Devils in Detail
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ASU Football: 2017 Pac-12 Week Nine Power Rankings

By Sam Ficarro

BERKELEY, CA - OCTOBER 21: Khalil Tate
BERKELEY, CA - OCTOBER 21: Khalil Tate /
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It was a quiet Week Nine for the Pac-12 with three teams on a bye week headlined by USC losing at Notre Dame, ASU football’s defense and Khalil Tate.

The college football season is now eight weeks through and we have a large bunch of teams trying to fit their way into the College Football Playoff Week.

It’s been a rough week for the Pac-12 with Washington losing at Arizona State two weeks ago and USC getting routed in South Bend by Notre Dame last week.

The Pac-12 will have a tough team getting a team into the Playoff with Washington the highest-ranked team in the AP Poll at No. 12.

Elsewhere, the Territorial Cup teams stole the spotlight as Arizona State’s defense shut down Utah’s offense in Tyler Huntley‘s return from injury.

Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate is coming off winning his third straight Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week award after another stellar performance in the Wildcats’ double-overtime win at Cal.

If Arizona State can beat USC Saturday night, the Sun Devils and Wildcats meeting in Tempe Thanksgiving weekend could be for all the marbles in the Pac-12 South.

Here are our Week Nine Power Rankings voted on by our 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 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8

1. Washington Huskies (LW: 3)

Washington is back atop of our Power Rankings after enjoying their bye week in Seattle as they prepare for the toughest portion of their schedule.

The Huskies will play host to UCLA Saturday afternoon to begin a stretch of four of their last five games of the season in Seattle.

The offense will look to get back on track this week after struggling versus Arizona State and managing just seven points.

This is an important game for the Huskies as Stanford and Washington State are all tied atop the Pac-12 North. Kickoff of UCLA-Washington is set for 12:30 p.m. PST on ABC or ESPN2.

2. Washington State Cougars (LW: 4)

After getting manhandled at California two weeks ago, Washington State returned home and shut out Colorado 28-0.

It was not an amazing performance for the Cougars offense, but they didn’t turn the ball over seven times like they did against the Golden Bears.

Quarterback Luke Falk finished the game throwing 17-for-34 for 197 yards and three touchdowns with running back Jamal Morrow finishing for 11 carries, 73 yards and one touchdowns.

It was all about the Cougars defense as they held Colorado to 174 yards of total offense and star Buffs running back Phillip Lindsay to 29 carries for 98 yards.

It was a good bounce-back performance for Washington State considering the way they lost at Cal and the adverse weather conditions during Saturday’s game.

Wazzou heads back on the road this week with a trip to Tucson to face Khalil Tate and Arizona Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PST on Pac-12 Network.

3. Stanford Cardinal (LW: 2)

Stanford falls a spot in our Power Rankings after being on their bye week last Saturday.

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The Cardinal probably don’t deserve to fall in our rankings as they are the hottest team in the Pac-12 having won four in a row after beginning the season 1-2.

Stanford should handle business in Corvallis Thursday night at Oregon State (6 p.m. PST on ESPN) before entering the biggest stretch of the season with back-to-back games against Washington State and Washington.

The Cardinal control their own destiny in the Pac-12 North, and they certainly feel confident they can win it with their defense and running back Bryce Love‘s Heisman campaign.

Fear the Tree, indeed.

4. USC Trojans (LW: 1)

What a rough night in South Bend the Trojans had.

In their annual rivalry game versus Notre Dame, USC didn’t come ready to play versus an explosive Fighting Irish team and got hammered 49-14.

Quarterback Sam Darnold didn’t play that poorly finishing 20-of-28 passing, 229 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, but the offense couldn’t do anything in the first half.

USC trailed 28-0 at halftime, and it was too big of a deficit to overcome as USC’s Playoff hopes are probably shattered.

Notre Dame finished with 497 yards of total offense and won the turnover battle +3 with running back Josh Adams rushing for 191 yards and three touchdowns.

USC now heads to Tempe this Saturday night (7:45 p.m. PST on ESPN) for a crucial matchup versus a confident ASU team with the Pac-12 South very much on the line.

5. Arizona State Sun Devils (LW: 6)

The Sun Devils reach its highest point in our Power Rankings for a second straight week after a dominant 30-10 win at Utah snapping a nine-game Pac-12 road losing streak.

ASU’s defense had an encore performance making Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley uncomfortable all afternoon with four interceptions in his return from injury.

The Sun Devils defense shutout the Utes in the first half leading 16-0, with the lead having the chance to be bigger had they not ended their first three scoring drives in field goals.

With the three field goals to open up the game, placekicker Brandon Ruiz was named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season.

Arizona State’s running game seems to have gotten its mojo back after rushing 205 yards with Demario Richard leading the way with 93 yards and one touchdown.

The Sun Devils will now host No. 21 USC Saturday (7:45 p.m. PST on ESPN) as they control their own destiny to win the Pac-12 South. Win out and they’re in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Not sure many saw that coming after non-conference play concluded.

6. Arizona Wildcats (LW: 7)

Just like their in-state rival, Arizona reaches its highest position in our Power Rankings after their thrilling 45-44 double-overtime win over Cal.

It was another excellent week for quarterback Khalil Tate tallying 303 total yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats stopped a Golden Bears two-point conversion in double overtime to secure the victory.

With the performance, Tate won his third straight Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week award becoming the first player to do that since USC’s Rodney Peete in 1988.

Arizona also had the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week in linebacker Colin Schooler after breaking up Cal’s two-point conversion in double overtime to go with a career-best 15 tackles.

The Wildcats are making their way up the Pac-12 South standings sitting just a half-game back of USC and tied with ASU for second.

Next up for Arizona is No. 15 Washington State at home Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. PST on Pac-12 Network.

7. Utah Utes (LW: 5)

It was a rough home outing for Utah against Arizona State.

The Utes couldn’t generate any rhythm offensively in quarterback Tyler Huntley’s return from injury as he finished 19-of-35 passing, 155 yards and four interceptions.

Utah’s running game was also held in check by the Sun Devils with running back Zack Moss finishing with just 12 rush attempts for 49 yards.

Utah’s bent-not-break defense was on display in the first half holding Arizona State to 16 points despite ASU’s ample time of possession.

After quarterback Manny Wilkins dove for a 1-yard touchdown run, tight end-converted linebacker Jay Jay Wilson had his first career pick-six to ice the game.

Utah’s hopes in the Pac-12 South are likely over now with back-to-back losses versus USC and ASU.

Next up for the Utes is a trip to Eugene to face a struggling Ducks team Saturday at 2:45 p.m. PST on Pac-12 Network.

8. UCLA Bruins (LW: 10)

UCLA bounced back this past week with a home win over an injury-plagued Oregon Ducks team 31-14.

Quarterback Josh Rosen threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns as UCLA didn’t turn the ball over.

UCLA finished with 408 yards of total offense with the Bruins edging out the Ducks in passing yards 266-74.

The Bruins defense played well forcing two turnovers and shutting down the Ducks passing game holding quarterback Braxton Burmeister to just 74 yards and an interception.

Next up for UCLA is a trip to Seattle to face No. 12 Washington at 12:30 p.m. PST on ABC or ESPN2.

9. Oregon Ducks (LW: 9)

Oregon’s position remains unchanged in our Power Rankings after losing at the Rose Bowl to UCLA.

The injury to quarterback Justin Hebert has really hampered Oregon’s offense and have become one-dimensional as they only run the ball with Royce Freeman.

Freeman finished the game with 29 carries with 160 yards, but didn’t receive any help from anybody else on the offensive unit.

Oregon returns home Saturday (2:45 p.m. PST on Pac-12 Network) to face a struggling Utah team.

10. California Golden Bears (LW: 8)

The Golden Bears suffered another tough loss falling to Arizona 45-44 in double overtime.

Head coach Justin Wilcox opted to go for the win in the second overtime period by attempting a two-point conversion after running back Vic Enwere scored a 1-yard touchdown run.

Quarterback Ross Bowers threw a pass in the back of the end zone, but it was broken up and the Golden Bears suffered the loss.

Running back Patrick Laird continued his solid season with 130-yard, two-touchdown performance.

Next up for the Cal is road game at Colorado Saturday at 11 a.m. PST on Pac-12 Network.

11. Colorado Buffaloes (LW: 11)

Colorado is coming off a 28-0 loss versus Washington State as the Buffaloes couldn’t move the ball in rainy and windy conditions.

Running back Phillip Lindsay was the main source of offense for the Buffaloes rushing for 98 yards and 29 carries.

Quarterback Steven Montez was replaced at halftime after only throw 4-of-13 for 21 yards in the first half. Back-up Sam Noyer didn’t fare well either finishing 7-of-18 passing for 53 yards.

Colorado will host California Saturday (11 a.m. PST on Pac-12 Network) as the Buffaloes aim to right the ship and get one step closer to bowl eligibility.

12. Oregon State Beavers (LW: 12)

Oregon State experienced their second bye week of the season last Saturday as they prepare for a Thursday night clash with No. 20 Stanford.

The Beavers are eyeing their first Pac-12 win of the season and just their second win overall.

Oregon State is coming off a good performance against Colorado two weeks ago in which they missed a game-tying field goal as time expired.

Next: ASU Football: Sun Devils and Adidas Unveil “Brotherhood” Uniforms

Cory Hall’s team played hard as they led for a large portion of that game. They’ll look to stop Stanford (and, in particular, Bryce Love) Thursday at 6 p.m. PST on ESPN.

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