Here's a quick look at Week 9 in the conference. All times are ET. All games on Saturday.
Utah (4-3, 1-3) at USC (4-3, 1-2), 4 p.m., Pac-12 Network: USC leads the series 8-3 and just one of those Utes victories -- the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl -- came since 1916. The Trojans beat the Utes 38-28 last year in Salt Lake City. Utah’s debut as a Pac-12 member was against USC in the Coliseum in 2011, a 23-14 loss. Trailing 17-14 with 11 seconds left in regulation, Utah had a chance to send the game into overtime, but Coleman Petersen’s 41-yard field goal attempt was blocked and returned for a touchdown. It was a memorable ending because the Pac-12 officials never made it clear to anyone whether the touchdown counted, forcing the conference to put out a press release to change to final score. Utes linebacker Jared Norris was a teammate of USC quarterback Cody Kessler at Centennial High School in Bakersfield, Calif. Norris is one of 33 Californians on Utah’s roster. Utes starting QB Travis Wilson is questionable with a hand injury. If he can't go, backup Adam Schulz will get the start. He finished the Utes’ 35-24 loss at Arizona last weekend. Utah leads the Pac-12 in sacks (22) and sack average (3.14), ranking 11th in the nation. The Trojans have yielded 15 sacks. The USC injury list is topped by receiver Marqise Lee, who re-injured his knee at Notre Dame. USC's sophomore DE Leonard Williams posted a game-best nine tackles at Notre Dame as the USC defense limited the Irish to 295 total yards, including just 47 yards in the second half. USC’s defense leads the Pac-12 and ranks 16th in the FBS allowing 333.9 yards per game
No. 12 UCLA (5-1, 2-1) at No. 3 Oregon (7-0, 4-0), 7 p.m., ESPN: UCLA leads the series 39-26, but Oregon won the last meeting 49-31 in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game in 2011. Ducks sophomore QB Marcus Mariota has thrown at least one TD pass in all 20 games of his career, and extended his streak of passing and rushing for scores to nine straight games. He also has gone 265 attempts without an interception, extending his Pac-12 record. His last pick came in the first half vs. Stanford in 2012. The Ducks rank second in the nation in both total offense (643.1 yards per game) and scoring (57.6 points per game). UCLA defense's has held it first six opponents to less than 30 points for the first time since the 2001 season. UCLA is one of four Pac-12 teams among the top 20 in scoring, currently 20th in the FBS at 39.8 points per game. The 14 points allowed to Stanford in the third quarter were the first points the Bruins have allowed in the third quarter all season as it has now outscored the opposition in the opening frame of the second half, 74-14. Ducks sophomore RB Byron Marshall had a career-high 192 yards rushing against Washington State, his fifth 100-yard rushing game this season and sixth of his career. Bruins sophomore S Randall Goforth had a career-high 19 tackles at Stanford. It was the most tackles by a Bruin since LB Reggie Carter recorded 20 against BYU in 2008.
Arizona (4-2, 1-2) at Colorado (3-3, 0-3), 8 p.m., Pac-12 Network: Colorado leads the series 13-2, but Arizona won 56-31 last year in Tucson. The Wildcats did lose 49-29 to the Buffaloes in 2011, the last time they were in Boulder and their first meeting as members of the Pac-12's South Division. Arizona RB Ka'Deem Carey now leads the nation with 161 yards rushing per game. He is coming off a season-high 236 yards rushing in the win over Utah. He led the nation in rushing in 2012. With 3,159 career rushing yards, also is just five yards away from moving into fourth place on the Wildcats’ all-time list. The last time he faced the Buffs, he rushed for a Pac-12 record 366 yards and five touchdowns. That game was Arizona QB B.J. Denker's first career start. Colorado's freshman RB Michael Adkins II rushed for 137 yards (10.5 avg.) and a school freshman record four TDs in the win over Charleston Southern. The Buffs rank 10th in the conference in run defense, yielding 174.5 yards per game. Arizona ranks second in rushing offense at 268.5 yards per game.
No. 6 Stanford (6-1, 4-1) at No. 25 Oregon State (6-1, 4-0), 10:30 p.m., ESPN: Stanford leads the series 51-24-3, including a 27-23 win last year. That game was Cardinal QB Kevin Hogan's first career start, as he replaced the faltering Josh Nunes. He completed 22-of-29 passes for 254 yards and 3 TDs as No. 16 Stanford rallied for the win over the 13th-ranked Beavers. With his 481 passing yards at California, Beavers junior QB Sean Mannion set a Pac-12 consecutive-game passing record with 971 yards (school record 493 yards vs. Washington State in his previous game). Mannion leads the nation in passing with 427.4 yards per game. Oregon State has yielded just nine sacks in seven games. Stanford has 19 sacks in seven games. Stanford senior RB Tyler Gaffney rushed for a career-high 171 yards on a career-best 36 attempts in the win over UCLA. Of Gaffney’s 144 rushing attempts this season, only four carries resulted in a loss of yardage. He’s gained 746 yards, netting 741 yards this season. Oregon State's junior WR Brandin Cooks, who leads the nation in receiving, caught 13 passes for 232 yards -- second most in a game in OSU history -- against Washington State. Cooks’ 76 receptions this season already rank eighth on OSU’s single-season chart, while his 1,176 receiving yards are seventh on the single-season list, and 25 more yards than he collected all of last season. He also leads the nation with 12 TD receptions. Starting with the Cardinal, the Beavers next five opponents have a combined record of 26-9. Their previous four FBS foes own a combined record of 12-16.
California (1-6, 0-4) at Washington (4-3, 1-3), 11 p.m., Fox Sports 1: Washington leads the series 51-38-4 in a series that began in 1904. Washington and California are the only two teams that have played in what is now the Pac-12 Conference in every season since the league was founded in 1916. The Huskies have won four straight in the series, including 21-13 last year in Berkeley. The big question for Cal this week is who the starting quarterback should be, as true freshman starter Jared Goff has been ineffective since Pac-12 play began. He has twice been replaced by redshirt freshman Zach Kline. The Huskies will pay tribute legendary former head coach Don James, who passed away Sunday at the age of 80. James coached the Huskies from 1975 to 1992. Huskies QB Keith Price moved into the No. 2 spot in career passing yards last weekend against Arizona State. He now has 7,746 career yards, having moved past Jake Locker (7,639). The Bears rank 112 or worse in the nation in: rushing offense, total defense, scoring defense, turnover margin, pass efficiency defense and penalty yards per game. Washington has turned the ball over nine times this year, but have allowed only one of those turnovers to be converted into a touchdown. Conversely, the Huskies converted seven of 10 takeaways into touchdowns. The combined record for the six opponents that have defeated Cal this year is 31-5. The Bears have lost nine consecutive Pac-12 games.