This Week in Pac-12 Football - Week 5

9/30/2026 3:30:00 PM

By: Pac-12 Conference

Full release here

WEEK 5 SCHEDULE (all times PT)
Saturday, October 3
Oregon State at Colorado State                 3pm            USA Network
          Ted Robinson, Darius Walker, Dalen Cuff

Utah State at #22 Boise State                     4:30pm      CBS Sports Network
          Jordan Kent, Doug Pederson, Brandon Baylor

Fresno State at Washington State             6:30pm       USA Network
          Nate Gatter, Ryan Leaf, Lauren Green

Texas State at San Diego State                  7:30pm       The CW
          Rick Allen, Will Blackmon, Michael Bumpus

AROUND THE PAC-12
CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS!:  The new incarnation of the Pac-12 kicks off conference play with all 8 schools in action.  The matchups span from the very familiar to a first ever meeting.

  • Texas State and San Diego State will face off not just in their first ever Pac-12 conference games but in the first ever pairing of these 2 schools.
  • Oregon State and Colorado State have split their 4 previous meetings with the last one an OSU double overtime win in Corvallis in 2024.  The Beavers and Rams have met in Fort Collins once before in the 2017 season-opener which was also the 1st ever game at Canvas Stadium.
  • Washington State has won 4 of the 6 all-time meetings with Fresno State, including the most recent matchup in 2024 in the Valley.  The Bulldogs have won 1 of the 3 meetings in Pullman, taking home a 34-30 victory in 1991.
  • This will be the 31st ever meeting between Boise State and Utah State including every season since 2013 when the Aggies joined the Mountain West.  The Broncos have dominated this rivalry 25-5 with 10 straight wins and 22 of the last 23, but last year’s meeting came down to a Dylan Riley GW TD run with 2:26 left for a 25-24 BSU victory.
PLEAD THE 5TH: The Pac-12 has backed up the claim as a Top 5 league during nonconference play.  The conference has the 5th best average in several metrics this season, including ESPN’s SP+ and FPI.  The Pac-12 is also 1 of 5 conferences that have 100% of their members in the Top 100 of FPI.  CBS Sports also has all Pac-12 schools listed in their Top 98 of their rankings of all 138 FBS teams, 1 of just 4 conferences that can say that (SEC, ACC, Big 12).

The Pac-12 finished nonconference play 9-4 against FBS teams from non-autonomy conferences and that .692 win percentage was 5th best behind the four autonomy leagues.  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.  

Of the Pac-12’s 12 games against teams from autonomy conferences, 9 of them were against AP Top 25 teams at the time of the game plus another against a now-ranked UCLA.  No other FBS conference has played 9 non-conference games against AP Top 25 teams at the time of the game.  9 of the 12 games were road games.

According to ESPN, the Pac-12 has 5 schools in the Top 50 of their strength of schedule metric, headlined by Texas State at #26.  SportSource Analytics lists the Pac-12 as a whole at 2nd among FBS conferences in schedule strength.  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.

POLL WATCHING:  Boise State became the first Pac-12 team to crack the AP Poll this season, moving into the rankings at #22 after their 32-7 win at Western Michigan.  It's the first time the Broncos have been ranked by the AP Poll since the 2025 preseason rankings when they were 25th.

THIS “KID” STAYS IN THE PICTURE:  Oregon State WR Jesse Legree, aka “Problem Kid”, won his 4th straight Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award to become the 1st player in conference history to grab that award 4 weeks in a row.  The Baltimore native caught 6 passes for 109 yards and 2 TD in the Beavers 33-7 win at UTEP to become the 3rd player in OSU history with 4 straight games with 100+ receiving yards (Mike Hass in 2005 & Brandin Cooks in 2013).  The last Pac-12 player to have 4 straight games with 100+ receiving yards was Washington’s Rome Odunze in 2023.  Odunze’s position coach at UW in 2023 was current Oregon State head coach JaMarcus Shephard. 

THE NEED FOR SPEED-Y:  Fresno State picked up their 3rd straight win on Saturday after racking up a season-high 249 rush yards with 167 of them coming from Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week RB Rayshon Luke.  Luke set a new career-high on the ground and did it on just 11 carries for 15.2 yards per carry, the 3rd highest in program history and most since Don Driscoll averaged a record 17.1 YPC against San Francisco State in 1958.  The 5th year former Arizona transfer broke off a 52-yard TD in the 4th quarter, his 3rd career run of 50+ yards and the 2nd longest by a Bulldog this season.

SAFETY IN NUMBERS:  When Utah State needed a big play on defense against Troy on Saturday, Safety Brevin Hamblin delivered with a 4th quarter interception on the 2-yard line to help seal the Aggies 1st win of the season.  Hamblin added 12 tackles, his 3rd time with 12+ tackles in the last 6 games, to earn Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.  The Aggies had 3 interceptions as a team, including 2 in the final 7 minutes, their most since last year’s bowl game against Washington State.

TOP CAT:  GJ Kinne’s offenses have been known to light up scoreboards as their 63 points against Incarnate Word was the 19th time in 43 games under Kinne they’ve scored 40+.  The final Bobcat touchdown in that game came on a 77-yard punt return TD by true freshman Dameon Crowe on just the 2nd punt return of his career.  The Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week has the longest punt return by a Pac-12 player this season and the 4th longest for a touchdown in Texas State history.

FOCUS FEATURED:  Pro Football Focus recognized 5 Pac-12 players for their work in Week 4.  Fresno State DB Simeon Harris was named to their National Team of the Week after picking up 6 tackles with 0.5 TFL and an interception, his 3rd of the season to tie him for the Pac-12 lead.  Other Pac-12 players they recognized among the teams outside the autonomous conferences include Texas State QB Brad Jackson, Boise State TE Matt Wagner, Oregon State Center Van Wells and Utah State CB D’Angelo Mayes.

For official updated Pac-12 and Pac-12 member school logo files, please visit pac12.me/logos

PAC PRIMERS
Boise State
  • The Broncos have been extremely effective on getting off the field on “money downs’ this season, ranking 6th in the country in 3rd down defense (23.3%, 10-43) and 1st in 4th down defense (0%, 0-9) and the only FBS team to not allow a 4th down conversion on more than 5 attempts.  Spencer Danielson’s team has also been effective on offense on 3rd downs, ranking 18th in the country at 50.9% (28-55) including converting 10-14 at Western Michigan.
  • RB Dylan Riley racked up 138 yards on the ground on a career-high 28 carries for his 3rd straight game with 100+ yards and 8th time in his career.  The 3rd year RB is currently 3rd in the nation in both rush yards (592) and rushing yards per game (148.0).  Riley has 2 of the Top 9 rushing performances on the season with 206 yards against Memphis (5th best) and 198 against South Dakota (9th) and is the only player in FBS this season with multiple games with 165+ rush yards.
  • QB Maddux Madsen has thrown 111 pass attempts without an INT so far this season, t-3rd most in FBS.  He completed passes to 7 different receptions in Week 4 with tight ends Matt Wagner and Keawe Browne combining for 9 of the 16 completions for 115 yards and 2 of Madsen’s 3 touchdown passes.  Madsen, who was featured as one of the Manning Award Stars of the Week, had 3 pass TD against Western Michigan - the 8th time in his career with 3+ pass TD and the Broncos are 7-1 in those games (the only loss coming this season at Oregon).
Colorado State
  • Despite missing the services of starting QB Hauss Hejny at UTSA, Colorado State’s offense still put up 45 points and 500 yards of total offense.  QB K’saan Farrar had career highs with 29 completions on 46 attempts for 344 yards and a pair of touchdowns after having just 28 completions on 48 attempts for 211 yards and 0 pass TD in his career entering the game.  The Rams converted 5 of 6 attempts on 4th down, including the final 5 with 2 short touchdowns and 2 receptions of 30+ yards.
  • RB Mel Brown has been one of the most explosive players in the country this season.  1 of 5 players in FBS this season with multiple runs of 70+ yards, Brown added a 94-yard TD return on the opening kickoff against UTSA - the longest return by a Ram since Kobe Johnson’s 98-yard score against Washington State in 2023.  Brown is just the 2nd Colorado State player in at least the last 30 seasons to have a 70+ yard TD run and a kickoff return TD in the same season (Calvin Branch, 1996)
  • While this will be Colorado State’s first conference game in the Pac-12, Jim Mora is no stranger to coaching in the Pac-12.  Mora was the head coach for 6 seasons at UCLA (2012-17), going 28-25 in conference play including a 2-1 mark against Oregon State.
Fresno State
  • The Bulldogs have won 3 straight games, outscoring their opponents 113-37 while averaging 448.3 yards per game.  Fresno State has forced 7 turnovers in those 3 games, including 6 interceptions, while committing zero turnovers on offense.  The team is 10-0 under Matt Entz when scoring 23 or more points.
  • QB Jayden Mandal has been the steady hand the last 3 weeks, completing 67.4% of his passes (60-89) for 712 yards and 6 touchdowns and only being sacked once after USC picked up 5 sacks on Mandal in the season opener. 
  • The Bulldogs have completed passes to 15 different receivers this season, including one to Mandal.  After being held without a catch in the season opener, Josiah Freeman has 3 straight games with 6 catches to give him 18 receptions for 261 yards and 2 scores on the season.  Dating back to last season, Freeman has 6+ catches in 6 of the last 7 games (all but the USC opener) and he’s the first Fresno State player to do that since KeeSean Johnson had a 7-game streak with 6+ catches in 2018 (Johnson had 6+ catches in 12 of 13 games during 2018 regular season).
Oregon State
  • The Beavers put up 33 points and 451 total yards on the road last week in a 33-7 win at UTEP and improved OSU’s record under JaMarcus Shephard to 2-2.  The win also snapped the Beavers 10-game road losing streak.  Oregon State has surpassed 400 total yards in all 4 games this season, already matching their total from all of 2025.
  • QB Braden Atkinson was 24-34 for 301 yards and 3 scores in the win over the Miners to give him 4 straight games with 300+ yards passing and 2 straight completing at least 70% of his passes.  Atkinson is the first OSU QB to have 4 straight games surpassing 300 yards in the air since Sean Mannion did it in the first 7 games of 2013.  The 2025 Jerry Rice Award winner as the top freshman in FCS is in the Top 10 nationally in several passing categories including pass yards per game (355.3, 2nd), pass yards (1,421, 3rd), total offense (347.3 ypg, 2nd), completions per game (26.5, 3rd) and pass TD (11, T-7th).
  • RB AJ Newberry had his first breakout game in a Beaver uniform after transferring from Vanderbilt in the offseason.  Newberry had 111 yards for his 1st career 100-yard game on just 11 carries with a touchdown.  4 of Newberry’s 11 carries went for 10+ yards including a career-long 35-yard run in the 2nd quarter.
San Diego State
  • Sean Lewis’ club is looking to get back on track at home after losing 3 straight to teams that are a combined 11-1 on the season with 4-0 UCLA ranked #23 in AP Poll and 4-0 James Madison among the others receiving votes.  The Aztecs are 7-1 at home since the start of last season, allowing 10.9 points per game with 7 points or less in 5 of those games.
  • Walk-on QB Draiden Trudeau came off the bench in the 4th quarter against Toledo, leading a 9-play, 65-yard drive for the Aztecs final score.  Trudeau went 4-5 for 53 yards on the drive with a 14-yard TD to Jaylon Hawkins which was the first career pass touchdown for Trudeau and 1st career receiving TD for Hakwins.  Hawkins also has a 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown in the season opener against Portland State.
  • SDSU has a pair of tackling machines at linebacker in Sione Hala and Tano Letuli.  Hala, who transferred from Weber State this offseason, leads the Pac-12 with 39 tackles and is tied for 8th in FBS.  Letuli, a 3-time captain for the Aztecs, is tied for 3rd in the conference with 32 tackles
Texas State
  • The Bobcats put up 658 yards of total offense in the 63-10 win, the 5th most in program history.  After gaining 605 yards in a win over North Texas the previous week, not only did Texas State have 600+ yards in back-to-back weeks for the first time in program history but it's only the 2nd time the Bobcats have had multiple games with 600+ yards in the same season (2014).  Texas State is 1 of 4 FBS teams this season with multiple games of 600+ yards.  It’s also the 18th time in the GJ Kinne era the team has amassed 500+ yards, 4th most in FBS since 2023.
  • QB Brad Jackson tied the school record with 5 pass TD, all in the 1st half, against Incarnate Word which had been done twice previously with Brady McBride against Arkansas State in 2020 and Tyler Jones also against Incarnate Word in 2016.  Jackson has 9 pass TD and 0 INT over the last 2 weeks, the most passing touchdowns in the country in that span
  • RB Torrance Burgess Jr. racked up 140 rushing yards on just 9 carries against Incarnate Word.  It was his 3rd straight game with 140+ rush yards making Burgess Jr. the first Bobcat to do it since the school moved to FBS and the first all-time since Claud Mathis did it in 4 straight games in 1997.  The former UTEP transfer has already set a new career-high with 537 rush yards, which puts him 4th in FBS this season, and is 1 of 3 players to have 3 games with 140+ rush yards in 2026 (Florida’s Jadan Baugh & Duke’s Nate Sheppard).  His 8.52 yards per carry is 3rd best in the country this season and is 1 of 3 players this season to rush for 140+ yards in a game on 9 or fewer attempts.
Utah State
  • WR Eli Wood set career highs with 7 receptions for 96 yards in the Aggies 21-10 win over Troy with a 5-yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter to give Utah State the lead for good.  Wood has caught a touchdown in 3 of the 4 games and is tied for the Pac-12 lead with 23 receptions while being ranked 2nd in receiving yards (286) and yards per game (71.5).  The 5th year player has already surpassed his 4-year total at Virginia of 19 receptions for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns.
  • RB Javen Jacobs made the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll this week after compiling 99 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in the win over Troy.  Jacobs had 84 rushing yards on 14 carries with a 6-yard TD run (USU’s 1st rush TD of the season) in the 3rd quarter to put the game away while also catching 2 passes for 11 yards.  The 5th year return specialist has returned 7 punts for 60 yards on the season and had a 12-yard kickoff return in Week 1.
  • Bronco Mendenhall’s team will be facing an AP Top 25 team for the 3rd time in the last 4 weeks.  This is the 2nd time in the last 3 seasons that the Aggies would have played Top 20 non-conference opponents in both Week 2 and 3 and then facing a ranked Boise State team on the road in Week 5.  Utah State is looking to snap an 11-game losing streak to AP Top 25 teams.
Washington State
  • Safety Jackquintin Bal returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown against Arizona, the 2nd Cougar with a Pick 6 this season after Safety Jaylen Thomas returned one 50 yards for a score in Week 2 at Kansas State.  The Cougars have also returned 2 punts for touchdowns this season and are the only FBS team with 4 return touchdowns.  It’s just the 12th time in the last 30 seasons that WSU has 4+ return touchdowns but the 3rd time in the last 4 seasons with 4 in 2024 and 6 in 2023.
  • QB Caden Pinnick set season-highs with 241 pass yards, 24 completions and 41 attempts last week against Arizona with his 2nd straight game with both a pass TD and rush TD.  Last season at UC Davis, Pinnick saw a significant uptick in his passing stats after Week 4 with 306.7 pass YPG and 24 pass TD over the final 8 games after averaging 188.3 pass YPG and 8 pass TD in the first 4 games.  Pinnick also has 13 runs of 10+ yards, tied for 2nd most in the Pac-12 and tied for 3rd most among FBS quarterbacks.
  • Head coach Kirby Moore will be facing Fresno State for the first time in his coaching career, a school where he was an assistant for 6 seasons (2017-22) under head coaches Jeff Tedford and Kalen DeBoer.  In Moore’s 5 seasons as a player at Boise State (2009-13), the Broncos went 4-1 against the Bulldogs with the loss coming during his senior season when Fresno State scored the GW TD with 2:14 remaining for a 41-40 victory.  Moore caught a pass in 3 of those 5 games with his best performance coming in the loss with 9 catches for 72 yards

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 - - - - - - -

(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