Pac-12 rewind: Stanford thrives in chaos, USC and Colorado roll, Cal befuddles Oregon and division chaos looms
A recap of the Week Five action …
Theme of the Week I: Take that, COVID
For the first time this season – and in the upset of the year – the Pac-12 played all six games as scheduled. Given the outlook when the week began, we figured there would be a slew of cancellations and matchup changes. (And frankly, that should have been your first clue that everything would work out just fine.)
Theme of the Week II: Division chaos
The South has two undefeated teams that won’t play each other while the North is hurtling toward a four-way tie for first place (Stanford, Washington, Washington State and Oregon). If you expected clean and simple, you forgot what year it is.
Theme of the Week III: Win column
Two teams earned their first victories of 2020. Utah, which started two weeks late, then dropped its first two, beat Oregon State for its first win since Nov. 30, 2019 (Colorado). Meanwhile, Cal, which has been clobbered by COVID quarantines and miserable special teams, beat Oregon for its first win since Dec. 30, 2019 (Illinois).
Team of the Week: Stanford
According to article 12.7.20 of the Hotline constitution, this honor is automatically bestowed whenever a team gets booted by its county during a pandemic, relocates 750 miles, practices in a public park, then upsets a ranked opponent on its home field. Kudos to the Cardinal for its chaos management.
Offensive Player of the Week: Colorado’s Jarek Broussard
In a week loaded with stellar performances by tailbacks, Broussard stood alone: The sophomore rushed for 301 yards against Arizona, including 155 in the second quarter, as the offensive line carved running lanes wide enough to fit a buffalo. For CU, this was revenge of the Khalil Tate game.
Defensive Player of the Week: Cal’s Kuony Deng
We’ll give a nod to Oregon State’s Avery Roberts and Colorado’s Nate Landman for recording 21 and 17 tackles, respectively, and to Arizona State’s Tyler Johnson for his 4.5 tackles-for-loss. But Deng is our pick after forcing two fumbles in the fourth quarter to preserve Cal’s victory over Oregon. Both turnovers ended what could have been go-ahead drives for the Ducks, and both occurred in Cal territory.
Defensive Performance of the Week: Cal
Oregon hadn’t scored fewer than 35 points in any game this season, but the Ducks managed just 17 in Memorial Stadium. It was their lowest output since early last season, when they scored … 17 points against Cal. Obviously, Bears coach Justin Wilcox has figured out his alma mater.
Rookie of the Week: Utah’s Ty Jordan
The freshman from Texas rushed for 167 yards against Oregon State, with one touchdown and a 6.2 yards-per-carry average. The 200-pounder was a three-star recruit. To us, he looks like Zack Moss 2.0.
Rusty team of the Week: Arizona State
The Sun Devils went 27 days between games, and it showed with two turnovers and 12 penalties against UCLA. Then again, a few of those ineligible receiver downfield calls looked suspicious.
Coach of the Week: Stanford’s David Shaw
In addition to navigating his team through a week from hell, Shaw also drew up a game plan that flummoxed Washington’s previously stout defense. The Cardinal returned to its ground-and-pound roots and rushed for 191 yards.
Coaching Hot Seat of the Week: Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin
The Wildcats are careening toward nowhere with 11 consecutive losses, a low-talent roster and a head coach with a reported buyout of $7.5 million. The administration is approaching decision time.
Drive of the Week: UCLA
The Bruins did nothing in the second half against Arizona State, until it mattered. After possessions that generated 26, minus-2, minus-3 and 26 yards, they dug deep and unleashed an 11-play, 75-yard drive that featured the game-winning touchdown with 1:09 remaining.
Quarter of Forever: USC receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown
Nobody has had a quarter like St. Brown’s first against Washington State. The junior caught four touchdown passes – of 7, 22, 4 and 2 yards – to become the first player in conference history with four TD receptions in a single quarter.
Stat of the Week I: Perfection
There are nine undefeated teams in college football: Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Alabama, Ohio State, Buffalo, San Jose State, Notre Dame, USC and Colorado.
Stat of the Week II: Stanford
The Cardinal converted 10-of-13 third-down opportunities against Washington, which had been limiting opponents to a 31% conversion rate.
Stat of the Week III: Colorado
The Buffaloes rushed for 407 yards and passed for 92.
Stat of the Week IV: USC
The Trojans passed for 282 yards and rushed for five.
Mike Leach would be so proud.
Jon Wilner can be reached via email at pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com.