Four Pac-12 teams are ranked after five weeks of play. The Washington Huskies are the top ranked team of the bunch at No. 10 – followed by No. 14 Stanford, No. 18 Oregon, and No. 21 Colorado. Oregon and USC have byes this week.
Here are my week six picks….
Arizona State (3-2) at #21 Colorado (4-0) 1 p.m. (Pac-12) Line: Colorado -3
The Buffaloes continue to be the surprise of the Pac-12. Colorado is 4-0 after defeating UCLA 38-16 last week. Wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. leads the conference with 145.3 yards receiving per game and might be the most underrated player in the country.
Arizona State rushed for 396 yards as a team last week in their 52-24 victory over Oregon State last week. Running back Eno Benjamin rushed for an incredible 312 yards and three touchdowns in the win. The bad news for Arizona State is that in the last two weeks they have surrendered 432 rushing yards.
Colorado stays hot as Arizona State continues to struggle to stop the run.
Colorado 35 Arizona State 34
Washington State (4-1) at Oregon State (1-4) 6 p.m. (Pac-12) Line: Washington State -17
The Cougars picked up a huge 28-24 win over Utah last week with zero rushing yards. Gardner Minshew passed for 445 yards and three touchdowns against the Utes’ stout defense.
The rebuilding process at Oregon State continues after a 52-24 defeat at Arizona State. The Beavers have shown signs that they can be a good offensive team but the defense has been horrid. OSU ranks 128th in the country in scoring defense – allowing 45.2 points per game.
Gardner Minshew throws for over 500 yards in a big WSU win.
Washington State 45 Oregon State 24
California (3-1) at Arizona (2-3) 7 p.m. (FS1) Line: California -3
The Golden Bears are out of the rankings after a 42-24 loss to the Ducks. Four California interceptions didn’t help things. California continues to switch quarterbacks trying to find something and so far it hasn’t paid off. Through four games, Cal ranks 98th in the country in passing yards.
Arizona’s 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter were not enough in their 24-20 home loss to USC last week. The Wildcats made a step in the right direction, holding the Trojans to 24 points but QB Khalil Tate and the offense couldn’t get things going.
Arizona hasn’t been able to get Khalil Tate going in the running game and it shows in their record. California is a better football team despite the quarterback problems.
California 31 Arizona 27
Utah (2-2) at #14 Stanford (4-1) 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) Line: Stanford -5
The Cardinal suffered two defeats last week at Notre Dame. First, they lost the game, 38-17. Second, Heisman hopeful running back Bryce Love left the contest with an ankle injury and is questionable for Saturday’s game. Stanford was also out-gained 550-229 yards in the defeat.
The Utes are coming off a 28-24 loss at Washington State. Utah’s offense continues to hurt the overall team as their 22.3 points per game ranks tied for 108th in the country.
Both teams will be angry coming off losses last week. But it will be Stanford with or without Bryce Love that gets it done.
Stanford 28 Utah 20
*Check back tomorrow for my prediction of the #10 Washington at UCLA game in Ruth Robbins’ preview.
