Pac-12 Football Recap: Week Four

As another week of Pac-12 football wraps up, the conference is beginning to separate itself into pretenders and contenders, with some stalwart programs looking a bit left behind. Around the Top 25 nationally, the storm of exciting college football moments struck again in Week Four, as #11 Wisconsin made mincemeat of #8 Michigan State in East Lansing, #10 Texas A&M pulled away from #17 Arkansas in the Southwest Classic, #23 Ole Miss dismantled #12 Georgia in Kirby Smart’s first trip to Oxford and #14 Tennessee held off #19 Florida in the 2016 edition of “the third Saturday in September”. It gets no better than this people. This is college football!

#24 Utah Scores Late To Slip By USC, 31-27

On a rainy Friday night in Salt Lake City, USC controlled the first three quarters of the game and looked to have the turnaround win of their season in hand, after pushing the lead to ten just seconds into the fourth quarter. However, Utah would not be denied as quarterback Troy Williams led two separate long-field touchdown drives in the final ten minutes. The signature play of the night came when Williams found wide receiver Tim Patrick from 18 yards out with just sixteen ticks left on the clock, pushing the Utes past the Trojans in heartbreaking fashion. Highlights:

Boise State Keeps Oregon State At Bay, 38-24

Boise State’s quest at an undefeated season stayed alive in Corvallis on Saturday afternoon, as the Broncos used a massive first half to build a big enough cushion to hold off a surging Beavers squad in the second half. The story of the day for Boise State was running back Jeremy McNichols, who scored four first-half touchdowns and finished with 208 rushing yards in the contest. Oregon State outscored Boise State, 17-7, in the second half but it was too little, too late for the Beavers, who fell to 1-2 on the season with the loss. Highlights:

Colorado Thwarts Oregon In Eugene, 41-38

In the debut of Colorado quarterback Steven Montez, the Buffs threw for 333 yards and 3 scores through the air, as they held off an Oregon team that fell to 2-2 with their second consecutive loss. For the Ducks, the loss is especially bitter, considering they rallied back from a 33-17 deficit and had a chance to take the lead late, before quarterback Dakota Prukop threw an interception to Colorado’s Akhello Witherspoon on their final offensive drive. For Colorado, the win was a huge bounce-back performance in a tough road environment, coming off last week’s bittersweet outing at highly-ranked Michigan. The victory also secured the Buffs’ first over Oregon since joining the Pac-12 back in 2011. Highlights:

#7 Stanford Completes Comeback Over UCLA, 22-13

Stanford’s wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside may have only caught three passes for 29 yards on the day but when it came down to crunch-time, the 6’3”, 220 pound target knew exactly what to do. Arcega-Whiteside snagged the go-ahead score on an 8 yard pass from quarterback Ryan Burns with 24 seconds left in the game for the Cardinal, to take a 16-13 lead over UCLA in the final seconds. A 42 yard fumble recovery on the Bruins’ last-chance drive, returned for a score by Stanford’s Solomon Thomas, would then seal the victory for the Cardinal, who had less than a stellar outing on the day mostly due to a solid Bruins’ game-plan. However, Jim Mora’s team fell apart again in the waning moments of the game for the second time this season. Highlights:

Arizona State Bests California In Shootout, 51-41

A game that lived up to the hype, two of the Pac-12’s most prolific offenses showed their worth on Saturday night, when Arizona State out dueled California in the conference’s highest-scoring affair on the day. The Sun Devils posted 31 points in the fourth quarter to speed by the Golden Bears, who looked to be on the verge of putting Arizona State away at a few different junctures in this one. While California quarterback Davis Webb was the standout on the day, with an astounding 5 touchdown, 478 yard performance, the Sun Devils gunslinger Manny Wilkins had his own special outing, tallying 290 yards through the air and 72 more on the ground, while accounting for 4 scores on the day. Now 4-0, Arizona State is now in the driver’s seat (along with Utah and Colorado) at the moment in the Pac-12 South Division, with a road trip to USC upcoming next week. California fell to 2-2 with the loss. Highlights:

#9 Washington Holds Off Arizona In OT, 35-28

The biggest critique of Washington heading into their match-up with Arizona was probably their strength of schedule up to this point in the season, as the Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 record with some lackluster wins. Their fourth win of the campaign wasn’t much better. The Huskies held off a shorthanded Arizona team in overtime, on the tails of running back Lavon Coleman’s breakout day. Coleman, who has seen his touches increase every week so far this season, ran the ball eleven times on the day, tallying 181 yards and a touchdown for Washington. In overtime, the Huskies’ called on another rotation player in wide receiver Dante Pettis, who hauled in a four-yard pass from quarterback Jake Browning to give Washington the victory and secure the Huskies’ status as one of the conference’s four unbeaten programs. Highlights: