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Pac-12 Football Power Rankings, Week 4: Is USC a pretender?

By Kyle Grondin

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 31: Devon Williams #2 of the USC Trojans reacts before the game against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 31, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 31: Devon Williams #2 of the USC Trojans reacts before the game against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 31, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Conference action is just about here for all Pac-12 football teams. First, what kind of movement did we see in this week’s power rankings?

Pac-12 football saw a mixed bag in Week 3 with some teams many believed to be competitive going down, and others still unbeaten after three games. It has left plenty of reason for uncertainty, and the season still has a long way to go.

For this week, we’ll go through the rankings and I’ll rate each team as a contender, pretender or eliminated from contention in my mind. While only two teams have conferences loss, I still think that there’s enough evidence to differentiate which teams are for real and which have just had some luck thus far.

Let’s get to the rankings then.

UCLA has been abysmal this season, and it doesn’t look like the situation will be any better. The Bruins were throttled by the Oklahoma Sooners 48-14 in a game that looked even worse than the score.

To put matters in perspective, Oklahoma out-gained UCLA by 300 yards, and the Bruins have seven total offensive touchdowns on the season. Oklahoma had six in one game in the Rose Bowl. Times are tough in the Chip Kelly era.

How the mighty have fallen. Stanford was horrible in Week 3, getting crushed by UCF 45-27. It was another game in which garbage time touchdowns from the Cardinal made the score look much closer than it should’ve been. Stanford was down 28-7 at the end of the first quarter, and 38-7 at halftime.

The Cardinal were just embarrassing in this one, and the confident, strong Stanford teams of the past are just that — in the past.

Quarterback KJ Costello was horrible, throwing an interception while accounting for only 62 yards in the first half. The defense had no chance, including the secondary, the strong suit of the defense. UCF had their way with Stanford, something you’d never expect to see from Cardinal just a few years ago. Stanford is definitely out of it on this one.

I never thought I’d see the day with Oregon State as the No. 10 team in the Pac-12, and this is a slight overreaction to the Stanford loss, but any Beaver victory is reason for immediate reaction.

Oregon State’s 549 total yards of offense and 258 yards rushing was a strong feat for a program that has looked helpless. Granted, it was only Cal Poly, but a win is a win.

It’s clear this offense can score, but this team still has a long way to go.

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