Week 4 PASS/FAIL Report: PAC-12

PAC-12

PASS: Stanford, UCLA, Utah, USC, Colorado, California

Stanford stuck with an injured Kevin Hogan at QB, and it paid off as the Cardinal avoided a letdown week and handled their business in conference play with a win over Oregon State 42-24. Stanford now looks like the power in the North after this win and a 2-0 conference start.

UCLA looks like the absolute favorite in the South after traveling to Arizona and putting 42 on the board by the half in a 56-30 win over Arizona. Josh Rosen passed for 289 yards and two TDs, and ran for another in the win.

Utah got a lot of love today from the national media after rolling up on Oregon in a 62-20 win. It was indeed an impressive win, but was it as impressive as what UCLA did in the desert? I’m not certain that is true. The Utes are still right with UCLA as far as controlling the division tempo right now.

USC came back from a tough loss to Stanford to completely blast Arizona State on the road in a 42-14 win. The Trojans aren’t out yet, but they need some help now to win the South.

California took a huge step in the right direction in the North, beating Washington 30-24. Cal got a huge help by Oregon losing, and they took care of their own business, but right now, the North title could come down to playing Stanford at the end of the year.

Colorado took the extreme cupcake route in a 48-0 win over Nicholls State.

FAIL: Oregon State, Arizona, Oregon, Arizona State, Washington

Oregon State looks like a team that may not win a conference game, and even though the Beavers played Stanford tough for a while, they don’t have enough fuel to go the distant these days.

Arizona was unbeaten and ranked 16^th, but now the Wildcats are a shell of what they were a week ago. Anu Solomon has a concussion, and Scooby Wright looked winded, out of shape, and got hurt again and will be out for several weeks again.

Oregon has fallen apart, and it is not entirely unexpected. They entered the season with many questions on defense, and banked so much on Vernon Adams, and Adams isn’t healthy. The Ducks are now unranked for the first time in six years.

I did not buy into Arizona State this season like so many others did, but that’s 35 years of experience telling me not to. This team is so typical of the history of this program, their fate is basically already written. ASU only performs well when it’s not expected.

Washington had the benefit of an easy non con schedule, and although they played Cal tough, the Huskies are still trying to find an identity, and trying to get experience with a young team.