This week in Pac-12 football

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• STANFORD RB Christian McCaffrey runs his streak to eight straight games of gaining 200 or more all-purpose yards

• Coaches will be wearing patches to bring awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Coach to Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Parent Project MD. The Program has raised $1.2 million over the last 8 years

POLL NOTES: WASHINGTON is the eighth different Pac-12 team to appear in the AP Top 10 over the last three seasons ... UTAH makes its first appearance in the polls this season coming in at No. 24 in the AP, No. 23 in the Coaches. The Utes concluded the 2015 season at No. 17 in the AP poll.

IN-ZANE: With his second field goal in the win at UTSA, ARIZONA STATE senior PK Zane Gonzalez moved past former UCLA Bruin Ka’imi Fairbairn as the Pac-12’s career scoring leader. Fairbairn’s hold on the record was short-lived as he established the Pac-12 career record last season, finishing his career with 413 points. Gonzalez entered the season with 386 points and now has 424 points ... Gonzalez’s 81 career field goals tie him with former Sun Devil Luis Zendajas for the school record and is fifth on the FBS all-time list led by Florida State’s Dustin Hopkins with 88. He needs five field goals to move ahead of UCLA’s Kai Forbath’s Pac-12 record of 85 set from 2007-10 ... 

    NCAA CAREER FIELD GOALS

    1. Dustin Hopkins, Florida St. 2009-12, 88

    2. Billy Bennett, Georgia 2000-03, 87

    3. Kai Forbath, UCLA 2007-10, 85

    4. Leigh Tiffin, Alabama 2006-09, 83

    5. Zane Gonzales, Arizona State, 2013-16, 81 

That’s the second straight week that an ASU player set a Conference record as junior RB Kalen Ballage posted several single-game Pac-12 records in ASU’s win over Texas Tech - touchdowns accounted for (8 - 7 rush/1 receiving), rushing touchdowns (7), and most points scored (48).

MAKING A POINT: Ten FBS teams are averaging 47 or more points per game through the first two weeks of the season, three hail from the Pac-12 - No. 3 WASHINGTON (49.3 ppg), No. 8 ARIZONA STATE (48.0 ppg) and No. 10 CALIFORNIA (47.0 ppg).

POINTLESS: Fifteen times Pac-12 teams have allowed less than 20 points in a game this season. Five teams are currently allowing an average of less than 20.0 points per game to their opponents. Only one Pac-12 team’s defense allowed an average fewer than 20.0 points per game during the entire 2015 season (WASHINGTON allowed just 18.8 points per game) ... Pac-12 defenses held opponents to fewer than 20 points 41 times last season, led by Utah which held six opponents to fewer than 20 points (it’s done so three times this season).

THE HEADLINERS: Among those 169 returning starters are a number of headliners, including a total of 14 first-team and nine second-team All-Pac-12 performers ... Look for Pac-12 teams to once again posses explosive offenses as nine league teams averaged 400 yards or more in total offense last season, while 10 teams averaged 30 or more points per game. High-profile playmakers will be key in continuing the Pac-12’s success on offense. Returning all-conference performers include WASHINGTON STATE quarterback Luke Falk (380.5 passing yards/game, 38 TDs), STANFORD running back Christian McCaffrey (FBS record 3,864 all-purpose yard/276.0 per game), OREGON running back Royce Freeman (141.2 rushing yards/game, 17 TDs), WASHINGTON STATE wide receiver Gabe Marks (104 receptions, 91.7 yards/game, 15 TDs) and USC wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (89 receptions, 103.9 yards/game, 10 TDs) ... Defenses will look to fly to the ball with strong pass rushers and run stoppers in returning All-Conference performers Lowell Lotulelei of UTAH and Deon Hollins of UCLA, as well as USC’s Cameron Smith, the Defensive Freshman of the Year. The Pac-12 will be loaded in defending the deep threat with a total of 39 starters returning to roam the secondary. Among those returnees are all four first-team All-Conference defensive backs - WASHINGTON’s Budda Baker and Sidney Jones, USC’s Adoree’ Jackson and UTAH’s Marcus Williams. In addition, three of the four second team members return - COLORADO’s Chidobe Awuzie, and UCLA’s Randall Goforth and Jaleel Wadood.

THE SCHEDULE: The non-conference schedules include 18 opponents that participated in a bowl game last season. In all, 11 Pac-12 teams will face a team that appeared in a bowl game last season with USC facing three such opponents ... The Pac-12 posted a 35-12 record in non-conference play in 2015 and is 72-21 in non-league action over the previous two seasons ... Each Conference team will play a nine-game league schedule that includes five games within its own division and four games in the other division. Teams with the best record in their respective divisions will meet in the Pac-12 title game on Friday, Dec. 2 (FOX) at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. 

PAC-12 SUCCESS IN RIO... OREGON WR/KR Devon Allen represented Team USA at the Rio Olympics in the 110m hurdles where he finished fifth ... USC CB/WR/KR Adoree’ Jackson (long jump) and ARIZONA STATE WR/KR Tim White (triple jump) attempted to make the USA squad, but came up short ... Former Cal running back Jahvid Best (100m) represented St. Lucia ... If the Pac-12 was considered a country, it’s student-athletes, both current and former, would have placed fifth in the medal count at the Rio Olympics:

USA (46 Gold, 37 Silver, 38 Bronze)    121

China (26 Gold, 18 Silver, 26 Bronze)    70

Great Britain (27 Gold, 23 Silver, 17 Bronze)    67

Russia (19 Gold, 18 Silver, 19 Bronze)    56

Pac-12 (25 Gold, 13 Silver, 17 Bronze)    55

UPCOMING SCHEDULE