“Pac-12 Power Rankings” is a column by Will Camardella ranking the Pac-12 football teams on a week-to-week basis.
Week 4 was an important milestone in the Pac-12 season, as each team has now had at least one opportunity to showcase themselves against another conference opponent.
Considering that five of the six Pac-12 matchups this week featured at least one ranked team, and half of those six were ranked vs. ranked games, this week of games were elevated in importance for most of these teams compared to the non-conference bouts. Non-conference résumés are often difficult to compare, and this week gave a great deal of clarity of the teams that proved to be elite and those that are just pretenders.
1. Washington Huskies (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) | Last Week: 2
Four weeks into the season, Washington is the only team in this conference to win all of its games in blowout fashion. With Michael Penix Jr. under center, this is already one of the toughest offenses to slow down in the country. The task of beating the Huskies is made only tougher when they build a 14-0 lead before their first offensive snap, which is what happened on Saturday night against Cal.
Washington allowed over 30 points to Cal, which may not look great on paper, but this was a 52-12 game in the third quarter before head coach Kalen DeBoer pulled his starting quarterback and called off the dogs. The Huskies’ defense recorded three interceptions and is currently tied with Colorado for the most picks in the conference with seven.
With Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMilan, three of the top five receivers in the Pac-12 in yards per game are on the same roster with one of the sport’s elite quarterbacks. The Huskies are 4-0, averaging almost 50 points per game and winning by an average of more than 32 points. If that résumé doesn’t make you the top dog in your conference, I don’t know what does.
2. Oregon Ducks (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) | Last Week: 3
Oregon had one goal in welcoming Colorado to Eugene on Saturday: flex the strength of its program to an enormous television audience. After a domination of the Buffaloes on all three sides of the ball, that mission was accomplished.
Offensively, the Ducks continue to show great balance, both throwing and running for well over 200 yards. Bo Nix threw three touchdown passes and just four incompletions in a continuation of the best season of his collegiate career. Defensively, they held former Heisman dark horse Shadeaur Sanders to a 28.2 QBR, allowed less than two yards per carry and recorded seven sacks.
Dan Lanning is only in his second season ever as a head coach, but I have to commend him for the job he did motivating his team over the course of the week. He had Oregon playing like they were the underdogs with everything to prove. In a sport that rewards perception above all else, the Ducks will benefit greatly from their 42-6 statement win.
3. USC Trojans (4-0, 2-0 Pac-12) | Last Week: 1
Between the 12 games that my top three teams have played this season, USC’s 42-28 win over Arizona State is the most concerning. The Trojans lost nearly 100 yards in penalties on Saturday night and seemed shell shocked by a sold-out crowd in Tempe. Colorado, Notre Dame and Oregon will all be even tougher atmospheres than Mountain America Stadium, so Lincoln Riley will need to spend serious time fixing his team’s procedural issues.
Caleb Williams recorded five total touchdowns but did not look like himself for much of this game. He had a tougher time creating plays outside of the pocket than usual, and USC’s offense really struggled to score in the red zone. Defensively, the Trojans may have given fans flashbacks to the Pac-12 Championship Game last year with some very poor tackling that led to big plays and touchdowns for the Sun Devils.
Despite all the issues USC had on both sides of the ball, its immense amount of talent covered up a lot of them. That is why the offense still scored over 40 points and the defense recorded eight sacks and two turnovers. USC has the personnel to be ranked above either of my top two teams, but Washington and Oregon are playing sharper football at the moment.
4. Utah Utes (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) | Last Week: 4
Kyle Whittingham and Utah’s defense deserve all the credit in the world for what they’ve done considering their quarterback situation. Nate Johnson completed just nine passes on Saturday afternoon and the Utes scored one offensive touchdown; they still took down a ranked UCLA team.
Utah has the sixth-best scoring defense in the country and is the only team in the conference allowing less than 10 points per game. The team completely flustered true freshman Dante Moore while holding the Bruins vaunted rushing attack to nine total yards.
As elite as this defense has been so far, I still do not believe it is good enough to take down any of my top three teams on its own. There will continue to be a sizable gap between three and four in these rankings for as long as Nate Johnson plays, but — if it is still undefeated when Cam Rising comes back — Utah will have a great chance to win this conference.
5. Washington State Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) | Last Week: 6
Caleb Williams, Bo Nix and Michael Penix rightfully get a lot of attention, but no conversation about the Pac-12′s wealth of elite quarterback play would be complete without junior Cam Ward. Saturday’s game may have been Ward’s signature game in a Washington State uniform; he threw for over 400 yards and four touchdowns in a huge home win over Oregon State.
The Cougars continue to be somewhat overlooked by some of the teams above them, but they have now taken down two ranked opponents this season, the most of any team in the Pac-12.
If I had to nitpick this team, I would say that they are not as balanced offensively between the run game and the passing game as many of the teams above them, which is part of the reason the Beavers got back into the game late. They also are 10th in the conference in red zone scoring percentage. Those two factors could really come back to hurt WSU in matchups against the top tier of this conference.
6. Oregon State Beavers (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) | Last Week: 5
Saturday’s matchup against Washington State was the first one where Oregon State’s opponent had a clear quarterback edge, and it showed. While Ward lit the scoreboard up every time he touched the ball, DJ Uiagalelei only completed half his passes and failed to eclipse 200 yards.
The defense performed serviceably against the run but only recorded one sack, which is a significant underperformance. The Beavers will also need to do a much better job defending explosive plays after allowing five passes of over 20 yards to the Cougars. Opponents like Oregon and Washington will have even more offensive firepower than Oregon State saw in its last game, so it will either need to create more chunk plays of its own behind Uiagalelei, or stop giving them up on defense.
7. UCLA Bruins (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) | Last Week: 8
After three non-conference home games against non-Power Five opponents, a road game at Rice-Eccles Stadium was Dante Moore’s first acid test as a college quarterback. Moore completed less than half his pass attempts and threw a pick six on the first play from scrimmage that Utah couldn’t have won the game without.
The Bruins have leaned on their running game in the past to make up for their inexperience at signal-caller, but mustered less than half a yard per carry in this contest. The formula to take down UCLA is clear: tee off on its rushing attack and wait for its true freshman quarterback to make a true freshman mistake.
Moore did not become a five-star recruit without talent, and, over time, he will learn to handle difficult road environments. However, until that day comes, the Bruins will be hard-pressed to win many games in this conference.
8. Colorado Buffaloes (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) | Last Week: 7
The first three games of the season were a magic carpet ride for Deion Sanders, but after a 42-6 drubbing in Eugene, the Buffaloes have officially come back down to earth. Against a top-10 opponent, all the weaknesses Colorado has shown thus far were exploited over, and over, and over again.
Colorado had shown weakness on the offensive line, and Shedeur Sanders was sacked seven times. It had struggled to run the ball effectively, as the Buffaloes only mustered 40 yards on the ground. The defense had been allowing too many yards with Travis Hunter in the lineup and the Ducks put up 35 points in the first half without him. This performance was not a one-off either, as USC has the talent at wide receiver and defensive line to do exactly what Oregon did next week.
The Buffaloes have been a great story, and tripling their 2022 win total in one month is impressive, regardless of opponent. However, this team has too many weaknesses in year one of their rebuild to compete with the top half of this conference.
9. Arizona Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) | Last Week: 9
So far this year, turnovers have been Arizona’s biggest problem, so playing a zero-turnover game against Stanford is a major positive. A negative is that their starting quarterback went down to injury in the second half of this game.
I will give credit to backup Noah Fifita, who did not throw an incompletion in relief of Jayden de Laura and led a game winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats run the ball effectively, ranking fourth in the conference in yards per carry.
Saturday was also an encouraging day for Jedd Fisch’s defense, which recorded five sacks after getting just one in its first three games. If Arizona wants to compete against the class of the Pac-12 moving forward, affecting the elite quarterbacks they are going to face will be an important step.
10. Cal Golden Bears (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) | Last Week: 10
Cal had a decent showing in its non-conference portion of the season, but its conference opener on Saturday night in Seattle was a buzzsaw for this program. It was abundantly clear that this team’s secondary is not nearly ready enough to compete with the elite pass-catching units across the Pac-12.
The Golden Bears only made matters worse for themselves with costly mistakes on offense and special teams, allowing a pick six and a punt return touchdown before their defense even took the field. The offense showed some good fight with some solid possessions in garbage time, but those mistakes need to be corrected if they do not want to continue to be embarrassed moving forward.
11. Stanford Cardinal (1-3, 0-2 Pac-12) | Last Week: 11
Give Stanford credit where it is due for not packing in the season after a home loss to Sacramento State. Arizona is not an elite team, but there was real concern that Troy Taylor’s group would fail to keep it close against any opponent. Only losing by a point is a step in a better direction for the Cardinal.
At the same time, Stanford should have been able to turn Jayden de Laura over at least once in this game, and it only forced three tackles for loss. Additionally, Benjamin Yurosek is the best offensive weapon for the Cardinal, and he needs to finish a game with more than two catches. The Cardinal showed some good heart on Saturday, but that doesn’t change their ultimate season outlook as a bottom-tier team in this conference.
12. Arizona State Sun Devils (1-3, 0-1 Pac-12) | Last Week: 12
One might have expected me to elevate Arizona State in these rankings after keeping a game against a top-five opponent within one score in the fourth quarter. This is an instance where I will refuse to overreact to one game. Sure, USC’s previously unstoppable offense looked much more mortal in Tempe, but I attribute that more to the crowd noise than anything the Sun Devil defense did. On a night where the Trojans’ passing attack looked so out of sync, they should have been able to keep the score under 40 points.
Kenny Dillingham coached this game in a very gimmicky way, running fake punts, trying surprise onside kicks and going 3-for-4 on fourth-down conversion attempts. Arizona State cannot play in a bowl game this season, so they treated this game like the Super Bowl. In weeks to come, their home stadium will not be nearly as packed, and Dillingham will likely not take nearly as many chances as he did in this one. If I had to pick out a Week 4 performance that is utterly unsustainable, it would be ASU’s.
“Pac-12 Power Rankings” runs every Monday.