It’s time for conference play in the Pac-12 and here’s a glance at how the conference did this week.
No. 2 Oregon(4-0, 1-0) vs. Cal(1-3, 0-1): Oregon W 55-16
There may have been a torrential downpour going on, but it wasn’t enough to stop Oregon from shellacking Cal. Oregon only had 381 yards of offense, but that stat is a little misleading, because the Ducks were usually playing with a short field thanks to five Cal turnovers (four fumbles lost, one interception). Golden Bears’ freshman phenom quarterback Jared Goff, who had been passing for 435 yards per game before this contest, went just 3-6 for 11 yards before being benched. Oregon’s redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcus Mariota didn’t have much trouble, though, as he passed for 114 yards and two touchdowns in the Ducks’ rout.No. 5 Stanford (4-0, 2-0) vs. Washington State(3-2, 1-1): Stanford W 55-17
Stanford’s offense decided to try to do its best Oregon impersonation as the Cardinal had 560 offensive yards in their 55-17 win. Stanford junior quarterback Kevin Hogan played lights out, going 16-25 for 286 yards and three touchdowns with a lone interception. Even Stanford’s defense got in on the scoring as junior safety Jordan Richards and redshirt senior outside linebacker Trent Murphy both returned Washington State interceptions for touchdowns.No. 16 Washington (4-0, 1-0) vs. Arizona(3-1, 0-1): Washington W 31-13
The Huskies moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2001 and they have Bishop Sankey to thank for it. Sankey put the team on his back as he carried the rock a whopping 40 times for 161 yards and a touchdown. Senior quarterback Keith Price chipped in 165 passing yards and another two scores for the Huskies. As good as Sankey was, he wasn’t the only running back being a workhorse in this game. There was also UA junior running back Ka’Deem Carey. Carey rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown but was also the Wildcats' leading receiver with 4 receptions for 49 yards.Oregon State(4-1, 2-0) vs. Colorado (2-1, 0-1): Oregon State W 44-17
OSU junior quarterback Sean Mannion continued his strong start this season against the Buffaloes. Mannion completed 27 of his 52 pass attempts for 414 yards and six touchdowns, two of those going to junior wideout Brandin Cooks. Cooks caught nine passes for 168 yards and is making some early noise for the Biletnikoff award. As good as Mannion was, Colorado junior quarterback Connor Wood struggled. Wood passed for only 146 yards and threw a pair of interceptions on the day. Wood’s struggles meant junior wide receiver Paul Richardson, the country’s leading receiver as he averages 208 yards per game, also struggled. Richardson caught five passes for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu or follow him on twitter @EricSmith_SP
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