Roundup: Tight finishes and another Hail Mary

How ‘bout that barnburner in Berkeley, huh? Cal eventually knocked off Colorado in a 59-56 double-overtime shootout, and quarterback Jared Goff was named CBSSports.com Offensive Player of the Week after throwing a modest seven touchdown passes in the win (Liufau also threw seven). UCLA’s Ishmael Adams was also named Specialist of the Week by CBS Sports for the work he put in Thursday night. Additionally, here’s a look inside the Cal locker room after the win, as the team tells the whole damn world that this is Bear territory.

If one thing is clear from the 0-2 start to Pac-12 play, it’s that Colorado is much more competitive and is playing with more confidence. As Kyle Ringo puts it, the Buffs are playing inspired football.

The Cougs were downright gritty on Saturday night. Down 21-0? No problem. Trailing by two scores in the fourth quarter? Don’t worry about it, because Washington State was able to “rise up” and defeat Utah 28-27 (game recap courtesy of The Spokesman-Review’s Jacob Thorpe).

The Utes have been so, so close in so many Pac-12 games over the last couple of years, and Saturday night was but another example. While Kaelin Clay made Utah history with his third punt return for a touchdown in a single season (tying Steve Smith), all he could care about was getting a W.

After an ugly-ish win dominated by the defense and helped by the offense in the most critical of moments, Paul Myerberg writes that Stanford is “two teams in one.” Stanford defeated Washington 20-13 on Saturday afternoon, but the offense turned it over in the red zone and had to settle for too many field goal attempts.

Washington quarterback Cyler Miles has the support of his teammates despite a 98-yard performance against Stanford. If it makes him feel any better, the Stanford defense has allowed just one 100-yard passer all season, and even Cody Kessler managed just 135 through the air against the Card.

Make it two weeks in a row now that there has been a completed Hail Mary in the Pac-12. While it was much less dramatic this time around, USC completed a Hail Mary at the end of the first half in a 35-10 win over Oregon State, and it did turn out to be a real momentum-changer. Cody Kessler to Darreus Rogers from 48 yards out.

On the other sideline, a “disrupted” offense was the issue for Oregon State, writes Gina Mizell. Sean Mannion threw for just 123 yards, the Beavers gained just 181 yards of total offense and the team was just 1-10 on third down.

While we’re not too far removed from Hail Mary talk, what are the best finishes in Arizona Wildcat history? No person better than Anthony Gimino to turn to here with his article for FOX Sports Arizona.

Here’s a new injury status for you – Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly is “pretty questionable” to play against USC. In other news, it's pretty doubtful that I'll get around to taking out the trash tonight.

Pat Forde has Oregon as the No. 2 seed in his College Football Playoff projection, facing Alabama in the Rose Bowl while Oklahoma plays Texas A&M in the other semifinal.

Bruins head coach Jim Mora assesses UCLA’s defensive performance against Arizona State, a game in which the team allowed more than 600 yards of total offense but won by 35 points.