Pac-12 power rankings: USC can crush Washington’s playoff hopes
By Brad Weiss
As we look towards Week 11 of the Pac-12 schedule, there are four Pac-12 teams ranked in the AP Poll. Here are our Pac-12 rankings after Week 10.
The Washington Huskies continue to be the class of the Pac-12 in 2016 as they easily handled Cal this past weekend. With the win, the Huskies moved their record to 9-0, and are now projected to play in the College Football Playoff. They still have a lot of work left to do, but Jake Browning and company are having a magical season.
Washington State also has been on fire, winning seven straight games after losing their first two contests of the season. USC continues to thrive with Sam Darnold under center, as they crushed Oregon this past weekend. With ten weeks done in the college football season, lets take a look at our latest Pac-12 Power Rankings.
Another week, another loss for the Arizona Wildcats, who had their doors blown off by Washington State this past weekend. After spending the season with injuries to their quarterbacks, the Wildcats had all three signal-callers healthy on Saturday, but it did not matter. Anu Solomon looked good at times in his first action back from injury, tossing a touchdown, but he also fumbled twice.
Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate also saw time under center, as head coach Rich Rodriguez shuffled quarterbacks throughout the game. With the loss, the Wildcats are now 0-6 in Pac-12 play this season, and Rodriguez is definitely on the hot seat. Washington State jumped out to a 38-0 halftime lead, so this game got ugly very early.
Through ten weeks, the Wildcats find themselves in last place in the Pac-12 South Division. They do have some talented players on the roster, including Tate, who was one of the biggest high school prospects in California last year. This season is a loss, and it will be interesting to see which players continue to battle each week.
Oregon State played some spirited football during the first half this past week, as they went into the locker room at halftime down only 13-7 to Stanford. The Beavers were playing without their starting quarterback, Darrel Garretson, who is finished for the season due to injury. Marcus McMaryion played decently, rushing and passing for a score, but it was just not enough on this day.
The issue was the defense, who struggled to stop Christian McCaffrey. The former All-American rushed for nearly 200 yards against the Beavers, who have shown flashes of improvement throughout the season. Ryan Nall once again had a solid game on the ground for the Beavers, rushing for 77 yards on ten carries, but he failed to find the end zone.
The Beavers will take on UCLA next week, in a battle of two teams who are thirsting for a win. The Bruins have lost four straight, and actually beat Oregon State last season on the road, 41-0. McMaryion should continue to improve, and if Nall runs the way he did on Saturday, they should be able to get back on the winning track.
What a season it has been for the Oregon Ducks, who have played well below expectations this season. They came into the season with Dakota Prukop at quarterback, and he played very well early on. However, the team has now been turned over to freshman Justin Herbert, who just may be the best quarterback in the conference by the time he is done at Oregon.
Herbert and company were throttled by USC this past week, losing to the Trojans 45-20. With the loss, the Ducks are assured their first losing record in conference play since 2006. In addition, their streak of 11 straight years going to a bowl game will now end, in what has been an extremely disappointing season.
In Week 11, the Ducks will take on Stanford, in a matchup that used to be the game of the year in the Pac-12. However, both teams are down this season, and the game will lack the luster it has had in the past. Hopefully for the Ducks, they can get running back Royce Freeman back on track, as the star rushed for only 38 yards against the Trojans on Saturday.