The Pac-12 has had no shortage of exciting games this season.
12 of 18 Pac-12 games have been decided by a touchdown or less and 10 of those games where decided on the final snap of the game. The conference also leads the nation in average combined points per conference game.
Avg points per conference game: #ACC: 49.0 #B1G: 50.6 #Big12: 63.2 #SEC: 56.1 #Pac12: 65.0
— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) October 12, 2014
Saturday was no different. This week’s marquee Pac-12 matchup between No. 12 Oregon and No. 18 UCLA turned into a convincing win for the Ducks. Oregon kept its playoff dreams alive while UCLA was essentially removed from national title contention with the 42-30 loss.
Lighting almost struck twice in Tucson as the No. 10 Wildcats nearly escaped a 28-26 deficit to USC. The Wildcats recovered an onside kick with just over a minute left on the clock and marched down the field to give their kicker a chance to win the game. The Wildcat kicker’s first attempt sailed right down the middle of the goalposts, but USC head coach Steve Sarkisian used a timeout just in time to ice the kicker. It worked: Arizona’s second attempt sailed wide right and USC held on for a win against a top-10 opponent on the road.
Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Washington shut down Cal’s bear-raid in a 31-7 victory.
Week seven Pac-12 scores:
No. 25 Stanford beats Washington State 34-17
Keving Hogan passed for 284 yards and three touchdowns and the Stanford defense slowed down Connor Halliday and Washington State’s air-raid for a decisive win following the Cardinal’s loss to Notre Dame the previous week. A week after Halliday threw for 734 yards he was held to just 292.
Washington defeats Cal 31-7
Cal was surging and up at the top of the Pac-12 North rankings, however by halftime it was evident that it wouldn’t by getting comfortable up there. Washington’s Cyler Miles threw for 273 yards for three touchdowns and Shaq Thompson took a Cal fumble 100-yards for a score and the Huskies cruised to a dominant win on Berkeley Saturday. Turnovers proved costly for the Bears, who gave up the ball three times on its way to trailing 28-0 by halftime.
USC holds off No. 10 Arizona 28-26
Javorius Allen rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns and despite almost giving away the game to Arizona in the final minutes, USC was able to stave off heartbreak unlike they had done the previous week.
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