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Pac-12 Football Round-Up: Oregon Wins; USC Comes From Behind Again

In another wild week of Pac-12 football, Oregon avoids the upset up in the Palouse while USC has to come from behind again. Colorado continues to surprise and UCLA picks up a huge win
Ryan Kostecka|
Pac-12 Football Round-Up: Oregon Wins; USC Comes From Behind Again
Pac-12 Football Round-Up: Oregon Wins; USC Comes From Behind Again

For everything that Pac-12 conference has gotten wrong the college football season, kudos has to be given for pivoting and allowing UCLA and Cal to play in Sunday when both of their original games were canceled on Friday.

Utah had to cancel its game with the Bruins due to the strict COVID-19 protocols down in LA County — and combined with a positive COVID-19 test on Friday — the team couldn't come up with the minimum number of scholarship players available.

Meanwhile, Arizona State has been ravaged by positive COVID-19 tests and therefore had to cancel its game with Cal. According to reports, the Sun Devils have upwards of 20 or more positive cases within the program, including head coach Herm Edwards.

"In the past few days our test results included a number of positive cases, including multiple student-athletes and coaching staff members, one of which is Head Coach Herm Edwards," Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson said in a statement. "This put our team below the Pac-12's minimum threshold of 53 available scholarship student-athletes under the league's game cancellation policy.

"As I've stated many times over, the health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes is absolutely paramount and we will not put them at risk," Edwards added in a statement. "Our team has worked extremely hard to get to this point, and even played a game last weekend. We will continue to care for our student-athletes and follow all protocols very thoroughly as we prepare for our next game. Our team and coaching staff are disappointed, but we do understand what we are dealing with."

That means that only two teams — Utah and Arizona State — didn't play during the second week of the season. 

Here's how the rest of the Pac-12 teams fared in Week 2...

No. 11 Oregon 43 — Washington State 29
The Ducks appeared to be in serious trouble when Washington State kicked a 49-yard field goal to take a 19-7 lead with 24 seconds left in the first half. But not to be outdone, the Ducks needed just 21 seconds to score a touchdown, as running back CJ Verdell scored from 3 yards out.

Oregon seized that momentum and including that touchdown by Verdell, outscored the Cougars 36-10 en route to a 43-29 win. The Ducks improved to 2-0 while Washington State fell to 1-1.

Once again, Oregon got off to a slow start but the coaching staff, primarily new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, really settled in as the game went on. The Ducks racked up 521 yards of total offense as quarterback Tyler Shough threw for 321 yards (21-of-30) and four touchdowns. Verdell added 18 carries for 188 yards and a score.

Washington State was led by quarterback Jayden de Laura, who threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Deon McIntosh added 92 yards and a score while Renard Bell finished with 10 catches for 158 yards and a touchdown.

Oregon returns home to host former coach Chip Kelly and UCLA on Saturday, with kickoff TBD. Washington State hosts Stanford (0-2) on Saturday at 9 p.m MT, with the game on Fox Sports 1.

No. 20 USC 34 — Arizona 30
The Trojans continue to be the most interesting in the conference. For the second game in a row, USC was outplayed for nearly all of the 60 minutes — but when it mattered most, the Trojans showed up.

Vavae Malepeai ran for an 8-yard score with 25 seconds left, giving the Trojans the win. USC improves to 2-0 on the year while the Wildcats drop to 0-1.

The game was much closer than expected as it was tied at 20 entering the fourth. But the final quarter saw 24 points scored, all of which happened with 7:29 left on remaining. Arizona took the lead after a Lucas Havrisik 51-yard field goal before the Trojans responded when Erik Krommenhoek caught a 6-yard pass from Kedon Slovis.

The Wildcats responded when Stanley Berryhill III caught a 6-yard pass from Grant Gunnell with 1:35 remaining, setting the stage for USC's final comeback bid.

Slovis threw for 312 yards and a score, while Amon-Ra St. Brown caught seven passes for 113 yards. The trojans did run for 173 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Gunnell threw for 286 yards and three touchdowns while running back Gary Brightwell added 112 yards on 21 carries.

USC hits the road to face Utah in the Utes' season opener on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. MT and will air on ESPN. Arizona travels north to face Washington at 6 p.m. MT (FOX) on Saturday.

Colorado 35 — Stanford 32
If the Trojans are the most interesting team in the conference, then Colorado and its offense has to be the most impressive.

Widely considered one of the worst teams in the Pac-12, the Buffaloes are off to a 2-0 start with wins over UCLA and Stanford to begin the season. Most impressively has been the way they've been winning, using an explosive offense.

Quarterback Sam Noyer threw for 255 yards and had four total touchdowns, Dimitri Stanley caught six passes for 126 yards and a score while running back Jarek Broussard added 27 carries for 127 yards. The offense put up 432 total yards and averaged 6.3 yards per play.

The rush defense was equally impressive, limiting the Cardinal to just 70 yards on 21 carries. Stanford quarterback David Mills returned from COVID-19 protocols to throw for 327 yards and two total touchdowns.

Colorado jumped out to a 35-16 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. They then hung on for dear life as Stanford scored two touchdowns, the final one came with 2:34 left in the game.

The Buffaloes are currently off this upcoming weekend following the cancellation of its game against Arizona State. It's unclear if they will be able to find an opponent or not. Stanford hosts Washington State in a Pac-12 After Dark special.

Washington 27 — Oregon State 21
This was an interesting game as the Beavers have every right to be upset following two horrendous spots by Pac-12 officials that might've cost them the game in the end.

But in the end, the Huskies picked up their first win of the season while the Beavers are still searching for their after the 0-2 start.

It was an ugly game as Washington quarterback Dylan Morris threw for just 141 yards (14-of-24) in the game while his counterpart Tristan Gebbia completed just 11-of-24 passes for 85 yards. 

However both running games showed up to provide the entertainment. Oregon State's Jermar Jefferson ran for a game-high 133 yards on 23 carries while Sean Mcgrew finished with 91 yards on nine carries to pace Washington. Altogether, the huskies ran for 267 yards on 51 carries while the Beavers finished with 167 yards on 34 carries.

The game was a back-and-forth affair as Jefferson's touchdown on the final play of the third quarter made it 24-21 Washington heading into the fourth.

Oregon State is set to Cal on Saturday with kickoff at 1:30 p.m. MT (FS1). Washington hosts upstart Arizona at 6 p.m. MT (FOX).

UCLA 34 — Cal 10
Are the Bruins actually pretty decent or are the Golden Bears pretty bad? That's the question everyone is asking after UCLA used a huge second quarter to route Cal on Sunday.

Coming off a tough loss to Colorado, UCLA definitely looked like the better on Sunday even though Cal was expected to be a darkhorse contender for the conference championship.

The Bruins outgained Cal 440-176 in total yards, as quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 196 yards, ran for 52 yards and finished with four total touchdowns, Running back Demetric Felton finished with 107 yards on the ground.

Cal's offense looked a complete mess as quarterback Chase Garbers averaged just 3.7 yards per attempt and the running game was held to 1.9 yards per carry.

After the Golden Bears kicked a field goal on its opening drive, the Bruins went on to outscore Cal 27-7 the rest of the half.

UCLA returns to action next week when head coach Chip Kelly makes his return to Autzen Stadium. Cal will try to make amends when it faces Oregon State on Saturday.

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