Around the Pac-12: Week 5
Another week is in the books on the west coast, as Oregon continued its undefeated run, UCLA produced a statement win, Arizona State and Oregon State are climbing the standings and Utah pulled off a win against Washington State. Speaking of Washington State, the Cougars look lost, as do the Arizona Wildcats.
Let’s take a look at all the action around the Pac-12, and what lies ahead for the conference with a big week ahead.
UCLA Adds A Key Win To Their Resume
Heading into this week, the Bruins matchup against Stanford as the game of the week.
Stanford had strung together strong performances and proven it was one of the top teams in the Pac-12. UCLA’s win over LSU has looked increasingly less impressive given the Tigers poor season to this point.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson had himself a game in this one. Thompson-Robinson put up a line of 18-of-29 for 251 yards, a completion percentage of 62.1, two passing touchdowns and two rushing scores.
The team traveled to Stanford, and the defense held the team to 24 points, produced multiple key stops and held the team to 67 yards rushing and only three yards per attempt.
Although Stanford is unranked, UCLA took down a highly touted program and played to its strengths, adding a strong win as the Bruins continue to build their resume moving forward.
Oregon State Takes Down The Trojans
Bouncing back from the 30-21 loss in Purdue that started their season, Oregon State has gained momentum rattling off wins against Hawaii, Idaho and now USC. Granted, none of these teams are powerhouses, but Oregon State is starting to build a strong resume within the Pac-12.
This week, Chance Nolan, who looks like one of the top quarterbacks in the Pac-12 produced another efficient performance. Nolan wasn’t flawless, throwing two interceptions, but he had a 78.9 completion percentage, four touchdowns and over 213 yards.
The story is about B.J. Baylor though, who had 23 rushes for 158 yards and an average of 6.9 yards per carry. Baylor looked like a top shelf back this week and although he didn’t produce a score, he churned out yards and allowed the offense to manufacture 45 points against the Trojans.
Oregon State has momentum right now, and its offense is moving the ball really well, so don’t look now, but the Beavers are coming.
Arizona, Cal and Washington State Look Directionless
Arizona dropped a game that nobody expected the Wildcats to win to the No. 3 ranked Oregon Ducks, extending their losing streak.
The team put up 19 points, but the offense looked awful and the defense had no answers for the Ducks. Just when the Wildcats thought they had some good in Jordan McCloud, he threw five interceptions this week.
The Wildcats are a bad team and losing to such a high profile team only put their inadequacies under a larger spotlight.
The Cal Golden Bears dropped a close one at Washington, and it felt like the team squandered the momentum they had picked up from their first win a week prior.
Washington State suffered a similar close loss to a middle of the pack Utah squad. Both teams look directionless currently, and now the squads will face each other this week with one of the two teams having a chance to get back on track.
Game of the Week: No. 3 Oregon vs. Stanford
The Ducks’ slate the rest of the way shapes them up well for an easy route to a playoff bid. This week provides a Stanford team, which has proven to be a gritty, tough team to put to bed, a chance to upset the Ducks.
Mario Cristobal’s Ducks can add a win on the road against a tough unranked opponent to their resume this week. Or, David Shaw’s Cardinals have a chance to cause mayhem within the Pac-12 and college football landscape.
Dylan Price is a first-year majoring in journalism. You can contact him at dvp5625@psu.edu.
