Around the Pac-12: Week 8

Story posted October 27, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Ben Wasserman

With Week 8 completed, there are no more undefeated teams in the Pac-12. Oregon, USC and UCLA all sit at 6-1 as the frontrunners in the conference.

Let's take a look at this week's past matchups.

No. 10 Oregon: 45, No. 9 UCLA: 30

This was the most important game in the Pac-12 and one of the biggest games of the week in all of college football. Oregon handed UCLA its first loss of the season, moving into first place in the Pac-12.

Oregon’s 28-point second quarter along with quarterback Bo Nix throwing five touchdowns fueled the victory.

UCLA is now 6-1 and its next big game is against USC Nov. 4. Oregon is also 6-1, riding a six-game winning streak. Its next biggest test is against Utah Nov. 19.

Stanford: 15, Arizona State: 14

Stanford and Arizona State played a defensive battle Saturday. Stanford was down 14-6 at halftime, and then came back to win 15-14.

The key to victory for Stanford was kicker Joshua Karty, who kicked five field goals — all of Stanford’s points.

Stanford is now 3-4, but still last in the conference. Meanwhile, Arizona State is 2-5 and second-to-last in the conference.

Oregon State: 42, Colorado: 9

Oregon State had no problem beating Colorado as it went up 7-0 early and never looked back. Oregon State scored six touchdowns in total in the dominant victory.

Oregon State running back Damien Martinez was the star of the game, rushing for 178 yards and three touchdowns. The Beavers are now 6-2 and are fifth in the conference.

Colorado is having a rough season at 1-6 and 10th in the Pac-12

Washington: 28, California: 21

This game only had six points in the first half but then the offenses took over in the second half and scored 43 points combined. Washington was leading 6-0 at halftime, but the second half was back and forth with Washington ending up on top.

Michael Penix continues to impress, throwing for 374 yards and two touchdowns. California quarterback, Jack Plummer, was very good as well throwing 245 yards and three touchdowns.

Washington is now 6-2 and sixth in the conference, while California is 3-4 and eighth in the Pac-12.

Finishing Thoughts

Utah, USC, Washington State and Arizona did not play in Week 7 because of bye weeks.

The Pac-12 is an interesting conference with the top teams all led by very strong offenses. It will be interesting to see how the Pac-12 finishes and which team can potentially end up in the College Football Playoff picture.

Ben Wasserman is a junior majoring in telecommunication and media industries. To contact him, please email bnw5231@psu.edu.