Pac-12 Notebook: Ducks, Beavers last of unbeatens
Unbeaten teams keep falling around the Pac-12 with the only schools left with a shot to run the table in the conference residing in Oregon.
The second-ranked Ducks blasted Washington State 62-38 Saturday night at Autzen Stadium to improve to 4-0 in the Pac-12 North. Oregon State is tied with the Ducks at 4-0 after a 49-17 win at California.
The Civil War, scheduled for Nov. 29 in Eugene, could be a battle of conference unbeatens to determine the North champion.
Two weeks ago, it looked like Oregon would run into an unbeaten team this month, but Stanford and UCLA were knocked off in consecutive weeks. Still, the Ducks face their toughest two-week stretch of the season coming up with UCLA on Saturday followed by a trip to Stanford.
The Cardinal suffered their first loss last week at Utah, but rebounded to give the Bruins their first loss with a 24-10 win over the Bruins. Stanford has Oregon State and Oregon next on the schedule and the Cardinal need to win both to have a shot at the North championship.
The South is still wide open with Arizona State and UCLA both with one loss while Arizona and USC each have two defeats.
FIVE BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS FROM WEEK 8 IN THE PAC-12
1. Oregon State's passing offense may not be able to be slowed down. Although the Beavers have struggled to run the ball as teams focus on stopping the pass, Sean Mannion has thrown for at least 367 yards in every game and leads the nation in passing yards while Brandin Cooks is No. 1 in receptions.
2. Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is leading the Heisman Trophy race. The sophomore had another stellar game with 327 passing yards and 67 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in a win over Washington State while some other top contenders for the Heisman lost during the weekend.
3. Stanford needs to win its next two games to have a shot at defending its conference title. The Cardinal have one loss and face unbeaten Oregon State and Oregon in the next two games, so they can move into a tie for first with two wins or fall into third place with one loss.
4. Ed Orgeron is not likely to be promoted to head coach after serving as the interim coach at USC. After an emotional opening win over Arizona, the Trojans struggled in a loss to Notre Dame as athletic director Pat Haden said he is analyzing other candidates.
5. Colorado's last two coaches, Dan Hawkins and Jon Embree, never had a winning season, but Mike MacIntyre is likely to end that streak in the next few years. Colorado has played nine true freshman including starting quarterback Sefo Liufau and running back Michael Adkins II, who look like future stars.
