After months of anticipation, Pac-12 football is back. In an abbreviated four-game slate due to COVID-19 cancellations, fans were finally able to get a feeling of where their teams stack up against the rest.
Here’s what happened outside of Eugene.
Arizona State @ USC
Kicking off at 9 a.m. local time, USC hosted Arizona State in what proved to be one of the most chaotic endings to any game in recent memory.
Trailing 27-14 with three minutes left, a tipped ball from quarterback Kedon Slovis was caught in the endzone by redshirt freshman Bru McCoy. On the very next play, McCoy recovered an onside kick, giving Slovis and the Trojans an opportunity to take the lead. With an impressive throw on fourth down, he found Drake London in the endzone for a 21-yard touchdown, which finished a successful comeback and secured a 28-27 lead for USC.
Arizona State still had another chance with 1:20 left on the clock. Quarterback Jayden Daniels had struggled all day through the air, partly due to his number one target, Frank Darby, going down in the first half with a rib injury. Still, Daniels was able to complete his first pass of the drive and it looked like the Sun Devils were rolling. However, a reception was overturned on the next play, and after that, Arizona State’s offense was unable to get anything going and ran out of time.
Daniels threw for 134 yards and a touchdown, a disappointing mark after averaging 226 yards per game last season, but he did add 111 more yards on his feet, a career-high.
Slovis finished the game with 381 passing yards, two touchdowns and an interception. London caught eight passes for 125 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
UCLA @ Colorado
In Boulder, UCLA’s four first half turnovers all but spelled UCLA’s fate. After forcing a punt on the game’s opening drive, Bruins punt returner Kyle Phillips fumbled, setting up an easy scoring drive for the Buffs which was finished off by a Jarek Broussard six-yard touchdown run.
After getting the ball back, UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson quickly threw an interception on second down which was returned to the Bruins’ one-yard line. Once again, the Buffs were handed a touchdown as Broussard pounded it in on the next play.
Colorado took a 35-14 lead into halftime, and despite a valiant comeback effort from Chip Kelly’s squad, the Buffs would hold on to win 48-42.
New head coach Karl Dorrell got a win against his former team, and the Buffs added to the building pressure surrounding Kelly’s future in Los Angeles.
Colorado’s Sam Noyer, a converted safety, looked comfortable in his new role leading the offense. He finished with 257 passing yards and a touchdown. Broussard added 187 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.
Despite Thompson-Robinsons 412 total yards and five touchdowns, UCLA’s rough start proved insurmountable.
Washington State @ Oregon State
For the seventh game in a row, the Washington State Cougars emerged victorious over Oregon State. First year coach Nick Rolovich left Reser Stadium smiling after winning in his debut, despite having 32 inactive players.
Of those 32, running back Max Borghi was undoubtedly the toughest loss, but his replacement Deon McIntosh ran for 147 of the team’s 239 rushing yards, an unusually high number for the Cougars who have played under Mike Leach’s air-raid offense for the past eight seasons.
Beavers junior running back Jermar Jefferson showed up with a dynamic performance, running for 120 yards and three touchdowns while catching five passes for 50 yards. One of his touchdowns came with 2:39 left in the contest and trimmed the Cougars lead, which they held almost the entire game, to three points.
After recovering an onside kick, the Cougars buried any hopes of a Beavers comeback, as Travell Harris broke off a 44-yard touchdown run to seal the victory for Washington State, 38-28.
Freshman quarterback Jayden de Laura, who decommitted from Hawaii and followed Rolovich to Pullman, threw for 227 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in his debut.
Beavs quarterback Tristan Gebbia had 329 passing yards and a touchdown.
Cancellations
The Utah vs. Arizona and Cal vs. Washington matchups were cancelled due to positive cases of COVID-19. Both games have been declared a no contest by the Pac-12. As of now, no rescheduled matchups have been announced.
