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Nine Pac-12 Football teams Bowl Game bound

Dec 13, 2017

Complete Release (PDF)

PAC-12 FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK:

BOWLING: Nine Pac-12 teams will be participating in the postseason, second all-time in the Pac-12 (10 teams in 2015). 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 CFP, AP and Coaches polls – USC (8/8/7), WASHINGTON (11/12/12), STANFORD (13/15/16) and WASHINGTON STATE (18/21/21).

RUN WITH IT: The Pac-12 boasts 5 of the nation’s top 11 rushers, and 9 of the top 45:

No. 2 - Bryce Love (164.4 ypg) - 11 TDs of 50+ yards. 8.32 yards per carry
No. 6 - Khalil Tate, ARIZ (135.3 ypg) - 1,353 yards rushing is a single-season Pac-12 record for QB
No. 9 - Ronald Jones II, USC (123.8 ypg) - 1,486 rushing yards - back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons
No. 10 - Royce Freeman, ORE (122.9 ypg) - UO’s career leader, 2nd all-time in Pac-12 (5,621 yards)
No. 11 - Phillip Lindsay, COLO (122.8 ypg) - CU’s career all-purpose yards leader (5,926 yards)
No. 25 - Myles Gaskin, WASH (106.8 ypg) - 1,282 rushing yards - third straight 1,000-yard season
No. 29 - Patrick Laird, CAL (102.5 ypg) - 1,127 rushing yards  (16th Cal player all-time to reach 1,000 yards)
No. 40 - Demario Richard, ASU (88.8 ypg) - Needs 23 yards to reach 1,000 yards.
No. 45 - Zack Moss, UTAH (85.2 ypg) - Career-high 196 yards vs. Colorado to reach 1,000 yards this season (1,023 yards)

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)

TATER TOTS: ARIZONA sophomore QB Khalil Tate took the 2017 football season by storm when he took to the field on Oct. 7 at Colorado. Here’s a look at what he’s accomplished this season:

• Rushing Yards/Season - 1,353 yards (Pac-12 rushing record by a quarterback)
• Rushing Yards/Game - 135.3 ypg (No. 6 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 (10.17)

LOVE LETTERS: STANFORD junior RB Bryce Love is leaving his mark in the Stanford/Pac-12 record book. Here’s a look at Love’s achievements to date:

• Rushing yards/game - 164.4 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 13 of his last 14 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
• 17 rushing TDs this year (T7th in the FBS). 11 of his 17 TDs have been from 43+ yards
• Average distance on his 17 rushing TDs - 41.3 yards
• Fourth in the FBS in yards per attempt (8.32)
• His 1,973 rushing yards this season rank second all-time at Stanford and sixth all-time in the Pac-12. He needs 47 yards to set the Stanford single-season mark, passing Christian McCaffrey’s two-year old record of 2,019 yards.

PAC-12 RECORD SETTERS: The following individuals have etched their names in the record books 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.
• Oregon’s Royce Freeman set Oregon career marks with 5,499 rushing yards, second all-time in the Pac-12. His 60 rushing touchdowns are also a school record.
• 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) or Washington’s Myles Gaskin (1,282 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.
• California 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.

PAC-12 IN THE NFL: When NFL opening day rosters were revealed, 258 former Pac-12 players found themselves listed on active rosters. USC led all Pac-12 teams with 42, followed by UCLA with 30. California, Stanford and Utah had 28 former players make active rosters.

PAC-12 BOWL GAMES:

Sat., Dec. 16
Las Vegas Bowl • Las Vegas, Nev. (Sam Boyd Stadium) • 12:30 p.m. PT/ABC
Boise State (10-3) vs. OREGON (7-5)

OREGON: Mario Cristobal was named head coach on December 8 ... The Ducks are making their third Las Vegas Bowl appearance - defeated Air Force, 41-13 in 1997; lost to BYU, 38-8 in 2006 ... 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) and 207 of 210 PAT (.986) during his career.

Tues., Dec. 26
Cactus Bowl • Phoenix, Ariz. (Chase Field) • 7 p.m. MT/ESPN
Kansas State (7-5) vs. UCLA (6-6)

UCLA: Chip Kelly has been named UCLA head coach. Kelly was 46-7 in four seasons at Oregon (2009-12) ... The Bruins are making their first appearance in the Cactus Bowl, and third time playing in a bowl game in Arizona (tied Arkansas, 10-10, in the 1978 Fiesta Bowl; defeated Miami, 39-37, in the 1985 Fiesta Bowl ... The Bruins finished the home schedule 6-0 this season, the first time it has won its 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 vs. California in the season finale, combined with the 204 yards vs. USC the previous week, it is believed to be the second time a Pac-12 receiver has posted back-to-back 200+ yard receiving games (USC’s Nelson Agholor in 2014 with 220 yards vs. WSU and 216 vs. California). 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.

Tues., Dec. 26
Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl • Dallas, Texas (Cotton Bowl) • 12:30 p.m. CT/ESPN
West Virginia (7-5) vs. UTAH (6-6)

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. With his 10-1 bowl record, Whittingham owns the best bowl win percentage (91%) in NCAA history ... Sophomore RB Zack Moss rushed for a career-best 196 yards (7.5 per carry) in the season finale vs. Colorado and in doing so pushed his season total to 1,023 yards. He’s Utah’s 14th 1,000-yard rusher ... Junior PK Matt Gay, the Lou Groza Award winner, 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 ... Senior P Mitch Wishnowsky was one of three  finalists for the Ray Guy Award. He’s second in the nation in percentage of punts inside the 10 (21.74%) and sixth in net punting (42.20).

Wed., Dec. 27
Foster Farms Bowl • Santa Clara, Calif. (Levi’s Stadium) • 5:30 p.m. PT/FOX
Purdue (6-6) vs. ARIZONA (7-5)

ARIZONA: Has 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 have posted a single-season school record for rushing touchdowns with 48 (previous record was 36 in 2013) ... Freshman LB Colin Schooler (88 tackles/7.6 per game) and Tony Fields II (91/7.3 per game) have combined for 179 tackles this season, both are among the league’s top 11 in tackles per game... Sophomore QB Khalil Tate’s season rushing total is 1,353 yards, a Pac-12 record for a quarterback, and sixth all-time on Arizona’s single-season list. He needs seven yards to move into fifth.

Thurs., Dec. 28
Valero Alamo Bowl • San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome) • 8 p.m. CT/ESPN
TCU (10-3) vs. STANFORD (9-4)

STANFORD: Has won at least eight games for a school-record nine straight years. A win in the Alamo Bowl and the Cardinal reach 10 wins for the seventh time in eight seasons ... Junior RB Bryce Love is second in the FBS with 164.4 rushing yards per game and is tied for seventh in the nation with 17 rushing TDs. Has rushed for 100 or more yards in 13 of his last 14 games, and over 150 yards in seven of 11 games he’s played this season ... 17 of Love’s 24 career touchdown runs have been 43 yards or longer ... Junior SS Justin Reid and senior NT Harrison Phillips lead the Cardinal with 97 tackles (7.5 avg) each. Reid also paces the Pac-12 with five interceptions ... Sophomore PK Jet Toner leads the team with 110 points this season. He’s second in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage (.833) ... Junior P Jake Bailey leads the Pac-12 and is eighth in the FBS with a 45.1 average. He’s placed 23 of his 53 punts inside the 20-yard line. He’s had 18 punts of 50+ yards this season ... Head coach David Shaw has 73 career wins, the most in Stanford history.

Thurs., Dec. 28

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bow
San Diego, Calif. (SDCCU Stadium) • 6 p.m. PT/FS1
Michigan State (9-3) vs. WASHINGTON STATE (9-3)

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, and 9.0 sacks ... 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).

Fri., Dec. 29
Hyundai Sun Bowl • El Paso, Texas (Sun Bowl) • 12 noon MT/CBS
North Carolina State (8-4) vs. ARIZONA STATE (7-5)

ARIZONA STATE: Herm Edwards was named head coach on December 3 ... Senior RB Demario Richard has 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 ... Sophomore WR N’Keal Harry leads the Pac-12 with an even 1,000 receiving yards on 73 catches ... Junior LB Christian Sam paced the Sun Devils with a Pac-12 leading 127 tackles (10.6 per game) ... Arizona State is 46-of-48 in the red zone this season (95.8 percent, 5th in the FBS). The lone exceptions were game-ending kneel downs to seal the victory over Washington and Arizona.

Fri., Dec. 29
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
Arlington, Texas (AT&T Stadium) • 7:30 p.m. CT/ESPN
Ohio State (11-2) vs. USC (11-2)

USC: Sophomore QB Sam Darnold is 20-3 as a starter, including a 12-0 mark at home ... Darnold has thrown for at least 200 yards in 22 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 17 TDs/4 interceptions over the last eight games ... Junior TB Ronald Jones II has rushed for 1,486 yards (6.1 avg/carry) for the season. He 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 3,555 yards during his career, which ranks fifth on USC’s career rushing list. He needs 135 yards to move past Ricky Bell (3,689) for fourth. He also has 38 rushing TDs in his USC career ... Junior ILB Cameron Smith paces the Trojans with 102 tackles (7.8 per game) ... USC is averaging 489.5 yards of total offense (15th in the FBS), the team’s best offensive production since the 2005 team that played for the BCS title vs. Texas ... Head coach Clay Helton is USC’s first head coach to post 10-win seasons in his first two full seasons.

Sat., Dec. 30

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
Glendale, Ariz. (University of Phoenix Stadium) • 2 p.m. MT/ESPN
Penn State (10-2) vs. WASHINGTON (10-2)

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 has rushed for 1,000+yards in each of his three seasons and owns the UW career record for rushing touchdowns with 43 ... Senior WR Dante Pettis was 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).

PAC-12 NATIONAL AWARDS:

Doak Walker Award (nation’s top running back) - Bryce Love, Stanford
Lou Groza Award (nation’s top kicker) - Matt Gay, Utah
Polynesian Player of the Year - Hercules Mata’afa, Washington State
Burlsworth Trophy (started college as a walk-on) - Luke Falk, Washington State

ALL-AMERICA HONORS:

Walter Camp
Bryce Love, RB, STAN 1st
Cody O’Connell, OL, WSU 1st
Dante Pettis, KR, WASH 1st
Matt Gay, PK, UTAH 2nd
Mitch Wishnowsky, P, UTAH 2nd

Associated Press
Bryce Love, RB, STAN 1st
Hercules Mata’afa, DL, WSU 1st
Matt Gay, PK, UTAH 1st
Cody O’Connell, OL, WSU 2nd
Dante Pettis, AP, WASH 2nd
Justin Reid, DB, STAN 2nd
Ronald Jones II, RB, USC 3rd
Vita Vea, DL, WASH 3rd
Harrison Phillips, DL, STAN 3rd
Jack Jones, DB, USC 3rd
Mitch Wishnowsky, P, UTAH 3rd

Football Writers
Bryce Love, RB, STAN 1st
Matt Gay, PK, UTAH 1st
Dante Pettis, RS, WASH 1st
Hercules Mata’afa, DL, WSU 2nd
Harrison Phillips, DL, STAN 2nd
Justin Reid, DB, STAN 2nd
Mitch Wishnowsky, P, UTAH 2nd

The Sporting News
Bryce Love, RB, STAN 1st
Cody O’Connell, OL, WSU 1st
Hercules Mata’afa, DL, WSU 1st
Matt Gay, PK, UTAH 1st
Dante Pettis, RET, WASH 1st
David Bright, OL, STAN 2nd

American Football Coaches
Bryce Love, RB, STAN 1st
Dante Pettis, AP, WASH 1st
Hercules Mata’afa, DL, WSU 2nd
Matt Gay, PK, UTAH 2nd

CoSIDA Academic All-America
Justin Herbert, QB, ORE 1st
Jesse Burkett, OL, STAN 2nd
Harrison Phillips, DL, STAN 2nd

FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN:

OFFENSE
Walker Little, OL, Stanford (ESPN, USA Today)
Hunter Bryant, TE, Washington (ESPN)
James Sefanou, PK, Colorado (ESPN)

DEFENSE
Colin Schooler, LB, Arizona (ESPN, USA Today)
Tony Fields II, LB, Arizona (ESPN)
Kylan Wilborn, DE, Arizona (USA Today)
Chase Lucas, CB, Arizona State (USA Today)