Emerald City Swagger: PAC-12 Football Power Rankings week of 10/2
By Ed Stein
10) Arizona (2-3, 1-1) – Last Week: Rallied late, but still lost to USC 24-20. This Week: vs. California. Note: This team isn’t very good and they face some angry Bears on Saturday.
9) Utah (2-2, 0-2) – Last Week: Lost to on the road late at Washington State, 24-20. This Week: at #14 Stanford. Note: Utah is a great defensive team, but not great enough to pull this one out.
8) Arizona State (3-2, 1-1) – Last Week: Walloped Oregon State in Tempe, 52-24. This Week: at #21 Colorado. Note: ASU did well in their scrimmage last week, hope they enjoyed it.
7) USC (3-2, 2-1) – Last Week: Survived a late comeback by Arizona to win 24-20. This Week: Idle. Note: The Trojans better get some quality practices in, a stampede of Buffalo is headed to Los Angeles on October 13.
6) Washington State (4-1, 1-1). Last Week: The Washington State Cougars beat a tough Utah defense with a late touchdown 24-20. It wasn’t exactly a “statement game,” because Utah doesn’t have much offense, however, the Cougs proved something to themselves. 445 yards of total offense, with zero coming from the ground game. Quarterback Gardner Minshew deserves Heisman consideration. This Week: at Oregon State. Note: This is the epitome of a trap game, but OSU is really that bad. Get ready to see some future stars play late for Washington State.
5) California (3-1, 0-1). Last Week: Cal was beaten badly at home by Oregon 42-24. Next Week: at Arizona. Note: The margin was a bit of a shock especially in a home game. Arizona should be a good game to recharge with because they aren’t out of the PAC-12 title hunt yet.
4) Colorado (4-0, 1-0) – Last Week: Added to UCLA’s miserable 2018 by beating the Bruins 38-16. Next Week: vs. Arizona State. Note: Yes they are undefeated but they haven’t played a really good team yet, either.