Week 12 Pac-12 weekend in review

We are continuously given gifts of great Pac-12 games week in and week out and this week was no different. A new Oregon took on a revived Trojans program while Arizona State and Arizona kicked off the start of rivalry week a bit early and a match-up of high powered offenses in Utah and UCLA left us very satisfied after another week of Pac-12 football.

Last week we saw plenty of upsets as Oregon upset #7 Stanford, Arizona upset #10 Utah in double-overtime, and Washington State pulled out a late upset over #19 UCLA.

Take a look below for the updated conference standings:

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California (6-5, 3-5) @ #11 Stanford (9-2, 8-1) -  22-35

Christian McCaffrey continues to lead the Cardinal to victory and did so again this week with 192 yards on the ground, 49 receiving yards, and another 148 yards on special teams; all of which led the team. Kevin Hogan has had the easiest job in the world this season when he just has to hand the ball off to McCaffrey but did find the endzone once this weekend and finished 7 of 12 for 96 yards. California quarterback Jared Goff has also continues to rack up passing yards when he got another 386 yards on 37 of 54 passing and threw for 2 touchdowns. Stanford nearly allowed California to get back into the game as they only led by 5 at the end of the third quarter but was able to find the endzone twice at the start of the final quarter to put the game away for the Cardinal.

Final thought: California has won 1 of their last 6 games after starting 5-0. Stanford came back after dropping a big game last weekend against Oregon and looks to continue their hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff.

UCLA (8-3, 5-3) @ #13 Utah (8-3, 5-3)  -  17-9

After dropping their game to Washington State UCLA answered back in a big fashion as they upset Utah and did so in a low scoring game. UCLA came out and struck first as they led 10-0 at the end of the first. Utah answered back and kicked two field goals before going into the half. Utah kicked another field goal to bring their deficit to a point but it took just over 3-minutes for UCLA and Paul Perkins to find the endzone one more time. Utah quarterback Travis Wilson fumbled the ball away on the final drive with just over a minute remaining and UCLA was able to take over and finish out the game. Wilson finished the game 13 of 26 with 110 yards and another 67 on 18 rushing attempts. Joe Williams led the Utes rushing game in the absence of Devontae Booker and finished the game with 121 yards on 26 carries. Perkins led the Bruins run game with 98 yards on 28 carries and found the endzone just once. Josh Rosen finished his day completing 15 of his 30 attempts for 220 yards and a touchdown.

Final thoughts: Utah has now dropped their last two but will get a strong finish with Colorado up next while UCLA will look to regain momentum and take on USC with the winner advancing to the Pac-12 Championship game.

#24 USC (7-4, 5-3) @ #24 Oregon (8-3, 6-2) -  28-48

Both USC and Oregon have faced adversity this year but both have fought it off and found success. Oregon finally has Vernon Adams Jr. back and healthy and he can not be stopped. Adams finished his day 20 of 25 for 407 yards, 6 touchdowns, and threw one interception. Royce Freeman led the Ducks rushing attack with 147 yards on 20 carries. Trojan running back Justin Davis finished with close numbers as he had 141 yards on 16 carries. Cody Kessler however could not come close to Adams' numbers as he had 238 yards on 30 of 41 passing. The Ducks started out this game quickly as they led 14-7 after the first and 31-14 at halftime. Adams and the Ducks came out and started the third quarter with a touchdown and was able to take the foot off the pedal and coast. The Trojans were able to bring the game to within 10 but could not do anything more.

Final thoughts: Oregon with a healthy VA is DANGEROUS. Trojans could not do a thing to slow him down.

Arizona (6-6, 3-6) @ Arizona State (6-5, 4-4) -  37-52

Arizona was coming off an upset of then ranked #10 Utah and went down to play an Arizona State team that was coming off a win against Washington but the loss of Anu Soloman was too much for Arizona. Brandon Dawkins finished the game after Jerrard Randall started in place of Soloman (concussion) and was able to rally but could not complete the comeback. Randall went 4/13 for 35 yards before being benched in the second quarter. Dawkins finished the game 16/30 for 305 yards and threw two touchdowns and interceptions. Both quarterbacks combined to rush for 100 of the teams 109 total rushing yards. Arizona State however had no problems rushing the ball as they had Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard each had over 100 yards rushing. Mike Bercovici had 315 yards through the air on 21 of 32 passing and threw for 2 touchdowns and an interception. The Sun Devils had two different 21-point leads and twice the Wildcats were able to bring that lead to less than 10. Arizona trailed by 8 with just over 3 minutes remaining but threw consecutive interceptions returned for touchdowns which put the game away for the Sun Devils.

Final thoughts: Arizona and Arizona State have both looked really impressive and really beatable. ASU had 2 lucky breaks at the end of this game to put it away.

Washington (5-6, 3-5) @ Oregon State (2-9, 0-8)  -  52-7

Washington held a 28-point lead after the first quarter and held Oregon State scoreless until just over 5 minutes remained in the third quarter and by then the Huskies were already done scoring. Husky quarterback, Jake Browning, threw two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters and only needed to throw the ball twice the second half. He finished the game with 211 yards on 18 of 20 passing. Myles Gaskin continues to put up big numbers as he had 127 yards on 23 carries but did not find the endzone. Deontae Cooper and Chico McClatcher each scored a touchdown on the ground for the Huskies. Marcus McMaryion finished the game 8 of 16 for 109 yards and a touchdown and an interception for the Beavers. Nick Mitchell also failed to complete a pass on his 7 attempts. Paul Lucas led the team with 82 yards on 4 carries.

Final thoughts: Washington will need to win against a red hot Washington State team to become bowl eligible. It has been known Oregon State was going to struggle this season, so this is nothing new.

Colorado (4-8, 1-7) @ Washington State (8-3, 6-2) -  3-27

Washington State started off slow against Colorado and even had to play through losing their starting quarterback, Luke Falk. The Cougars found the endzone in each of the first two quarters but could not seem to move the ball very well. Falk was slammed to the ground on a sack in the 3rd quarter and laid motionless on the ground for several minutes before being carted off the field. Payton Bender came in and finished the game for him. Falk finished the game going 17 of 35 and 199 yards and a touchdown while Bender had 133 yards on 13 of 22 passing and a touchdown and an interception. Gerard Wicks led the team in rushing with 123 yards on 13 carries. Cade Apsay, who is stepping in for an injured Sefo Liufau, finished the game with 238 yards on 26 of 40 passing and threw two interceptions.

Final thoughts: Washington State has a legitimate chance at a 10-win season but will need a healthy Falk against the Huskies next week.