After beating Utah, is Oregon the ‘most complete’ team in the Pac-12?

The Pac-12 is entering its final month of its final season — as we know it at least. Some teams that were in the league title race took serious blows last week, while Oregon continued to assert its dominance. Washington and USC survived shaky performances in the Bay Area.

Let’s get to some conference thoughts as the season stretches into Week 10.

1. Before the season started, I thought the Pac-12 wouldn’t have a representative in the College Football Playoff because the league would cannibalize itself and no team would be demonstrably better than the league’s other top contenders.

Oregon is making me seriously reconsider that. Yes, it lost to Washington 36-33 on Oct. 14, and the Huskies are still undefeated. But Oregon was the more complete team headed into that game and is the more complete team now.

The Ducks were super impressive in their 35-6 win at Utah in a top-15 matchup this past weekend. They had no issue moving the ball against a tough Utes defense and made a banged-up offense look like, well, a banged-up offense.

There have been plenty of Pac-12 teams that have knocked Utah down and even beaten it over the past few years, but not without a massive fight. Nobody has really flat-out bullied the Utes the way Oregon did.

The Ducks face Cal this week, but the two toughest remaining games are against Top 25 foes USC and Oregon State. Both games are at home, though, so Oregon should have a strong chance to appear in the Pac-12 title game.

2. Washington simply hasn’t looked the same since its dramatic victory over Oregon earlier this month. First came the sloppy win over Arizona State when the Huskies didn’t score an offensive touchdown but managed to pull out a 15-7 win.

Then last week, there was the troubling 42-33 victory at Stanford. If Cardinal receiver Jayson Raines hadn’t dropped a catchable pass on fourth down, Stanford would’ve been in position to take the lead in the final minutes.

Washington’s defense was the big concern this time, with Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels throwing for 367 yards while rushing for 81 and accounting for three total touchdowns. Stanford posted 495 yards of total offense.

The Huskies rank 70th nationally in yards per rush allowed (4.08 yards) and are 118th in passing defense.

Washington is about to enter its toughest stretch of the season as well. It travels to USC this weekend and faces Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, who will test the secondary. Then it faces Utah at home before traveling to Oregon State. The Utes and Beavers can seriously stress Washington’s run defense. So there are tough tests this defense will have to navigate.

3. Arizona is not the second-best team in the Pac-12, but it might be playing like the second-best team in the league. On Saturday, the Wildcats beat Oregon State 27-24, earning their second consecutive win over a ranked team.

Arizona coach Jedd Fisch ultimately decided to stick with redshirt freshman Noah Fifita at quarterback. The Wildcats offense has taken a step forward since Fifita entered the starting lineup over Jayden de Laura. Fifita threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns against the Beavers.

The Wildcats sealed the win with a 10-play, 55-yard drive. Eight of those 10 plays were runs as Arizona’s offensive line and running backs DJ Williams and Jonah Coleman took control of the game.

Kudos to Arizona strength and conditioning director Tyler Owens and his staff. The Wildcats play big-boy football on both sides of the line and have come a long way in that department from where they started two years ago.

And at 5-3, Arizona is trending to make its first bowl game since 2017.

4. UCLA pummeled Colorado in a 28-16 win Saturday that was far more lopsided than the final score suggested. The Bruins rushed for 218 yards, held the Buffaloes’ running backs to 45 yards and sacked Shedeur Sanders seven times.

The only reason the score was close was because UCLA turned the ball over four times and missed a field goal. The Bruins threw two interceptions — one apiece from starter Ethan Garbers and Collin Schlee.

UCLA has thrown 12 interceptions this season. Only five teams have thrown more, so the Bruins will need to get cleaner play from the quarterback position over the final month of the season.

UCLA faces Arizona this week in what should be a physical and entertaining affair.

5. Colorado is now 4-4 two-thirds of the way through Deion Sanders’ first season. The final four games are versus Oregon State and Arizona and at Washington State and Utah.

Reaching a bowl seems unlikely. The Buffaloes will likely be underdogs in each of those games. Washington State seems like the most winnable considering the Cougars are in a free fall, having lost four consecutive games.

Preseason prognostications appear both right and wrong about Colorado. The Buffaloes went over their Vegas win total (3.5) in early October and exceeded expectations. But some of the same things coaches and staffers within the league questioned before the season started — notably, the offensive line and the defense — have proven extremely vulnerable.

6. Arizona State got its first Pac-12 win of the season with a 38-27 triumph over Washington State.

The Sun Devils had solid balance on offense — 274 yards passing, 235 yards rushing — and notched three sacks, with eight tackles for loss. Arizona State has dealt with injuries on offense, some tough losses and a bowl ban but is still playing hard. Credit goes to coach Kenny Dillingham for that.

The Sun Devils will have a chance to play spoiler in a final month that features games at Utah, at UCLA and versus Oregon and versus Arizona. A win in any of those games would be a surprise.

7. USC’s 50-49 win at Cal was the most “Pac-12″ game of the weekend: a lot of fireworks, some rough defensive moments and USC getting one second put on the clock after the second quarter seemingly ended and attempting a field goal to finish the quarter after halftime ended.

That it required 50 points for the Trojans to escape with a win against the Golden Bears doesn’t portend well for upcoming games against Washington and Oregon. UCLA awaits after that.

USC was the preseason favorite to win the conference, and it’s hopes are still technically alive, but at the moment it seems more likely the Trojans will finish 7-5 than win the conference.

— This article originally appeared in The Athletic.