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Cardinal and Trojans clash for Pac-12 Football Championship

Nov 28, 2017

Complete Release (PDF)

PAC-12 FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK:

TAKE IT ON THE RUN: The Pac-12 boasts 5 of the nation’s top 13, and 9 of the top 44 rushers:
No. 2 - Bryce Love (168.2 ypg) - BryceLove20.com, #HeismanLove. 11 TDs of 50+ yards.
No. 6 - Khalil Tate, ARIZ (135.3 ypg) - 1,353 yards rushing is a single-season Pac-12 record for QB
No. 11 - Royce Freeman, ORE (122.9 ypg) - UO’s career leader, 2nd all-time in Pac-12 (5,499 yards)
No. 12 - Phillip Lindsay, COLO (122.8 ypg) - CU’s career all-purpose yards leader (5,695 yards)
No. 13 - Ronald Jones II, USC (122.4 ypg) - 1,346 rushing yards - back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons
No. 24 - Myles Gaskin, WASH (106.8 ypg) - 1,282 rushing yards - third straight 1,000-yard season
No. 28 - Patrick Laird, CAL (102.5 ypg) - 1,127 rushing yards  (16th Cal player all-time to reach 1,000 yards)
No. 39 - Demario Richard, ASU (88.8 ypg) - Needs 23 yards to reach 1,000 yards.
No. 44 - Zack Moss, UTAH (85.2 ypg) - Career-high 196 yards vs. Colorado to reach 1,000 yards this season

BOWLING: Nine Pac-12 teams are bowl eligible. That provides the Pac-12 with at least eight teams participating in the postseason in five of the last six years.

THE RANKINGS: Four Pac-12 teams are ranked in the AP and Coaches polls – USC (11/9), WASHINGTON (13/13), STANFORD (14/15) and WASHINGTON STATE (21/22), .

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU: WASHINGTON STATE senior QB Luke Falk is now the owner of several Pac-12 career passing records.

Total Plays: 2,306 (previous record: 1,824 by Carson Palmer, USC, 1998-2002)
Pass Completions: 1,404 (previous record: 1,187 by Sean Mannion, OSU, 2011-14)
Pass Attempts: 2,055 (previous record: 1,838 by Sean Mannion, OSU, 2011-14)
Touchdown Passes: 119 (previous record: 116 by Matt Barkley, USC, 2009-12)
Total Offense: 14,086 (previous record: 13,033 by Marcus Mariota, ORE)
Passing Yards: 14,485 (previous record: 13,600 by Sean Mannion, OSU, 2011-14)

THE TATE FILE: ARIZONA sophomore QB Khalil Tate has taken the 2017 football season by storm. Here’s a look at what he’s accomplished so far this season:

• Rushing Yards/Season - 1,353 yards (Pac-12 rushing record by a quarterback)
• Rushing Yards/Game - 135.3 ypg (No. 4 FBS)
• Single Game FBS QB rushing record: 327 yards vs. Colorado (Oct. 7)
• Rushing back-to-back games: 557 yards (327 at COLO, 230 vs. UCLA). Fourth-best in Pac-12 history
• October Rushing Totals: 884 yards (most by a FBS player in a single month in more than a decade)
• Five rushes of 70+ yards: 75 at COLO, 71 vs. UCLA, 76 at CAL, 82 vs. WSU, 71 vs. OSU
• 10 of his 12 rushing TDs this season have covered 32 or more yards: 58, 28, 47, 75, 45, 71, 76, 49, 32, 19, 71  and 1 yard (47.7 avg)
• Leads FBS in yards per rush attempt (10.2)

THE LOVE DOSSIER: STANFORD junior RB Bryce Love (BryceLove20.com, #HeismanLove) continues to make his mark in the Stanford/Pac-12 record book. Here’s a look at Love’s achievements to date:

• Rushing Yards/Game - 168.0 ypg (No. 2 FBS)
• Stanford single-game rushing record: 301 yards vs. Arizona State (Sept. 30)
• Rushing back-to-back games: 564 yards (301 vs. ASU, 263 vs. UCLA). Third-best in Pac-12 history
• Has rushed for 100+ yards in 12 of his last 13 games played.
• Six rushes of 60+ yards this season: 62 vs. Rice, 75 at USC, 69 vs. UCLA, 61 vs. ASU, 68 at UTAH, 67 vs. ORE
• 16 rushing TDs this year (T7th in the FBS). 11 of his 16 TDs have been from 43+ yards
• Averaged distance on his 16 rushing TDs - 43.3 yards
• Second in the FBS in yards per attempt (8.6)
• His 1,848 rushing yards this season rank third all-time at Stanford and 13th all-time in the Pac-12.

PAC-12 RECORD SETTERS: The following individuals have etched their names in the Pac-12 record book with outstanding season and career performances to date:

• Washington’s Dante Pettis set an FBS career record with his ninth punt return for a touchdown. Pettis became the Pac-12’s all-time leader in punt return yardage with 1,274 yards.
• Washington’s Myles Gaskin tied a Pac-12 record held by 11 others when he posted his third season with 1,000 rushing yards (1,302, 1,373 and 1,282). He owns the Husky career record with 43 rushing TDs.
• Washington State’s Luke Falk has established numerous Pac-12 career passing marks, most notably  with 14,486 passing yards and 119 touchdown passes.
• Arizona’s Khalil Tate set a Pac-12 season rushing record for a quarterback with 1,353 yards.
• Utah’s Matt Gay established a school record for field goals (27) and field goal attempts (31). He also set a school single-season record with five 50+ yard field goals.
• Five Pac-12 players have rushed for 1,300 or more yards this season. Should Arizona’s Khalil Tate (1,353 yards) and USC’s Ronald Jones II (1,346 yards) clear 1,400 rushing for the season, it’ll mark just the second time in Pac-12 history that five players have rushed for 1,400 yards in a season (matches the 2012 season).
• Colorado’s Phillip Lindsay is CU’s career all-purpose yards leader. His 5,926 all-purpose yards rank seventh all-time in the Pac-12.

PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:

OFFENSE
Myles Gaskin, RB, WASH
Gaskin led the Huskies to a 41-14 victory in the 110th Apple Cup, rushing for 192 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries. Became the first player in UW history to score four or more TDs in multiple games during his career, as he ran in from 2, 2, 26 and 3 yards out. His 19 touchdowns this season are third-most in UW history.

DEFENSE
Kenny Young, LB, UCLA
Young registered a career-best 15 tackles, including 12 solo stops, in the UCLA’s 30-27 win over Cal. Added a fumble recovery and a 0.5 tackles for loss in the contest. Seven of his tackles came after gains of four yards or less, including a key stop late in the game which helped limit Cal to a field goal after the Bears started with a first-and-goal.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Jake Bailey, P, STAN
Bailey helped lead Stanford to a 38-20 upset win over No. 9 Notre Dame. Punted seven times and averaged an impressive 50.4 yards, including a career-high five punts of 50+ yards and a career-long 65-yard punt. His 65-yard punt came late in the fourth quarter and flipped field position to squander Notre Dame’s comeback chances. Bailey also pinned three punts inside the 20, and had five touchbacks on his seven kickoffs. Due to Bailey, the Irish had just 15.0 yards per kickoff return and had an average drive start at their own 26-yard line.

ALL-PAC-12 HONORS WILL BE ANNOUNCED TUES., DECEMBER 5

PAC-12 NORTH CHAMPION - STANFORD:

STANFORD: Stanford has won at least eight games for a school-record nine straight years ... Junior RB Bryce Love continued his assault on opposing defenses as he rushed for 125 yards on 20 carries (6.2 avg) in the 38-20 win over Notre Dame. ... Love is second in the FBS with 168.2 rushing yards per game and is 10th in the nation with 16 rushing TDs. Has rushed for 100 or more yards in 12 of his last 13 games, and over 150 yards in seven of 11 games he’s played this season ... 17 of Love’s 23 career touchdown runs have been 43 yards or longer ... Junior SS Justin Reid leads the Cardinal with 88 tackles (7.3 avg), followed by senior NT Harrison Phillips with 83 (6.9 avg). Reid also paces the Pac-12 with five interceptions ... Sophomore PK Jet Toner leads the team with 106 points this season and ranks tied for eighth in the nation with 20 made field goals. He’s second in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage (.833) ... Junior P Jake Bailey leads the Pac-12 and is 10th in the FBS with a 45.1 average. He’s placed 21 of his 48 punts inside the 20-yard line. He’s had 16 punts of 50+ yards this season, including six of his seven boots against Notre Dame ... A win in the Pac-12 FCG and the Cardinal reach 10 wins for the seventh time in eight seasons. It’s only losses this season were on the road to USC, San Diego State and Washington State. Those teams have combined for a 29-7 record and are currently ranked, or have been ranked, in the Top 25 this season ... Head coach David Shaw has 73 career wins, the most in Stanford history.

PAC-12 SOUTH CHAMPION - USC:

USC: Sophomore QB Sam Darnold is 19-3 as a starter, including a 12-0 mark at home ... Darnold has thrown for at least 200 yards in 21 games, with at least 3 TD passes in a game 10 times. After opening the season with 9 TDs/8 interceptions through the first five games, Darnold has tossed 15 TDs/4 interceptions over the last seven games ... Junior TB Ronald Jones II has rushed for 1,346 yards (6.3 avg/carry) for the season. He has tallied 795 rushing yards the last five games and is the first Trojan in a dozen years to post back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons (1,082 rushing yards in 2016). Jones already has rushed for 3,415 yards during his career, which ranks sixth on USC’s career rushing list. He needs nine yards to move past O.J. Simpson (3,423) for fifth. He also has 36 rushing TDs in his USC career ... Junior WR Deontay Burnett has 73 receptions for 966 yards/9 TDs. He needs three catches to move into USC’s Top 10 list for receptions in a season ... Junior ILB Cameron Smith paces the Trojans with 95 tackles (7.9 per game) ... USC is averaging 488.6 yards of total offense (13th in the FBS), the team’s best offensive production since the 2005 team that played for the BCS title vs. Texas. The Trojans have posted 600 yards total offense three times this season, compared to six 600-yard games put up by the other 11 Pac-12 teams combined ... Head coach Clay Helton is USC’s first head coach to post 10-win seasons in his first two full seasons. He has led UCS to an active 16-game home winning streak, it’s longest since 2001-04.

NORTH DIVISION NOTES:

CALIFORNIA: Junior RB Patrick Laird rushed for 727 yards rushing over the last five games, giving him a season total of 1,127 yards rushing (5.9 yards per carry). He is the 16th player in Cal history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. Laird rushed for 150+ yards four times this season, including each of the last three games ... Laird added 45 receptions for 322 yards, giving him 1,449 all-purpose yards (131.7 ypg) ... Junior WR Vic Wharton III had a team-leading 67 catches for 871 yards. He had 28 catches for 293 yards in 2016 ... Senior PK Matt Anderson surpassed Doug Brien to become Cal’s career leading scorer now with 316 points. In the process, Anderson became Cal’s all-time leader with 60 field goals ...Sophomore QB Ross Bowers finished the year with 3,037 passing yards, marking the fifth consecutive year Cal has had a 3,000-yard passer.

OREGON: Senior RB Royce Freeman has nine 100-yard rushing games this season, 31 for his career, a UO record. His Oregon career rushing record stands at 5,621 yards, seventh-most in NCAA history and second all-time in the Pac-12 (Pac-12 record: USC’s Charles White with 6,245 yards, 1976-79) ... Freeman has a UO-career record with 64 TDs. He has 60 rushing TDs and is now owner of the Pac-12 career mark passing Oregon State’s Ken Simonton (59 TDs, 1998-2001) ... Senior PK Aidan Schneider has hit a school record 51 field goals on 60 attempts (.850) in his career. He’s has hit on 207 of 210 PAT (.986) during his career.

OREGON STATE: Junior RB Ryan Nall has rushed for 2,216 rushing yards (eighth in OSU history). He’s reached 1,057 all-purpose yards this season with 810 yards rushing and 247 yards receiving. Nall led the Beavers in scoring this season with 60 points (5.5 ppg) ...  Senior LB Manase Hungalu finished his final season with a team-high 97 tackles, fourth-most among all Pac-12 players during the regular season. He had a career-best 20 tackles vs. California (Nov. 4), tied for fourth-most in a single game by a Beaver ... Senior WR Jordan Villamin had 1,845 career receiving yards, finishing 10th on OSU’s career list.

WASHINGTON: Junior QB Jake Browning owns the school career record with 77 TD passes, passing the previous school career mark of 75 held by Keith Price (2010-13) ... Junior RB Myles Gaskin rushed for 192 yards and 4 TDs in the 41-14 Apple Cup win over Washington State. Gaskin, who has rushed for 1,000+yards in each of his three seasons, owns the UW career record for rushing touchdowns with 43 ... Senior WR Dante Pettis has been named one of four finalists for the Paul Hornung Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s most versatile player. Pettis has tied a Pac-12 single-season record with four punt returns for TDs this season and broke the NCAA record for career punt returns for TDs with nine. He also owns the Pac-12 mark with 1,274 career punt return yards ... Pettis, who is the team’s leading receiver with 62 receptions for 721 yards, has 162 career receptions (6th all-time at UW) for 2,216 yards (5th all-time at UW).

WASHINGTON STATE: The Cougars finished the regular season with 9 wins for the first time since 2003 ... The Cougars are 19-4 when forcing multiple turnovers under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch ... Junior DT Hercules Mata’afa leads the Pac-12 with  21.5 TFL this season, tied for second-most in WSU single-season history ... Senior QB Luke Falk has 27 career wins as a starter, plus a WSU record 29 career 300-yard passing games, and 23 career 3-TD games ... He currently owns several Pac-12 passing records, including career passing yards (14,485) and career touchdown passes (119).

SOUTH DIVISION NOTES:

ARIZONA: UA rushed for 245 yards at Arizona State and has now rushed for at least 150 yards in 18 straight games dating back to last season. It’s the longest streak in coach Rich Rodriguez’s tenure at Arizona ... The Wildcats rushed for four TDs at Arizona State to extend their single-season school record for rushing touchdowns to 48 (previous record was 36 in 2013) ... Freshman LB Colin Schooler led Arizona with 13 tackles at Arizona State, while fellow freshman LB Tony Fields II added 10 tackles. It was his fourth double-digit tackle game of the season for Schooler and third in the last four games ... Schooler (88/7.6 per game) and Fields II (91/7.3 per game) have combined for 179 tackles this season, both among the league’s top 11 ... Sophomore QB Khalil Tate pushed his season rushing total to 1,353 yards, which is now sixth all-time on Arizona’s single-season list. He needs 7 yards to move into fifth.

ARIZONA STATE: Senior RB Demario Richard rushed for a 165 yards and 2 TDs vs. Arizona. He’s posted 598 yards rushing over the last four games ... Richard is fifth in Sun Devil history with 3,152 career rushing yards and needs 22 yards to move into fourth ... ASU has rushed for 1,188 yards its last four games (381 vs. Colorado, 294 at UCLA, 263 at Oregon State, 227 vs. Arizona). That’s better than 50 percent of ASU’s total 2,159 rushing yards this season ... Junior LB Christian Sam paced the Sun Devils with 13 tackles vs. Arizona and now has a Pac-12 leading 127 tackles (10.6 per game) ... After going a perfect 4-4 in the red zone at Oregon State, ASU is now 46-48 this season (95.8 percent, tied for 1st in the FBS). The lone exceptions were  game-ending kneel downs to seal the victory over Washington and Arizona.

COLORADO: Senior TB Phillip Lindsay’s 3,770 career rushing yards rank him second all-time at CU, trailing Eric Bieniemy (3,940, 1987-90), and 16th all-time on the Pac-12 career list ... Sophomore QB Steven Montez finished the year with 3,313 yards of total offense (2,975 passing, 338 rushing), the third 3,000-yard season in CU history (and just behind the record of 3,396 in 2014) ... Freshman PK James Stefanou is second among FBS freshmen with 1.55 field goals per game. Stefanou hit 17 of his 22 field goal attempts (.773), was a perfect 35-of-35 on his PATs, and scored 86 points to lead the Buffs with 7.8 ppg.

UCLA: Chip Kelly has been named UCLA head coach. Kelly was 46-7 in four seasons at Oregon (2009-12) ... The Bruins finished the home schedule 6-0 this season, the first time they have won their first six contests at The Rose Bowl since 2013 ... Junior QB Josh Rosen has 17 300-yard passing games and 11 350-yard total offense games, both are the most in UCLA history ... Rosen has moved into third place in UCLA history in passing yards (9,300) and total offense (9,147), and second for completions (711) ... Junior WR Jordan Lasley posted a career-best 227 receiving yards on 12 receptions vs. California. Combined with the 204 yards last week vs. USC,  Lasley has 22 receptions for 431 receiving yards and 5 TDs the last two games ... Senior LB Kenny Young is second in the Pac-12, averaging 9.2 tackles per game.

UTAH: Utah has a streak of 51 straight sellouts at Rice-Eccles Stadium ... The Utes are bowl eligible for the fourth straight year and 12th time under Kyle Whittingham ... Sophomore RB Zack Moss rushed for a career-best 196 yards (7.5 per carry) and in doing so pushed his season total to 1,023 yards. He’s Utah’s 14th 1,000-yard rusher ... Huntley ranks second in the Pac-12 and 15th in the country in total offense per game (302.9 yards/game) ... Junior PK Matt Gay is 27-of-31 on field goals for the season, including 5-of-6 from 50+ yards. His 27 field goals and 31 attempts are both Utah records. His 2.25 field goals made per game leads the FBS ... Gay and senior P Mitch Wishnowsky are finalist for the Lou Groza Award and Ray Guy Award respectively. Wishnowsky is the reigning Ray Guy Award recipient.

COACHES TELECONFERENCE: This week's Pac-12 Football coaches teleconference can be found here.