Pac-12 Football Roundup: USC Routed at Home -- Again
USC slipped to 0-3 in Pac-12 home games as a result of a 42-26 loss to Utah on Saturday night. Later Saturday, UCLA handed Arizona its 17th straight loss, 34-16. On Saturday afternoon, Washington State ended Oregon State's four-game winning streak in a dramatic 31-24 win over the Beavers. On Friday night, Arizona State kept its hold on first place in the Pac-12 South with a 28-10 victory over visiting Stanford.
Colorado, Cal, Washington and Oregon have byes this week.
Here are the summaries of the four Pac-12 games.
Utah 42, USC 26
Utah (3-2, 2-0 Pac-12), USC (3-3, 2-3 Pac-12)
USC was favored in all three of its conference home games this season, but it lost all three and gave up more than 40 points in each of them.
Meanwhile, Utah has emerged as the main threat to Arizona State in the Pac-12 South. The Utes are a half-game behind the Sun Devils, and Utah and Arizona State meet next Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Utah quarterback Cameron Rising, who began the season as Charlie Brewer's backup, was 22-for-28 for 306 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran 17 yards for a touchdown as the Utes took a 35-10 lead in the third quarter before cruising in.
The fact that Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham had Rising throw a pass with 50 seconds remaining and the victory assured was interesting. It resulted in a 23-yard completion.
The backbreaking play was a flea-flicker that produced a 37-yard touchdown reception by Devaughn Vele with 10 seconds left in the first half and gave the Utes a 21-10 lead.
The high point for USC was the play of wide receiver Drake London. Entering Saturday's game, he led the nation in receptions and ranked second in receiving yards per game. Against Utah, he had 16 receptions for 162 yards, and he provided the Trojans' lone highlight with his acrobatic touchdown.
USC quarterback Kedon Slovis wound up with 401 passing yards, the most by a Pac-12 player this season, but much of that came after the outcome had been decided.
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UCLA 34, Arizona 16
UCLA (4-2, 2-1 Pac-12), Arizona (0-5, 0-2 Pac-12)
UCLA's Brittain Brown had 146 rushing yards on just 12 carries, and his 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave the Bruins a safe 31-16 lead. Zach Charbonnet added 117 yards for the Bruins, who led just 14-13 at the half.
It was a tough game for UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who seems to be slowed by injuries. He was just 1-for-8 for 3 yards, one touchdown and an interception in the first half, and he finished 8-for-19 for 82 yards. He had nine yards rushing in the first half and 17 in the second.
Arizona used a trick play in the closing seconds of the second quarter to get within 14-13 at halftime. On that play wide receiver Jamarye Joiner threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to running back Michael Wiley.
Thompson-Robinson ran four yards for a touchdown in the third quarter that put the Bruins ahead 24-16.
Arizona quarterback Jordan McCloud suffered a knee injury early in the fourth quarter and was done for the game. When he left, with Arizona trailing 24-16, the Wildcats' chances vanished. He was on crutches after the game, so he may be sidelined for a while.
Before leaving the game, McCloud was 21-of-30 for 182 yards.
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Washington State 31, Oregon State 24
Washington State (3-3, 2-2 Pac-12), Oregon State (4-2, 2-1 Pac-12)
Washington State quarterback Jayden de Laura threw three touchdown passes and amassed 399 passing yards, which was the most by a Pac-12 player this season until USC's Kedon Slovis topped that later Saturday.
De Laura's output offset the work of Oregon State's B.J. Baylor, the Pac-12's leading rusher who ran for 145 yards, and Deshaun Fenwick, who ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
Both Oregon State running backs averaged better than eight yards a carry, but the Beavers came up 1 yard shy of possible overtime.
Trailing 31-24 with no timeouts left and facing fourth-and-19 from the Cougars' 23-yard line with 43 seconds left, Beavers quarterback Chance Nolan completed a short pass to Trey Lowe, who ran across the field before being stopped at the 5-yard line, one yard short of a first down.
It had been back-and-forth to that point.
An odd interception that bounced off some hands and a WSU player's helmet before being picked off by the Cougars' Brennan Jackson got things going in the third quarter.
That halted an Oregon State threat and led to 95-yard WSU touchdown drive, which ended with Joey Hobart's 55-yard touchdown catch that put WSU ahead 17-10 late in the third quarter.
Fenwick 15-yard run late in third quarter tied game 17-17, one play after B.J. Baylor’s 50-yard run.
Lincoln Victor 14-yard TD reception made it 24-17 in favor of the Cougars early in fourth, and came one play after 58-yard reception by Travell Harris, who finished with 147 receiving yards.
Fenwick 11-yard TD run tied it 24-24 with 11:15 left, but de Laura's 1-yard scoring pass to Deon McIntosh put WSU back ahead 31-24 with 5:25 to go.
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Arizona State 28, Stanford 10
Arizona State (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12), Stanford (3-3, 2-2 Pac-12)
Three big plays by the Sun Devils and Stanford’s inability to finish off productive drives with points helped Arizona State take control of the Pac-12 South with a victory over the Cardinal Friday night in Tempe, Arizona.
A 51-yard touchdown run by ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels (video below) on the Sun Devils’ first possession and a 22-yard touchdown run by Elijhah Badger on an end-around helped stake ASU to a 21-7 lead.
But the backbreaker was a clever, albeit dangerous, play by ASU defensive back Jack Jones. With ASU leading 21-10 in the third quarter, Jones intercepted a Tanner McKee pass, and while he was being tackled by Stanford receiver John Humphreys, Jones lateraled to Deandre Pierce, who ran it back 27 yards for a touchdown and a 28-10 lead.
“That kind of stuff you just do on instinct, and I’m glad it worked because if we would have fumbled it you’d see a mad head coach,” ASU head coach Herman Edwards said.
“It’s a play that will turn a game like this one,” Stanford coach David Shaw said.
ASU rolled up 255 rushing yards against a Stanford defense that ranks 122nd of 130 FBS schools in run defense.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal gained just 13 rushing yards, averaging 0.7 yards per carry. But McKee passed for 356 yards as Stanford got into Arizona State territory on 10 of its 11 possessions. However, the Cardinal scored just 10 points.
McKee came into the game with 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions, but he was picked off three times on Friday, although two of them were on tipped balls that probably should have been caught by the Cardinal receiver.
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Cover photo of Jayden de Laura by James Snook, USA TODAY Sports
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