Pac-12 Power Rankings: Oregon, UCLA top dogs after a wild week of conference play

The first full week of conference play has come and gone for the Pac-12, and as expected it was a chaotic mess.

Oregon took care of business against Arizona in perhaps the most predictable outcome – even if the game was far closer than the final score indicates.

USC got bullied by Oregon State in Los Angeles, an embarrassing performance from the Trojans and a continuation of what has been a strong season for Jonathan Smith and the Beavers, who are now 3-1 on the year.

Cal nearly pulled off the upset against Washington in Seattle, but the Huskies forced a fumble with the clock running out in overtime to secure a victory.

UCLA beat Stanford in a relatively close affair, maintaining their spot atop the Pac-12 South, while Arizona State beat up on Colorado’s anemic offense and the Utes staged a fourth quarter comeback against Washington State – which has become a far too often occurrence for Nick Rolovich’s team.

The conference is still Oregon’s to lose, but here is a look at the updated power rankings after Week 3:

Arizona 0-4 (Last Week: 12)

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I almost feel bad keeping the Wildcats in last place on this list after showing a lot of life against Oregon on Saturday night, but quarterback Jordan McCloud still threw a whopping five interceptions – and they remain the only winless team in the conference.

If the play like they did in the middle quarters against Oregon going forward, they won’t be winless for too long.

Washington State 1-3 (Last Week: 11)

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Yet another fourth quarter collapse by Nick Rolovich’s squad, as the Cougars allowed the Utes to score 14 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes to come from behind and win.

Washington State has yet to put together a complete performance on the year, and an injury to Jayden de Laura could be problematic going forward – especially after backup Jarrett Guarantano threw three picks on Saturday.

Colorado 1-3 (Last Week: 8)

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Colorado’s offense has only scored two touchdowns in their last three games combined, as quarterback Brendon Lewis has struggled to get this offense going.

Arizona State let the Buffs hang around for a bit in the first half before scoring 21 in the second half and burying them, sending Karl Dorrell’s squad to 1-3 on the season.

Cal 1-3 (Last Week: 10)

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Cal hung extremely tough against the Huskies in Seattle on Saturday, but the defense – which just isn’t the same without Tim DeRuyter – gave up 31 points to John Donovan’s anemic offense, and a forced fumble by UW with seconds left in the first overtime period handed Jimmy Lake’s team a victory.

Cal has now given up 30 or more points in three straight, and even with Chase Garbers playing great football under center this team’s offense can’t withstand the defensive struggles going forward.

USC 2-2 (Last Week: 5)

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Saturday was an absolute disaster for the USC Trojans, who allowed Oregon State to score 45 points in a route at the coliseum.

It was the Beavers’ first win in LA in decades, and cements the depths of mediocrity coach Clay Helton brought the Men of Troy to during his tenure. Donte Williams has a lot of work to do, and it looks like this season is already a lost cause.

Utah 2-2 (Last Week: 9)

Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

It didn’t exactly convince fans that this team is fully back to being a contender, but the Utes took care of business against Nick Rolovich’s Washington State squad by scoring 14 fourth quarter points to secure a victory.

Utah quarterback Cameron Rising was less than impressive, however, so this team will need to get creative on offense if they want to make some noise in the Pac-12 South.

Washington 2-2 (Last Week: 6)

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Washington’s offense looked competent on Saturday evening in Seattle, but it took a forced fumble on the one yard line near the end of the first overtime period for Jimmy Lake’s team to put away the Golden Bears.

UW is 2-2 heading into a tough matchup in Corvallis against Oregon State.

Stanford 2-2 (Last Week: 4)

Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Stanford hung tough after giving up 14 points in the first quarter to Chip Kelly and UCLA, but the Cardinal ultimately fell to 2-2 on the season in a 35-24 loss.

Oregon State 3-1 (Last Week: 7)

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Oregon State absolutely pummeled the Trojans on Saturday, dropping 45 points despite very uneven officiating in the first half. The Beavers are a few plays away from being 4-0 after a close loss to Purdue early in the season, and are one of the conference’s biggest surprises under coach Jonathan Smith.

Arizona State 3-1 (Last Week: 3)

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Arizona State took care of business against a struggling Colorado squad, winning 35-13 behind Jayden Daniels – who threw for 235 yards and rushed for a pair of touchdowns in a do-it-all performance.

UCLA 3-1 (Last Week: 2)

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UCLA dropped a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter and cruised against a solid Stanford squad, winning 35-24 and moving to 3-1 on the season.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s inconsistency is still an issue for this team, but Chip Kelly and his squad are poised to do some damage in the wide open Pac-12 South.

Oregon 4-0 (Last Week: 1)

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The Ducks looked sloppy in the middle quarters against a surprisingly solid Arizona squad, but they picked off quarterback Jordan McCloud a whopping five times en route to a 41-19 victory.

A date with Stanford will provide a tough challenge next week, but this team’s defense has kept them in every game this year – and the return of Kayvon Thibodeaux is a huge boost going forward.

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