Week 7 in the PAC-12
Upsets, comebacks and a clash for the ages. Week 7 in the PAC-12 had it all. Let’s take a look at how things went down.
Week 7 Results:
Stanford 46 @ 43 Colorado (2OT)
Cal 14 @ 34 Utah
Oregon 33 @ 36 Washington
Arizona 44 @ 6 Washington State
USC 20 @ 48 Notre Dame
UCLA 24 @ 36 Oregon State
Top three games from Week 7:
Oregon @ Washington
This clash of the titans at the top of the table gave us a game for the ages as Oregon and Washington faced off for the first time with both teams ranked in the top ten. Both Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix demonstrated their quality as they duked it out to the tune of 653 yards between them.
Oregon had more success on the ground, more than doubling Washington’s total rushing yardage highlighted by Bucky Irving running for 127 yards and a score. However, Washington was deadly through the air with Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk both eclipsing one hundred yards. Odunze clearly demonstrated his NFL potential, pulling in some impossible grabs as Penix Jr. trusted his receiver to come down with the ball even when covered.
Oregon remained aggressive throughout the game with head coach Dan Lanning opting to go for it on fourth down on three occasions. Unfortunately for the Ducks all three of these attempts were unsuccessful. Two of these attempts were from inside the ten-yard line, the first immediately before halftime and the second in the third quarter. But it was the final attempt that was ultimately their undoing as Lanning chose to try and convert fourth down with 2:16 left on the clock and a four-point lead.
Washington struck back almost immediately with Penix Jr. finding Polk between double coverage to take them to the sixteen-yard line before hitting Odunze on the back shoulder for the touchdown and a three-point lead. But there was still 1:38 on the clock giving Oregon plenty of time to drive down the field into field goal range and attempt to send the game to overtime. Camden Lewis’ 43-yard attempt drifted wide-right, handing the Huskies the victory and leaving them as the sole undefeated team in the conference.
Stanford @ Colorado
Talk about a game of two halves. Stanford had no answer for the Colorado offense who entered the half with a 29-0 lead. It then appeared that complacency set in and the Cardinal managed to figure out how unpick the Buffaloes defense as they engineered the biggest comeback in the school’s history and the biggest ever blown lead for Colorado as they scored on eight consecutive drives.
Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor, who had no catches in the first half, had a historic performance in the second half as he racked up an astonishing 294 yards to set a new school record for the Cardinal. This included three touchdowns including one that went for 97 yards. However, his most important grab came in overtime.
Colorado extended a late lead with 64-yard pass to Xavier Weaver to put them in the redzone before Shedeur Sanders hit Travis Hunter in the endzone. Stanford QB Ashton Daniels managed to find Bryce Farrell in the endzone to pull them back within three points before the Cardinal’s defense forced Colorado to punt. This allowed Stanford to get the ball back in time to kick the game tying field goal to end regulation.
Colorado won the toss and elected to go first in overtime. Sanders hit Javon Antonio for the touchdown before Ayomanor pulled in a spectacular catch off the back of Hunter’s helmet to level to the scores. In the second period of overtime Sanders found himself with no-one open on third and goal and pressure bearing down on him as the pocket collapsed around him, forcing him to make a poor decision to throw it up into coverage where it was picked off by Alaka’i Gilman. This allowed Stanford to seal their historic victory with a 46-yard field goal from Joshua Karty.
USC @ Notre Dame
The anticipation was high for the latest instalment of this historic rivalry. USC would have been confident entering South Bend as Notre Dame had suffered their second loss of the season to Louisville the week before. However, the Trojans’ high-flying offense was brought crashing down by the Fighting Irish.
Caleb Williams turned in what was possibly his worst performance as a Trojan. This included three first half interceptions for Williams after having only one pick for the entire season prior to this game. These errors led to three Notre Dame scores and USC found themselves down 24-6 at halftime. When Williams is playing well, the Trojans offense is almost unstoppable. When he doesn’t perform at a superstar level, things fall apart.
Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman was solid if unspectacular, accounting for two touchdowns and 126 yards with the Irish punching in another two scores on the ground. Hartman didn’t need to put up big yardage due to the field position gained by USC turning the ball over five times and incurring 75-yards worth of penalties. When the Trojans did manage to pull back within eleven points in the fourth quarter, they conceded a 99-yard kick-off return by Jadarian Price that put the final nail in the coffin.
Top Performances of Week 7:
Passing:
Michael Penix Jr., Washington: 22/37, 302 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT v Oregon
Receiving:
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford: 13 recs, 294 yards, 22.6 AVG, 3 TD v Colorado
Rushing:
Bucky Irving, Oregon: 22 carries, 127 yards, 5.8 AVG, 1 TD v Washington
Defense:
Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington: 11 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL v Oregon
Power Rankings after Week 7:
1. Washinton
2. Oregon
3. Oregon State
4. USC
5. UCLA
6. Utah
7. Arizona
8. Cal
9. Colorado
10. Washington State
11. Stanford
12. Arizona State
Washington takes top spot after their narrow victory over Oregon. The middle order of the take takes a shuffle after Washington State slide down four places after their heavy defeat and Arizona jump up three places after their convincing win. Utah takes a big jump up after their victory over Cal. Arizona State replace Stanford at the foot of the table after The Cardinal’s historic comeback against Colorado.
Games to Watch in Week 8:
Utah @ USC
It looks likely that Utah will be without starting QB Cam Rising for the season but they are proving they are still a force to be reckoned with. This will be a tough defense to score on, but USC’s defense should have an easier time holding the Utes in check than they did with previous opponents.
Washington State @ Oregon
Cam Ward and Washington State need a big bounce back after being humbled by Arizona. However, facing an angry Oregon in Eugene is probably not the best time and place for it.
UCLA @ Stanford
Stanford are flying high after their win in Boulder, but they may come crashing down again when they hit a stout UCLA defense. Bruins QB Dante Moore will be looking to rebuild is confidence after a turnover laden performance in Week 7.