By: Pac-12 Conference

Full release here

WEEK 3 SCHEDULE (all times PT)
Saturday, September 19
North Texas at Texas State                        9am             USA Network
        Nate Gatter, Ryan Leaf, Lauren Green    

Utah State at #17 Utah                            12:30pm         FOX
        Dan Hellie, Robert Smith

Duquesne at Washington State              12:30pm        USA Network
        Guy Haberman, Alex Brink, Kate Harrison

#11 BYU at Colorado State                      4:30pm         CBS
        Rich Waltz, Brian Kelly, Adam Breneman

South Dakota at Boise State                     7pm             CBS Sports Network
        Chris Lewis, Randy Cross, Brandon Baylor

James Madison at San Diego State          7pm             The CW
        Chris Fisher, Will Blackmon, Michael Bumpus

Montana at Oregon State                          8pm             USA Network
        Ted Robinson, Darius Walker, Dalen Cuff

Fresno State at San Jose State                8pm              FS1
        Carlo Jimenez, Petros Papadakis

AROUND THE PAC-12
100 PERCENT:  Through Week 2, all 8 Pac-12 schools are ranked in the Top 99 of ESPN’s SP+ metric to make them 1 of 5 FBS conferences with 100% of their schools in the Top 99 (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12).  The next highest percentages are the American Conference at 64% (9 of 14 teams) and the Mountain West at 50% (5 of 10).  When you look at another ESPN metric - FPI, Boise State comes in at #36 which puts it ahead of 11 ACC schools, 10 Big Ten schools, 9 Big 12 schools and 3 from the SEC, as well as all non-autonomy schools.  All 8 of the Pac-12’s teams rank in the top 75% of FBS in FPI (top 103), again joining the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 as the only conferences that can say that. 

POWER SCHEDULE:  The Pac-12 has faced 7 AP Top 25 opponents so far this season, most of any FBS conference so far this season with 2 more games on tap this weekend.  No other FBS conference has faced more than 5 through Week 2.  AP To 25 teams are 35-4 so far this season.  In ESPN’s Strength of Schedule rankings, the Pac-12 has 5 teams in the Top 29 with Texas State at #1.  7 of the Pac-12’s 8 schools are in the Top 60 of SOS.  Of the Pac-12’s 24 non-conference games vs. FBS opponents this season, 20 are against teams that were bowl eligible in 2025 including 3 that were in last year’s College Football Playoff.

BLUE BY YOU:  Boise State picked up a significant win in the conference resume battle for the College Football Playoff with a 38-20 victory over Memphis, outscoring the Tigers 35-3 from the final 2:30 of the first half.  RB Dylan Riley ran for a career-high 206 yards, his 2nd career 200+ yard game, to take home the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week and Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week.  Riley currently ranks 4th in FBS this season with 128.0 rush yards per game.  WR/KR Cam Bates returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter on his first career punt return to speed away with Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors.  It was the Broncos first punt return for TD since 2021.

SO FRESH, SO CLEAN:  Oregon State WR Jesse Legree had a monster performance in the Beavers’ near upset of then #13 Texas Tech with 240 yards receiving and 2 scores.  The Baltimore native earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the 2nd straight week and claimed national honors as the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week as well as recognition from On3 and 247Sports as their top freshman in the country for Week 2.  His 240 yards were the 2nd most ever by an Oregon State player in a game (Mike Hass 293 at Boise State in 2004) and 6th most by an FBS true freshman in a single game since at least 1995.  Legree currently leads the nation in both receiving yards (376) and receiving yards per game (188.0) while ranking in the Top 10 in all-purpose yards per game (188.0, 2nd), yards per reception (28.92, 9th) and receiving touchdowns (3, 9th).

ARMS RACE:  Quarterback play was expected to be a strength in the Pac-12 this season and so far 2 signal callers find themselves in the Top 10 in several national statistics.  Oregon State QB Braden Atkinson, the 2025 Jerry Rice Award winner as the top freshman in FCS, leads the nation in passing yards per game (394.5) and ranks in the top 4 in completions per game (30.0, 2nd), total offense YPG (372.5, 3rd) and passing yards (789, 4th).  Colorado State QB Hauss Hejny, who’s led Colorado State to a 2-0 start, is 2nd in the country with 9 pass TD while his 30.0 points responsible for per game leads FBS.

IN FOCUS:  Pro Football Focus also had some high grades for Pac-12 players for their performances in Week 1.  Hejny was named PFF’s national Quarterback of the Week and was joined on their National Team of the Week by Oregon State’s Legree.  PFF had Hejny with a 1.61% big-time throw rate with a turnover-worthy play rate of just 3.0%.

MADE IN MANHATTAN:  Washington State DB Jaylen Thomas had 2 interceptions (the first 2 of his career) in Week 2, including one for a touchdown, to be the bright spot on the Cougars Week 2 trip to Kansas State to earn Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.  Thomas is the first WSU player to have multiple interceptions in a game with at least one returned for a touchdown since Armani Marsh in the 2021 Apple Cup win at Washington.  The last Coug to win this award was Ron Stone Jr. in Week 2 of the 2023 season.

PAC PRIMERS
Boise State

• Spencer Danielson’s crew has won 7 straight non-conference home games, all of them by at least 14 points, and are 52-6 in those games since 2000.  Boise State has won 21 straight against FCS opponents with their last loss coming in 1997 to Cal State Northridge in just the Broncos 2nd season at the FBS level.  The Broncos won the only previous meeting against South Dakota back in 1973 (53-10) while the Coyotes have lost 6 straight against FBS teams since winning 35-27 at Bowling Green in 2017.
• Boise State put up 357 yards on the ground against Memphis, their most in a game since 2024 when they rushed for 371 yards in a win at Georgia Southern.  Last week, not only did Dylan Riley put up a huge game but Sire Gaines racked up 93 yards on 17 carries in a touchdown.  It’s the 4th time in Gaines’ career he’s put up 90+ yards and the first time the Broncos have had 2 players with 90+ rush yards in the same game since the 2024 Georgia Southern win when Gaines had 110 yards on the ground along with 267 yards from Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty. 
• QB Maddux Madsen had both a pass touchdown and rush touchdown in last week’s win over Memphis, the 10th time in his career he’s had at least one of each which is the 5th most in school’s history since moving to FBS.  In those 10 games, the 5th year QB has thrown for a combined 16 pass TD with just 2 interceptions (with none in the last 8 games).  Madsen needs to reach that milestone one more time to tie Taylen Green, the quarterback Madsen replaced who’s now the Cleveland Browns 3rd-string QB, for 4th all-time in Boise State history.

Colorado State

• The Rams are off to their first 2-0 start since 2011 and Jim Mora becomes the first Colorado State head coach to start their tenure 2-0 since Bob Davis in 1947.  With a win over BYU, CSU leads the Pac-12 in both scoring offense (46.5 PPG) and scoring defense (18.5 PPG) and have scored 35+ points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2019 when they did it in 3 straight (35 at New Mexico, 41 at Fresno State, 37 vs. UNLV).
•  Colorado State put up 678 total yards in the win over Southern Utah, the 4th most in a game in program history.  For the 2nd straight week, Hauss Hejny put up huge numbers with 325 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air and another 85 yards and a score on the ground.  It's just the 4th time in at least the 30 seasons that a CSU QB had 4+ pass TD and at least 1 rush TD in the same game with the last 2 coming from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi in 2023 & 2024.  Hejny’s TD run went 75 yards, the longest by a Rams QB since Bradlee Van Pelt had a 79-yard score against Fresno State in 2002.
• UConn transfer RB Mel Brown also had a big game on the ground with a career-high 171 rush yards on just 9 carries with 2 touchdowns - his 3rd career game with 100+ rush yards and first with multiple touchdowns.  Brown had a 73-yard TD run and an 80-yard run where he was tackled at the 1-yard line, the longest non-scoring run in program history.  He also became the first player in school history to rush for 150+ yards with fewer than 10 carries in a game. 

Fresno State

• The Bulldogs bounced back in a big way with a 49-3 victory over Sacramento State in Week 2.  The 46-point victory is their largest since a 48-0 win over New Mexico State in 2024 and the 32 points they scored in the 2nd quarter, their most in a quarter against an FBS team since putting up 35 points in the first quarter against Colorado in a 69-14 win back in 2012.
• For just the 3rd time in the last 40 years, Fresno State had a 300-yard passer (Jayden Mandal, 316), 100-yard rusher (Bryson Donelson, 102) and two 100-yard receivers (Ezekiel Avit - 103 & Josiah Freeman - 100) in the same game.  The Bulldogs previously did it in 2012 against Air Force with Derek Carr (452 pass yds), Robbie Rouse (106 rush yds), Isaiah Burse (158 rec yds) and Davante Adams (141 rec yds).  Mandal was making his first home start last season in the stadium he grew up going to games, topping 300 yards for the 1st time in his career and tying the school record for completion percentage in a game at 88.5% (23-26).
• Fresno State will be looking for their 3rd straight win over rival San Jose State for the Valley Trophy after beating the Spartans by a combined 50 points the last 2 seasons.  The Bulldogs will be looking to win this rivalry game for the 3rd straight year for the first time since a 4-game streak from 2007-10.  Fresno State TE Bryce McDaniel is the brother of San Jose State backup QB Robert McDaniel.

Oregon State

• As noted above, QB Braden Atkinson ranks in the top 10 nationally in several categories. The Mercer transfer is the first OSU QB to open the season with back-to-back games with 350+ pass yards since Sean Mannion opened the 2013 season with 7 straight games of 350+ yards.
• LB Aiden Sullivan has been a force on defense so far this season with 19 tackles and 2.0 TFL and 2 PBU through the first 2 games.  Sulivan had 10 tackles last week against Texas Tech, the 3rd time in his career he’s had 10+ tackles.
• This is the first meeting between Oregon State and Montana since 1996 and the Beavers own a 12-2-2 lead in the series.  These 2 schools are former conference rivals as the Bobcats were a part of the Pacific Coast Conference from 1924 to 1950.  Montana has actually won the last 2 times these schools have met. 

San Diego State

• The Aztecs own a 7-game home win streak, the longest active streak among Pac-12 teams and tied for the 14th longest active streak in FBS.  SDSU has allowed 7 or fewer points in 5 of those 7 games with 2 shutouts.  Last week at UCLA, the Aztecs held the Bruins scoreless in the first half, the first nonconference team to hold UCLA scoreless at halftime in the Rose Bowl since 1989.
• RB Lucky Sutton has 139 rush yards and 3 TD through 2 games this season and needs just 13 yards to move into the school’s top 20 all-time in career rushing yards.  Sutton has 719 rush yards and 10 rush TD in 7 home games since the start of last season.  The San Diego native has zero career fumbles on 333 career touches.
• One week after facing last year’s James Madison head coach Bob Chesney, who had 11 former JMU players on their roster, the Aztecs face this year’s version of the Dukes.  This is the first ever meeting between these 2 schools and SDSU’s first game against an opponent from the Sun Belt Conference since 2016 when they traveled to South Alabama.  James Madison scored 87 points last week against Wagner, the most by an FBS team since 1991 when Fresno State beat New Mexico 94-17.

Texas State

• The Bobcats rushed for 289 yards last week against UTSA, tied for the 5th most in the GJ Kinne Era.  RB Torrance Burgess Jr. rushed for a career-high 149 yards on just 17 carries for his 1st career game with 100+ rush yards.  Burgess broke off a 65-yard run in the x quarter, Texas State’s longest run since Lincoln Pare’s 73-yard TD in 2024.  RB Davian Jackson, who did not see action last season as a true freshman, also set his career-high with 99 yards on just 18 carries and has reached the end zone in both games.
• With the WR group shorthanded due to injury, Kylen Evans took advantage of the opportunity last week and set career-highs with 5 catches for 96 yards.  The Bobcats have 2 WR on the Biletnikoff Award watch list with Chris Dawn Jr., who leads the team with 11 catches, and Beau Sparks, who missed last week’s game.  The expected #3 WR, Arizona State transfer Zechariah Sample, has missed the first 2 games after an impressive fall camp.
• Texas State has had one of the top scoring offenses in the country the last 3 seasons, finishing in the Top 12 nationally each year.  And while the scoring has not yet reached that level this season, the Bobcats have still performed up to their standards on 3rd downs as they currently rank 19th in FBS by converting 54.8% (8/14 at Texas, 9/17 vs. UTSA).  GJ Kinne’s squad has ranked in the Top 30 in 3rd down % in each of the past 3 seasons.   

Utah State

• The Aggies will be facing an AP Top 25 team in back-to-back games for the first time since 2024 when they faced #13 USC and #12 Utah in Weeks 2 and 3.  Its the first time they will face a ranked opponent on the road in consecutive weeks since 2003 (#23 Nebraska, #16 Arizona State).  USU is looking for their first win over an AP Top 25 team since knocking off #19 San Diego State in the 2021 Mountain West Championship Game.  Bronco Mendenhall’s squad just missed an upset of then #19 Washington last week, 16-14, with a hail mary to end the game intercepted on the goal line.   
• Utah State and Utah will meet this weekend for the 114th time in the Battle of the Brothers, the 8th most played series in the western United States.  The Aggies last win over the Utes came in 2012 when Chuckie Keeton led the team to a 27-20 overtime victory in Logan in front of a sold out crowd, their first in 10 years.  Utah State’s last win at Rice-Eccles Stadium came in the 1997 season opener.
• QB Grady Brosterhous, who transferred from Virginia this offseason, made his first career start last week at Washington and completed 17 of his 28 pass attempts for 196 yards and 2 scores with 3 interceptions.   In 4 seasons at Virginia, he attempted only 1 pass in the 13 games he saw action.  The grad transfer had a 78-yard TD to WR Javon Robinson, Utah State’s longest play from scrimmage since 2020.  Brosterhous also added a career-high 81 yards rushing on 21 carries in the game.

Washington State

• For the 2nd straight week, Washington State will be facing an opponent they’ve never seen before in Duquesne.  Since 1980, the Cougars are 25-2 against FCS opponents with the last loss coming to Eastern Washington in 2016 when future Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp had 12 catches for 206 yards and 3 scores in the Eagles 45-42 victory.  For Duquesne, not only is it their first game against any Pac-12 school but just their 15th different FBS opponent in school history.  The Dukes have 1 all-time FBS victory, winning at Ohio 28-26 in 2021.  Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt is in his 22nd season with the Dukes, the longest-tenured head coach in the FCS.
• LB Keith Brown, who missed all of last season due to injury, has 11 solo tackles so far this season, tied for the most in the Pac-12.  He’s already only 5 away from matching his career-high of 16 set in his first year with the Cougars in 2024.
• Washington State rushed for 101 yards last week at Kansas State for their 11th straight game with 100+ rush yards.  It’s WSU’s longest streak since topping the century mark in 16 straight games from Nov. 6, 2004 to September 9, 2006.  The Cougars meanwhile have gone back-to-back games without a passing TD for the first time since 2010 (Cal, at Arizona State).

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	-	-	-
Wk 1	RV/RV	-	-	-	- /RV	-	-	-
Wk 2	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
Wk 1	51/21/31	98/101/79	100/81/95	90/111/94	58/44/65	101/83/96	108/137/102	79/77/82
Wk 2	48/23/27	95/101/77	75/82/76	84/85/71	72/47/54	90/87/88	99/133/96	97/83/99

PAC-12:  A TOP 5 LEAGUE
Over the last five seasons since 2021, and considering conference compositions beginning with the 2026 season, the new Pac-12 has stacked up competitively as a Top 5 conference across a number of notable datapoints, including:

• The fourth-best overall winning percentage (.537) for any league behind only the SEC (.612), Big Ten (.591) and Big 12 (.554).
  • Six of the Pac-12 eight schools have a .500 or better record over that span, tied with the Big 12 for highest percentage (75%)
• The fifth-best average FPI ranking (78) behind the SEC (28), Big Ten (40), Big 12 (46) and ACC (52).
• The fifth-best average SP+ ranking (74) behind the SEC (29), Big Ten (44), Big 12 (52) and ACC (58)
• The fifth-best SportSource Analytics Team Success average rating and ranking (42.9, 74) behind the SEC (65.6, 33), Big Ten (60.1, 43), Big 12 (55.3, 48) and ACC (49.8, 59).
• One of only five conferences to have seen more than half their football membership ranked at some point in the AP Top 25 poll over the last five seasons (75%, 6 of 8), including the SEC (100%, 16 of 16), Big 12 (94%, 15 of 16), ACC (88%, 15 of 17) and Big Ten (83%, 15 of 18).
• One of only five conferences to have seen more than half their football membership ranked at some point in the CFP Top 25 over the last five seasons (63%, 5 of 8), including the SEC (94%, 15 of 16), Big 12 (94%, 15 of 16), Big Ten (78%, 14 of 18) and ACC (71%, 12 of 17).

In addition, the new Pac-12 saw 75% of its collective membership (6 of 8) reach bowl eligibility and participate in the postseason in 2025, the highest percentage of membership for any conference last season.