“Pac-12 Power Rankings” is a column by Will Camardella ranking the Pac-12 football teams on a week-to-week basis.
In some ways, last week made my job easier. In others, my job became more difficult. After seven weeks of the college football season, every team in the Pac-12 besides Arizona State has played a road game against a team currently ranked in the AP Top 25, a game against a team ranked in the top 10, or at least two games against ranked opponents. This means that every team has now had at least one opportunity to prove itself as a contender to win this conference, and perhaps make it to the College Football Playoff.
We saw some teams rise to the occasion this weekend; Washington asserted itself as the favorite to win the Pac-12, while Oregon State handled the previously surging UCLA Bruins. On the other hand, USC and Washington State were exposed in blowout losses.
How teams handle the challenges that come with massive games and major audiences goes a long way toward telling me where they stand in the conference hierarchy, so do not be surprised when I value those matchups more than weak non-conference games and bouts with Stanford in my rankings. Let’s get into it.
1. Washington Huskies (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) | Last Week: 2
In perhaps the biggest Pac-12 game in recent memory, Washington proved to the nation why they are not just the best team this conference has to offer, but a bonafide National Championship contender. The Huskies’ offense has looked outstanding all season, but to do what they did against an Oregon defense that entered the game ranked in the top five in scoring defense is their best feat yet.
Michael Penix Jr. and his outstanding core of receivers played perfectly to type on Saturday with explosive play after explosive play in the passing game. Washington’s five touchdown drives averaged just over six plays per drive and took an average of less than three minutes off the game clock. An offense that can score that quickly is about as demoralizing as it gets for an opposing defense, and if the Ducks cannot slow down Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk – who each had over 100 receiving yards – I do not know what team can. UW’s defense was hardly perfect last weekend, and it is an average unit statistically for the season. However, when the offense is as potent as it is, all the D really needs to do is get off the field in crucial situations. The most important stat from this game is that Oregon was 0/3 on fourth down attempts, with the final stop leading to the game-winning touchdown two plays later. The Pac-12′s final undefeated team finally found its signature win, and the entire country should be on notice.
2. Oregon Ducks (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) | Last Week: 1
Yes, Saturday was an absolutely brutal loss for Oregon to take coming off a bye, but that game should not dissuade anyone from believing the Ducks are a contender. Yes, the defensive performance was a massive disappointment, as Washington did just about whatever it wanted to in the passing game. However, I am not sure there is a defense in the country that can completely shut down the Huskies.
The reality is that Oregon walked into one of the most hostile environments we’ve seen in college football this year – a crowd of over 70,000 raucous fans in Seattle – and executed its game plan fairly well en route to a lead late in the fourth quarter. The offense proved it has more overall balance than Washington by outgaining the Huskies in both the running and passing game. Bo Nix was surgical, Bucky Irving made noise regardless of down and distance, and the Ducks won the turnover battle.
If just one of three third-down attempts worked out for Oregon or if Camden Lewis had just made a 43-yard field goal, we would be talking about Dan Lanning’s group as a National Championship contender. I had to drop the Ducks a spot because on-field results trump all, but I like their chances if these two teams meet on a neutral site in December.
3. Oregon State Beavers (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) | Last Week: 6
Oregon State got kicked in the teeth early in conference play but has bounced back from adversity better than any team in the conference. First, the Beavers took out the defending conference champs. On Saturday night, they decisively defeated a UCLA team that was looking ready to become a dark horse.
DJ Uiagalelei has replaced Cam Ward as the least talked-about Pac-12 signal caller after the two-week stretch he has put together. After putting up a 50-burger in a road game against Cal, Uiagalelei threw for 11 yards per attempt and two touchdowns against a UCLA defense that was one of the conference’s best entering the weekend.
More to the point, OSU’s defense has returned to its dominant self after a troubling performance in Berkley. The Beavers forced three interceptions and recorded five sacks on Dante Moore. Their 22 sacks this season are tied for first in the Pac-12.
Oregon State has made Corvallis one of the toughest places to win a football game this season, recording two ranked home wins in its first four weeks of conference play. Jonathan Smith’s team is on the rise and the whole conference should be on notice.
4. USC Trojans (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) | Last Week: 3
After USC struggled once again to put away an inferior team one week ago, I asked if it was playing down to its competition, or if those performances were just indicative of what the team is. After the Trojans took a 48-20 drubbing in South Bend, I have no choice but to conclude the latter.
Because of the way 2022 ended for USC, everyone had placed their ire on Alex Grinch’s defense the second the team began to struggle. However, it seems that Lincoln Riley’s vaunted offense was the true area of concern all along. In the past four games, the offense was out of sorts in Tempe, only managed 14 second-half points on Boulder, scored just 28 regulation points against Arizona, and was completely dysfunctional against Notre Dame.
Caleb Williams threw a career-high three interceptions on Saturday night as the Irish defensive front had him under siege from the first quarter. USC failed to run the ball effectively, receivers struggled to get open, and Riley did not adjust his game plan until it was far too late. I said in my introduction that each team’s biggest tests would be the primary factor in my rankings, and the Trojans completely flopped in their only notable game thus far.
The fact that USC still has an incredibly talented roster and has yet to lose a Pac-12 game prevented me from dropping the Trojans further, but with games against Washington and Oregon still coming down the pike, I believe the Trojans’ dreams of a National Championship in 2023 are just about dead.
5. Utah Utes (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) | Last Week: 7
Utah took care of business the way it needed to on Saturday, handling Cal by 20 points on the road. The Utes’ defense is the best in the conference in my opinion, and they have a better win than USC does. The reason I refused to move this team past the Trojans this week is their offensive limitations have not subsided enough.
Kyle Whittingham committed to beating the porous Golden Bear defense by running the ball over and over again with great success. Overall, Utah churned out a whopping 300 yards on the ground, thanks in part to Sione Vaki’s 10 yards per carry. On the other hand, Bryson Barnes only mustered 128 passing yards and did not throw for a score. In six games this season, the Utes have only thrown four touchdown passes, the third-fewest in the country.
No one has any idea when Cam Rising will return to the field, and until that day comes, this team is too one-sided to be considered a serious contender. Utah can prove me wrong against USC next weekend, but I’m not sure even Alex Grinch’s defense can make Barnes look good.
6. Arizona Wildcats (4-3, 2-2 Pac-12) | Last Week: 8
Arizona was one of the first teams I wrote off in the Pac-12 this season after a demoralizing overtime loss at Mississippi State in week 2. However, since Noah Fifita has taken over at quarterback, the Wildcats are experiencing a revival. They played Washington – a bonafide National Championship contender – and USC – a top 10 team at the time – in back-to-back weeks and lost by a combined nine points. While I may have drawn those performances up to elite teams overlooking an inferior opponent, their 36-point drubbing of Washington State in Pullman has proven that Arizona is for real.
Johnny Nansen has had one of the toughest assignments in the nation over the last three weeks having to gameplan for Michael Penix Jr., Caleb Williams and Cam Ward three weeks in a row, yet all of them looked like mere mortals.
On the other side of the ball, Arizona’s offense has become rather effective without Jayden de Laura turning the ball over. Fifita had his best game since taking over as the starter; he completed just under 80% of his passes for 342 yards with zero turnovers en route to a 44-point scoring day. The Wildcats are a different team with Fifita under center, and they will have a chance to make some serious noise when they host Oregon State in two weeks.
7. UCLA Bruins (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) | Last Week: 5
Dante Moore has a serious road-game problem. Twice the Bruins have gone into opposing territory with a chance to earn a statement win, and twice the UCLA signal caller discovered the moment was too big for him. In road games at Utah and Oregon State, Moore completed less than half his passing attempts and turned the ball over four times. He has not recorded a QBR above 30 in a Pac-12 game this season.
UCLA did some good things in Corvallis, especially in the running game, but those trivial results are not significant when its true freshman quarterback gives the team no chance to win. If the Bruins want to win a big game away from the Rose Bowl in 2023, Moore will have to grow up fast. For now, I consider them a below-average group in this conference.
8. Washington State Cougars (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) | Last Week: 4
No team fell harder in the rankings this week than Washington State after suffering the second-largest margin of defeat in the conference to Arizona in its building. Cam Ward went from the most underrated Pac-12 quarterback to a turnover machine over the last two weeks, throwing three picks and losing a fumble in that span.
It hasn’t helped Ward that the Cougars averaged just 1.6 yards per rush on Saturday, It hurt even more that Arizona scored on eight of its 10 offensive drives that did not end the first half or the game. I do not know how this WSU team went from Pac-12 dark horse to completely outmatched overnight, but that is exactly what happened.
9. Colorado Buffaloes (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) | Last Week: 9
I always knew Colorado was going to come back to the pack after a 3-0 non-conference slate, but what happened in Boulder on Friday night was nothing short of embarrassing. Blowing a 29-point halftime lead is bad enough, but losing to a Stanford team that has looked hapless all season is even worse.
Even with Travis Hunter back at cornerback, the Buffaloes’ defense was atrocious in the second half. They allowed nearly 400 passing yards to Ashton Daniels, a quarterback who had struggled to even solidify the starting role for the Cardinal. In the seven second-half possessions Stanford had in the second half and overtime, they scored seven touchdowns and kicked two field goals.
The lone positive for Deion Sanders is how much better his offense looks with Hunter on the field; he had 14 catches for 140 yards and two scores in his return to Folsom Field. However, this team’s weaknesses have not shown signs of improvement, and after this loss, it will be an uphill climb to bowl eligibility in Sanders’ first season.
10. Cal Golden Bears (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) | Last Week: 10
It is a different kind of demoralizing when a team enters a game only able to do one thing offensively, and does it anyway. Utah’s only way to get consistent offense against Cal was to run the ball. Cal knew that, yet allowed 300 rushing yards. Bad defensive performances have been nothing new to the Golden Bears, as Washington and Oregon State scored over 110 combined points on them earlier this season, but allowing over 30 points to a Bryson Barnes-led Utah team may be even more embarrassing than those two results.
Since Pac-12 play began, Cal has allowed an unfathomably-high 41.5 points per game. The offense has had good moments this year, but until this team tightens up on the other side of the ball, the Golden Bears will continue to be an afterthought. Yet, he made all three of them look like mere mortals, or worse, against his defense.
11. Stanford Cardinal (2-4, 1-3 Pac-12) | Last Week: 12
Colorado is a flawed team, but Stanford had every reason to pack it in at halftime on Friday night, given their 29-point deficit and how poorly the season had gone so far. The Cardinal deserves credit for not doing so. This was a really important road win for Troy Taylor to get given how his first season as head coach has gone thus far.
Having given Stanford some credit, I do not see this performance being sustainable in any way. After all, this is the first time the Cardinal offense has eclipsed 30 points since the Hawaii game in Week 1, and their home matchup against Cal is the only winnable game left on their schedule. Friday was an important moment for a rookie head coach, but it does not change the overall disappointment of Stanford’s season.
12. State Sun Devils (1-5, 0-3 Pac-12) | Last Week: 11
The Sun Devils were the only team in this conference enjoying a bye week, but I had to drop them in the rankings due to Stanford’s big upset win. Yes, I think the Cardinal’s worst moments this season were worse than Arizona State’s, however, ASU has not had a win this season which even comes close to impressive.
Playing USC tough a month ago does not look as impressive as it may have before, and the reality is that wins have to count for something. Stanford taking down Hawaii and Colorado, both on the road, trumps a three-point home win over Southern Utah. Until the Sun Devils find a way to earn a Pac-12 win, they will remain in the basement of my rankings.
“Pac-12 Power Rankings” runs every Monday.