In another interesting week in the Pac-12, the USC Trojans were beaten badly by Notre Dame, while Washington State got back on track.
The USC Trojans took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a non-conference game on Saturday, and the world was watching to see which team would come out as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. Well, the Irish destroyed the Trojans, pretty much putting an end to USC’s quest to play for a national title. They are still in control of the Pac-12 South, but you have to be concerned with this team going forward.
A week after getting drubbed by Cal, the Washington State Cougars bounced back in a big way against Colorado in some rainy conditions. Arizona got another tremendous effort out of Khalil Tate in their win against Cal this weekend, and UCLA showed their dominance over Oregon. Utah laid an egg against Arizona State, and Stanford and Washington both had the week off.
Here is our latest Pac-12 power rankings after Week 8 of the college football season.
The Oregon State Beavers had the week off in Week 8, and they certainly needed the break. Oregon State has lost five straight games heading into their bye week, and the schedule does not get much easier after they return to action. The Beavers are once again one of the worst teams in college football, and they could wind up being a one-win team by the time all is said and done this season.
Running back Ryan Nall has been great when he is in the lineup, but he has battled some injuries this season. When he is toting the rock, the senior has rushed for six yards per carry and is averaging a touchdown per game. The problem with this team has been inconsistency at quarterback, where bad play and injuries have really derailed the season from that position.
The Beavers’ only win this season came against Portland State, so there is a good chance they would be winless if they did not schedule that cupcake game. After the bye last week, the Beavers will play host to the Stanford Cardinal, before finishing their season with road games in three of their last four contests. Star wideout Seth Collins is also out for the season, which means the offense will be even less potent the rest of the way.
It has been quite a disappointing season for the Colorado Buffaloes, who lost again on Saturday night. Last season, the Buffaloes won the Pac-12 South Division and advanced to the Pac-12 Championship Game. This season, Colorado is struggling to put wins together on a consistent basis and looked really lost during their loss to the Washington State Cougars in Week 8.
The Buffaloes failed to score one point against the Cougars, as they used three different players at the quarterback position. Steven Montez, who has shown flashes of brilliance this season, was benched at halftime for Sam Noyer. Noyer did not do much with the opportunity, as a combination of bad play, and bad weather played a part in the Buffaloes falling to .500 on the season.
Colorado never got Bryce Bobo going in this one, and they wasted another good effort by Phillip Lindsay. Lindsay rushed for nearly 100 yards against a Cougars defense that was not respecting the pass all night and has now rushed for over 1,000 yards on the season. The defense did not play terribly, but the offense played so poorly that it seemed like they were on the field for the entire contest.