Pac-12 Roundup: USC Pulls Off Last-Minute Escape For Second Week in a Row

USC, the favorite to win the Pac-12 South division, pulled out a dramatic victory for the second straight week, beating host Arizona 34-30 on Saturday.

Vavae Malapeai scored on an 8-yard run with 25 seconds left and the No. 20 Trojans improved to 2-0.

A week ago, USC got past Arizona State 28-27 by scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes, the game-winner on a 21-yard TD pass from Kedon Slovis to Drake London with 1:20 left.

Here’s a wrap-up on Saturday’s Pac-12 action.

Cal will make its season debut Sunday morning at 9 a.m. against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

USC 34, ARIZONA 30: Slovis passed for 325 yards and a touchdown and the USC running game collected 173 yards. Markese Stepp rushed for 82 yards and Stephen Carr added 80.

"We have some things we need to get better at, but we're 2-0," coach Clay Helton said. "A lot of teams would like to be in that position."

Arizona, playing its season opener after last week’s game against Utah was canceled, hung around all day and took a 30-27 lead when Grant Gunnel threw a 6-yard TD pass to Stanley Berryhill with 1:35 left.

Gunnell passed for 286 yards and three TDs and Gary Brightwell rushed for 113 yards.

COLORADO 35, STANFORD 32: The Buffaloes (2-0) continue to be the surprise of the Pac-12 after building a 35-16 lead and holding off the winless Cardinal (0-2) at Stanford.

The Buffs, under first-year coach Karl Dorrell, beat UCLA 48-42 a week ago and continue to show well offensively. Colorado was 5-7 each of the past three seasons.

Sam Noyer passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns and Jarek Broussard topped 100 rushing yards for the second straight game with 121. Dimitri Stanley caught six passes for 126 yards and TD.

“We felt we built a pretty comfortable lead — and that's the point of the matter, it wasn't too comfortable, because they came back. But our players hung in there,” Dorrell said. “That's a good team that we played. I would have liked to have finished that game on our terms, but it's a great win. We're still learning as a team."

Stanford lost at Oregon last week without starting quarterback Davis Mills, who was held out of the game after being erroneously diagnosed as COVID-positive.

Mills returned Saturday but Stanford trailed 14-9 at halftime. Davis wound up passing for 327 yards and a touchdown but needed 56 pass attempts.

OREGON 43, WASHINGTON STATE 29: The Cougars kept coming but the 11th-ranked Ducks scored 22 fourth-quarter points to stay perfect (2-0).

Oregon ran up 581 yards, thanks to quarterback Tyler Shough, who passed for 312 yards and four touchdowns, and a ground game that generated 269 yards. CJ Verdell rushed for 118 yards and was one of four Ducks who had plays of at least 33 yards.

Quarterback Jayden de Laura threw for 321 yards and a pair of scores for the Cougars (1-1), who played without star running back Max Borghi, sidelined by a back injury for the second straight week.

WSU’s Renard Bell caught 10 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown.

WASHINGTON 27, OREGON STATE 21: Redshirt freshman quarterback Dylan Morris led an error-free offensive in his first start and the Huskies ran the ball 51 times for 267 yards and three touchdowns in their opener.

The game featured a controversial call when OSU's Jermar Jefferson was ruled to be short of a first down on a fourth-and-1 play from the UW 5-yard line with the Beavers trailing just 24-21 early in the fourth quarter.

Sean McGrew rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown as the Huskies (1-0) got a victory a week after their game at Cal was canceled. UW controlled the ball for 37 minutes and did not have a turnover.

Morris, who won a duel among four candidates for the starting quarterback job was 14 for 24 for 141 yards.

Jefferson rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown for the Beavers (0-2) but OSU passed for just 85 yards and turned the ball over twice.

OSU led 7-0 early when All-Pac-12 linebacker Hamilcar Rashed Jr. blocked a punt and Jaydon Grant returned it 11 yards for a touchdown.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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