PAC-12 Football Power Rankings week of 11/21 – Emerald City Swagger

1) #8 Washington State (10-1, 7-1)

Last Week: In front of a fired up crowd in Pullman, Washington State beat Arizona from pillar to post en route to a dominating 69-28 victory. The knockout punches came early and often. WSU led 21-7 after the first quarter and 55-14 at the half. Re-watching the game about the only knock on Wazzu’s performance might be they got lucky on a few turnovers. Other than that, there really isn’t an aspect of the game that the Cougs didn’t do better than Zona.

Cougars quarterback Gardner Minshew II had a Heisman worthy day. He was 43 of 55 passing for 473 yards and a school-record seven touchdown throws. Eleven different receivers caught passes, eight of them had three or more receptions, and six receivers caught Minshew’s seven TD passes. Washington State’s defense, for the most part, played a decent game. They held another good running back, J.J. Taylor to 69 yards on 20 carries.

This Week: vs. Washington

Note: This year’s Apple Cup Game is just as important to Washington State as it is to UW. The stakes are just as high with the same spoils of battle Washington has listed above, with one exception. A Wazzu win keeps their slim chances for a College Football Playoff spot alive. Losing would crush an entire season of good work. You can bet your bottom dollar that the Cougars will go after Washington with everything they have in the tank plus a little extra.

* There will be one edition of the power rankings after the PAC-12 Championship game and one after the final Bowl game.