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This Week in Pac-12 Football

Oct 15, 2019

Complete Release, Statistics (PDF)

QUICK HITS
THE RANKINGS: The Pac-12 has had three or more teams ranked in the AP Top 25 each week this season. This week’s rankings include No. 12 Oregon, No. 13 Utah, No. 17 Arizona State and No. 25 Washington.

RANKED VS. RANKED: There are only three games this week featuring both teams ranked in the AP Top 25, with two of those contests coming in the Pac-12 - #12 OREGON at #25 WASHINGTON, #17 ARIZONA STATE at #13 UTAH, as well as #16 Michigan at #7 Penn State.

CUTTING THEIR TEETH: Freshman starters have been quite common around the Pac-12. The Pac-12 has three of the top six teams in terms of true freshman starters this season:
 • 7 - Alabama, UMass
 • 6 - STANFORD
 • 5 - ARIZONA STATE, USC, Arkansas

PAC-12 FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
THE RANKINGS: Four Pac-12 teams are ranked in the AP and in the Coaches polls - OREGON (12/12), UTAH (13/14), ARIZONA STATE (17/17) and WASHINGTON (25/23) ... The Pac-12 has had three or more teams ranked in the AP poll each week this season ... Eight different Pac-12 teams have been ranked in the Top 25 at some point this season.

THE DEFENSE DOESN’T REST: Since allowing 27 points in its season-opening loss to Auburn, the OREGON defense has allowed a total of just 25 points over the last five games. Only once since the mid 1960s has a Pac-12 team allowed 25 or fewer points in a five-game stretch - USC allowed 13 points during a five-game stretch in 2008. Here’s a breakdown of when each Pac-12 team last allowed 25 or fewer points over five games: Arizona (20 points, 1964), Arizona State (24, 1960), California (25, 1968), Colorado (18, 1954), Oregon State (19, 1946), Stanford (19, 1937), UCLA (25, 1960), USC (13, 2008; 24, 1966), Utah (25, 1964), Washington (23, 1961), Washington State (13, 1941).

YOU COMPLETE ME: Through the first seven weeks, six Pac-12 QBs are among the 31 FBS quarterbacks who have completed at least 65.0% of their pass attempts this season (minimum 15 passes per game/played in 75.0% of team’s games). That’s more than any other conference. Those six have combined to complete 799-of-1,148 (.695) for 9,880 yards, 81 TDs, 20 INT.
 • 3. Tyler Huntley, Sr., UTAH .756 (99-of-133, 1,393 yards, 9 TD, 0 INT)
 • 4. Kedon Slovis, Fr., USC .750 (84-of-112, 987 yards, 7 TDs, 4 INT)
 • 10. Anthony Gordon, Sr., WSU .713 (211-of-296, 2,612 yards, 25 TDs, 6 INT)
 • 18. Justin Herbert, Sr., ORE .691 (134-of-194, 1,602 yards, 17 TDs, 1 INT)
 • 23. Jacob Eason, Jr., WASH .660 (134-of-203, 1,692, 13 TDs, 3 INT)
 • 29. Steven Montez, Sr., COLO .652 (137-of-210, 1,594, 10 TDs, 6 INT)

NO INTERCEPTION FOR YOU: UTAH SR QB Tyler Huntley (131 attempts) is one of four starting FBS quarterbacks who have not thrown an interception this season. There are four Pac-12 quarterbacks among the 11 FBS quarterbacks with more than 100 pass attempts who have thrown just one interception this season - OREGON STATE SR QB Jake Luton (195 pass attempts) and OREGON SR QB Justin Herbert (194 attempts), ARIZONA STATE FR QB Jayden Daniels (176 attempts), and STANFORD JR QB Davis Mills (110 attempts).

YOU GIVETH, I TAKETH: Four Pac-12 defenses are among the top 11 nationally in interceptions. OREGON is second among FBS teams with 12 interceptions, ARIZONA is sixth with nine picks, while UTAH and WASHINGTON are tied for 11th with eight. The Utes have returned two of their four picks for touchdown. Individually, Colorado’s Mikial Onu is tied for third with four, while Arizona’s Jace Whittaker and Lorenzo Burns, Oregon’s Jevon Holland, and WASHINGTON’s Cameron Williams are tied for seventh with three interceptions each.

SEEKING PERFECTION: Nine FBS kickers who meet the minimum qualifications (min. 1 FGA per game/must play in 75% of team’s games) remain perfect on their field goal attempts. Three Pac-12 kickers are among those nine - WASHINGTON’s Peyton Henry (14-for-14), WASHINGTON STATE’s Blake Mazza (9-for-9), and USC’s Chase McGrath (6-for-6).

QUARTERBACK DEBUTS: Due to injuries, Pac-12 teams have combined to start 18 different quarterbacks this season. The Pac-12 started 20 different quarterbacks during the entire 2018 season. Not only has the Pac-12 started 18 different signal-callers, but seven were making their first-ever FBS start. Here’s a look at how those seven fared in their debut as a starter:
 • Grant Gunnell, Fr., ARIZ (W vs. UCLA, 20-17) - 29-of-44, 352 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
 • Jayden Daniels, Fr., ASU (W vs. Kent State, 30-7) - 15-of-24, 284 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
 • Davis Mills, Jr., STAN (L at USC, 49-24) - 22-of-36, 237 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
 • Austin Burton, RSo., UCLA (L vs. OSU, 48-31) - 27-of-41, 236 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
 • Kedon Slovis, Fr., USC (W vs. STAN, 49-24) - 28-of-33, 377 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
 • Matt Fink, Jr., USC (L at WASH, 28-14) - 19-of-32, 163 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
 • Anthony Gordon, RSr., WSU (W vs. New Mexico State, 58-7) - 29-of-35, 420 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT

RECORD-SETTERS: A look at some record-setting performances so far this season. All school records, unless noted as Pac-12 or NCAA:

Single-game punting average (min. 5 att.): 63.0 avg - Michael Turk, ASU vs. Kent State (Aug. 29)+#
Longest play from scrimmage: 96-yard pass - Steven Montez to K.D. Nixon, COLO vs. Nebraska (Sept. 7)
Touchdown passes in a game: 9 - Anthony Gordon, WSU vs. UCLA (Sept. 21)+
Most combined points, game: 130 - UCLA (67), Washington State (63) (Sept. 21)+
Total Offense: 564 - Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA at Washington State (Sept. 21)

+ Pac-12 record
# NCAA