ASU Football: 2017 Pac-12 Week Five Power Rankings

The first full week of Pac-12 play got underway this past week ASU football pulling off the biggest shock upsetting No. 24 Oregon.

Man is it good to have #Pac12AfterDark back in full effect.

The first full weekend of Pac-12 play got underway Friday night with then-No. 23 Utah defeating Arizona 30-23 and with No. 5 USC surviving a road scare versus Cal and Arizona State upsetting then-No. 24 Oregon Saturday.

The Pac-12 will create a bunch of twists and turns during a conference play with every team having a chance on upsetting one another.

While our top three stayed the same, here’s the Week 5 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 | Week 4

1. USC Trojans (LW: 1)

It was a tight game through three quarters for USC at Cal.

The Golden Bears entered the game undefeated and with a lot of confidence after non-conference wins over North Carolina and Ole Miss.

USC and Cal were tied at 13 heading to the fourth quarter before erupting for 17 points in the final quarter to seal a 30-20 win.

California shot themselves in the foot turning it over six times, including four turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Fifth-ranked USC’s road doesn’t get easier this week as they travel to Pullman to face 16th-ranked Washington State Friday night.

2. Washington Huskies (LW: 2)

Washington traveled to Boulder to face Colorado in a rematch of last year’s Pac-12 Championship Game.

The Huskies trailed 7-0 after the first quarter, but the offense came alive as Washington outscored Colorado 37-3 in the final three frames to secure a 37-10 victory.

Running back Myles Gaskin had a monster game rushing the ball 27 times for 202 yards and two touchdowns.

If it wasn’t for Stanford’s Bryce Love’s big night versus UCLA, Gaskin would have won Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week.

Next up for the sixth-ranked Huskies is a trip to Corvallis to face Oregon State.

3. Washington State Cougars (LW: 3)

The Cougars played their final non-conference game versus Nevada with the game versus USC this week in the rearview mirror.

Washington State showed no signs of looking ahead as they routed the Wolfpack 45-7 behind 560 yards of total offense and five touchdown passes from quarterback Luke Falk.

Falk’s season stat-line now stands at 1,378 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and one interception and recorded his 100th career touchdown pass Saturday.

The Cougars defense performed well versus Nevada allowing just 151 yards of total offense and forcing three interceptions.

All eyes Friday night will be in Pullman as Washington State looks to continue their best start of the season in a decade in a half versus No. 5 USC.

4. Stanford Cardinal (LW: 5)

After a pair of tough road losses versus USC and San Diego State, the Cardinal welcomed UCLA in their first home game of the season.

Running back and Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Bryce Love ran through the Bruins defense rushing for a career-high 263 yards and one touchdown in a 58-34 win.

In total, Stanford out-rushed UCLA 405-115.

It was the most points Stanford has scored in a conference game since November 23, 2013 when they scored 63 points versus Cal.

Next up for Stanford is Arizona State Saturday afternoon.

5. Utah Utes (LW: 6)

Utah kicked off the first full weekend of Pac-12 play with a win Friday night at Arizona 30-24.

It was not the prettiest of games for the Utes as they were outgained offensively 448-341 and had three fewer first downs than the Wildcats.

Nevertheless, Utah was able to force five takeaways and were able to convert their scoring chances into touchdowns instead of field goals.

Utah starting quarterback Tyler Huntley left the game with a shoulder injury in the second quarter and on came last year’s starter Troy Williams.

After Huntley threw for 98 yards and one touchdown, Williams threw for 131 yards and rushed for one touchdown.

Both sides of the ball will look to improve over the bye week as their next game will be in two weeks versus Stanford.

6. California Golden Bears (LW: 8)

California went up two spots in our Power Rankings despite falling at home by 10 points versus USC.

The Golden Bears were even with USC through three quarters, but four fourth-quarter turnovers eventually sunk Cal as they suffered their first loss of the season.

Cal outgained USC 416-356 in the game and limited Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold to just 223 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception.

Golden Bears quarterback Ross Bowers out-passed Darnold throwing for 303 yards and one touchdown, but had four costly interceptions.

Next up for Cal is a trip to Eugene to face Oregon Saturday night.

7. Oregon Ducks (LW: 4)

Oregon had the biggest drop of any team this week as the Ducks are coming off a 37-35 loss at Arizona State.

A shock to some, Oregon struggled to get anything going offensively versus Arizona State as they were held to just 14 first-half points.

Arizona State shut down Oregon’s running attack as running back Royce Freeman finished with 15 carries, 81 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback Justin Herbert had a solid game throwing for 281 yards and three touchdowns, but it was Oregon’s defense that struggled stopping ASU’s attack.

Next up for Oregon is a home game versus Cal as both teams are coming off tough conference losses.

8. Colorado Buffaloes (LW: 9)

Colorado was hoping to enact revenge on Washington after what the Huskies did to them in the Pac-12 title game last season.

It was looking for Colorado as they lead 7-0 after the first quarter, but then Washington’s offense arrived and exploded for 37 points putting the game well out of reach.

Colorado mustered 103 fewer yards of total offense than Washington as quarterback Steven Montez and running back Phillip Lindsay struggled.

Montez finished with 171 passing yards and three interceptions while Lindsay was held to just 68 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries.

Next up for the Buffaloes is UCLA on the road Saturday in what will be their first game of the season out of the state of Colorado.

9. UCLA Bruins (LW: 7)

UCLA had a rough night in Palo Alto last week losing to Stanford 58-34 as Love carved up the Bruins defense.

The Bruins had a balanced offense as quarterback Josh Rosen played well finishing 40-of-60 passing for 480 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Running back Soso Jamabo rushed for 100 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries, but the problems came back to UCLA’s defense.

Through four games, UCLA has the worst total defense in the Pac-12 and second-worst scoring defense while sporting the best total offense and second-best scoring offense in the conference.

Next up for UCLA is a home game versus Colorado Saturday night.

10. Arizona State Sun Devils (LW: 11)

Arizona State shocked a lot of people this weekend defeating then-No. 24 Oregon after the way ASU looked versus San Diego State and Texas Tech.

The Sun Devils got off to a quick start sprinting out to a 17-7 lead, which also includes a recovered surprise onside kick.

Quarterback Manny Wilkins had another stellar performance throwing for 357 yards and one touchdown while wide receiver N’Keal Harry had another monster game with seven receptions, 170 yards and one touchdown.

Key to victory for Arizona State was how they controlled the time of possession as they had the ball for 38:06 compared to Oregon having the ball for 21:54.

Freshman placekicker Brandon Ruiz was named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week after converting three field goals, including the game-winner from 41 yards out with 2:33 remaining.

Arizona State will keep their momentum going as they travel to face Stanford Saturday in their final game before their bye week.

11. Arizona Wildcats (LW: 10)

Arizona suffered a frustrating home loss to then-No. 23 Utah 30-24 after having 107 more yards of total offense than the Utes.

Quarterback Brandon Dawkins had another solid game finishing as the team’s leading passer and rusher for a second straight week with 338 yards of total offense and two touchdowns.

The turnovers killed Arizona as Dawkins threw three interceptions and the Wildcats fumbled it twice resulting in 10 points for Utah.

Arizona is on a bye this week before playing at Colorado next Saturday.

12. Oregon State Beavers (LW: 12)

Oregon State is coming off a bye week as the hold their position at the bottom of our Power Rankings.

Next: ASU Football: N’Keal Harry is the ingredient for success

The Beavers will host No. 6 Washington Saturday evening as they seek their first win over the Huskies since November 2011.