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Pac-12 Football Power Rankings, Week 5: Playoff contenders dwindling down

By Kyle Grondin

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 31: Justin Herbert #10 of the Oregon Ducks looks for an open receiver against the Auburn Tigers in the first quarter during the Advocare Classic at AT&T Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 31: Justin Herbert #10 of the Oregon Ducks looks for an open receiver against the Auburn Tigers in the first quarter during the Advocare Classic at AT&T Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 07: Head coach David Shaw of the Stanford Cardinal looks on in the first half of the game against the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 7, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 07: Head coach David Shaw of the Stanford Cardinal looks on in the first half of the game against the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 7, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

Well, I talked in-depth about the struggles of Stanford for the last two weeks now. Last Saturday against Oregon was no different. Now 0-2 in the conference standings, it seems that there’s no argument to be made for Stanford to get out of the Pac-12 at this point; it’s just a bad football team. The injuries to the offensive line have completely derailed the Cardinal, as Oregon had five sacks and eight tackles for loss.

All hope is not lost, Stanford has some good recruiting classes coming into the program in the coming years, and David Shaw isn’t going anywhere — 2019 should just be a blip for one of the most successful programs of the decade.

What’s that noise? That’s KJ Costello’s draft stock, plummeting to the ground.

Oregon State had a bye this week, but will be battling for last place of the conference here soon enough, as the Beavers get set to take on Stanford.

I’m not going to pretend that Oregon State has a chance to win the conference, but this team can really score some points. Jermar Jefferson is probably the best player you’ve never watched play football. Reports seem like he’ll be ready for this weekend, coming off an injury, so I’ll take the Beavers in this one, 38-35.

You all thought Chip Kelly was washed up. Truly, a team who struggled for 3.5 straight games, that second half was something truly insane.

Fifty points in the second half to come back. Incredible guts from the Bruins. But, this felt more like Washington State losing the game and not UCLA winning, but the Bruins made the plays, kudos to them. They’ll have another shootout next week against Arizona.

We now hit the portion of teams I think could actually be good, so whoever ends up at nine probably feels slighted, but this is simply on eye-test.

The Sun Devils finally unleashed Jayden Daniels last week, and he was pretty good once again. But, him and Eno Benjamin look like a dynamic duo, and it still wasn’t good enough. I’m just not sure if this team has the pieces this year to keep up. They seem a year away. They also probably lose nine times out of 10 in that Michigan State, which probably would mean a different story for the season.

Fresh off a bye week, this team still intrigues me. The game at Hawaii to open the season is a tough way to start the season, and it’s clear to me they came out flat in that one, and were still one yard away from winning.

Overall, Khalil Tate and company are dangerous, but inconsistent. They have two winnable games to prove themselves coming up.

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