Football 10/26/2022 7:08:22 PM Pac-12 Conference

This Week in Pac-12 Football - Week 9

QUICK HITS

TOP OF THE CHARTS: For the 6th straight week, the Pac-12 has 4 teams in the Top 20 of the most recent AP poll and the Pac-12 is the only conference to have 4 teams ranked in the Top 14 of the AP poll. OREGON moves up 2 spots this week to #8, their highest ranking since they were #4 in November of last season. USC also moves up 2 spots and is back in the Top 10 for the 7th time in 9 polls this season. UCLA checks in at #12 this week while UTAH moved up one spot to #14. OREGON STATE and WASHINGTON, both 6-2 this season, also received votes.

BO-LIEVE : OREGON QB Bo Nix had a huge week in knocking off then #9 UCLA, going 22-28 for 283 yards and 5 pass TD. Nix is the first Pac-12 QB to have 5 pass TD and 0 INT against a Top 10 team since USCs Matt Leinart in the 2005 Orange Bowl against #2 Oklahoma. For his efforts, Nix not only won his first Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week award but swept almost every national honor:

Maxwell Award Player of the Week
Reeses Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week
Davey OBrien National Co-Quarterback of the Week
Rose Bowl Game Pac-12 Player of the Week
Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week
Manning Award Star of the Week
PFF College Offensive Player of the Week

CAMPBELL CALLING: STANFORD LT Walter Rouse was named 1 of 15 finalists for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy which recognizes the best football scholar-athlete in the nation. Rouse looks to be the first ever winner from Stanford and first Pac-12 winner since Oregons Justin Herbert in 2019.

BOWL BLITZ : The Pac-12 now has 5 teams bowl eligible (Oregon, USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon State) which is tied for 2nd most among conferences behind SEC with 6. Utah can become the 6th Pac-12 team with their next win.

WEEK 10 SCHEDULE: Game time and TV assignments announced (all times local)

Friday, November 4th (previously announced)

7:30 p.m. PT - Oregon State at Washington (ESPN2)

Saturday, November 5th

12:30 p.m. PT - Washington State at Stanford (Pac-12 Network)
7:30 p.m. PT - California at USC (ESPN)

3 other games selections have been held until the games this weekend have been played: Oregon at Colorado, UCLA at Arizona State, Arizona at Utah

AROUND THE PAC-12

#14 UTAH (5-2, 3-1) at WASHINGTON STATE (4-3, 1-3)

Thurs., Oct. 27 7:00 pm PT FS1

UTAH: Have won last 3 meetings with Washington State, facing Cougars in Salt Lake City in each of the previous 3 seasons. Looking for first win in Pullman since 2011 when they beat WSU 30-27 in OT. 11-6 in conference road games since the start of the 2018 season. 10-4 in Thursday/Friday night games since joining Pac-12. QB Cameron Rising 415 pass yards vs. USC, first Utah QB with 400+ pass yards since Brian Johnson in 2005. Rising 5 rush TD last 2 games, had 6 rush TD all of last season. Dalton Kincaid had Pac-12 TE record 16 receptions for 234 yards vs. USC. His next win will be the 150th for Kyle Whittingham at Utah.

WASHINGTON STATE : Have beaten Utah in last 2 meetings in Pullman (2013, 2018) including a GW 89-yard TD pass from Gardner Minshew II to Easop Winston with 4:14 left in 4th quarter in last meeting. 4th Top 25 team WSU has faced this season (1-2) with the win at then #19 Wisconsin. Looking for first win over a ranked conference opponent since Oct. 2018 at #24 Stanford. QB Cameron Ward 300+ pass yards in 3 of the last 4 games. LB Daiyan Henley 11.0 tackles for loss this season, T-10th in FBS. 52 TFL as a team, T-16th in FBS.

#8 OREGON (6-1, 4-0) at CALIFORNIA (3-4, 1-3)

Sat., Oct. 29 12:30 pm PT FS1

OREGON: Have won 11 of last 13 meetings with Cal including a 24-17 come-from-behind victory in Eugene last year. Trailed 17-10 in 4th quarter. Looking for first win in Berkeley since 2018. 2-0 in true road games this season and have won 6 of their last 8 true road games. Looking to start 5-0 in conference play for the first time since 2019. QB Bo Nix 25 total TD this season (17 pass, 8 rush), 5th most in FBS. RB Bucky Irving 107 rush yards last week, his first 100-yard game as a Duck and 4th of his career. WR Troy Franklin 35 receptions for 561 yards and 5 TD this season, 18 receptions for 209 yards and 2 TD last season.

CALIFORNIA: Have won 2 of their last 3 home games against Oregon including 20-17 win in last meeting in 2020. 2 wins against AP Top 10 opponents since 1980 with their last win coming in 2017 over #8 Washington State, 37-3. WR J. Michael Sturdivant set career highs last week in receptions (8), receiving yards (104) and receiving TD (2). QB Jack Plummer 3 pass TD vs. Washington, 3rd time this season with 3 pass TD. Did not force a turnover last week, snapped a 19-game streak with a takeaway since November 2020.

#10 USC (6-1, 4-0) at ARIZONA (3-4, 1-3)

Sat., Oct. 29 4:00 pm PT PAC-12 NETWORK

USC: Have won the last 9 meetings with Arizona and 18 of the last 20. 9-1 in Tucson since 2001. Have won 10 of their last 13 conference road games. Has not committed a turnover in 6 of 7 games this season, only FBS team with 1 turnover this season. QB Caleb Williams 5 pass TD at Utah, 19 pass TD and 1 INT this season. RB Travis Dye over 100 total yards in each of his last 2 games against Arizona (2019 & 2021 with Oregon). TE Josh Falo 2 rec TD at Utah, his first 2 receptions since the 2019 season.

ARIZONA: Last beat USC in Tucson in 2012 when Matt Scott threw for 369 yards and 3 scores and added another 100 on the ground with a rush TD. Looking for first win over a Top 10 team since 2015 over #10 Utah. 221 points scored this season, 206 points in 12 games all of last season. 3 games with 500+ total yards this season, had 0 games with 500+ in 2020-21. QB Jayden de Laura only 2nd Arizona QB with 400+ pass yards in 3 games in a season (Jason Johnson, 2002).

ARIZONA STATE (2-5, 1-3) at COLORADO (1-6, 1-3)

Sat., Oct. 29 4:30 pm ET ESPNU

ARIZONA STATE: 9-3 all-time against Colorado including a 35-13 win last year in Tempe. Looking for first road win of the season (0-3), had conference road wins at UCLA and Washington last season. RB X Valladay has a rush TD in all 3 road games this season and 6 of 7 games overall this season. WR Elijhah Badger career-high 118 rec yards at Stanford, first career 100-yard game. Sun Devils lost last week without allowing a TD for the first time since September 1984 vs. USC, 6-3.

COLORADO: Have won last 2 meetings with ASU in Boulder but have not hosted the Sun Devils since 2018. Have won 3 of last 5 meetings overall after starting 0-7 all-time against ASU. Have been held to 20 points or less and under 350 total yards in all 7 games this season. Have faced 3 teams this season that are already bowl eligible (TCU, UCLA, Oregon State). QB J.T. Shrout career-high 206 pass yards last week but also had his first career multi-INT game.

STANFORD (3-4, 1-4) at #12 UCLA (6-1, 3-1)

Sat., Oct. 29 7:30 pm MT ESPN

STANFORD: 12-2 against UCLA since 2009 and 10-2 under David Shaw . Have won the last 6 meetings at the Rose Bowl with UCLA. Looking to beat a ranked opponent for first time since knocking off then #3 Oregon last October. Have won back-to-back games for the first time since September 2021. Stanford beat Arizona State without scoring a touchdown, the first time theyve done that since Oct. 1970 vs. UCLA , 9-7. Kicker Joshua Karty 12-12 on FG and 18-18 on extra points this season and has made all 45 XP in his career. QB Tanner McKee 320 pass yards vs Arizona State, 3rd career 300-yard game. Shaw is now tied with former USC head coach Howard Jones with 65 conference wins, 5th most in Pac-12 history.

UCLA: Looking for first home win over Stanford since 2008. Have won 2 of their last 3 overall meetings with Stanford but both wins came on the Farm. Road team has won the last 4 in this series. 5-0 at home this season and have won 7 straight at home overall. Did not force a turnover last week, first time thats happened this season. RB Zach Charbonnet 151 rush yards at Oregon, first time UCLA has not won a game when Charbonnet has rushed for 100+ yards (11-1). QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson 27-39 passing at Oregon (69.2%), only the 2nd time this season held under 70%. WR Jake Bobo 100+ rec yards in 2 of the last 3 games.

BYE WEEK

OREGON STATE : Bowl eligible (6-2) in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2012-13. 3-0 with Ben Gulbranson as starting QB. RB Damien Martinez 178 rush yards and 3 rush TD vs. Colorado, back-to-back weeks with 100+ rush yards. Held Colorado to 9 points, the fewest theyve allowed in a conference game since 2012.

WASHINGTON : Bowl eligible (6-2) for the 12th time in the last 13 seasons. Beat Cal last week despite being held to season-low 28 points. QB Michael Penix, Jr. 374 pass yards, 2 pass TD at Cal, 8th straight game with 300+ pass yards which is the longest streak in school history. WR Rome Odunze 6 receptions for 63 yards at Cal, snapped streak of 4 straight games with 100+ rec yards.

PAC-12 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

BACK IN THE BAY: Just a few days after being traded to San Francisco, 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (STANFORD) had just 10 touches but for 62 yards (38 rush, 24 receiving) in a loss to the Chiefs. McCaffrey had 100+ total yards in each of his last 5 games before the trade.

HAIL TO THE CHIEF: Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (USC) reached season-highs with 7 receptions for 124 yards and a TD in a win over the 49ers. It was the 2nd straight week topping 100 yards for the former Trojan, the first time hes done that since 2018. Smith-Schuster now has 14 career games with 100+ rec yards.

RATED M FOR MARIOTA: Falcons QB Marcus Mariota (OREGON) was 8-13 (61.5%) for 124 yards and a score for a QB rating of 118.7 in a loss to the Bengals. Its the second straight week that Mariotas rating has been over 100, the first time hes done that since 2018. The former Duck is 1 of 3 NFL QB this season with at least 7 pass TD and 3 rush TD.

ALL ABOUT BENJAMIN Cardinals RB Eno Benjamin (ARIZONA STATE) taking advantage of his opportunities, racked up a career-high 92 rush yards and 113 total yards while adding a rush TD in a win over the Saints. Benjamin broke off a 45-yard run which is more than he had had previously in a full game.

DOUBLE J: Saints TE Juwan Johnson (OREGON) hauled in 5 passes for 32 yards and a pair of scores in a loss to the Cardinals. Its the 2nd multi-career TD game of his NFL career, having grabbed 2 touchdowns against the Packers in September 2021. In his lone season at Oregon, Johnson had a 3-TD game at USC in November 2019.

MILLS LANE : Texans QB David Mills (STANFORD) threw for a season-high 302 yards and added 2 pass TD, for his 3rd multi-TD game of the season, in a loss to the Raiders. Its the 5th time in 17 career starts that Mils has gone over 300 pass yards in a game.

FLASH GORDON: Bears CB Kyler Gordon (WASHINGTON) picked up his first career INT in a win over the Patriots. Chicagos 2nd round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft sealed the win with an interception with 2:52 left in the 4th quarter, returning it 42 yards to the Patriots 10-yard line.

LA VITA LOCA: Buccaneers DT Vita Vea (WASHINGTON) had a sack, a TFL and 5 tackles in a loss to the Panthers. Vea has 3.5 sacks so far this season, just behind his career-high 4.0 as a Pro Bowl selection last year.