Six need-to-knows for Week Six in Pac-12 soccer …
1. Heisman hype
The Pac-12 hasn’t produced a Heisman Trophy finalist since Stanford tailback Bryce Love in 2017. The subsequent few weeks will body the campaigns for the season’s last month.
The convention has 4 gamers in varied states of competition. All 4 are quarterbacks, which tracks with the Heisman citizens’s preferences: 18 of the final 21 winners have been QBs.
Let’s look at standing and schedule for every contender:
— USC’s Caleb Williams entered the season as a frontrunner and has held his floor with 12 touchdowns, one interception and nil losses, however his most tough video games are forward.
The Trojans face one of many prime defenses within the convention Saturday after they host Washington State, adopted by the showdown at Utah.
Each duels are on the Fox broadcast community, with the date in Salt Lake Metropolis subsequent weekend slotted for primetime on the East Coast.
If Williams performs effectively and emerges with two victories — it’s tough to examine the Trojans surviving if he doesn’t look sharp — then his standing as a probable finalist will achieve traction.
— Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. acquired no preseason Heisman buzz however shortly zoomed up the assorted straw polls and candidate lists with a scorching September.
He leads the nation in passing yards per sport (346.6) and absolutely impressed voters within the Midwest together with his four-touchdown efficiency towards Michigan State.
However Penix misplaced momentum when Washington struggled final week at UCLA, and he'll assuredly fade from public view for a number of weeks with back-to-back video games on the Pac-12 Networks (towards Arizona State and Arizona).
To bolster his possibilities, Penix wants two wins and huge numbers. Statistics matter to voters and may hold Penix’s marketing campaign afloat till UW returns to the ESPN and Fox airwaves through the essential last month.
— UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson gained Heisman help final week together with his sterling exhibiting towards Washington.
The run-heavy offense limits Thompson-Robinson’s means to generate gaudy statistics — he has thrown 50 fewer passes than Penix, for instance — but when the undefeated Bruins hold successful, the focus will comply with.
UCLA faces Eleventh-ranked Utah this weekend in what's arguably the most important sport of Thompson-Robinson’s profession (and coach Chip Kelly’s tenure). After a bye week, the Bruins head to Eugene for a showdown with the No. 12 Geese.
Win each, and Thompson-Robinson may emerge as Williams’ crosstown foil within the Heisman race, simply as UCLA’s Troy Aikman was to USC’s Rodney Peete in 1988.
— In the meantime, Utah quarterback Cam Rising is a dark-horse contender whose prospects hit an early pothole with the last-minute interception at Florida within the season opener.
Rising has a significant alternative to alter the narrative and enter the race with back-to-back Saturday showdowns towards the Los Angeles faculties.
Each video games are on Fox, each towards quarterbacks who even have Heisman aspirations.
If Rising outplays Thompson-Robinson this week and Williams subsequent week — and if the Utes win each — then he can have palpable momentum for the stretch run.
2. Fox squared
The Pac-12 will occupy seven consecutive hours of airtime on the Fox broadcast community Saturday, with back-to-back video games at 12:30 (Utah-UCLA) and 4:30 (Washington State-USC).
It’s the primary time consecutive convention video games have been proven on Fox since 2019, when Utah-Washington and Oregon-USC have been aired at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
The best quantity of Pac-12 single-day airtime on Fox in current reminiscence befell on Sept. 11, 2021, with three video games.
The day started with Oregon-Ohio State (9 a.m.), which was in Columbus and due to this fact a part of the Massive Ten’s broadcast stock. Then got here Texas A&M-Colorado (12:30 p.m.) and Stanford-USC underneath the Coliseum lights.
3. Yet one more interim
Colorado offensive coordinator Mike Sanford will function the interim head coach following the termination of Karl Dorrell.
Nevertheless, Sanford isn’t new to the function. He spent two years as Western Kentucky’s head coach, compiling information of 6-7 after which 3-9 earlier than an sudden dismissal.
Sanford joins Arizona State’s Shaun Aguano to kind a pair of Pac-12 interim head coaches.
Final 12 months, there have been three: USC’s Donte Williams, who changed Clay Helton in September; WSU’s Jake Dickert, who took over for Nick Rolovich in October; and Washington’s Bob Gregory, who changed Jimmy Lake in November.
4. Rating the ranked
Variety of entries within the present Related Press top-25 ballot, by Energy 5 convention …
SEC (six): No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 Mississippi, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 23 Mississippi State and No. 25 LSU
Pac-12 (5): No. 6 USC, No. 11 Utah, No. 12 Oregon, No. 18 UCLA and No. 21 Washington
ACC (4): No. 5 Clemson, No. 14 N.C. State, No. 15 Wake Forest and No. 22 Syracuse
Massive 12 (4): No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 17 TCU, No. 19 Kansas, No. 20 Kansas State
Massive Ten (three): No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan, No. 10 Penn State
5. Factors tempo
5 Pac-12 groups rank within the prime 20 nationally in scoring, including to the pile of proof that each teaching and quarterback play have improved.
If USC, Utah, UCLA, Washington and Oregon maintain their spots by the tip of the season, it will mark the primary time within the enlargement period (since 2011) that the convention will home 5 of the nation’s top-20 offenses.
(Final 12 months, it solely had two of the highest 20.)
On the opposite facet of scrimmage, nevertheless, solely Utah ranks within the prime 20 in scoring protection.
6. Notes and nuggets …
— UCLA has received eight consecutive video games, tied for the second-longest streak within the nation behind Clemson (11).
— Oregon has allowed one sack this season, fewest within the FBS. (Oregon State has allowed two.)
— Arizona State is going through a ranked opponent (No. 21 Washington) for the third consecutive week following losses to Utah and USC — a triple whammy the likes of which ASU hasn’t skilled since 2014.
— Washington has not overwhelmed the Solar Devils in Tempe since 2001.
— Three Pac-12 groups are within the prime 10 nationally in third-down conversion share: USC (55.6), UCLA (54.7) and Washington (52.1).
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