WASHINGTON STATE, WASHINGTON POST TOP 15 RANKINGS TO CAP PAC-12 FOOTBALL SEASON
• The Pac-12 North Division prevailed again as the WASHINGTON Huskies captured their second Pac-12 title in three seasons and 17th overall. It was the seventh time in the last eight seasons where the North Division won the Conference championship. Washington LB Ben Burr-Kirven was named the Pac-12’s Pat Tilman Defensive Player of the Year and earned First Team All-America status by the Football Writer’s Association and the Associated Press.
• Meanwhile, WASHINGTON STATE, which tied Washington atop the North Division, was victorious in the Alamo Bowl to cap an 11-2 season. Quarterback Gardner Minshew, the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, led the Cougars to their most wins in a season in school history. Minshew established a new single-season passing mark in the Pac-12 as he threw for 4,779 yards. Washington State’s Mike Leach not only was tabbed the Pac-12 Coach of the Year, but earned AFCA Coach of the Year honors as well.
• STANFORD and OREGON each picked up bowl wins in the Sun Bowl and the Redbox Bowl, respectively, to finish with identical 9-4 records. It’s just the second time that four or more teams in one division recorded nine or more wins (also in 2014, South Division).
• Oregon DB Ugochukwu Amadi received the Lombardi Award honoring the top FBS player regardless of position. It’s the second straight season a Pac-12 player earned the award (Stanford’s Bryce Love in 2017)
• UTAH won its first South Division crown and completed the season with a 9-5 record. It was the fourth time in five seasons that the Utes have posted nine or more wins ... Three Conference standouts were named Senior CLASS second team All-America - Patrick Laird, CALIFORNIA; Bryce Love, Stanford; Cameron Smith, USC. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. The award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition.
PAC-12 RECORD CLIMBERS: Washington QB Jake Browning and RB Myles Gaskin concluded their Pac-12 careers posting some of the league’s all-time top statistical marks.
Career Passing Yards
3. 13,327 Matt Barkley, USC, 2009-12
4. 12,296 Jake Browning, WASH, 2015-18
Career Total Offense
3. 12,796 Sean Mannion, OSU, 2011-14
4. 12,540 Jake Browning, WASH, 2015-18
Career Touchdown Passes
5. 96 Jared Goff, CAL, 2013-15
6. 94 Jake Browning, WASH, 2015-18
Total Touchdowns (Rushing, Passing, Receiving)
3. 122 Matt Barkley, USC, 2009-12
4. 110 Jake Browning, WASH, 2015-18
Career Rushing Yards Career Rushing Touchdowns
2. 5,621 Royce Freeman, ORE, 2014-17
3. 5,323 Myles Gaskin, WASH, 2015-18
Career Rushing Touchdowns
2. 59 Ken Simonton, OSU, 1998-2001
3. 57 Myles Gaskin, WASH, 2015-18
PAC-12 RUSHING ATTACK: The Pac-12 had four running backs listed among the FBS top 10, and five among the top 20, in rushing yards per game.
5. Eno Benjamin, ASU (127.0)
6. J.J. Taylor, ARIZ (119.5)
8. Jermar Jefferson, OSU (115.0)
9. Joshua Kelley, UCLA (113.0)
19. Myles Gaskin, WASH (107.6)
Note: The list does not include UTAH RB Zack Moss, who rushed for 1,092 (121.3) in nine games but did not play in 75 percent of Utah’s games to qualify for national statistical rankings.
Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year: Gardner Minshew II, QB, Washington State
Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Burr-Kirven, LB, Washington
Pac-12 Offensive Co-Freshmen of the Year: Jermar Jefferson, RB, Oregon State
Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year: Merlin Robertson, LB, Arizona State
Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Ben Burr-Kirven, LB, Washington
Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Mike Leach, Washington State
GOOGLE CLOUD ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA TEAM
First Team
Justin Herbert, QB, ORE*
*Team Member of the Year
Second Team
Timmy Hernandez, WR, OSU
Ben Burr-Kirven, LB, WASH
FOOTBALL WRITERS
First Team
Ben Burr-Kirven, LB, WASH
Second Team
Eno Benjamin, RB, ASU
Calvin Throckmorton, OL, ORE
Chase Hansen, LB, UTAH
Paulson Adebo, DB, STAN
Matt Gay, PK, UTAH
All-Freshman Team
Jermar Jefferson, RB, OSU
Merlin Robertson, LB, ASU
Paulson Adebo, DB, STAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Team
Ben Burr-Kirven, LB, WASH
Second Team
Byron Murphy, CB, WASH
Taylor Rapp, S, WASH
Mitch Wishnowsky P, UTAH
Third Team
Eno Benjamin, RB, ASU
Andre Dillard, OL, WSU
J.J. Taylor, AP, ARIZ
Matt Gay, K, UTAH
PAC-12 AND THE SUPER BOWL: A total of 303 players representing the Pac-12 membership have compiled 402 Super Bowl rings. The latest from Super Bowl XLIII Champion New England Patriots to recieve the bling are: Stephen Anderson, TE, California; Patrick Chung, S, Oregon; Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona; Lawrence Guy, DL, Arizona State; Danny Shelton, DL, Washington; Matthew Slater, WR, UCLA; Injured Reserve - Eric Rowe, DB, Utah; Christian Sam, LB, Arizona State; Brian Schwenke, OL, California; Reserve/Non-Football injury - Darren Andrews, WR, UCLA.
NORTH STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)
Teams | Pac-12 Record | Overall Record |
---|---|---|
Washington | 7-2 | 10-3 |
Washington State | 7-2 | 11-2 |
Stanford | 6-3 | 9-4 |
Oregon | 5-4 | 9-4 |
California | 4-5 | 7-6 |
Oregon State | 1-8 | 2-10 |
SOUTH STANDINGS
Teams | Pac-12 Record | Overall Record |
---|---|---|
Utah | 6-3 | 9-5 |
Arizona State | 5-4 | 7-6 |
Arizona | 4-5 | 5-7 |
USC | 4-5 | 5-7 |
UCLA | 3-6 | 3-9 |
Colorado | 2-7 | 5-7 |
2018 PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOTES: On Oct. 22, the Utah trio of Huntley, Hansen and Gay became the fourth set of teammates to sweep all three weekly awards. It was accomplished by Oregon State twice (Nov. 20, 2004 and Oct. 14, 2006) and once by USC (Sept. 24, 1988) ... Colorado’s Lavisk Shenault is just the fifth receiver to earn Offensive Player of the Week twice in the same season ... Washington’s Ben Burr-Kirven is the first player to repeat as Defensive Player of the Week since Arizona State LB Antonio Longino in 2015 (Nov. 16, 23), and the first Husky defender to repeat since CB Derrick Johnson accomplished the feat in 2002 (Nov. 9, 17).