Week 5 of the Pac-12 schedule will feature six conference matchups, with some huge games on the slate. Here are our Power Rankings after Week 4.
Four of the 12 teams in the Pac-12 are undefeated through the first four weeks of the season, but two of them will meet in a huge matchup this weekend. The No. 7 Stanford Cardinal will head north to take on the No. 10 Washington Huskies on Friday night in a battle of the two best teams in the conference. Only one team will remain unbeaten, and take a huge step towards a berth in the College Football Playoff.
There are six Pac-12 matchups on the slate in Week 4, and while the Washington vs Stanford game is certain to get the most national attention, all of the games are important. The No. 20 Utah Utes and their incredible defense will face Cal and their high-octane offense, while Arizona State will look to move their record to 5-0 against USC. Here are our Pac-12 Power Rankings heading into Week 5.
The Oregon State Beavers are off to another slow start in 2016, and on Saturday, they lost their second game in their first three contests. The Beavers actually played well against the Boise State Broncos, though it was only for one half. The Broncos got out to a 31-7 halftime lead, before Oregon State finally decided to play some defense.
Boise State running back Jeremy McNichols showed why he is one of the best running backs in college football, rushing for over 200 yards and three touchdowns against the Beavers. Oregon State running back Ryan Nall tried to counter McNichols, rushing for two touchdowns of his own, but it was not enough. After the half, the Oregon State defense played very well, holding Boise State to 77 yards of offense.
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Quarterback Darrel Garretson had to be benched in the second quarter, as a lingering foot injury made it impossible for him to finish the game. Oregon State turned to walk-on freshman Conor Blount, who played impressively against the Broncos. He led the Beavers to 10 third quarter points, but it just was not enough. The Beavers have lost 11 straight in Pac-12 play, and will be looking to break that streak at Cal on Saturday.
The Washington State Cougars had the weekend off this past week, which will give them two weeks to prepare for the Oregon Ducks. The Cougars have struggled mightily this season, dropping their first two games of the season, and looking bad doing it. They finally got into the win column against Idaho in Week 3, throttling the Vandals, 56-6.
Washington State does have a very solid quarterback in Luke Falk, who has the luxury of playing in Mike Leach’s high-octane system. Falk has thrown for over 1100 yards and 11 touchdowns during the team’s first three games, while throwing only two interceptions in 158 attempts. If the team could get anything on defense, they would be much higher in the rankings.
The next four weeks are going to be some tough sledding for the Cougars, who open up their Pac-12 slate against Oregon this week. After the Ducks come to town, the Cougars hit the road to face No. 7 Stanford, before returning home to host UCLA. They will finish their tough four-game stretch on the road against an impressive Arizona State team.
The Trojans lost their second straight Pac-12 game against a top-25 team on Friday, as they could not beat the Utah Utes on the road. The Trojans played much better than they had in previous weeks, but the turnovers killed them in the game. USC hung tough for most of the game, but Utah pulled away late to seal the victory.
Redshirt freshman Sam Darnold made the start in place of Max Browne against Utah, and was able to move the ball much better. Darnold utilized JuJu Smith-Schuster with more consistency than Browne, as the Trojans were able to rack up over 460 yards of offense against a tough Utah defense. The future looks bright for USC with Darnold under center.
Justin Davis rushed for over 120 yards on the ground, scoring once, while Smith-Schuster caught eight balls for 98 yards. The Trojans looked very balanced on offense, and had they not given up two touchdowns to the Utes in the fourth quarter, could have pulled off the upset on the road. USC will take on undefeated Arizona State this week, and should be able to put on another solid display against the Sun Devils.