Around the Pac-12: Week 10
The Pac-12 has been one of the most exciting conferences in all of college football, and the race to the title game seems to be setting up to be epic.
The highest ranked team in the conference is No. 6 Oregon. The Ducks have been amazing since their week one loss to Georgia, and seem to be the team to beat in the Pac-12.
The Ducks have received amazing play from transfer quarterback Bo Nix, who has recorded 36 touchdowns in 2022. They are coming off a convincing 49-10 over Colorado where he accounted for four touchdowns.
Oregon is set for a huge top-25 showdown when the Washington Huskies visit Eugene to take on the Ducks. Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. leads the entire nation with 3,232 passing yards, and passed for 298 yards in the Huskies’ win over Oregon State.
The Huskies will be a tough challenge for the Ducks, especially as Washington will test the Oregon secondary. The last time the Ducks played an explosive passing offense was when they took on Washington State, where the Cougars threw for 375 yards in the game.
If the Ducks want to move to 9-1 and continue their surge to the Playoff, their secondary will need to step up big against the Huskies.
The next highest ranked team in the conference is No. 8 USC. The Trojans have been very impressive on offense in Lincoln Riley’s first year at the helm, and transfer quarterback Caleb Williams has been a huge reason why.
Williams has been one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, throwing for 2,742 yards and an impressive 28-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Williams is carrying a lot of momentum into this week after a 360 yard passing performance with four touchdowns, and will look to keep that going on Friday night when they host Colorado.
No. 12 UCLA is also in contention for the Pac-12, and is led by its quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Thompson-Robinson is one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the country with his ability to attack defenses with his arm and legs.
Thompson-Robinson has thrown for 2,140 yards and 19 touchdowns through the air, and has added 439 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. The Bruins go as far as Thompson-Robinson will take them, and he has positioned them to be able to win the Pac-12 heading into the final three games of the regular season.
The final team ranked inside the College Football Playoff rankings is No. 13 Utah.
The Utes started slow with a road loss to Florida, but have some impressive wins since the slow start. They also rely on their quarterback Cameron Rising to carry a lot of the load in their offense.
Rising has accounted for 2,307 yards of offense and 22 touchdowns in 2022, and has lived up to the lofty expectations the Utes program had for him heading into the year.
Utah takes on Stanford on Saturday before heading to Oregon next week, and will need the best version of Cameron Rising if they want to have a strong finish to 2022.
The Pac-12 has a lot of talent at the top, and could lead to an exciting finish to the 2022 season out on the West Coast.
Adam Sheetz is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ads360@psu.edu.
