COVID-19 continues to rock the Pac-12. Instead of six matchups this past week, the conference only played four as Arizona State-Colorado and Washington State-Stanford were canceled.
No. 20 USC beat Utah 33-17, No. 11 Oregon squeaked out a 38-35 win against UCLA, Oregon State handed Cal its second loss in a 31-27 victory, and Washington improved to 2-0, beating Arizona 44-27.
Which teams made the biggest impressions during Week 3 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
No. 19 USC
The Trojans definitely had the best week in the Pac-12, finally beating Utah in Salt Lake City for the first time since 2012 in a 33-17 win. Not only that, but the Trojans won their first game by more than one score and proved that they are for real. USC’s defense was great, causing five Utah turnovers and holding the Utes to just one offensive touchdown.
While the Trojans’ offense, especially its rushing attack, didn’t live up to past performances this season, USC definitely was able to do enough to improve to 3-0 and stay in the Top 20. Quarterback Kedon Slovis was 24-for-35 and 264 yards and two touchdowns (with one interception), but the Trojans’ defense was definitely the key to the win. USC had three tackles, three interceptions and caused two fumbles. Drake Jackson, Chris Steele and Talanoa Hufanga all had picks.
USC will now face Colorado next Saturday in a battle of unbeatens.
No. 9 Oregon
Oregon continues to do just enough to win, but the Ducks keep winning, and as a result, they moved up two spots in the AP Top 25 poll to No. 9. Oregon hasn’t been overly dominant so far, with a 21-point win against Stanford and a 14-point win against Washington State. Oregon escaped with their latest victory, a 38-35 win against UCLA, after thwarting the Bruins’ last-minute comeback attempt, down three and driving, with a defensive stand. The Ducks forced four Bruins turnovers, but UCLA was missing star quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and who knows how the game goes with him in?
As it stands, Oregon’s defense caused a lot of takeaways and quarterback Tyler Shough had three touchdowns and 334 yards. The Ducks have solidified their spot atop the Pac-12 North and have upcoming games against Oregon State and Cal, which they should win, meaning a New Year’s Six or possible playoff berth could come down to their game against Washington in three weeks.
Washington
Building off of last week’s 27-21 win against Oregon State, the Huskies beat Arizona 44-27 to improve to 2-0. No, these aren’t Chris Petersen’s Pac-12 champion Huskies, which went to three consecutive New Year’s Six bowls, but Washington is undefeated and dominated the Wildcats on Saturday. The Huskies’ offense exploded for 37 straight points to open the night — the game was never close.
Quarterback Dylan Morris threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns and Washington’s rushing attack added 233 yards and four touchdowns, led by Richard Newton, who had 81 yards and two touchdowns.
Already down two games, including a Nov. 27 Apple Cup cancellation against Washington State, this week for the Huskies is now up in the air. Washington reportedly reached out to No. 8 BYU to try and schedule a game this weekend, but because of Pac-12 policy, if the Utah-Arizona State game is canceled due to COVID-19 cases — Arizona State is experiencing an outbreak, and the Pac-12 already preemptively moved the Utes-Devils game to Sunday — Washington would expectedly play Utah. As discombobulated as Utah’s offense was against USC, the Utes would definitely be the Huskies’ biggest test of the season.
Losers
Utah
Utah was a rare home underdog on Saturday night, and the result — a 33-17 loss to undefeated USC — wasn’t much of a surprise. After all, the Utes had a COVID outbreak in the program and weren’t able to play two weeks in a row. Some rust was to be expected and an upset with against the Trojans would have been a surprise.
The surprising part was just how abysmal Utah’s offense ended up being. Yes, the Utes are replacing important parts of last year’s offense, including quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss, and star receiver Britain Covey didn’t play. But all of the talk about Utah’s explosive offense, supposably ahead of the defense in the offseason, didn’t materialize.
Jake Bentley and Cam Rising both struggled and Rising was knocked out of the game early in the second quarter after just six pass attempts. Bentley, who was a star at times in South Carolina, simply wasn’t up to the task on Saturday, going 16-for-28 with one touchdown and two interceptions. Rising had an interception and fumbled, and add in another fumble, poor offensive line play and a sputtering run game, and you get an offense that scored just one touchdown.
Going forward, Utah has to put it together on the offensive end to salvage the season.
Cal
The Golden Bears are not living up to the offseason hype, when they were picked to finish just below Oregon in the Pac-12 North. Two weeks ago, they were worked by UCLA, 34-10, and on Saturday, they gave Oregon State their first win in a 31-27 loss.
The good news for Cal is that quarterback Chase Garbers nearly tripled his passing production from the previous game, throwing for 315 yards and three touchdowns. The bad news is that Garbers, on first-and-goal from the 10-yard line with just over a minute to play, threw a pass that was tipped for an interception. Three starting linemen were held out of the game for the Bears due to COVID-19 issues, so that didn’t help, but time has basically run out for Cal to have any sort of successful season with just three games left, including a matchup with No. 9 Oregon.