Pac-12 Football: USC, Stanford atop Week 1 power rankings

It was a pretty tough debut for former Beaver quarterback Jonathan Smith as head coach, as Oregon State was throttled by Ohio State, 77-31. They also had to endure a lengthy weather delay, prolonging the contest.

However, it wasn’t all bad, as the Beavers did post 196 yards passing and 196 yards rushing, along with finding themselves a standout at running back in Artavis Pierce.

Pierce carried the ball 11 times, rushing for 168 yards and two touchdowns. His day included an eventful 80-yard run inside Ohio State. Conor Blount replaced Jake Luton at quarterback after Luton suffered an injury, finishing 12 of 19 for 169 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Both of his scores went to Trevon Bradford, who finished with six receptions totaling 104 yards in all.

Obviously, the Buckeyes gashed the Oregon State defense, accounting for almost 80 points with 346 yards passing and 375 yards rushing. Figuring out how to get stops will be key, and should be a bit easier this week vs. Southern Utah.

Hey, look, a win is a win no matter who you were playing. But it’s difficult to give much importance to a 49-7 victory over UTSA in the collegiate coaching debut of Herm Edwards.

Eno Benjamin looks like a breakout star after running for 131 yards on just 16 carries. Manny Wilkens tossed four touchdowns and posted a 78.9 quarterback rating. And the Sun Devils accounted for 266 yards in all on the ground.

But we expected that – especially against a team the caliber of UTSA.

Arizona State’s defense, meanwhile, looked better than in past years. They held the opposition to three yards total on 33 carries and forced three turnovers.

Again, the level of competition is going to get tougher from here on out, but if the Sun Devils can continue to produce on defense, the offense should be able to support them.

We’ll definitely find out this week what Arizona State and Edwards are made of when Michigan State pays a visit to the desert.

One score from Saturday that left many surprised came out of the Rose Bowl, as the Bruins suffered a 26-17 defeat to Cincinnati.

Yes, Chip Kelly is going to need time to turn things around. But there should have been enough talent left from the Jim Mora era to take care of the Bearcats, especially at home.

UCLA accounted for over 300 yards of total offense, a decent number, but a far cry from the glory days of Kelly leading Oregon to conference titles. The Bruins were forced to replace Wilton Speight after the Michigan quarterback was injured with Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

The freshman was hindered by dropped balls from his receivers, finishing with a quarterback rating of just 4.7 after completing 15 of 25 for 117 yards. Kazmeir Allen had the lone bright spot on offense, breaking free for 74 yards and finishing with 103 yards and a score.

On the other side of the ball, the Bruins were gashed by Michael Warren II to the tune of 142 yards. As a team, Cincinnati ran for just under 200, a number that will be put to the test in the Pac-12 on a weekly basis.

Khalil Tate‘s Heisman campaign hit a huge hole in the road in Kevin Sumlin‘s debut at Arizona, as the Wildcats were silenced by BYU.

Tate, who was electric last season, ran or just 14 yards on eight carries. He was 17 of 34 passing for 197 yards and a score, but was forced to play from behind much of the night.

J.J. Taylor did account for 85 yards, but the fact that Arizona couldn’t put up good numbers on the Cougars does not bode well for the remainder of the season.

Sumlin’s plan kept Tate in the pocket, rendering his biggest asset – his speed – useless.

BYU, on the other hand, picked the Wildcat defense apart much of the game. Tanner Mangum threw for over 200 yards, Squally Canada ran for 98 and three scores, and the Cougars controlled the tempo thanks to 43 rushes.