This Week in Pac-12 Football - Week Nine
QUICK HITS
SEVENTH HEAVEN: Following their win over UCLA in the Rose Bowl, OREGON moved up to #7 in this week’s AP Top 25. 7th straight week the Ducks have been in the Top 10, their longest streak since the final 10 polls of 2014.
MAN OF HONOR: STANFORD DE Thomas Booker named a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. Booker has a 3.88 GPA, majoring in Economics & Communication.
FIVE FOR #5: OREGON DE Kayvon Thibodeaux with a trio of national awards on top of his 2 Pac-12 awards this week, winning the Bronko Nagurski, Bednarik Award and Lott IMPACT national player of the week.
MOUNT McKINLEY: OREGON Safety Verone McKinley III was selected this week as one of the 12 semifinalists for the 2021 Jim Thorpe Award. McKinley is the 8th player in program history to be named a semifinalist for this award.
ROSEY RETURNS: After rushing for a touchdown on 4 straight carries, OREGON RB Travis Dye was honored as the Rose Bowl Game Pac-12 Player of the Week. 2nd time this season an Oregon RB has won the award with CJ Verdell taking it home after the Ducks’ win at Ohio State in Week 2.
CONFERENCE OF QBs: The Davey O’Brien Award announced its QB Class of 2021 on Tuesday which included 5 Pac-12 signal callers: Anthony Brown (OREGON), Jayden Daniels (ARIZONA ST), Tanner McKee (STANFORD), Cameron Rising (UTAH) and Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA)
JUST FOR KICKS: CALIFORNIA Kicker Dario Longhetto was named 1 of the 3 “Stars of the Week” by the Lou Groza Award after making 4 field goals against Colorado. He’s the first Cal kicker to make 4 field goals in a game since 2017.
WEEK 10 SCHEDULE: Game time and TV assignments announced Monday.
Friday, November 5th (previously announced)
- 7:30 p.m. PT- Utah at Stanford, FS1
Saturday, November 6th (all times local)
- 12:00 p.m. PT- California at Arizona, Pac-12 Network
- 5:00 p.m. MT- Oregon State at Colorado, Pac-12 Network
Additionally, 2 games held for 6-day selections by television partners with start times and network designations announced following games on October 30th.
- Oregon at Washington and USC at Arizona State
AROUND THE PAC-12
WASHINGTON STATE (4-4, 3-2) at ARIZONA STATE (5-2, 3-1)
Sat., Oct. 30 • 12:00 pm PT • FS1
WASHINGTON STATE: Had their 3-game win streak snapped last week against BYU in Jake Dickert’s first game as Washington State’s acting head coach. Looking to win 4 straight conference games for the first time since a 7-game streak in 2018. RB Max Borghi had 3 rushing TD last week against BYU, the first Cougar with 3+ rush TD in a game since James Williams in 2018. Did not force a turnover last week, the first time this season they did not force a turnover. The Cougars have forced 15 turnovers this season, T-13th in FBS.
ARIZONA STATE: Won 11 of the last 14 meetings with Washington State and 7 of the last 8 meetings in Tempe. Coming off a bye week, losing their previous game at Utah. Looking to start 6-2 or better for first time since 2014 (7-1) and will become bowl eligible with their next win. QB Jayden Daniels needs 21 rush yards to reach 1,000 for his career and become the 3rd QB in ASU history with 5,000 pass yards and 1,000 rush yards (Taylor Kelly & Manny Wilkins). Held without a sack at Utah, first time this season they’ve gone without one. Tied for Pac-12 with 21.0 sacks this season. All 5 wins this season are by at least 18 points.
COLORADO (2-5, 1-3) at #7 OREGON (6-1, 3-1)
Sat., Oct. 30 • 12:30 pm PT • FOX
COLORADO: 2nd Top 10 opponent this season after losing 10-7 to then #5 Texas A&M on September 11th. Have not beaten a Top 10 team since 2007 (#3 Oklahoma) and not beaten a Top 10 team in a true road game since 1995 (#7 Kansas State). Defense has 3 games this season where they have allowed 10 points or less. 0-2 on the road this season after going 2-0 last season in true road games. Relieved Offensive Line Coach Mitch Rodrigue of his duties this week with his responsibilities being handled internally.
OREGON: 6-1 against Colorado since the Buffs joined the Pac-12 with the only loss coming in 2016 in Eugene. 5 of their 6 wins over Colorado in the Pac-12 era have come by at least 34 points. RB Travis Dye had 4 rush TD last week at UCLA, the first Duck with 4+ rush TD in a game since teammate CJ Verdell did it in 2018. QB Anthony Brown had a season-high 296 passing yards against the Bruins while adding a career-high 85 rushing yards that included a 43-yard TD run in the 4th quarter. CB DJ James became the 3rd Duck this season to have multiple INT in a game. Oregon had 11 TFL against UCLA, with 4.5 of them by DE Kayvon Thibodeaux. Oregon has won 16 straight home games, the 3rd longest active streak in FBS.
ARIZONA (0-7, 0-4) at USC (3-4, 2-3)
Sat., Oct. 30 • 4:00 pm PT • ESPNU
ARIZONA: Looking for their first win over the Trojans since 2012 and first win at the Coliseum since 2009. Defense allows just 176.4 passing yards per game, 13th best in FBS. Have held 2 opponents under 100 yards passing twice this season, the first time since 2008. Season-high 218 rushing yards last week against Washington.
USC: USC has won the last 8 in this series and 17 of the last 19. WR Drake London has 5 straight games with 100+ receiving yards, the first Trojan to do that since Marqise Lee in 2012. London has 31 catches in the last 2 games, the first player in conference history with multiple games with 15+ catches. QB Kedon Slovis was held without a TD pass at Notre Dame last week, the first time in his career he’s played a full game and did not throw for a touchdown.
OREGON STATE (5-2, 3-1) at CALIFORNIA (2-5, 1-3)
Sat., Oct. 30 • 4:00 pm PT • PAC-12 NETWORK
OREGON STATE: Have won last 2 meetings with Cal by a combined 8 points. With a win, will become bowl eligible for the first time since 2013. 4-0 at home this season, best start since winning their first 5 home games in 2012. RB B.J. Baylor has rushed for 100+ yards in 4 straight games and 5 of the last 6 games. Baylor is 6th in the country with 118.6 rush YPG. ILB Jack Colletto caught a TD last week against Utah and is 1 of 2 players in FBS this season who have caught a TD, run for a TD, and caught an INT on defense. 1 of 6 FBS schools that rank in the Top 25 in both rushing offense (245.0 YPG) and rushing defense (116.6 YPG). Head Coach Jonathan Smith added to the watch list for the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year.
CALIFORNIA: Allowed 104 total yards last week against Colorado, the fewest they’ve allowed in a conference game since at least 1996. The defense had 12.0 TFL and 6 sacks in that game. QB Chase Garbers had 96 rushing yards last week and passed Joe Kapp for the most career rushing yards by a Cal QB. Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave is the uncle of OSU TE Luke Musgrave, the reigning Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week.
UCLA (5-3, 3-2) at UTAH (4-3, 3-1)
Sat., Oct. 30 • 7:00 pm PT • ESPN
UCLA: Looking for their first win over Utah since 2015 when the Bruins won 17-9 in Salt Lake City. Become bowl eligible with a win for the first time since 2017. Looking for their 5th straight Pac-12 road win, their longest streak since winning 7 in a row from 2013 to 2015. Converted 5 of their 7 attempts on 4th down last week and are 13 for 20 on 4th downs this season. QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson has at least 1 TD pass in every game this season and both a passing and rushing TD in 4 of the 8 games. WR Kyle Philips has a reception in each of the last 25 games he’s played in. Have rushed for over 200 yards in all 5 wins this season, held to 200 or less in all 3 losses.
UTAH: Will retire the number 22 during the game to honor the legacy of Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe. It will be the first retired number in program history. Have won their last 4 meetings with UCLA, the last 3 all by at least 31 points. 3-0 at home this season and have won 16 of their last 17 games at Rice-Eccles. 202.7 rush YPG at home this season. 3-1 with Cameron Rising as the starting QB. In the last 3 games, Rising has 7 passing TD, 2 rushing TD and averaging 273.3 passing yards per game. RB Tavion Thomas had 2 rushing TD last week and has 4 in the last 3 games.
WASHINGTON (3-4, 2-2) at STANFORD (3-4, 2-3)
Sat., Oct. 30 • 7:30 pm PT • FS1
WASHINGTON: Looking for first road win at Stanford since 2007. 5 of their 7 games this season have been decided 7 points or less including each of the last 4 games. QB Dylan Morris was 7-11 for 182 passing yards and 2 TD in the 2nd half at Arizona last week. Held Arizona to 280 total yards last week, the 4th time this season they have held their opponent under 300 yards and the 3rd time they’ve held an opponent under 100 yards passing.
STANFORD: Have won the last 2 meetings with Washington and 10 of the last 13. Play 4 of their final 5 games at home. QB Tanner McKee has 6 TD and 0 INT in their 2 home games so far this season. TE Benjamin Yurosek has 11 receptions for 217 yards and a touchdown in the last 2 games. 3-0 this season when rushing for 100+ yards, 0-4 when held under 100 rushing yards. 3-0 this season when leading at halftime.