12 Pac Review: Oregon makes a statement on defense, OSU takes down another ranked team, and some changes in the South

North:

1. Oregon 49 vs Arizona 0 - I'm guessing Chip Kelly listens to Tuesday Night Talks with Dave and I, because 2 weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to see Lyerla lined up as a running back, and last night, I got my wish. The true soph was something special Saturday night. Lyerla had 2 receptions for 53 yards and 7 carries for 63 and a touchdown that included him carrying Bryan Bennett along kicking and screaming. The offense struggled to find a rhythm in the first half as turnovers and poor decisions shut down drives, but that was ok, because the story of the night was the defense. The defense pitched a shutout against Rich Rod's vaunted spread attack. I think that Rich Rod and the Arizona coaches are going to go back and look at their game plan of throwing at Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and realize it was a mistake. Ifo had a career night. He finished with 3 passes broken up, 2 INTs and a TD. I guess when your only other option is throwing at Terrence Mitchell, you have to pick your poison. Shutting out a Pac 12 opponent is great, shutting out one of the better offenses in the Pac, if not the country, is a completely different level. I love having a good defense.

2. Stanford

3. Oregon State 27 at Ucla 20 - I'm guessing that OSU is really enjoying having 2 weeks to prepare for top 25 teams. The Beavers were once again stout on the lines on both sides of the ball. After holding Montee Ball to only 61 yards rushing 2 weeks ago, the Beaver defense out did themselves this week by holding Johnathan Franklin to only 45. Sean Manion was stellar as well. He went 24/35 for 379 yards. Brandin Cooks and Markus Wheaton each had over 150 yards receiving. After knocking off their second straight top 25 team, look for the Beavers to be ranked for the first time since the preseason of 2010.

4. washington

5. Cal 9 at USC 27 - If you were ranking Cal in the entire Pac 12 right now, where would you put them? Granted, this is a team that barely lost to Ohio State on the road, and just held Matt Barkley to under 200 yards passing and were in this game for most of the day, but they look defeated. They also have a QB that can kill a drive with the best of them at any moment. I don't know that they are any better than 10th right now. Besides @WSU on Oct 13, I don't see anyone on their schedule they should be favored over, and with no bye week, it could be a very long season for the Bears.

6. Washington State 34 vs Colorado 35 - The W in WTF stands for Wazzu. Ok seriously, what the hell Cougars? You're up 31-14 in the fourth quarter and you lost 35-34... to Colorado? When WSU hired Mike Leach, I bet many fans weren't expecting to go 2-2 in their first 4 games, and look even worse while doing so. WSU's offensive line is awful, their passing game is not dominating like they should, they have no running game to respect and their defense is as bad as any in the Pac 12.

South:

1. USC - If Matt Barkley's Heisman hopes weren't dead, they are now. Barkley followed up his 2 INT loss to Stanford by going 22/34 for 192 yards 2 TDs and 2 more INTs. At least the running game finally got going. Silas Redd had 158 yards and Curtis McNeal chipped in 115.

2. Arizona State 37 vs Utah 7 - This one was over early. ASU jumped out to a 31-7 lead early in the second quarter and then milked the rest of the game away. With Ucla losing at home, and Arizona getting shut out, I'm moving ASU up to second in the South division in the Power Rankings.

3. Ucla - Brett Hundley didn't look like himself this week as he's battling an ankle injury (who knew an Ucla QB would get injured). I think the most surprising thing from the game was how much Ucla's lines got pushed around. The offense never really allowed Franklin to get going and the defense couldn't get much pressure on Mannion.

4. Arizona - Should be interesting to see how Arizona bounces back from this loss next week at home against OSU.

5. Utah - Without Jordan Wynn and a fully healthy John White, Utah is going to have to rely on their defense to win games. If they get down early, it's going to be really tough for them to come back.

6. Colorado - And with that win, Uw is still the only team to go 0-12 in the Pac. Thanks Buffs!