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PAC-12 Power Rankings week 9

After week nine, here is how the conference looks

By Colton Molesky
NCAA Football: Stanford at Arizona Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
  1. Washington- It was a nail biter with Utah and it took a late 58 yard punt returned for a touchdown to get the win, but at the end of the day they remain undefeated. Washington has blown teams out and weathered some close games. This team had another great day rushing the ball as Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman combined for 211 yards and touchdown. Both players also averaged over seven yards an attempt. That is the unspoken strength of this team that is helping Jake Browning to a great season.
  2. Utah- Really impressive performance against the Huskies and had the win right there before the 31-24 loss late on the bad slip up on special teams. This defense has 24 sacks on the season and is great at bringing pressure. They now face a crumbling Arizona State team with no defense.
  3. Washington State- After a really bad first half, the Cougars got back on track and won 35-31 over Oregon State. Luke Falk had 415 yards and five touchdowns through the air and was truly dominant once the offense got going. This offense is never really put away, something the Beavers learned when the Cougars had 22 points in the third quarter after only putting up six in the first half.
  4. USC- The Trojans are 4-1 with Sam Darnold at the helm. The USC coaching staff is anything but elite, however the roster has NFL players all over the place and Sam Darnold is a great quarterback. Add him to the list of freshman making a difference at football’s hardest position.
  5. Colorado- The Buffaloes mark the change from the top level teams in the conference to the middle of the road teams. They have an offense that will churn out points and has their starting quarterback Sefo Liufau back. They have a solid group of linebackers and their secondary is very good. They are good enough in the trenches. They just need a couple elite athletes to make the next level.
  6. Stanford- It feels like Cal and the Cardinal will be switching back and forth at this spot for the rest of the year. Stanford has just enough elite guys to beat really bad teams, but not enough of a complete team to win any significant games.
  7. California- Lost to the revamped USC team and had trouble getting the offense going. The Bears are more accustomed to putting up 40+ but scored only 24 against the Trojans, 10 of which were on turnovers. This defense is miserable and only has 12 sacks on the season. They fail to put much of any pressure on the opposing quarterback and force every game to be a shootout. That is not a passable game plan for an entire season.
  8. Arizona State- Oregon ran up the score on the Sun Devils. What was out of character was that they could not keep pace with the Ducks, especially against an atrocious defense. This team still seems to be exhausted from their decent start to the season.
  9. UCLA- It does not seem like Josh Rosen will be returning anytime soon. He is suffering from a pinched nerve in his back and it does sound like their is concern for his career long term which would be truly unfortunate. Without him, the problems on defense and in the running game will be too much for this roster to over come.
  10. Oregon- The Ducks proved they still have a pulse this weekend with a win, however putting up points on the Sun Devils is not exactly difficult by any stretch. The team ran for a combined 245 yards and two scores which is when this team is at their best. The fact that there defense held ASU to only 35 points with three picks is something, but this was not a bounce back game by any means.
  11. Oregon State- This team has shown some spark through the last couple weeks hanging with Utah and Washington State, both very good teams. For the entire first half the team held down the Cougar offense and forced a pair of fumbles. But they let up three catches of 30 yards or more and let the Cougar offense back into the game with the big play. This team has the potential to give Stanford trouble, since they certainly are not going over the top on anyone.
  12. Arizona- Injuries and poor offensive line play helped the Wildcats lose last week to the Cardinal. As they got the quarterbacks back the running back went out. The offensive line let up five sacks and eight tackles for loss. There just was not enough time back there for anyone to get going.

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