AP Week 3 Top 25: No. 9 Stanford leads 5 Pac-12 teams in rankings
Stanford jumped up one spot from the Week 2 poll, swapping spots with the Huskies following the Cardinal’s 17-3 win over USC Saturday night in Palo Alto.
This may shock you, but Bryce Love was a highlight for the home team, rushing for 136 yards and a score. Side note: When is the last time you saw the Trojans held to three points? According to Reign of Troy writer Michael Castillo, that hasn’t happened since November of 1991. Stanford is now 2-0 heading into what surely will be a cakewalk against UC Davis this weekend.
Washington sits at No. 10 this week, moving down a slot from Week 2. But all is well on Montlake after UW’s 45-3 wipeout of North Dakota. A nice bounce-back from the season-opening loss to Auburn, methinks. The Huskies nearly tripled the Fighting Hawks’ total yardage — 632 yards vs. 262 yards — in the rout. Jake Browning was good for 313 yards passing along with two touchdowns. His backup, Jake Haener, came in late in the game to add a 12-yard TD pass. Next up for Washington: The Utah Utes in Salt Lake City this Saturday.
Oregon climbs three spots up the poll to No. 20, courtesy of a 62-14 drubbing of Portland State on Saturday. In typical Oregon fashion, the Ducks put 21 points on the board before PSU was able to respond. Portland State managed a touchdown in the second quarter, but that was followed by four more from Oregon. Just a rough time for those not rocking kelly green and yellow strike. Justin Herbert racked up 250 yards passing along with four touchdowns and completed 20 of 26 pass attempts. Up next, the Ducks host San Jose State Saturday afternoon.
USC drops from No. 17 to No. 22 after its 17-3 loss to Stanford on Saturday. The Cardinal simply stifled the visiting Trojans, sacking J.T. Daniels four times and intercepting him on his final two throws of the game. USC will have to bounce back quickly as it heads into a Saturday showdown with Texas in Austin.
I can still hear the celebrations in Tempe after Arizona State’s 16-13 upset of then-No. 15, now-No. 25 Michigan State. Brandon Ruiz was the hero Saturday night, not only hitting the game-winning field goal from 28 yards out but accounting for 10 of the Devils’ 16 points on the night. (That said, N’Keal Harry’s TD score was pretty important, too.) ASU enters the rankings for the first time since the 2015 preseason poll and is sitting pretty at 2-0 heading into one last non-conference game. This Saturday they take on San Diego State in California.
Here is the complete AP Top 25 poll for Week 3:
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma
- Wisconsin
- Auburn
- Notre Dame
- Stanford
- Washington
- Penn State
- LSU
- Virginia Tech
- West Virginia
- TCU
- Mississippi State
- Boise State
- UCF
- Michigan
- Oregon
- Miami (FL)
- USC
- Arizona State
- Oklahoma State
- Michigan State