By: Pac-12 Conference
Full release here
WEEK 4 SCHEDULE (all times PT)
Saturday, September 26
San Diego State at Toledo 9am CBS Sports Network
Jack Gordon, Taylor McHargue
Colorado State at UTSA 9am ESPNU
Mike Corey, Craig Haubert
Boise State at Western Michigan 12:30pm ESPN2
Jay Alter, Tom Luginbill, Lauren Sisler
Incarnate Word at Texas State 3pm USA Network
Nate Gatter, Ryan Leaf, Lauren Green
Troy at Utah State 4:30pm CBS Sports Network
Jordan Kent, Doug Pederson, Brandon Baylor
Arizona at Washington State 4:30pm CBS
Rich Waltz, Adam Breneman, Brian Kelly, Jordan Giorgio
Oregon State at UTEP 6pm MW+
Andy Morgan, Cole Freytag
Rice at Fresno State 7pm The CW
Rick Allen, Will Blackmon, Michael Bumpus
AROUND THE PAC-12
WEEK 4: For the first time this season, the Pac-12 does not face a non-conference opponent that’s currently ranked in the AP Top 25. Through 3 weeks, the Pac-12 has played 9 non-conference games against Top 25 teams, 2 more than any other conference.
This week still provides challenges with a 2-1 Arizona from the Big 12 headed to Pullman and 4 Pac-12 teams facing opponents ranked in the Top 95 of SP+ with a combined record of 8-4 (Western Michigan, Toledo, UTSA, and Troy).
The Pac-12 has 5 teams currently ranked in the Top 33 in ESPN’s Strength of Schedule with Texas State leading the way at #8. 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.
As a conference, the Pac-12 sits firmly 5th among all FBS conferences in both average FPI (81.5) and average SP+ (82.1).
‘ZOO-TOPIA: While neither team currently sits in the Top 25, both Boise State and Western Michigan are the leading vote getters in the AP poll among teams outside of the autonomous conferences. Saturday, those 2 teams will face off in Kalamazoo for their 1st ever meeting, a game expected to have a major impact on the race for the College Football Playoff.
Boise State has won their last 3 road games against opponents from the MAC conference with the last one coming in 2011 at Toledo. The Broncos are 10-3 all-time against teams from the MAC and won the last meeting with a 55-7 victory over Northern Illinois in the 2015 Poinsettia Bowl.
Western Michigan picked up a 28-21 win at Rice last week to improve to 2-1 on the season with their lone loss coming in controversial fashion, a 13-12 defeat at Michigan in the season opener, when instant replay put 1 second back on the clock in time for the Wolverines to connect on a 47-yard Hail Mary GW TD as time expired. WMU has only ever faced a Pac-12 school once, a 2017 loss at USC in their 2017 opener, and has faced schools currently in the Pac-12 three times, going 0-3 against Fresno State (1972, 1988) and Utah State (1961).
A-IRING IT OUT: Oregon State QB Braden Atkinson took home Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week in Week 3 after a 6 touchdown (5 pass, 1 rush) performance in the 52-17 win over Montana. The last Beaver to put up 6 touchdowns in a game since Jake Luton did it in 2019 against UCLA. The 2nd year QB amassed 333 pass yards for his 3rd straight game with 300+ pass yards, the first OSU QB to accomplish that since Sean Mannion reached the milestone in each of the first 7 games in 2013. Atkinson leads the country with 374.0 pass YPG and is 2nd in passing yards with 1,122.
3, THE MAGIC NUMBER: For the 3rd straight week, Oregon State WR Jesse Legree hauled in Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors as he grabbed 4 passes for 100 yards and a score. Legree, the nation’s leading in receiving yards (476) and receiving YPG (158.7), is the only FBS player this season and just the 5th player in OSU history to have 3 straight weeks with 100+ receiving yards - the first since Biletnikoff Award winner Brandin Cooks in 2013. The Baltimore native joins Utah RB Ty Jordan (2020) as the only players to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in 3 consecutive weeks.
TOP DOGS: Matt Entz’s Fresno State squad not only took home the Valley Trophy for the 3rd straight season by beating San Jose State but also claimed their first Pac-12 weekly football awards.
DB Ethan Tierney snagged 2 interceptions, his first career multi-interception game, to earn the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week as Fresno State forced 4 turnovers in the 26-10 victory. Tierney is the first Bulldog with multiple interceptions in a game since teammate Simeon Harris had 2 last year against San Jose State. In fact, this is the 3rd straight season that a Fresno State player has had multiple interceptions in a game against the Spartans.
Kicker Manaki Watanabe meanwhile converted 4 of his 5 field goal attempts and scored 14 points to nab Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week. Watanabe set his D1 career-high with a 52-yard FG, one of two 50+ yarders on the night to give him an FBS-high 3 field goals made from 50 yards or more. In fact, no other FBS kicker this season has even attempted 3 from that distance and no Fresno State kicker has made three 50+ yard field goals in a season since at least 1996. He was also named one of the Lou Groza Award Stars of the Week as one of the top 3 performances by a kicker for Week 3.
POWER BACKS: Week 3 in the Pac-12 saw several outstanding performances at the running back position including 3 of the top 5 rushing yard outputs in FBS from Week 3.
One week after ripping off his 1st career 100-yard game, Texas State’s Torrance Burgess Jr. set a new career-high with an FBS-most 214 yards on the ground in the win over rival North Texas. He’s the first Bobcat to rush for 200+ yards in a game since Ismail Mahdi in 2023 (216 vs. Nevada) and the first to have 140+ in back-to-back games since Robert Lowe in 2014. Burgess also had a 76-yard run, the longest by a Bobcat since 2021 and the 12th longest run in FBS this season. Meanwhile his teammate, Davian Jackson, had 4 touchdowns (3 rush, 1 rec) against the Mean Green to become the first Texas State player with 4 scrimmage TD in a game since Beau Sparks (4 rec TD) did it last year against Eastern Michigan. The last Bobcat to rush for 3 TD in a game was QB Brad Jackson last season against South Alabama.
Boise State’s Dylan Riley put up 198 yards, 2nd most in FBS in Week 3, with 2 touchdowns to become the first Bronco back with 190+ rush yards and multiple rush TD in a game since Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty did it 4 times in 2024. Riley, the only back this season with 2 games of 195+ rush yards, ranks 3rd in FBS with 454 rush yards and 151.3 rush yards per game. The 3rd year player had an 83-yard TD run in the 4th quarter (2nd longest in FBS this season) and is 1 of 2 players in FBS this season, along with CSU’s Mel Brown, with multiple runs of 70+ yards.
With Lucky Sutton out, Javion Kinnard made the most of his opportunity for San Diego State with career-highs of 33 carries and 181 rush yards with a score. It was the 5th highest yardage output in FBS in Week 3 and he’s the first Aztec to top 180 yards in a game since Marquez Cooper had 224 in the 2024 season opener against East Texas A&M and it's the first against an FBS team since 2017. In his previous 12 career games with both SDSU and Colorado State, Kinnard had combined for 32 carries for 183 yards with no touchdowns. The 2nd year player also added 4 catches for 70 yards and the 251 scrimmage yards are the most by an Aztec since Rashaad Penny had 253 against Hawaii in 2017.
HITTING THE BOOKS: 5 Pac-12 players have been selected as semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, often referred to as the “academic Heisman” as it combines academic success with football performance and leadership. The Pac-12 semifinalists are Maddux Madsen (Boise State), Merhauti Xepera (Fresno State), Jake Reichle (Oregon State), Beau Sparks (Texas State), and Brevin Hamblin (Utah State).
FOCUS ON THE TRENCHES: The Pac-12 was well represented on the Pro Football Focus’ College Football Team of the Week. 4 players made the list, accounting for 80% of the offensive line with Boise State’s Stewart Taufa (Center) and Roger Carreon (RG) being joined by Oregon State LT Jacob Anderson and San Diego State RT Dennis Jones.
PAC PRIMERS
Boise State
- The Broncos put up 533 yards of total offense last week, their 2nd straight game with 500+ yards and 12th time in the Spencer Danielson era. Their 325 rush yards gave them back-to-back games with 300+ on the ground for the first time since 2022 (Week 5 vs San Diego State and Week 6 vs Fresno State). Both Dylan Riley (198) and Sire Gaines (102) topped 100 yards, the 15th time the Broncos have had multiple 100-yard rushers in the same game in their FBS era (since 1996) and the first time since 2024.
- Maddux Madsen completed 22 of 31 passes for 208 yards and 2 pass TD as he became the 7th QB in program history to reach 7,000 career passing yards. Madsen now has 56 career pass TD and needs 2 more to tie Jim McMillan and Jared Zabransky for 6th most in a Bronco uniform. The 5th-year QB completed passes to 8 different receivers and has now found 7+ receivers in each of the last 12 games that he’s played all 4 quarters. Madsen has 0 INT in 88 pass attempts this season, tied for the 5th most attempts in FBS this season without an interception.
- DB Travis Anderson came up big for the Broncos in the Week 3 win with a pair of interceptions, including one with 1:18 remaining to seal the victory. It was the first multi-INT game of Anderson’s career and became the first Boise State player to accomplish that fate since Jeremiah Earby did it twice last season. The 3rd year player is tied for the conference lead with 3 INT, 2nd most in FBS. Meanwhile, LB Boen Phelps had 5 tackles with 1.0 TFL last week, giving him 3.5 TFL on the season and 6.5 in his last 6 games overall.
Colorado State
- QB Hauss Hejny, who leads the Pac-12 in pass TD and completion percentage, left in the 1st quarter of last week’s loss to BYU with a hamstring injury. K’saan Farrar and Darius Curry went a combined 19 of 31 for 140 yards in relief of Hejny. Curry took over early in the 4th quarter after a Farrar injury and led CSU on 2 touchdown drives.
- Colorado State has been explosive this season and their 6 scrimmage plays of 50+ yards is tied with Louisville for most in FBS. RB Mel Brown has 2 runs of 70+ while fellow RB Cedric Ross has a pair of receptions of 50+ yards. Hejny also has a 75-yard TD run from Week 2, the 3rd longest run by an FBS QB this season.
- The Rams defense has forced 10 turnovers in 3 games, after creating 16 all of last season , giving them a +8 turnover margin which is tied for 2nd best in FBS. CB CJ Blocker, in his 2nd season in Fort Collins after transferring from Utah, has an interception in each game this season. Jim Mora’s squad has multiple interceptions in each of their first 3 games, the first time CSU has done that since 2017.
Fresno State
- In the last 2 weeks, the Bulldogs have allowed a total of 13 points which is the 2nd time under Matt Entz they’ve allowed 10 or fewer points in back-to-back weeks . They held San Jose State to 335 total yards one week after only giving up 262 to Sacramento State. In the 16 games under Entz, the defense has held opposing offenses under 350 yards 12 times.
- WR Josiah Freeman had his 15-game streak with a reception snapped in the season-opener at USC but has bounced back with a vengeance. Freeman had 6 catches for 100 yards in Week 2 for his 2nd career 100-yard game and followed that up with another 6 catches for 95 yards and a score against the Spartans, his first receiving TD since last year’s game in San Jose.
- Over the last 2 games, RB Bryson Donelson has combined for 159 rush yards on 22 carries with 4 rush TD, 1 short of his career-high touchdown total from last year. Donelson has consecutive games with a rushing touchdown for the 2nd time in his career and is looking to do it in 3 straight games for the 1st time.
Oregon State
- The Beavers scored 52 points last week, their most since November 2023 when they put up 62 against Stanford, to give JaMarcus Shephard his first win as a head coach. Oregon State scored a touchdown on 6 of their first 7 drives and had 6 drives in the game of 67+ yards, with all 6 of them resulting in a touchdown. On the season, OSU has scored on 100% of their red zone drives with 8 touchdowns and 2 field goals on their 10 trips.
- Oregon State leads the Pac-12 with 19 plays of 20+ yards, having picked up at least 6 in every game this season. 17 of those 19 have come on passing plays with 8 big gains from Jesse Legree. 9 different players caught a pass in the win over Montana with 4 different receivers having at least 1 catch of 20+ yards. 3 receivers also had their first touchdown catch in a Beaver uniform in that game: Aeryn Hampton, Eric Olsen, and DeCorion Temple.
- While this is their first ever matchup with UTEP, it is not their first trip to Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso as the Beavers have played in the bowl game 3 times going 2-1 in those games. The Miners meanwhile are 0-15 all-time against teams that were in the Pac-12 at the time of the game. UTEP has already faced 2 ranked teams on the road this season, losing 51-0 at then #10 Oklahoma in Week 1 and 52-17 at then #19 Michigan last week.
San Diego State
- The Aztecs visit a team from the MAC for the 3rd straight year after winning at Northern Illinois 6-3 last season when they held the Huskies to just 169 total yards and Gabe Pasecenica kicked a GW 25-yard FG as time expired. SDSU has faced Toledo just once before in 2022 when Jordan Byrd scored on a 1-yard TD with 41 seconds left of a 17-14 victory in just the 3rd ever game at the then recently opened Snapdragon Stadium. Since 2013, the Aztecs are 8-2 against teams from the MAC with 6 of the games decided by 7 points or less.
- After a slow start last week, SDSU outgained James Madison 238-136 in the 2nd half and forced a punt in 4 of the 5 possessions after halftime. Jayden Denegal overcame his first half struggles, completing 14-21 for 150 of his 209 pass yards plus a score in the 2nd half, including all 6 of Nathan Acevedo’s receptions.
- LB Sione Hala was a force on defense in Week 3 with 10 tackles (9 of them solo), a PBU and his first sack as an Aztec. It was the 2nd time in 3 games he’s had 10+ tackles and his 29 tackles on the season leads the Pac-12 while his 9.67 tackles per game are 12th most in FBS this season. 19 of the 29 tackles are solo and the 6.33 solo tackles per game are tied for 6th most in FBS.
Texas State
- The Bobcat offense racked up 605 total yards against North Texas, their most since picking up 606 against Eastern Michigan in last year’s season opener, to pick up their first win of the season. It’s the 17th time in the GJ Kinne era that the team has surpassed 500 total yards in a game, tied for the 4th most in FBS since the start of the 2023 season. Texas State also piled up 337 yards on the ground, their most since compiling 392 in that same Eastern Michigan game, and the 5th time they’ve topped 300 rush yards under Kinne.
- QB Brad Jackson tied a career high 4 pass TD last week and it was his 7th career game with multiple TD passes. In 16 games since the start of last season, Jackson has 26 pass TD and 18 rush TD - 1 of just 3 FBS QB with 20+ pass TD and 15+ rush TD in that span (Alonza Barnett III & Byrum Brown). The 3rd year QB also had a season-high in pass yards (268) and completion percentage (72.7%, 16-22).
- WR Chris Dawn Jr. continues to show why he was on the Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List after grabbing 4 passes for 107 yards and 2 scores in the win over the Mean Green. It’s the 7th 100-yard game of Dawn’s career (first of the season) and the 4th time he’s had multiple TD in a game. The 4th year player ranks 3rd in the Pac-12 in both receptions (15) and receiving yards (201).
Utah State
- The Aggie defense is allowing just 359.0 total yards per game, 2nd best in the Pac-12 so far this season. USU had a season-high 7 tackles for loss last week against Utah and have 16 on the season, tied for 2nd most in the conference. Linebackers Asher Cunningham and James Jennette each have 3.0 this season, tied for the 2nd highest total in the conference.
- For the 3rd straight game, WR Eil Wood was the Aggies leading receiver as he snagged 4 catches for 47 yards last week against Utah. The Virginia transfer has already matched his career high for receptions in a season with 16, 2nd most in the Pac-12 this year, while his 190 receiving yards are just 15 short of matching last year’s total.
- Utah State and Troy will face off for the 4th time having faced each other 3 straight seasons from 2002 to 2004, the last 2 while they were both members of the Sun Belt Conference. The Aggies are coming off back-to-back road games against AP Top 25 opponents (at then #19 Washington & at then #17 Utah) while the Trojans also were on the road against a Top 25 team last week, losing at then #20 Missouri 27-17.
Washington State
- The Cougars picked up win #1 in the Kirby Moore era last week with a 48-7 victory over Duquesne to prevail in their home opener for the 5th straight season. The 48 points are their most since putting up 49 against Utah State in 2024 and the 41-point margin of victory is their largest since a 56-14 win (+42) over Colorado in November 2023.
- Washington State amassed 316 yards on the ground last week for their first 300-yard game since 2024 and their most in a game since rushing for 344 against Idaho in 2006. Maxwell Woods had 116 yards on just 11 carries for his 2nd career game with 100+ yards after putting up 117 in last year’s bowl game. Meanwhile, Kirby Vorhees had 109 yards on just 9 carries and 2 TD for his 2nd career game with 100+ yards and 1st in a WSU uniform. It's the first time that the Cougs have had multiple running backs top 100 yards in the same game since 2005 when Jerome Harrison and DeMaundray Woolridge did it in back-to-back games against Nevada and Grambling State.
- WSU also returned 2 punts for touchdowns in that game, just the 3rd time in program history and first time since 1973 (Idaho) that the Cougs have accomplished that feat. With 5:32 left in the game, Jaylen Thomas returned a punt 47 yards for the touchdown, the first in his career. The very next possession saw Tank Hawkins take one 65 yards to the house for his first career TD as a returner.
- Last week, Thomas returned an interception for a score to earn Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and joined USA Network’s Erik Coleman as the only WSU players in at least the last 30 seasons to have a punt return TD and interception return TD in the same season. In 2002, Coleman had 3 touchdowns - a 25-yard INT return against UCLA, an 11-yard fumble return against Montana State and a 9-yard return of a blocked punt against Cal.
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 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
(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 |