Pac 12 Power Rankings Week 8: Oregon, USC, Arizona State Rise, Stanford Falls
Saturday Blitz Pac 12 Power Rankings Week 8
The Washington Huskies were really starting to show us something under Chris Petersen, making us believe their style of play would allow them to upset Oregon. Boy, were we wrong. The Ducks destroyed the Huskies, and it has forced us to pump the brakes on how good this team is. They haven’t beaten anybody significant yet, and their only two games against good teams were losses.
This team still leaves a lot to be excited about, though. The running game never got going on Saturday, and while Cyler Miles is decent and very efficient at quarterback, the way you would expect a Petersen-coached quarterback to be, he still can’t do enough to will his team to victory against somebody like Oregon with no ground game. Washington needs to run it well, allowing Miles to make plays that keep drives alive. Then the defense can avoid giving up 40 or more points.
With Colorado and Washington State on the schedule, this team should at least get to 7 wins, but they can’t take it for granted. They could easily fall to 6-7 in the loaded Pac-12. But they could also reach 11-2 by winning those two games and beating Arizona State, UCLA, Arizona, and Oregon State. The door remains wide open for this team.
And so do their chances to move up or down this list.