Week one of the 2021-22 college football season wasn’t one to remember for the Pac-12 North. The division had one win and five losses throughout the opening week of the season. The Ducks had the only win in the North division, sneaking away from Fresno State with a 7-point victory. The other five teams in the division dropped their opening game –– one of those teams being the Washington Huskies, who proved to be the most disappointing.

Recap: Montana 13, Washington 7

As a 22-point favorite, the No. 20 Huskies fell 13-7 to the Montana Grizzlies in Seattle. The Huskies had a successful start to the game, getting into the endzone on their opening drive. In the rest of the game Morris threw three picks as Washington couldn’t find anything on offense. 

Montana’s quarterback Cam Humphrey had a four-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give the Grizzlies the lead, and they held on until the end. This was the first time an FCS team has beaten a ranked FBS team since North Dakota State won at No.13 Iowa in 2016 and the fifth time it’s happened since 2007, when Appalachian State took down No. 5 Michigan.

Utah State 26, Washington State 23

The Washington State Cougars were also upset in Pullman by Utah State. With a 12-point lead and under six minutes left in the game, the Cougars allowed the Aggies to come back and cut the lead to five. Utah State then capitalized on their last drive, completing a go-ahead touchdown pass with only 15 seconds to go.

With 441 total yards, Utah State dominated the Cougars defense, especially in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Cougars 15-3. After blowing a double-digit lead, Washington State expects a strong rebound game when it hosts Portland State next week.

UCLA 38, LSU 27

If there was one bright spot in the Pac-12 this week, it was UCLA upsetting No. 16 LSU 38-27 in an impressive performance. The Bruins went 10-21 in Chip Kelly’s first three seasons at UCLA, but they appear to be back after an impressive 2-0 start to this season.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson stood out with 260 passing yards, three touchdowns and one pick, while running back Zach Charbonnet — a transfer from Michigan — rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown off 11 carries. As a whole, the offense was consistent with 470 total yards and a 54% third down conversion rate.

With this impressive win over the Tigers, it became the first time in 13 years a Pac-12 team has defeated a ranked SEC squad . After two dominant performances to open the season, UCLA has shown that, when their offense is clicking, they are legit contenders to win the conference. The Bruins expect to have a number next to their name come Tuesday when the AP Poll is released.

Preview: Colorado vs. Texas A&M

After a fairly smooth 35-7 win over Northern Colorado week one, the Colorado Buffaloes have a much more daunting matchup week two, taking on No. 6 Texas A&M.

The Aggies struggled in the first half in their opener against Kent State, leading by just one touchdown at halftime. The game quickly opened up in the second half as the Aggies took over and won by 31. But, with five total turnovers by the Aggies, there is a lot to clean up on the offensive side.

In order for Colorado to upset the No. 6 ranked team in the country as a 17-point underdog, they need to have a more efficient passing game. In Brandon Lewis’ first start last week, he threw for 102 yards and a touchdown, while the team rushed for 281 yards. The Buffaloes can’t be as reliant on the run game if they want to keep up with an Aggie offense that put up just under 600 yards last week.

Utah vs. BYU

Both teams coming off week one victories, BYU and Utah are expected to be in a close battle in week two.

As expected, Utah handled Weber State, defeating the Wildcats 40-17 in week one. Their offense was fairly balanced with 262 passing yards and 188 rushing yards. Quarterback Charlie Brewer also looked good in his debut. But, between dropping balls and settling for field goals in the red zone, the Utes performance on Thursday was far from perfect. 

BYU also won by 8 as favorites against Arizona. As a whole, BYU did what was expected, but showed signs of weakness –– especially on the defensive side.

The Cougars allowed 426 total yards of offense against an inferior Arizona, including 345 through the air. BYU won’t be able to get away with these numbers against a far better team in Utah. Luck was involved as well on Saturday as Arizona missed two field goals.

Utah is a 7-point favorite against BYU in week two.

Washington vs. Michigan
The Washington Huskies look to rebound after a devastating upset at home to Montana last week. Starting with the three interceptions thrown by starting quarterback Morris, several things need to be addressed from last week’s performance. Unfortunately, the Huskies will be a touchdown underdog against their week two opponent –– who looked dynamic on Saturday as Michigan easily beat Western Michigan by 33.

The Wolverines had 335 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, which could be trouble for the Huskies as their run defense looked frail against Montana. A win at “The Big House” would be a morale booster for the Huskies and would  get their season back on track. Going into conference play 0-2 could lead to a long season for Washington.