Pac-12 Football: Stanford continues to rule out West
By Dana Becker
Herm Edwards’ Sun Devils fought for 60 minutes with Washington, but in the end, the Huskies found a way to pull out the conference win.
Edwards will now need to get his team focused back on the task at hand as they welcome an Oregon State team that was absolutely gashed last week by Arizona.
Eno Benjamin should have a field day, as he enters averaging four yards per carry. Manny Wilkens has thrown for 1,062 yards with seven touchdowns and just one interception in 145 pass attempts.
This should also be a great spot for N’Keal Harry to get back on track after a tough performance vs. the Washington secondary. Harry has 26 receptions for 335 yards and four touchdowns on the year.
The Cougars had a chance to move to 4-0 and likely 5-0 if they could have bested USC last week. Now, Washington State and Mike Leach must regroup as they host Utah this Saturday, with the Utes coming off a bye that gave them time to get healthy and prepared.
Gardner Minshew, a transfer from East Carolina, has completed 154 of 217 passes for 1,547 yards and 11 touchdowns. More importantly, though, he has just three interceptions on the year, giving him a 144.8 quarterback rating.
The Cougars are out-gaining their opponents this year by over 222 yards per game in total offense.
Staring at a possible 0-2 start to the Pac-12 season, the youthful Trojans found a way to pull out a three-point victory over Washington State.
Was it pretty? Not at all, but USC isn’t going for style points this year.
Battling through injuries to the likes of Aca’Cedric Ware, Daniel Imatorbhebhe and others, JT Daniels has been thrown to the wolves and delivered. Daniels is completing almost 60 percent of his throws for 1,060 yards and four touchdowns.
Stephen Carr has done his best to replace Ware, running for 317 yards, with Vavae Malepeai scoring a team-high five touchdowns. Amon-Ra St. Brown is a legit No. 1 wide receiver, and Tyler Vaughns has given Daniels a second option.
Justin Wilcox has the Golden Bears unbeaten and coming off a bye week to prepare for their conference opener with Oregon in what should be nothing short of a battle.
Chase Garbers has grabbed hold of the quarterback position after splitting time with Ross Bowers early on. Gabrers is 45-for-66 for 454 yards with six touchdowns and just two picks. He’s also run for 126 yards, with third-string quarterback Brandon McIlwain adding 129 yards.
Patrick Laird leads the team with 236 yards and three touchdowns, adding 14 receptions. Kanawai Noa and Vic Wharton are targets in the passing game with a combined 21 receptions and almost 200 yards.