Stanford Rises, Washington and Arizona State Fall in Week 5 Pac 12 Power Rankings
Saturday Blitz Pac 12 Power Rankings Week 5
10. Washington State Cougars, 2-3 (1-1), Defeated Utah Utes 28-27 Last Saturday
Despite being 2-3 and losing their first two games, we have to move Washington State up in our power rankings based on the way they have played for the past two weeks. Playing Oregon to only a touchdown loss was impressive enough, but then coming back to beat undefeated Utah on the road shows that this team is improving.
The Cougars have surprisingly begun to stiffen up their defense under Mike Leach. Both Oregon have been Utah are high-powered offenses that have averaged more than 40 points a game, but Washington State held Oregon to 38 points and Utah to 27 points. If that keeps up, and if the offense can continue to get better with Connor Halliday running the show, this team could be a lot more dangerous going forward.
But the 0-2 start that should have been a 2-0 start is going to haunt this team down the road. Cal may be a winnable game coming up, but to move up this list, the Cougars have to win games against teams that only have 1 loss right now. And to reach a bowl, they are going to upset one of the elite Pac 12 teams. That’s going to be hard.