Pac-12 Football: Week 7 power rankings

As we look towards Week 8 of the Pac-12 schedule, only two Pac-12 teams remain ranked in the AP Poll. Here are our Pac-12 Conference rankings after Week 7.

The Pac-12, from the outside, looks like one dominant team and a bunch of others who are struggling to even crack the top-25. However, there are some solid teams in the conference this season, and some are really starting to turn heads around the nation. Only Washington and Utah are currently ranked in the AP Poll, but that may certainly change in the next couple of weeks.

Last week, fifth-ranked Washington had their bye week, and they obviously stay at No. 1 in our rankings after Week 7. Aside from the Huskies and Utah, who is the No. 19 team in the country, the rest of the power rankings have a lot of movement this week.

Here is our Pac-12 Power Rankings after Week 7.

The Oregon Ducks had the week off in Week 7, and it could not have come at a better time. The Ducks, who were supposed to make some noise in the Pac-12 this season, are in the middle of one of their worst years in recent memory. In Week 6, they were trounced by No. 5 Washington, losing by a score of 70-21.

As the calendar continues to move forward, the Ducks find themselves in last place in the Pac-12 North. The injury bug has definitely bit this team, as star running back Royce Freeman, and speedster Devon Allen have both missed time. Freeman has found his way back into the starting lineup, but Allen will be gone for the rest of the year.

Incredibly, it was only two years ago that the Ducks were playing in the College Football Playoff. That seems like ages ago, but the future does seem bright. The team has a nice crop of freshmen, and although their offensive line is young, the Ducks do lead the Pac-12 in rushing. This may be one of those instances where you just play out the year, get some experience, and look forward to 2017.

It is another rough season for the Arizona Wildcats, who cannot seem to keep a healthy quarterback on the field. After losing starter Anu Solomon early in the year, the team inserted Brandon Dawkins, who played extremely well in his absence. However, Dawkins has also gone down due to injury, leaving the Wildcats very thin at the quarterback position.

Last week, the Wildcats played host to USC, who has caught fire since inserting Sam Darnold into the starting quarterback role. The Trojans continued their positive swing, crushing the Wildcats on the road. With Dawkins out, the Wildcats turned to true freshman Khalil Tate, who is not even 18-years old yet. Tate played well, showing why he was such a highly-recruited high school player, but USC forced him into some huge turnovers.

It remains to be seen whether Dawkins will be back on the field soon, but the team does have an extra week to try to get him back. The Wildcats have their first bye week since the 2014 season, and will host Stanford in two weeks. Star running back Nick Wilson returned this past week, but played sparingly, as the game got out of control pretty early. With the loss, the Wildcats fell to 0-4 in conference play.

The Oregon State Beavers have played well as of late, but they just did not have enough firepower to come away with the win this past week. Playing against the 21st-ranked team in the country, the Beavers struggled mightily in the first half, and just could not overcome the deficit. They made it interesting late, and were only down 12-7 with 8:25 left in the game, but a missed field goal ended any chance of a comeback.

The loss was tough in many respects, as the team lost three key pieces to their offense in the game. Starting quarterback Darell Garretson hurt his ankle, and his backup, Conor Blount, injured his knee. Both players were on crutches at the end of the game. To make matters worse, star running back Ryan Nall lasted only one play, as he was trying to play through an injury he occurred last week.

It does not get any easier for the Beavers, who have a date with the best team in the conference next week. No. 5 Washington is coming off a bye, and with the Beavers short-handed, it could get really ugly, really early. The Beavers are definitely making strides this season, but without Garretson and Nall, they do not stand much of a chance next week.