Pac-12 Roundup: Week 8

I was perfect with my picks last week!

Wait, Cal.

Still, 4-1 to improve to 40-19 on the season ain't too shabby. After the brutal non-conference stretch (who knew Oregon State would be so good and WSU would still be so bad?), I seem to be settling down.

Here's a quick recap.

Oregon 43 Arizona State 21
I had predicted the Sun Devils would keep it close before Oregon eventually pulled away. That lasted about...90 seconds. Seriously. In one of the more unbelievable conference games, Oregon absolutely bitchsmacked the Sun Devils. I mean, just demolished them. It was one of the more shocking games this season. I don't think anyone could have predicted the Ducks would have manhandled ASU the way they did. They were up 43-7 with almost 10 minutes left...IN THE SECOND QUARTER.

Oregon wouldn't score again after Chip Kelly smartly called off the hounds. He knew most East Coast voters stopped watching by then, and the Ducks had made their statement. No use risking any injury, and hey, you've got to appease Bryan Bennett.

All in all, the game affirmed that the Ducks are looking like one of the best teams in the country, and far and away, the best team in the Pac-12.

As for ASU, it doesn't change my opinion that they're indeed for real, and likely an upper Pac-12 team this season. They still have a chance to contend for the Pac-12 South this season, they're just a ways away from being elite.

USC 50 Colorado 6
Boy, I thought Colorado could beat the spread, but Matt Barkley chose to Buffaloes to restart the inane Heisman conversation.

USC's defense is what's still keeping them in the conversation as a BCS team, but we'll see how they fare against Oregon and Notre Dame. They'll need to beat Oregon (at least once) and show up well against Notre Dame.

As for the Buffaloes, they simply don't have the personnel to hang with this conference this season. They're still trying out there, and you've got to give Coach Embree credit for keeping his guys playing hard in such a situation. But boy, what a rough, rough time to be a CU fan.

Arizona 52 Washington 17
I predicted the Wildcats to win in a shootout, but the Huskies apparently forgot to bring any ammo. Washington's offense has really struggled this year as their offensive line continues to search for answers. Sound familiar Cal fans? Arizona played a pretty good game defensively to go along with their dominant offensive performance. Though Keith Price threw for over 250 yards, he needed 52 pass attempts to do so, managing just 4.9 yards per attempt.

The Huskies have now dropped three in a row, and there's a good chance that number becomes 4 next week against the Beavers of OSU.

As for the Wildcats, they finally stopped their own 3 game losing streak, but have what I think will be a really entertaining game against the Trojans this Saturday.

Oregon State 21 Utah 7
Utah fans have to be despirited after this loss. Despite outgaining the Beavers 307 to 226 yards total yards and holding OSU to just 52 rushing yards, they were completely undone by 4 turnovers (2 fumbles and 2 interceptions). The game was really as straightforward as that.

Oregon State continues its dream season with a shiny number 7 ranking, while the Utes again face another rough start. Utah is 2-5 on the season, and 0-4 in the conference. A loss to the Bears this Saturday would effectively end any preseason hopes, so you know both teams will be playing as if their seasons are on the line.

Yay.