It's time to look at the top quarterback performers after another week of Pac-12 play. We'll revisit this ranking each Monday. Remember that we're weighing the past weekend's performance more heavily than an overall season track record, so expect some variation here every week.
1. Travis Wilson, Utah: He seems to be the hinge point for the Utes' success, and Wilson delivered in Saturday's 34-18 win over Arizona State. He beat some aggressive Sun Devils pressure to finish 26-of-36 for 297 yards and a pair of scores. Wilson rifled some bullets downfield to favorite target Kenneth Scott, who hauled in five catches for 116 yards.
Wilson continues to deliver what Kyle Whittingham has needed this year: He's completing 68 percent of his passes while averaging a decent -- but not gaudy -- 7.2 yards per attempt. In other words, he's supplied enough of a threat to make the Utah offense dangerous, and that's been enough to fuel a 6-0 start since that team is so balanced.
2. Luke Falk, Washington State: The Cougars' offense is clicking, and Falk is the centerpiece of that effort. He finished 39-of-50 for 407 yards and six touchdowns in Washington State's 52-31 whipping of Oregon State. Those six scoring passes -- a team record -- all came in a first-half flurry with scores on all seven possessions.
Was there room for improvement? Yes. The Cougars stalled in the second half, but they already led comfortably at that point, so we won't penalize Falk too much for it. Assuming his offense continues to showcase the efficiency it showed down the stretch at Oregon and in the first half against the Beavers, the future in the Palouse will be mighty interesting.
3. Kevin Hogan, Stanford: The Cardinal needed to throw the ball only 14 times to rack up 56 points through three quarters in their demolition of UCLA, so one might argue that Hogan wasn't used too often. But that would be an oversimplification. The fifth-year senior is an integral part of the Cardinal's monstrous run game, which just notched its third consecutive 300-yard performance. Hogan is responsible for checking into the correct protections at the line of scrimmage, and he's also tasked with using relatively limited throwing opportunities to loosen the defense for Christian McCaffrey & Co.
Both of those endeavors were highly successful last Thursday night, and Hogan held onto an impressive statistical résumé in conference play: His 73.2 completion percentage and 202.9 rating leads the Pac-12. In fact, that rating is over 45 points higher than Falk's, the league's second-ranked passer.
4. Vernon Adams Jr., Oregon: Last season, Adams threw for 475 yards and seven touchdowns versus Washington. This year, he wasn't nearly as statistically impressive against the Huskies, throwing for 272 yards and two scores. But there's a major distinction between those two performances: Adams' team (Eastern Washington) lost that first game, while his new squad (Oregon) won this second one 26-20.
It's clear that the Ducks are a much better football team when Adams is playing. They failed to pass for 200 yards in two consecutive weeks without him, but began to click through the air again upon his return -- against the Pac-12's top-ranked defense, no less. Adams' signature moment in this one came before halftime, when he eluded a sack and hit Bralon Addison on a pretty pass 44 yards downfield.
5. Anu Solomon, Arizona: This was a funky performance. Solomon struggled throughout the middle of the game, so much that the Wildcats inserted backup Jerrard Randall to provide a spark with his legs. Solomon then re-entered the game in time to throw a critical 25-yard touchdown pass to Jared Baker with 9:17 remaining. He finished with 283 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, hardly a prolific output but certainly enough for Arizona to beat Colorado 38-31.
"Anu's still an outstanding quarterback," Rich Rodriguez said. "... He didn't hang his head or nothing like that."