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Pac-12 football stat pack: Week 4

by Ryan McGrady
Sep 18, 2013
Sun Devil Athletics

Showdown Saturday turned into a typical week for Pac-12 football as the league went 9-2 overall and 8-1 in non-conference play. The Conference of Champions went 3-1 against the Big Ten, 1-0 vs. the SEC and 1-0 vs. the ACC. There were some incredible team efforts and lots of history being made. Also, if you’re into ridiculously well-played dramatic games, then ASU, Oregon State, Utah and UCLA hooked you up. There will be more greatness to come this week as we head into the home stretch of non-conference play. Pac-12 football… respect it! (Like that slogan? Feel free to steal it.)

P.S. Positive thoughts go out to everyone in Boulder, UCLA and the family and friends of Nick Pasquale.

Arizona

  • The Wildcats must be watching the '8os classic “The Karate Kid” before games because they’ve taken a page out of the Kobra Kai playbook when they “strike first” in all of their games. With a 24-6 halftime advantage against UTSA last Saturday, the Wildcats have outscored the opposition 83-12 in the opening half of games this year.
     
  • Arizona and head coach Rich Rodriguez opened the season 3-0 for the second consecutive season as they’ve cruised through non-conference play. They have a bye this week as they prepare to kick off conference play at Washington next week.

Arizona State

  • Marion Grice became the first Sun Devil to rush for four touchdowns in a game since Mike Williams ran for four at Arizona on Nov. 29, 2002. Before this explosive performance, Grice’s personal record was three touchdowns in one game, which came in the season opener last season against NAU.
     
  • Taylor Kelly has always been a double threat, but did you know he’s actually a triple threat? Taylor has punting skills, too. His 29-yard punt in the first quarter against Wisconsin on Saturday forced the Badgers to start their drive at their own 8-yard line. Of Kelly’s nine career punts, eight of them have been downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Cal

  • The 34 points scored against Ohio State last week marked the third straight game in which Cal has scored 30 or more points. The last time the Bears scored 30 points in three straight games was the first three games of the 2011 campaign – Fresno State (36), Colorado (36) and Presbyterian (63).
     
  • Jared Goff ended Saturday's game completing 31 of 53 passes for 371 yards with three touchdown passes and an interception. It was his first three-touchdown performance. The last Cal quarterback to throw for 300 yards in three straight games is Aaron Rodgers in the final three games of the 2003 season (348 vs. Washington, 359 at Stanford and 394 vs. Virginia Tech in the Insight Bowl).

Colorado

  • In 2012, Colorado allowed 7.96 yards per opponent first down play -- hard to win games when your opponent spends much of the day looking at 2nd-and-2s, Fast-forward to this season, and there’s marked improvement at least to start the year: that number is down to 4.17 on first down plays.
     
  • The CU defense has already forced the opponent into 14 three-and-outs after just two games. The Buffs forced 29 all of last season.

Oregon

  • Marcus Mariota had a career day through the air against Tennessee last week, passing for 456 yards to tie Akili Smith (Aloha Bowl vs. Colorado in 1998) and Danny O'Neil (Rose Bowl vs. Penn State in 1995). His 483 yards of total offense (456 pass, 27 rush) ranks second to Bill Musgrave (489 at BYU in 1989) in a single game at Oregon. Side Note: Mariota only played 2.5 quarters. #Baller
     
  • True freshman tight end Johnny Mundt, making his first career start on Saturday, had the most receiving yards by an Oregon tight end (121) since Ed Dickson went for 148 vs. Cal in 2009. Mundt's five catches and two touchdowns were firsts as a collegian.

Oregon State

  • The dramatic walk-off touchdown in overtime by Brandin Cooks against Utah on Saturday marked the eighth time Oregon State has played in an overtime game. The Beavers now have a 3-5 record in overtime contests. It was the Beavers' first overtime win since the 2007 Civil War.
     
  • Cooks’ 200-yard game is the eighth in OSU history and the first since Sammie Stroughter had 223 receiving yards at Washington on Oct. 14, 2006. His three touchdown receptions are a career high. The guy throwing him the ball, Sean Mannion, finished with five touchdown passes, tying the school record.

Stanford

UCLA

USC

  • Sophomore quarterback Cody Kessler, after an incomplete pass on the game’s first play on Saturday, completed his next 14 passes. The school record for consecutive completions is 23 by Rob Johnson.
     
  • Wide receiver Marqise Lee’s 80-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was his third scoring catch of at least 80 yards in his career. With his two receptions, Lee moved into third place on USC’s career receptions chart with 208. (Robert Woods holds the career record at 252.) Lee's two receptions were his fewest since having the same at Washington last year.

Utah

  • Travis Wilson reached the 2,000 career yards passing mark with 279 yards passing (19-for-33, two touchdowns) on Saturday against Oregon State. He has 2,156 career passing yards. It was his fifth career 200-yard passing game. Wilson led Utah in rushing with 142 yards on 13 carries and three rushing touchdowns, including the game-tying score in the fourth quarter with 21 seconds remaining. He has five rushing touchdowns this year.
     
  • Andy Phillips made a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter and connected again in overtime for Utah's only points of the extra session. On the season, he is 5-for-5 on field goals and 19-for-19 on extra points.

Washington

  • Keith Price completed 28 of 35 passes for 342 yards and two scores -- his second consecutive 300-yard passing game after an entire 2012 season without one -- as the Huskies' new no-huddle offense rolled up 615 yards on 85 plays against Illinois on Saturday. It was the same number of plays the Huskies ran to gain 592 yards in their 38-6 win over Boise State two weeks ago.
     
  • Bishop Sankey ran for a career-high 208 yards with both a rushing and receiving touchdown. Sankey joined Napoleon Kaufman, Corey Dillon and Louis Rankin as the only Huskies in 120 seasons of football to rush for 200 yards in a game more than once.

Washington State

  • They’re playing a lot of defense in Pullman this season. WSU held Southern Utah to 219 yards in total offense, the second straight opponent the Cougs have held under 225 yards (with USC being the first at 193) in total offense. It’s the first time that has happened in consecutive games since holding Washington to 197 and Baylor to 151 in the Alamo Bowl in 1994.
     
  • Connor Halliday tossed five touchdown passes to up his career total to 30, moving him into eighth in WSU history for career touchdown passes. He passes Marshall Lobbestael (26), Bob Newman (27) and Mark Rypien (28). Jeff Tuel is seventh with 33 career scoring throws.

(Credit: Stats Inc., the sports information departments of the Pac-12)

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