Football Pac-12 Conference

This Week in Pac-12 Football - Week Three

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GREAT EIGHT: Pac-12 schools occupy eight spots in this weeks AP Top 25, the most in conference history (previous high was six, done multiple times).  The Pac-12 becomes just the second conference in the history of the AP Poll to have at least eight schools ranked in the same week.

POWER WINS: The Pac-12 is 20-3 in non-conference games so far this season, with by far the highest winning percentage (.870) among all conferences this season.  The only two times a conference has finished with an .870 win percentage or better in the last 25 years was the SEC in 2018 (51-7, .879) and the Big 12 in 2011 (27-3, .900).

The 20-3 record includes a 6-3 (.667) mark against schools from other Power-5 conferences, which is also the most non-conference wins and highest win percentage against Power-5 schools among all conferences this season.  With just one remaining matchup with a Power 5 school this season (Washington at Michigan State), the Pac-12 has a chance to win 70% of its regular season non-conference games against Power-5 schools.  That has happened only three times in the previous 10 years (minimum 10 games):  2014 Pac-12 (7-3), 2017 Pac-12 (7-3) and 2018 SEC (10-4).

Colorado and Utah are the only two schools in the country this season with two non-conference wins over Power-5 schools.  It's the first time Colorado has opened with two non-conference wins over current Power-5 schools since 1978 (Oregon, Miami, FL - who was independent at the time). The last time Utah opened with two non-conference wins over Power-5 schools was in 2004 when they beat Texas A&M and Arizona on their way to a 12-0 season under Urban Meyer.

PASSING FANCY :  Pac-12 quarterbacks continue to dominate the national leaderboards.  The conference has five of the top eight QBs in passing yards per game including the No. 1 ( Shedeur Sanders, Colorado - 451.5) and No. 2 ( Michael Penix, Jr., Washington - 429.5) overall.  USCs Caleb Williams leads the country in both passer rating (240.5) and pass TD (12).  Four of the seven FBS quarterbacks who have thrown 70+ passes without an INT this season are from the Pac-12.

DEEP THREATS :  Receivers across the conference have excelled as well, as Washington WR Rome Odunze is tied for tops in the nation with six receptions of 20+ yards with Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan and Stanford TE Benjamin Yurosek right behind him with five.  Additionally, six of the 18 receivers in the country who average 100+ yards a game this season call the Pac-12 home, with Colorados Xavier Weaver third in the country with 144.0 ypg.

BIG PLAY BACKS :  The Pac-12 is home to three of the six running backs in the country who are averaging at least 10.0 yards per carry (minimum 5 attempts/game).  Stanfords Casey Filkins is third in the country (11.8), followed closely by Oregons Bucky Irving (10.5) and Oregon States Damien Martinez (10.0).

WEEK FOUR :  Game times and TV networks for Saturday, September 23 announced this week:

  • 12:30 p.m. PT / 1:30 p.m. MT - Colorado at Oregon (ABC)

  • 12:30 p.m. PT / 1:30 p.m. MT - UCLA at Utah (FOX)

  • 4 p.m. PT - Oregon State at Washington State (FOX)

  • 4 p.m. PT - Arizona at Stanford (Pac-12 Network)

  • 7:30 p.m. PT - USC at Arizona State (FOX)

  • 7:30 p.m. PT - Cal at Washington (ESPN)