This Week in Pac-12 Football - Week 8

10/21/2026 4:30:00 PM

By: Pac-12 Conference

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WEEK 8 SCHEDULE (all times PT)

Saturday, October 24
#21 Boise State at Washington State 3pm USA Network
Nate Gatter, Ryan Leaf, Lauren Green

San Diego State at Colorado State 3:30pm The CW
Rick Allen, Will Blackmon, Michael Bumpus

Utah State at Texas State 4:30pm CBS Sports Net
Rich Waltz, Adam Breneman, Jordan Giorgio

AROUND THE PAC-12
WEEK 4 OF CONFERENCE PLAY: Through 3 weeks in conference play, the home teams now hold a 7-3 advantage after going 3-0 last week. The winning Pac-12 team last week averaged 46.7 PPG. Oregon State and Fresno State are on their bye but the 4th week of conference play consists of 2 games with plenty of history and 1 matchup being played for just the 2nd time ever.

The Pac-12 weekend kicks off with Washington State and their head coach Kirby Moore hosting the school he played for in Boise State. The Cougars lead the all-time series 5-2 but the Broncos have won 2 of the 3 meetings since 2016, including a 45-24 victory in Boise in their last meeting in 2024. Washington State is 3-0 at home against Boise State including a 47-44 3 OT thriller in 2017 where Tyler Hilinski came off the bench for an injured Luke Falk and erased a 21-point 4th quarter deficit.
San Diego State and Colorado State continue their long-time series as conference rivals that first matched up in 1978 as part of the WAC. The Aztecs have dominated of late, having won 11 of 14 including a 45-24 victory at Snapdragon Stadium last season when Lucky Sutton rushed for 113 yards and 2 scores whileByron Cardwell Jr. added 129 yards on the ground with a touchdown as SDSU put up a season-high 540 total yards. But the Rams did hold for a 22-19 win in the last meeting at Canvas Stadium in 2023 despite the Aztecs scoring the game’s final 16 points, snapping a SDSU 6-game win streak in Fort Collins.
The final game on Saturday matches up Utah State and Texas State for just the 2nd time in history. The Aggies beat the Bobcats 38-7 in Logan back in November 2012, Texas State’s first season as an FBS team, as Chuckie Keeton threw for 316 yards and 4 scores while adding another 48 yards on the ground and a rush TD.

POLL WATCHING: Make it 4 straight weeks for Boise State in the AP Top 25, moving up 2 spots to #21 while also moving up 2 spots to #22 in the coaches’ poll. For the 2nd straight week, Oregon State received votes in both polls. The Broncos (#22) and Beavers (#30) are the only 2 schools from non-autonomous conferences ranked in the Top 30 of The Athletic’s rankings of all 138 FBS teams. In the CBS 138, Boise State is the highest ranked school from a non-autonomous conference at #27 and with Oregon State at #33 in that poll, the Pac-12 the only non-autonomous conference with 2 teams in CBS’ Top 35.

HIGH FIVE: Through 7 weeks of the regular season, the Pac-12 continues to prove it being one of the Top 5 conferences in college football. Taking a look inside the analytics….

Average SP+ of 79.6- 5th best among FBS leagues
- only non-autonomous conference with 3 schools in Top 60 and 4 in Top 62
Average FPI of 79.1 - 5th best among FBS leagues
- only non-autonomous conference with 2 schools in Top 50, 4 in the Top 73 and 75% of schools in Top 100
Average Strength of Record (ESPN) of 83.8 - 5th best among FBS leagues
- 2 schools in Top 43 and 5 of the 8 schools in Top 91
Average Strength of Schedule (ESPN) of 69.3 - 5th best among FBS leagues
- 5 schools in Top 70 and all 8 schools in the Top 90 (only SEC and Big Ten also have 100% of schools in Top 90)
Average Game Control ranking of 77.5 - 5th best among FBS leagues
- 2 schools in Top 26, only non-autonomous conference with 2 schools in Top 35
According to SportSource Analytics, have 5th best SOS among conferences (63.6)
- 4 schools in Top 55 and all 8 schools in Top 100 (only SEC and Big Ten also have 100% of schools in Top 100)
According to SportSource Analytics, have 5th best average Team Strength Ranking (77.4)
- Only non-autonomous conference with 2 teams in Top 26
9-4 against FBS teams from outside the autonomous conferences, the highest win% (.692) by a non-autonomous conference against other non-autonomous conferences
- The Pac-12 went 3-0 against the Mountain West, 3-2 against the American, 2-1 against the MAC and 1-1 against the Sun Belt during non-conference play

HITTING THE BOOKS: Boise State QB Maddux Madsen was named 1 of the 18 finalists for the William V. Campbell Award, often referred to as the “Academic Heisman” as it selects the top college football player for combined academic success, leadership and on-field performance. Madsen earned his bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Professional Studies in May with a 3.68 GPA. Additionally, Madsen was named this week as a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year.

7th HEAVEN: Make it 7 for 7 for Oregon State WR Jesse Legree as he was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for 7th straight week, already tying the conference’s career record for Pac-12 weekly awards held by Oregon QB Bo Nix (7x Offensive Player of the Week 2022-23), Stanford kicker Joshua Karty (7x Special Teams Player of the Week, 2022-23) and Arizona State kick Zane Gonzalez (7x Special Teams Player of the Week, 2013-16).

Legree caught 8 passes for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns in OSU’s 48-30 win, extending his own school record with a 7th straight game with 100+ rec yards. According to ESPN, Legree has the 2nd longest streak in a season in FBS over the last 20 years with both 100+ receiving yards and a receiving TD in the same game. Justin Blackmon did it in 12 straight for Oklahoma State in 2010. The true freshman is the first player in FBS in FBS to cross 1,000 yards receiving this season and according to OptaStats, becomes just the 4th player in FBS this century to have 1,000 receiving yards and 14 TD through the team’s first 7 games to join Blackmon (2010 OK State), Michael Crabtree (2007 Texas Tech) and Larry Fitzgerald (2003 Pitt). All 3 of those players won the Biletnikoff Award that season and finished in the Top 5 of that season’s Heisman voting.

Legree leads FBS in receiving yards (1,040), receiving yards per game (148.6) and receiving TD (14) while also tied for the lead in total points (84) and total touchdowns (14). His 22.6 yards per reception is 4th in FBS while he leads the country in catches of 30+ yards (11), 40+ yards (9), 50+ yards (6) and 70+ yards (4).

NOTHING “MID” ABOUT IT: Several publications issued their midseason awards and all-American lists and no surprise that Legree was a dominant force on each. But he was not the only Pac-12’er to gain recognition.

The Oregon State freshman was selected as a 1st team midseason All-American by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic and CBS Sports while On3 had him on their 2nd team. On3 did choose him as their midseason True Freshman of the Year while The Athletic, On3 and 247Sports all placed him on their midseason All-Freshman Team. ESPN’s Bill Connelly meanwhile gave him the tongue-in-cheek “Half-season Jesse Legree of the Year” award.

San Diego State’s Jaylon Hawkins was named 1st team kick returner by Sports Illustrated and 2nd team by On3. Boise State saw several honors as well with Dylan Riley a 2nd team RB by AP and SI while TE Matt Wagner and OL Roger Carreon were on Sports Illustrated’s 2nd team.

TEXAS 200-STEP: Texas State put up a school-record 716 total yards and 503 rushing yards (their most as an FBS school) in a 66-27 victory over Colorado State, becoming the first FBS team to rush for 500+ yards against another FBS team since 2021 (Air Force vs UNLV). RB Torrance Burgess Jr. led the attack with career highs of 224 rush yards and 4 rushing TD to be named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. It was the 10th highest rushing performance in Texas State history and 4th highest in the school’s history as an FBS program. Burgess Jr. is the first player in FBS this season to have 200+ rush yards and 4+ rush TD in the same game and 1 of 2 FBS players this season with multiple games of 200+ rush yards (Missouri’s Jamal Roberts). The 6th year RB added 52 yards receiving and his 276 scrimmage yards in that game are the most by an FBS player this season.

Burgess now leads FBS in rush yards per game (139.7), edging out fellow Pac-12 RB Dylan Riley of Boise State (139.2), and ranks 2nd in rush yards (838) and 3rd in all-purpose yards per game (153.5). His 7.76 yards per carry leads FBS while also leading the country in runs of 40+ yards (6) and 50+ yards (5).

BIG DATA BOBCATS: Texas State definitely caught the attention of PFF College with 3 Bobcats named to their National Team of the Week. Burgess Jr., who was also their Offensive Player of the Week, was joined by Center Mikel Udengwu and RG Bamidele Badusi. In fact, the Bobcats’ O-Line was named their National Offensive Line of the Week. San Diego State LB Sione Hala was named to the National Team of the Week on defense. Other Pac-12’ers recognized by PFF College included Washington State WR Branden Ganashamoorthy, Texas State LG Rasheed Jackson, and Texas State RT William Boone.

WE WANT MOORE: Speaking of O-Lines, Oregon State and Boise State both named to the Joe Moore Award Midseason Honor Roll last week for the nation's top offensive line unit. Since the award’s creation in 2015, a Pac-12 school has won this award once with Washington in 2023.

A BRICK WALL-IN: After a breakout game in his first season with the Aztecs, EDGE Kai Wallin was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. The 5th year transfer from Oregon State had a career-high 3 sacks in SDSU’s 26-23 win over Fresno State, his first 3 sacks of the season. Wallin became the first Aztec with 3+ sacks in a game since Trey White also had 3 against Hawai’i in 2024 and is 1 of 15 players in FBS this season with 3+ sacks in a game.

SAN DIEGO SPECIAL: For the 4th time this season, the Aztecs also captured the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week Award with kicker Cooper DiLeva taking home the honors. DiLeva kicked a career-high 53-yard FG with 57 seconds left and tied the school record with 4 made field goals and 5 attempts. The 53-yard blast is tied for the 7th longest field goal in Aztec history. DiLeva was also named one of the Lou Groza Award Stars of the Week and joins teammate WR/KR Jaylon Hawkins who’s won the Pac-12 special teams award 3 times already this season.

PAC PRIMERS
Boise State

Spencer Danielson’s team comes back from their bye week, riding a 5-game win streak where they’ve outscored their opponents by 16.6 PPG. The Broncos have scored at least 32 points in each of those games, their longest streak of 32+ point performances since the opening 5 games of the 2024 season. Boise State has not had 6 straight games with 32+ points since a 7-game streak in 2014 where they scored at least 37 points in each of those contests. Danielson was named this week to the Bear Bryant Award Midseason Watch List.
QB Maddux Madsen has been extremely efficient this season with 0 interceptions in 166 pass attempts, the 3rd most attempts this season without an INT, and joining Indiana’s Josh Hoover as the only FBS QB this season to have 10+ pass TD and 0 INT. Madsen has thrown 2+ pass TD in 4 straight games and 5 out of 6 contests on the season. The 5th year QB is 16-1 as a starter in his career in conference games with the only loss coming in a game he left due to injury in the 1st quarter.
The Broncos 2-headed monster at RB is back to full strength after both Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines went over 100 rush yards at Fresno State. After Gaines had missed the previous 2 games, it was the 2nd straight game that he had appeared in that the duo each ran for 100+ yards. Gaines is averaging 88.5 rush yards per game this season while Riley is 2nd in the country at 139.2 YPG.

Colorado State

QB Hauss Hejny is back this week after being injured early in the Week 3 loss to BYU. Through the first 2 weeks, Hejny was 2nd in the nation with 9 pass TD while averaging 269.5 YPG through the air and 62.0 YPG on the ground.
Through 6 games, the Rams have 10 plays from scrimmage this season of 50+ yards, 2nd most in the country behind Louisville (who has 11 in 7 games). RB Mel Brown has 3 runs of 50+ yards while RB Cedric Ross and WR RJ Vick each have 2 receptions of 50+. Last season, Colorado State had 2 total scrimmage plays of 50+ yards.
Colorado State has only allowed 3 sacks this season under Jim Mora, tied for the fewest by a team in FBS that has at least 225 pass attempts. Last season, the Rams surrendered 32 sacks in 12 games with 6 games of 3+ sacks and at least 1 in every game.

Fresno State

The Bulldogs have lost back-to-back games despite 23 points against San Diego State and 31 against Boise State. Fresno State had been 11-0 under Matt Entz when scoring more than 21 points in a game.
QB Jayden Mandal has gone 180 straight pass attempts without an interception, tying Derek Carr (2013) for the 6th longest streak in school history. The Bulldogs have only committed 4 turnovers on the season with 2 of them coming in the season opener. They are 1 of 12 FBS teams that have played 7 games while committing 4 or fewer turnovers this season.
Kicker Manaki Watanabe made a 51-yard field goal last week at San Diego State and is 4-4 on kicks of 50+ this season. Watanabe is 1 of 4 FBS kickers this season who has made 4 field goals of 50 yards or more this season and 1 of only 2 that have done it in just 4 attempts. The Ashland transfer is the only Fresno State kicker to make 4 field goals of 50 or longer in a single season and is 1 away from tying Kevin Goessling for the most total 50+ yard field goals in their Fresno career over the last 30 seasons.

Oregon State

The Beavers hit their bye week on a 5-game win streak, their longest since winning 7 straight over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. JaMarcus Shephard’s team has scored 48+ points in 3 straight games and 4 times in the last 5 games after scoring 48+ points 4 times the previous 6 seasons combined. OSU ranks 4th in the country in scoring offense (42.7 PPG) and 4th in total offense (527.0 YPG) while boasting the nation’s top passing attack (384.9 YPG).
QB Braden Atkinson continued his aerial assault on the 2026 season with 347 pass yards and 3 pass TD against Washington State. It was his 7th straight game with 300+ pass yards, tying the school record set by Sean Mannion in 2013. Atkinson leads the country with 24 pass TD which is also 6th most in OSU single-season history while also leading country in passing yards (2,604), pass yards per game (372.0), completions per game (27.0), total offense yards per game (372.1) and points responsible for (164).
RB AJ Newberry had his best game in a Beaver uniform in Week 7 with 105 rush yards on just 11 carries and 120 receiving yards on 5 receptions including an 88-yard TD catch. Newberry became just the 2nd Oregon State player in at least the last 30 seasons to surpass 100 rush yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game (Steven Jackson, 2003). The 88-yard touchdown was the 7th longest pass play in school history but 2nd longest in that game following a 90-yard touchdown by Jesse Legree.

San Diego State

The defense held Fresno State to just 276 yards of total offense, the fewest the Aztecs have allowed all season and just the 1st time this season they’ve held an opponent under 300 yards after doing it 8 times last season. SDSU’s last 2 wins are by a combined 5 points and is 3-1 under Sean Lewis in games decided by 3 points or less since the start of last season.
RB Lucky Sutton, who missed 3 of the last 4 games due to injury, put up a season-high 110 rush yards on 18 carries against the Bulldogs. It was his 7th career game with 100+ rush yards but 1st of this season, becoming the 3rd Aztec this season to top 100 yards (Javion Kinnard & Josiah Lucas).
LB Tano Letuli was credited with a team-high 11 tackles (7 solo) and a sack against Fresno State, giving him back-to-back games with 10+ tackles (14 at Oregon State) and 3 times in the last 5 games. Letuli has 60 tackles on the season (3rd most in the Pac-12) with 34 of them solo (2nd in the Pac-12) with teammate Sione Hala leading the conference in both categories.

Texas State

The Texas State offense under GJ Kinne continues to put up video game numbers each week and currently rank #1 in FBS in total offense (562.3 YPG), #3 in rushing offense (303.5 YPG) and #9 in scoring offense (40.0 PPG). The Bobcats are 1 of 5 teams in FBS this season that have scored 49+ points in 3 games (along with Oregon State) and 1 of 2 FBS teams (again along with Oregon State) that have put up 650 total yards in multiple games this season. Texas State scored on 10 straight drives, with 9 consecutive touchdowns, and had their most scrimmage touchdowns in a game since 2023 against Jackson State when they scored 11 (8 rush, 3 pass).
QB Brad Jackson set a school-record for QB with 181 rush yards, on just 13 attempts, against Colorado State while tying his career-high with 3 rush TD. Jackson was also 14-of-19 for 213 yards with another score through the air. Jackson is 1 of 6 FBS QBs this season to rush for 150+ yards with 3+ rush TD in a game with 4 of the 6 on that list coming from the 3 service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force). He made the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 for Week 7 and along with teammate Torrance Burgess Jr. were listed as honorable mention selections for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award for Week 7.
The Bobcats converted 5 of their 9 3rd down attempts (55.5%) and both of their 4th down tries in the win over Colorado State. Texas State ranks 5th in FBS in 3rd down offense, converting 55.4% of their chances this season.

Utah State

In their last game against Washington State, Bronco Mendenhall’s squad allowed 0 points and 64 total yards to the Cougars in the 2nd half which is consistent with their performance all season. Utah State is allowing just 5.83 PPG in the 2nd half of games this season, 6th best in FBS, and have not allowed more than 9 points after halftime in a game since Week 1. The Aggies have allowed only 1 rushing TD in the 2nd half so far this season.
RB Javen Jacobs has scored 1 touchdown in each of the last 3 games, 2 on the ground and 1 through the air. In those 3 games, he’s averaging 95.0 rush yards per game which included his 1st career 100-yard game when he rushed for 139 yards on just 10 carries at Boise State.
WR Eli Wood has pulled in at least 6 receptions in 5 of Utah State’s 6 games this season and ranks 2nd in the conference behind Oregon State’s Jesse Legree in receptions (36), receiving yards (472) and receiving TD (5). In 4 seasons at Virginia, Wood had 19 catches for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Washington State

In his 1st career start, QB Owen Eshelman proved himself a true dual threat as he went 32-of-49 for 289 yards and 2 scores while adding another 136 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The 136 rushing yards are the 2nd most ever by a Cougar QB in a single game with John Mateer picking up 197 yards in 2024 against Texas Tech and the 2nd most in a game by a Pac-12 QB this season (Texas State’s Brad Jackson 181 vs Colorado St). Eshelman is the only FBS QB this season to have at least 230 pass yards and 130 rush yards in the same game.
WR Branden Ganashamoorthy was a big part of Eshelman’s success, setting career highs with both 11 catches and 147 receiving yards while adding his 4th career TD. It was the first time in his career topping 100 receiving yards and is the first WSU receiver to do it this season.
LB Keith Brown racked up a career-high 15 tackles against Oregon State, his first career double-digit tackle game and the most by a Cougar since 2021 when Jahad Woods had 16 against BYU. Brown has 51 tackles on the season with 29 of them solo, 3rd most in the Pac-12.

PAC-12 IN THE WEEKLY NATIONAL RANKINGS

(AP, Coaches, CFP- starting Nov. 3)

	Boise St	Colorado St	Fresno St	Oregon St	San Diego St	Texas St	Utah St	Wash St
Pre	RV/RV	-	-	-	- /RV	-	-	-
Sept. 8	RV/RV	-	-	-	- /RV	-	-	-
Sept. 13	RV/RV	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sept. 20	RV/RV	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sept. 27	22/RV	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Oct. 5	23/RV	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Oct. 12	23/24	-	-	RV/RV	-	-	-	-
Oct. 19	21/22	-	-	RV/RV	-	-	-	-

(S&P+, The Athletic, CBS Sports 138)

	Boise St	Colorado St	Fresno St	Oregon St	San Diego St	Texas St	Utah St	Wash St
Pre	49/21/43	107/115/101	73/57/75	89/116/94	65/43/71	77/82/85	96/104/97	86/83/88
Sept. 8	51/21/31	98/101/79	100/81/95	90/111/94	58/44/65	101/83/96	108/137/102	79/77/82
Sept. 13	48/23/27	95/101/77	75/82/76	84/85/71	72/47/54	90/87/88	99/133/96	97/83/99
Sept. 20	47/22/26	96/102/76	71/77/95	79/66/59	78/78/56	91/69/79	106/133/94	89/83/98
Sept. 27	47/17/28	87/103/77	70/74/95	65/62/59	100/99/69	76/69/79	105/118/94	106/83/98
Oct. 5	40/19/25	103/106/76	60/66/95	58/55/50	100/84/65	73/85/78	107/119/94	108/98/98
Oct. 12	42/18/31	103/107/115	58/69/50	51/30/37	109/102/109	70/84/91	105/117/119	111/120/123
Oct. 19	37/22/27	111/107/118	59/86/61	39/30/33	104/83/97	62/84/77	108/117/121	117/120/124