Each week I’ll rank PAC-12 teams 1-12 based on how they did each week. This will be a fluid ranking so if you feel your team isn’t high enough just know they will have plenty of room to rise. This is totally subjective and deals more with performance but opponents/wins/narrow losses considered.
More from Autzen Zoo
- Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
- Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
- Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
- Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
- 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2
With that said let’s dive into the first week of conference action!
1 – UCLA (1-0), the Bruins won their opener 34-16 over power 5 for Virginia. Breaking in a new QB is one thing but easily dispatching a good opponent seems to be good news for Jim Mora who’s team struggled last year at UVA.
2 – Oregon (1-0), Vernon Adams made his Ducks debut in which his team raced out to a big first half lead before finishing with a 61-41 win over Eastern Washington. Adams did get knocked out by his former team which hopefully won’t have an effect on this week’s game at Michigan State.
3 – Southern California (1-0), Dismantling Arkansas State 55-6 might not seem like a big deal but with how the offseason ended in regards to coach Sark this was a welcomed start. The Trojans put up 28 first half points and never let up. For those that watched the game on Pac-12 Network at the late 8pm start, heading to bed early was likely a priority after watching the first half.
4 – California (1-0), Winning 73-14 over a FCS foe isn’t impressive even if Grambling but 35 first quarter points is impressive. Jared Goff tossing three touchdown passes and 309 in the opening half will serve notice.
5 – Utah (1-0), You’d never know the Utes were part of their game with how FOX Sports 1 lead up the game and how everyone seemed to pick against them. Defeating Michigan 24-17 in Salt Lake City is a nice win given how the league did this weekend.
6 – Arizona (1-0), It took a full effort for Rich Rod’s team to defeat UTSA for the second straight season. Leading 21-20 at half Arizona outscored the Roadrunners 21-12 in their 42-32 win.
7 – Oregon State (1-0), Defeating Weber State 26-7 isn’t flashy however a wins a win in Gary Anderson’s debut. Leading just 6-0 at half they closed with 20 of the last 7 points to win 26-7 over the Wildcats.
8 – Washington (0-1), Credit the Huskies for fighting back after trailing 16-0 at half and losing by just a field goal at Boise State. It’s a 16-13 defeat to a ranked foe which will give Washington a chance to build off of.
9 – Colorado(0-1), Losing at Hawaii 28-20 isn’t a great way to start your season but neither is not getting off a snap trying to score. Trailing by eight the Buffaloes needed a TD and two point conversion to tie the game up before running out of time.
10 – Stanford (0-1), A 9 am kickoff in Evanston didn’t help but it was the lack of offense that doomed the Cardinal in their 16-6 loss. Northwestern controlled the clock plus both lines which is something we’re not used to seeing from David Shaw plus Stanford.
11 – Arizona State (0-1), Getting outscored 21-3 in the fourth quarter after trailing by a field goal makes this look worse than the final 38-17 score. This appeared to be a winnable game for the Sun Devils before the game.
12 – Washington State (0-1), 24-7 was the margin that Washington State was outscored after leading 10-0 at half. The Cougars losing 24-17 to Portland State sows up this last place spot for week one.
Oregon meets Michigan State this week in East Lansing. Kickoff is set for 5pm Pacific Time on ABC.