It was another exciting weekend in Pac-12 country.
Oregon’s 45-16 victory over Stanford has virtually assured the Ducks the North Division title.
The South Division is a little bit more muddied than the North, but wins by Arizona State, UCLA and USC have the Sun Devils holding the slightest of advantages.
Here’s how the games went this weekend:
Washington 38 – Colorado 23: At this point in the season, the best player in the country not-named Marcus Mariota might very well be Shaq Thompson. Two weeks after being named as a mid-season all-American at linebacker, Thompson rushed 15 times for 174 yards and a touchdown to lead the huskies to a big win over Colorado and become bowl eligible. Colorado had leads of 10-0, 20-10 and 23-17 before Washington scored 21 straight points over the final quarter and a half.
USC 44 – Washington State 17: The Trojans got another outstanding performance from quarterback Cody Kessler as he threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns while Juju Smith (three touchdowns) and Nelson Agoholar (220 yards receiving, two total touchdowns).The game was never close as USC was up 24-0 before a WSU touchdown with 1:33 left in the first half cut that deficit to 17 but that was the closest it would get. Terrible news for Cougars quarterback Connor Halliday as he suffered a broken leg, underwent surgery during the game and likely saw his college career come to an end.
Cal 45 – Oregon State 31: On a night when Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion became the Pac-12′s career passing leader, it was Cal quarterback Jared Goff who stole the show. Goff threw a 10-yard touchdown to Chris Harper midway through the fourth quarter for the go ahead score and Cal never looked back, adding a touchdown run by Daniel Lasco to seal the game. Mannion now has 12,453 yards in his Pac-12 career, breaking Matt Barkley’s record of 12,327 yards.
No. 22 UCLA 17 – No. 12 Arizona 7: Brett Hundley did a little bit of everything on offense for the Bruins but it was UCLA’s defense that got the win for the Bruins. Arizona’s high-powered offense was held to just 255 total yards while being shutout in the final three quarters of the game. Handley had 320 total yards and one touchdown while Jordan Payton caught six passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. The Bruins remain one game behind ASU in the South but do hold the head-to-head matchup if ASU were to stumble along the way.
No. 14 Arizona State 19 – No. 17 Utah 16 (OT): The matchup between the Sun Devils and Utes didn’t end until past 11 p.m. and it was Arizona State who came out on top after Sun Devil kicker Zane Gonzalez hit a 36-yard field in overtime. Jaelan Strong had 77 yards receiving and a touchdown while quarterback Taylor Kelly looked his healthy self with 260 yards passing.
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