Jamal Morrow had 5 carries for 59 yards while Gerard Wicks had 11 carries for 34 yards and scored a touchdown. Anu Solomon started the game for the Wildcats but was replaced by Jerrard Randall in the third quarter. Solomon finished 12/20 for 145 yards while Randall finished 11/16 for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns. Randall also had 105 rushing yards on 10 carries to lead the rushing attack.

Final thought: It might be time to start looking at Washington State as a team to beat.

Colorado (4-4) @ Oregon State (2-5)  -  17-13

This game included 2 teams in the bottom of the Pac-12 and it showed when it was tied at 10 at the half. Colorado scored at the start of the fourth quarter and Oregon State answered back with a field goal but neither team was able to score again. Oregon State rotated quarterbacks between Nick Mitchell and Seth Collins. Mitchell went 9/24 for 122 yards while throwing an interception and Collins went 4/7 for 77 yards. The Beavers running game was able to find success as Ryan Nall ran the ball for 122 yards on 20 carries and scored the Beavers only touchdown of the game. Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufai went 16/23 for 140 yards and threw a touchdown while rushing for 44 yards and scored a touchdown on the ground. The rest of the Colorado running backs ran for 144 yards. Donovan Lee led the group with 55 yards on 8 carries.

Final thought: Colorado and Oregon State both still have a while to go. Colorado's streak of 14 consecutive Pac-12 losses was snapped as well.