Pac-12 football power rankings, Week 2: USC, Arizona shine in openers

2. USC Trojans (1-0)

We will learn more about USC over the next three weeks than we did this past Saturday’s 66-14 blowout win against Rice. There were few hitches against the struggling Owls in the Colosseum. Twelve different receivers caught passes, and the defense scored three times.

Oklahoma transfer Caleb Williams and Pitt transfer Jordan Addison gave a glimpse of what could be in store as they hooked up for USC’s first touchdown of the game.

That said, the Trojans should get more fight from interstate rival Stanford this week. Their next four games should indicate how good USC will be this season. The Trojans play the Cardinal, Fresno State, Oregon State, and Arizona State over the next month.

1. Utah Utes (0-1)

How does a team that lost its opener stay atop the rankings? Simple, they played a team with one of the country’s top five players down to the wire and gave themselves a chance to win. The only question is whether or not the Utes are automatically eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

One cause for concern for Utah is the run defense. Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson was a one-man wrecking crew for the Gators, but the Utes still allowed over seven yards per rush attempt. Utah has two weeks to get its bearings straight against Southern Utah and San Diego State.