We are now 11 weeks through the college football season and have just a few more weeks to go before everything gets wrapped up. With how interesting this college football season has been so far I can only expect the final 3 weeks can be just as interesting.
Washington State stands as the only team who has not lost a conference game in the Pac-12 with Washington losing their first game of the season. While the North will come down to the Apple Cup, Colorado controls their own destiny when it comes to the South. With Utah and USC lurking around the top with two conference losses each the next few games for Colorado are huge.
Take a look at the standings followed by how each team did this weekend.
North |
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Team | Conference Record | Overall Record |
Washington State | 7-0 | 8-2 |
Washington | 6-1 | 9-1 |
Stanford | 5-3 | 7-3 |
California | 2-5 | 4-6 |
Oregon | 1-6 | 3-7 |
Oregon State | 1-6 | 2-8 |
South |
||
Team | Conference Record | Overall Record |
Colorado | 6-1 | 8-2 |
USC | 6-2 | 7-3 |
Utah | 5-2 | 8-2 |
Arizona State | 2-5 | 5-5 |
UCLA | 2-5 | 4-6 |
Arizona | 0-7 | 2-8 |
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#15 Utah @ Arizona State - 49-26
Arizona State came out hot early as they held a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter with the help from Utah fumbling away their first two possessions. The Utah offense finally woke up in the second quarter as Troy Williams threw three touchdowns to take the lead 21-20. Utah running back Joe Williams found space and the endzone on an 82 yard touchdown to push their lead to 8 in the middle of the third quarter. The Sun Devils answered back near the end of the quarter but could not complete the two-point conversion and trailed by 2. Williams found the endzone on a 24 yard pass at the start of the fourth quarter and Chase Hansen returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown for the Utes to put the game away. The Utah defense held tough the second half as all but the Sun Devils touchdown and the interception drives ended with them punting the ball away.
Troy Williams threw for 4 touchdowns and 296 yards on 21 of 37 passing while Joe Williams had 181 yards and 2 touchdowns on 15 carries for the Utes offense. Raelon Singleton hauled in 3 of Williams touchdowns as he finished with 116 yards on just 4 receptions. Arizona State quarterback Manny WIlkins had 309 yards on just 19 of 31 completions while throwing an touchdown and two interceptions.
#20 USC @ #4 Washington - 26-13
With USC coming in ranked 20th, this game hosted ESPN's College GameDay and was a game that was a lot closer from the start than originally anticipated. Washington scored first with a field goal with just under 4 minutes in the first quarter and USC responded with a field goal of their own just two minutes later. Washington again could not find the endzone in the second quarter as they only managed another field goal. USC on the other hand had no problems scoring as Sam Darnold marched down the field twice to take the lead 17-6 at half time. Quarterback Jake Browning found John Ross for 70 yards down the sideline after Ross broke Adoree' Jackson's ankles off the line for Washington's only touchdown of the game. USC pushed their lead tp 11 after another touchdown by Darnold to start the final quarter. The Trojan defense held tough as the Huskies final four drives ended with two punts, an interception, and a safety.
Jake Browning finished his night going 17 of 36 for 259 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. Myles Gaskin could not get anything going on the ground either as he finished with 51 yards on 15 carries. The USC ground game was led by Ronald Jones II who managed to get 93 yards on 23 carries and found the endzone one time. Darnold had 287 yards on 23 of 33 passing while throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions.
#12 Colorado @ Arizona - 49-24
Colorado used big second and third quarters to hand Arizona their seventh straight loss. Quarterback Sefo Liufau and running back Phillip Lindsay helped the Buffaloes take a 28-10 lead at half time as they each accounted for two touchdowns in the half. Neither slowed down in the second half as Liufau scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter. Arizona tried to make it a close game as they found the endzone twice within the first 3 minutes of the final quarter but were unable to produce more than that as Lindsay capped it off and scored one final time for Colorado.
Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins finished going 9 of 19 for 107 yards through the air and another 76 yards on 18 caries. Anu Solomon went 3 of 7 for 48 yards as the Wildcats still try to figure out their quarterback situation. The ground game however did not struggle for the Wildcats as Samajie Grant had 113 yards on 16 carries for two touchdowns to lead the teams 257 yards on the ground. Sefo Liufau went 19 of 27 for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns while throwing an interception. He also had 56 yards and a touchdown on the ground while Lindsay led the team and finished with 119 yards and 3 touchdowns.
California @ #23 Washington State - 21-56
Washington State is the hottest team in the Pac-12 and has outscored opponents by 206 points in their past 8 games. They didn't slow down against California as they took the lead from the beginning as Kaleb Fossum returned the games first punt for 75 yards and a touchdown. Washington State held a 14-0 lead at the end of the first and pushed that lead to 28-7 at the half with the help of River Cracraft who had two of his three touchdowns in the second quarter. Cracraft started out the second half scoring in what would be his last touchdown reception in a Cougar uniform. California scored a touchdown at the end of the third quarter and another at the start of the fourth quarter but was unable to close the gap the Cougars had created early in the game.
Washington State quarterback Luke Falk went 36 of 50 got 373 yards and 5 touchdowns while also throwing an interception on the Cougars first offensive drive. Gerard Wicks led the Cougars ground game with 128 yards and a touchdown on 9 carries. James Williams added another 80 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. The Cougars had 12 different receivers catch a pass while River Cracraft - 3 touchdowns - and Gabe Marks - 2 touchdowns - each finished with 87 yards. California quarterback Davis Webb had an impressive night throwing for 425 yards and three touchdowns on 34 of 53 passing while throwing an interception.
Stanford @ Oregon - 52-27
After a slow start to the season, Christian McCaffrey has been unable to produce big numbers like he has in the past. Until this weekend, McCaffrey exploded for 3 touchdowns and 135 rushing yards as the Cardinal cruised to an easy win over the Ducks. Stanford started this game taking a 21 point lead before the Ducks could find the endzone. Leading 31-13, McCaffrey broke free for a 14 yard score to end the half. They picked up right where they left off in the third quarter as the Cardinal had a rushing and a passing touchdown in the third quarter to take a 52-13 lead. Oregon showed signs of not giving up as they scored twice more in the final quarter but well after the game was out of reach.
Chryst finished with 258 yards on 19 of 26 passing while throwing three touchdowns to go along with McCaffrey's stellar game. Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert threw for 274 yards on 21 of 30 passing and threw for two touchdowns and two interceptions. Royce Freeman helped on the ground game with 111 yards on 20 carries and also found the endzone once.
Oregon State @ UCLA - 24-38
UCLA used a 21-point first quarter to help them win a game that included two teams that have struggled to find wins this season. While Oregon State started off the scoring just over a minute into the game, UCLA answered back just two minutes later and kept the Beavers out of the endzone until midway through the second quarter. The Beavers took a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown to bring the game within 3 points. Jalen Starks found the endzone on a 4 yard run before the Beavers kicked a field goal at the end of the third quarter as UCLA led by 7. With just over 2 minutes remaining in the game, Beavers quarterback Marcus McMaryion threw an interception that Randal Goforth returned 40 yards to seal the game for the Bruins.
Bruins quarterback Mike Fafaul had 281 yards and 1 interception on 25 of 47 passing. The ground game was led by Bolu Olorunfunmi who had 65 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries. McMaryion had 232 passing yards and an interception as well as he went 22 of 33. Artavis Pierce led the ground game for Oregon State with 73 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.