State of the PAC 12: Week 2

Sep 12, 2022 - 1:43 AM

The PAC 12 got a considerable boost after a disappointing Week 1. There was one conference game this week and a slew of non-conference games including a major upset.

7 Southern Utah

73 (#13) Utah

Things started slowly for the Utes after a heartbreaker in Gainesville but after the game was tied at 7 in the first quarter the Utes scored 66 unanswered points to completely put the game away. Cam Rising only played the first half along with a few other key players.

17 Washington State

14 (#19) Wisconsin

In Week 1 Washington State only beat Idaho at home by 7 in a close contest. Wisconsin entered the game as 17-point favorites and despite dominating time of possession and total yards the Badgers could not score to build on their 7-point halftime lead. The Cougars took advantage by scoring 10 unanswered points in the second half and the Badgers offense had no way to overcome their own penalties. This was a major victory for the PAC 12 conference by beating a ranked opponent on the road.

41 (#10) USC

28 Stanford

USC is quickly becoming a trendy pick to make the playoffs and the Caleb Williams Heisman hype is generating steam after he went 20-27 for 341 yards and 4 touchdown passes. USC led 41-14 going into the fourth quarter before Stanford got a few late consolation scores. If USC continues to play this well it will only make their October 15th trip to Rice Eccles Stadium that much more significant.

10 Colorado

41 Air Force

Needless to say, it is set to be a long season for Colorado as they got blown out on the road at Air Force. The Buffaloes quarterback JT Shrout went only 5-21 for 51 yards and 1 interception. This game was close for the first half (sort of) before the Falcons just outclassed Colorado and shut them out in the second half.

17 Arizona State

34 (#11) Oklahoma State

After losing star Jayden Daniels in the offseason not much has been expected of the Sun Devils and they were expected to get completely blown out in Stillwater. However, this game was far closer than the final score indicated. The Sun Devils scored early in the fourth quarter to only trail 20-17. The Cowboys quickly scored on their next possession and then scored with just under 8 minutes remaining to ensure the victory. It’ll be interesting to see how much fight Herm Edwards can inspire in this team moving forward but Saturday night was a promising sign.

14 UNLV

20 CAL

This game was certainly closer than it should have been as Plummer had a solid game for CAL going 28-39 for 278 yards passing and 1 touchdown pass. However, CAL had to settle for a few field goals and couldn’t put enough distance between themselves and the Rebels. The CAL defense had to make a big stand late to secure the win.

6 Portland State

52 Washington

It’ll be interesting to see how the Huskies play against tougher competition but their starters were efficient and started fast and never looked back. Washington hosts Michigan State next week which will be a true test for the Huskies.

7 Alabama State

45 UCLA

UCLA has a soft non-conference schedule to open the season and they made light work of Alabama State in this game. The Bruins jumped out to a 31-7 halftime lead and won easily.

14 Eastern Washington

70 Oregon

After a hugely disappointing performance in Atlanta against Georgia, the Ducks were eager to take some anger out and did so by crushing Eastern Washington. Bo Nix (who was highly criticized in Week 1) had a terrific rebound performance going 28-33 for 277 yards passing and 5 touchdown passes.

35 Oregon State

32 Fresno State

Despite the big upset in Madison, this was the most entertaining PAC 12 game of the week. The Beavers were trailing 32-28 and scored a 2-yard touchdown run on the final play of the game to complete the comeback and beat Fresno State on the road. This was certainly a significant win on the road for a Beavers program trying to develop some consistency heading into the conference schedule.

39 Mississippi State

17 Arizona

After Arizona got an impressive road at San Diego State last week on the coattails of a solid performance from transfer Jayden de Laura, hopes were high that Arizona could beat an SEC opponent in Tucson. The Wildcats scored late in the third quarter to make it 25-17 heading into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Jayden de Laura had a poor performance throwing 3 interceptions and Mississippi State shut out the Wildcats 14-0 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.