Here is a quick look at some Pac-12 numbers and how they stack up nationally.
You can see Week 5 numbers here.
Number to the left is national rank.
Total offense (yards per game)
4. UCLA, 558.4
7. Oregon, 550.6
Note: Not a big year for Pac-12 offenses so far. With 52.4 points per game the Ducks rank fourth in the nation in scoring, the only conference team in the top-25.
Rushing defense (yards per game)
3. Stanford, 65
9. Oregon State, 83
24. Oregon, 110.6
Note: Arizona rushes for 194 yards per game. It will be interesting to see how many yards the Wildcats get at Stanford.
Total defense (yards per game)
10. Arizona State, 276.2
21. Washington, 315.0
24. Stanford, 316.5
Note: Who had Arizona State and Washington in their "Best Defense in the Pac-12" pool? Huskies, of course, face a major challenge at Oregon on Saturday.
Pass efficiency defense
7. Arizona State
18. Stanford
20. Washington
23. USC
24. Oregon
Note: The defenses are beating the quarterbacks. Arizona State, USC and Oregon each have eight interceptions. Stanford has seven. UCLA, which ranks 31st in pass efficiency defense, leads the conference with nine picks.
Third-down defense (percentage)
2. Oregon State, 20.51
4. Stanford, 24.62
5. Oregon, 24.69
13. UCLA, 28.21
Note: An underrated stat. A lot of good teams do well with this number. And bad teams do poorly.
Sacks per game
5. Arizona State, 4.2
6. USC, 4.0
10. UCLA, 3.4
13. Oregon, 3.2
13. Washington State, 3.2
25. Stanford, 2.75
25. Utah, 2.75
Note: In the Conference of Quarterbacks, it's a full-contact position.
Rushing yards per game
4. Johnathan Franklin, UCLA, 139.4
10. Kenjon Barner, Oregon, 121.0
17. Ka'Deem Carey, Arizona, 107.6
24. Stepfan Taylor, Stanford, 103.25
Note: As conference play begins, I expect to see Barner continue to rise. Any of these four, however, could win the conference rushing title. Carey, a sophomore, is the only non-senior.
Receiving yards per game
5. Brandin Cooks, Oregon State, 134.67
6. Markus Wheaton, Oregon State, 134.33
10. Marqise Lee, USC, 114.25
17. Marquess Wilson, Washington State, 99.8
Note: Receiver and running back are stronger positions than quarterback in the Pac-12. The only quarterback ranked in the top-25 in passing efficiency is Arizona State's Taylor Kelly at 16th. And, by the way, which team really has the best wide receiver tandem in the conference?
Sacks
7. Morgan Breslin, USC, 1.38 sacks per game
8. Travis Long, Washington State, 1.3 spg
8. Will Sutton, Arizona State, 1.3
15. Anthony Barr, UCLA, 1.2
20. Chidera Uzo-Diribe, Colorado, 1.0
20. Leonard Williams, USC, 1.0
20. Scott Crichton, Oregon State, 1.0
Note: Long is the only senior on the list. Williams is a true freshman, Crichton a sophomore. Barr has been reborn after being lost as an F-back with the pistol offense. Sutton has simply been dominant.