Pac-12 Football Power Rankings, Week 12: Apple Cup to decide it all

If you are a fan of “Fight On” at USC, you might want to close your eyes and look to the basketball season. The Trojans need to upset Notre Dame next week at night to even qualify for a bowl game this year. That’s right, USC is just 5-6 after a stunning 34-27 loss at UCLA this past Saturday.

Clay Helton’s job status remains in question, as the Trojans have now dropped two in a row and four of the last five around a win over lowly Oregon State. The last three losses to Arizona State, California and the Bruins have come by a total of 11 points.

JT Daniels had one of the better games of his young career, throwing for a career-high 337 yards. That, though, wasn’t enough to keep USC from falling to 5-6 overall and just 4-5 in the Pac-12.

It was a tough week for Arizona State, as the Sun Devils and first-year head coach Herm Edwards lost out on a chance to improve to 7-4 and remain in contention for the Pac-12 South title. Instead, that crown now goes to Utah thanks to its win over Colorado.

Arizona State received a strong game from its three-headed offensive attack of Manny Wilkens, Eno Benjamin and N’Keal Harry, but the defense couldn’t contain Justin Herbert, falling to Oregon, 31-29. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Sun Devils.

Wilkins threw for 182, Benjamin ran for 149 and Harry had 105 yards receiving. Arizona State will try to finish on the right note this weekend when they take on in-state rival Arizona.

Due to poor air quality caused by the fires in California, the “Big Game” between the Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal was pushed back to December 1. Neither team can play in the Pac-12 title game, allowing for the historic rivalry to be rescheduled for the later date.

California picked up a 15-14 victory over USC last week and will face Colorado this Saturday with the chance to secure victory No. 8 on the season before taking on Stanford.

Oregon might have been thinking loftier goals this year, but after holding off Arizona State this past week, 31-29, the Ducks can still get to nine victories on the season.

Thanks to Justin Herbert’s 262 yards passing and two touchdowns, and the running of Travis Dye and C.J. Verdell, Oregon improved to 7-4. They will face Oregon State this week before concluding the year in a bowl game.

Dye ran for 105 yards and Verdell added 70 as the Ducks racked up almost 200 yards on the ground as a team. Herbert, who will have a choice to make after the year about returning to school or heading to the NFL, threw for over 250 yards for the third consecutive game.