Close games headlined a packed Week 3 in the Pac-12 with ASU football losing at Texas Tech, USC defeating Texas in 2OT and Stanford and UCLA upset on road.
It was a hectic and jam-packed Week 3 in the Pac-12 Conference will a lot of teams facing teams from other Power 5 conferences.
On paper, the juiciest match-up was USC hosting Texas in their first meeting since the epic 2006 National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl won by the Longhorns.
Lots has changed since, and the game went to double overtime where USC hitting a game-winning field goal after a Texas turnover.
Elsewhere, Arizona State lost at Texas Tech after overcoming a pair of 18-point deficits and UCLA and Stanford were both upset on the road versus Memphis and San Diego State.
With Pac-12 play to ramp up this week, five teams are now ranked with Utah and Oregon becoming ranked this week for the first time this season.
While our top two stayed the same, here’s the Week 4 Power Rankings featuring out football coverage team of Alec Henden, Ethan Schmidt, Hunter Robinson, Jordan Kaye, Killian McClatchey, Sam Ficarro and Zach Pekale.
Power Rankings: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3
1. USC Trojans (LW: 1)
The Trojans still sit atop the Power Rankings after a shaky performance versus Texas.
In front of a sell-out crowd at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, USC led 14-7 at halftime on a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Sam Darnold.
The Longhorns defense stepped up in the second half and shutout the Trojans until the final play of regulation where walk-on freshman kicker Chase McGrath converted a 31-yard field goal to force overtime.
Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger started for the second straight week and impressed throwing for 298 yards and two touchdowns, but threw a crucial interception in double overtime setting up a game-winning field goal from McGrath and USC escaped with a 27-24 victory.
No. 5 USC will look to clean up some of their mistakes as they travel to Berkeley to resume Pac-12 play versus undefeated California.
2. Washington Huskies (LW: 2)
Another game, another Dante Pettis kick-return touchdown.
Pettis tied the NCAA record for most kick-return touchdowns in a career with his eighth and third this season as Washington defeated Fresno State. 48-16.
The senior wide receiver had his best game of the season finishing with five catches, 92 yards and three touchdowns receiving.
We, too, like easing into Sunday with a Dante Pettis reel.
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 17, 2017
He tied not one, but TWO @NCAAFootball records en route to @UW_Football's win. 😳 pic.twitter.com/AUPNnbbAXa
Running back Myles Gaskin rushed for two touchdowns and quarterback Jake Browning threw for 255 yards on 19-for-22 passing and four touchdowns.
The comprehensive win capped off a successful non-conference slate for No. 7 Washington and will open up Pac-12 play Saturday at Colorado in a rematch of last year’s Pac-12 Championship Game.
3. Washington State Cougars (LW: 5)
Washington State played the lone conference game of the week routing Oregon State 52-23 behind six touchdown passes from quarterback Luke Falk.
This is Falk’s career numbers in four games versus the Beavers:
153-for-206 (74.3 completion percentage), 1,689 yards, 22 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Falk has now thrown for 900 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception this season and is two touchdown passes away from 100 in his career.
Next up for the 18th-ranked Cougars is Nevada Saturday in their final non-conference game of the season.
4. Oregon Ducks (LW: 4)
Scouts from dozen of NFL teams traveled to see Oregon-Wyoming because of Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen, but it was Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert and running back Royce Freeman who stole the show.
The Ducks’ 28-point second quarter was the separator as Oregon defeated Wyoming 49-13 as Herbert threw for 251 yards and one touchdown and Freeman rushed for 157 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries.
Oregon’s defense was stout limiting Allen to just 9-of-24 passing for 64 yards, one rushing touchdown and one interception as Wyoming only had 183 yards of total offense.
No. 24 Oregon will travel to Tempe Saturday night to face Arizona State in both teams’ Pac-12 opener.
5. Stanford Cardinal (LW: 3)
Stanford joined Arizona State in receiving San Diego State’s medicine as the Aztecs pulled off the upset winning 20-17.
SDSU Running back Rashaad Penny rushed the ball 32 times for 175 yards and one touchdown with quarterback Christian Chapman throwing for 187 yards and the game-winning touchdown to tight end David Wells with 54 seconds remaining.
Stanford struggled to move the ball offensively and hold it finishing with just 254 total yards of offense and losing the time of possession battle 41:14 to 18:46 to San Diego State.
This picture of Stanford head coach David Shaw says it all.
Coach Shaw is just hanging by himself. pic.twitter.com/s09rFMd1Hs
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) September 17, 2017
Next up for Stanford is a home game versus UCLA Saturday.
6. Utah Utes (LW: 7)
After a 19-13 win over BYU last week, Utah came out firing on all cylinders blowing out San Jose State 54-16 behind Tyler Huntley’s big night.
The sophomore quarterback was the Utes’ leading passer and rusher finishing 30-of-43 passing with 341 passing yards, 53 rushing yards and four passing touchdowns as Utah finished the game with 501 yards of total offense.
Utah wide receiver Darren Carrington II had his third 100-yard receiving game of the season finishing with nine receptions, 153 yards and three touchdowns.
No. 23 Utah will open up Pac-12 play Friday night at Arizona.
7. UCLA Bruins (LW: 6)
UCLA traveled to face Memphis head coached by former Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell and fell 48-45 in their final non-conference game of the season becoming the third AP Top 25 opponent to lose at Memphis in three years.
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Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson out-dueled UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen as Ferguson threw for 398 yards and six touchdowns compared to Rosen’s 463 yards passing and four-touchdown performance.
UCLA had numerous chances in the fourth quarter as Memphis took the lead with 9:56 remaining but went interception and turnover on downs on their final two possessions.
The Bruins are unranked after the loss and will be at Stanford Saturday night as both will look to climb back into the AP Top 25.
8. California Golden Bears (LW: 9)
Cal was looking to improve after a close win over Weber State, where the defense was gashed for 571 yards, versus Ole Miss in their final non-conference game of the season.
The Golden Bears defeated the Rebels in a tight affair 27-16 shutting out Ole Miss in the second half 20-0.
It wasn’t a banner day for the Cal offense, but they got the job done as quarterback Ross Bowers threw for 236 yards and one touchdown and running back Patrick Laird rushed for 78 yards and one touchdown.
The story was the Golden Bears defense holding the Rebels offense to 123 yards in the second half forcing three punts, a turnover on downs, interception and a missed field goal.
Cal finished their non-conference slate 3-0 in head coach Justin Wilcox’s first year and will open up Pac-12 play at home versus No. 5 USC Saturday.
9. Colorado Buffaloes (LW: 8)
Colorado finished their non-conference schedule undefeated with a 41-21 win over Northern Colorado.
The Buffaloes had a big day offensively thanks to quarterback Steven Montez and running back Phillip Lindsay.
Montez threw for a career-high 357 yards and four touchdowns while Lindsay rushed for 151 yards and one touchdown as Colorado finished with 569 yards of total offense.
Colorado, who still hasn’t left the state for a game yet this season, will open up Pac-12 play versus No. 7 Washington looking to avenge last year’s loss in the Pac-12 title game.
10. Arizona Wildcats (LW: 11)
This game really escalated after a scoreless first quarter Friday night in El Paso.
Arizona outscored UTEP 35-9 in the second quarter on their way to a dominant 63-16 win over the Miners.
Quarterback Brandon Dawkins might have had his best game as a Wildcat finishing as the team’s leading passer and rusher with 288 total yards and six total touchdowns.
Arizona outgained UTEP 501-218 and the defense recorded two takeaways.
Arizona finished non-conference play 2-1 and will now host No. 23 Utah in their Pac-12 opener Friday night.
11. Arizona State Sun Devils (LW: 10)
It was a valiant comeback effort from the Sun Devils last week at Texas Tech.
After kickoff was pushed back an hour for lightning, Arizona State trailed 21-3 versus Texas Tech after the first quarter and trailed 35-17 at halftime.
Nevertheless, the Sun Devils fought back getting big stops on defense and quarterback Manny Wilkins leading ASU back to tie the game with 9:52 remaining.
Wilkins threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns with wide receivers N’Keal Harry and Kyle Williams having monster games.
Harry finished with 13 receptions, 148 yards and one touchdown while Williams recorded seven catches, 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Time just ran out for ASU as Tech scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:55 remaining.
Defense struggled giving up 615 yards to Texas Tech with quarterback Nic Shimonek throwing for 543 yards and six touchdowns.
Arizona State finisehd non-conference play with a losing record for the first time in the Todd Graham era and will open Pac-12 play versus No. 24 Oregon Saturday night.
12. Oregon State Beavers (LW: 12)
Poor Oregon State.
The Beavers, who lost 48-14 at home versus Minnesota last week, got beaten badly again this time by Washington State.
Quarterback Luke Falk carved up the Beavers defense once again and they had no answer in stopping him.
A positive for Oregon State was running back Ryan Nall who rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns leading the Beavers offense.
Next: ASU Football: Lone Star Letdown, Sun Devils defeated in Lubbock
Road doesn’t get any easier for the 1-3 in Beavers as they’ll be on a bye week this week before playing No. 7 Washington and No. 5 USC in back-to-back weeks.