Which teams made the biggest impressions during Week 2 of the Pac-12 season? Which ones had the roughest weekend? Here’s a look at the second week and its impact on the league.
Winners
Colorado
The Buffaloes, written off in the offseason as the Pac-12 South cellar dweller along with Arizona, are off to a 2-0 start. New head coach Karl Dorrell, Colorado’s second new head coach in two years after Mel Tucker left to coach Michigan State, arrived to mixed reaction from the Colorado fanbase, but he has the Buffaloes rumbling early.
After opening its season by beating UCLA, Colorado followed that win up with a victory over Stanford. Led by a one-two punch of quarterback Sam Noyer and running back Jarek Broussard, the Buffaloes look like they’re for real. Noyer threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns and Broussard added 121 rushing yards. Colorado led 35-16 early in the fourth quarter before Stanford scored twice near the end of the game, but held on for a 35-32 win.
UCLA
The Bruins scored the biggest upset of the weekend in the Pac-12, blowing out Cal in a rare Sunday game. With Cal’s game against Arizona State and UCLA’s game against Utah canceled on Friday, the coaching staffs had to throw out their game plan and get ready for a completely different team in just two days. Cal, which was projected to take second in the Pac-12 North in the media preseason poll, was expected to beat the Bruins, but with just two days of preparation, UCLA rolled Cal, 34-10.
Though not as flashy as his 303-yard performance in a 48-42 loss to Colorado, UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson got the job done, throwing for 196 yards and three passing touchdowns and rushing for another. Give credit to Chip Kelly for getting his team ready on short notice. UCLA’s defense was key to the win, sacking Cal quarterback Chase Garbers five times and holding the Bears’ offense to just 176 yards of offense. Caleb Johnson led the way with 1.5 sacks and an interception.
No. 20 USC and No. 11 Oregon
The two respective division frontrunners did enough to survive and advance on Saturday in games that were very close at times. Neither team looks like world-beaters, but they are doing enough to win. If either team wants a chance at a College Football Playoff spot, they’ll have to win by a lot more than they are right now.
USC relied on another late-game comeback to win for the second consecutive week as Kendon Slovis marched right down the field, going a perfect 5-for-5 as the Trojans prevailed 34-30 against Arizona. Oregon looked like it was in trouble against Washington State as the Cougars had an early 19-7 lead. The Ducks really started clicking in the fourth quarter, outscoring Wazzu 22-10 in the final period. Quarterback Tyler Shough had 312 yards and four touchdowns to lead Oregon to a 43-29 win and was helped by running back CJ Verdell, who rushed for 118 yards.
USC and Oregon are good, but both teams will have to start winning by larger margins to get any consideration for the playoff.
Losers
Stanford
The Cardinal now sit at 0-2 following losses to Oregon and Colorado. Stanford hasn’t exactly been placed in the most favorable position to win. In its season-opening 35-14 loss to Oregon, starting quarterback David Mills was held out of the game for what turned out to be a false positive COVID-19 test. Mills did play on Saturday, but didn’t rejoin the team until Friday’s practice. With just one day to practice until the game, Mills was rusty and went 31-for-56, throwing for 327 yards and a touchdown with a 60.4 quarterback rating against the Buffaloes.
Stanford coach David Shaw was understandably upset about his team’s predicament, but his defense and running game didn’t help. The Cardinal’s defense allowed 432 yards of offense and had a couple coverage breakdowns. Meanwhile, Stanford’s ground game was virtually nonexistent, rushing for just 70 yards with Mills rushing for over half of that.
Cal
The Bears were picked second in the Pac-12 North in the media’s preseason rankings and certainly did not live up to expectations in their first game of the season. Yes, the Bears were playing their first game, while UCLA had played one game, and Cal didn’t have much time to prepare for UCLA, but neither did the Bruins. Cal simply was outclassed on both sides of the ball. The Bears’ offense as a whole wasn’t good, gaining 176 total yards of offense. The offensive line in particular was shaky, giving up five touchdowns. Cal's defense wasn’t great, either, giving up 34 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter.