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Pac-12 power rankings: A few major upsets lead to a few major changes in the weekly poll

Washington defensive back JoJo McIntosh (14) and defensive back Taylor Rapp (21) walk off the field after an NCAA college football game against loss Arizona State Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State defeated Washington 13-7. (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

Cal and Arizona State respectively knocked off the Pac-12’s only unbeatens and perhaps stripped the conference of it only chances at a College Football Playoff berth. The Golden Bears and Sun Devils did a number to the power rankings, as well. Four teams stay in their places, but the other eight are on the move.

1. USC (6-1, 3-1; last week: No. 3) – Of the conference’s “Fab Four” quarterbacks – Josh Rosen, Jake Browning, Luke Falk and Sam Darnold – Darnold was the only one who threw a touchdown pass this weekend. And SC’s redshirt sophomore needed three of them to save the Trojans in another comeback win.

2. Washington (6-1, 3-1; last week: No. 2) – As a society, we put too much stock into the thing we saw last. In the Huskies’ case, that was a horrific loss to ASU. But consider the season as a whole and it’s entirely possible UW is still the conference’s most dominant team.

3. Stanford (5-2, 3-1; last week: No. 4) – Bryce Love will have at least six more games this season to add to his 1,387 rushing yards. The Stanford back had his worst statistical game of the year, with only 147 yards on 17 carries against Oregon.

4. Washington State (6-1, 3-1; last week: No. 1) – Bill Moos sure took that Cal loss hard.

5. Utah (4-2, 1-2; last week: No. 5) – The Trojans scored on drives of 98, 88 and 98 yards in the second half to beat the Utes, who will spend the rest of the year wondering what would’ve happened had Tyler Huntley been under center.

6. Arizona (4-2, 2-1; last week: No. 8) – The Wildcats are two one-possession losses shy of a 6-0 record and they’ve scored 92 points in two games since replacing Brandon Dawkins with Khalil Tate. They’re also the only ones in the Pac-12 scoring 40-plus per game.

7. Arizona State (3-3, 2-1; last week: No. 9) – The Sun Devils reinvented themselves on defense to hold the Huskies to seven points. They’ll hope the magic doesn’t wear off, with Utah on deck and USC in the hole.

8. Cal (4-3, 1-3; last week: No. 10) – Not surprising: one Cal fan – and protestor – rushed the field in the second quarter. A little bit more surprising: a few-thousand students joined her moments after the Golden Bears finished off their 34-point upset over WSU.

9. UCLA (3-3, 1-2; last week: No. 7) – The Bruins are conceding 523 yards of offense per game, have lost three of their last four and, with UW, Utah and USC still on the slate, appear to be in danger of missing their first bowl game since the Rick Neuheisel era.

10. Oregon (4-3, 1-3; last week: No. 6) – Quarterbacks Taylor Alie and Braxton Burmeister combined for 33 passing yards at Stanford, which is a subtle way of saying, “Get well, Justin Herbert.”

11. Colorado (4-3, 1-4; last week: No. 11) – Was the 36-33 win over Oregon State actually the low point of the Buffaloes’ season?

12. Oregon State (1-6, 0-4; last week: No. 12) – After the week the Beavers had, a three-point loss to Colorado probably had to feel like winning a national championship. Moral victories are nice, but they don’t do much for you in the power rankings.