It was officially upset week for Pac-12 football this past weekend. Three ranked teams lost, all coming from the North division, which leaves us with one clear front runner with three weeks to play. There was also a crazy game between Colorado and Oregon State. Overall, it was a great weekend of football as we head towards the final quarter of the season!

Pac-12 North

Well that escalated quickly. After looking like a three team race for much of the season, Stanford, Washington, and Oregon all lost this past weekend. That leaves Washington State all alone in first place in the North. Washington State defeated Stanford this weekend in a come from behind effort that allowed them to take a hold of the division. The Cougars have an outside chance of making the playoff, and Gardner Minshew needs to be talked about as a Heisman candidate because he is having a fantastic season to match his fantastic mustache.

Elsewhere, Washington didn’t show up on offense against Cal losing by a score of 12-10. The headline story was Jake Browning being benched midway through the game. Oregon went to Tucson and were blasted by the Arizona Wildcats 44-15. Justin Herbert had a game to forget which is now two sub par performances in a row for him. He did not look like a #1 QB prospect. Finally, how about some love for the Oregon State Beavers who were down 31 points and came back to defeat Colorado in overtime 41-34. The Beavers haven’t been good this season, but this is an exciting win for their team and fans!

Pac-12 South

It is official, Utah is the front runner for the Pac-12 South. The Utes throttled UCLA 41-10 and have been playing great football since they beat Stanford a few weeks ago. USC who was also in Pac-12 South contention was defeated by ASU 38-35. USC did have to start their third string QB, however, USC arguably should have won this game. With the loss, USC appears to be on the outside looking in for the division title. In Tucson, Arizona played their best game of the season dismantling Oregon. Khalil Tate returned to start after sitting out against UCLA with an ankle injury and he had his best game of the season as well. As for Colorado, they forgot there was two halves in a football game. The Buffs have now gone 0-3 after starting the season 5-0. 

Best Performance of the Week: Arizona Wildcats

This was Arizona’s best game of the year and they earned a signature win for Kevin Sumlin at Arizona. JJ Taylor had a fantastic game for the Wildcats rushing for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Arizona’s defense also forced three turnovers and made Justin Herbert uncomfortable in the pocket the entire night. It was a fantastic performance all around. 

Worst Performance of the Week: Colorado Buffaloes

Colorado led 31-3 at one point in this game, let that sink in. The Buffaloes looked to be on their way to an easy win, but the Beavers had other ideas. While Oregon State certainly deserves some of the credit, it is hard not to blame Colorado. This is the Oregon State team whose only victory came against an FCS school this season. There is no instance where you should blow a four possession lead. That is just unacceptable.  

Upcoming Game of the Week: Stanford at Washington

Just last week this game appeared to be the one that would decide the Pac-12 North champion. However, that is not the case after everyone lost last weekend. Still, this is an intriguing match up with both teams looking to hang around in the division race. While it may not decide the North anymore, this will be an exciting game to watch!