Pac-12 football: Recapping week two in Pac-12 South

Arizona State for a second there had a scare, as the Sun Devils were tied with FCS school Cal Poly well into the fourth quarter.

They prevailed, though.

Oregon was not so lucky, and now the Ducks might have to run the table for a shot at the college football playoff. I wouldn’t put that past the Ducks, but it’ll certainly be tough in a good Pac-12 conference.

Anyway, here’s a round-up of the weekend’s action in the Pac-12 South. Here's a link to the North's recap. 

Utah against Utah State

• Final score: Utah (2-0) won 24-14
• Some stats: QB Travis Wilson was 9 of 13 for 76 yards before departing with an injury. Also had five carries for 49 yards and a touchdown. His replacement, Kendal Thompson, was efficient, completing 8 of 10 passes, but only had 56 yards, plus a rushing touchdown. RB Devontae Booker was his usual productive self, toting the ball 31 times for 120 yards and a score. WR Britain Covey — a 5-foot-8, 2-star, true freshman — was a stand-out again, leading the Utes with 6 catches for 61 yards, with some good punt returns.
• What happened: The story of the game was injuries. Wilson (shoulder) is expected to be out for next week, but should return for Sept. 26 at Oregon. Stud defensive end Hunter Dimick left the game with an apparent knee injury and didn’t return. Dimick had 10 sacks last year, and with Nate Orchard off to the NFL, his loss would be very bad for the Utes. As for the game itself: it was close for a while, tied 14-14 at halftime, but Utah’s defense was spectacular in the second half, holding USU in its six drives to three punts, two turnovers and the game clock running out.
• Team MVP: LB Gionni Paul. He had a key interception of Chuckie Keeton late in the game, and tallied 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
• What was said: “That’s the nature of the game. A guy goes down, and the next guy’s got to step up.” — Utes coach Kyle Whittingham, according to AP. 
• Up next: Fresno State (1-1), who just got destroyed by No. 17 Mississippi 73-21.

Arizona at Nevada

• Final score: Arizona (2-0) won 44-20
• Some stats: Nick Wilson (194 yards, 3 TDs) was obviously the big one. Anu Solomon was OK (24 of 33, 264 yards, 2 TD), and WR Cayleb Jones had his first 100-yard game (6 catches, 103 yards. As a team, Arizona had 301 rushing yards, certainly helped by garbage time gains by back-up QB Jerrard Randall (60 yards, TD) and freshman RB third-stringer Orlando Bradford (47 yards). Wildcats held Nevada QB Tyler Stewart to 159 yards and a 50 percent completion percentage.
• What happened: It was maybe sloppy at times, but the Wildcats were clearly the better team, and we maybe all underestimated just how good Wilson is. Had a fantastic game. Likely Pac-12 offensive player of the week. Anyway, it was close at half-time then Arizona put Nevada away in the second half, outscoring the Wolf Pack 23-7.
• Team MVP: Wilson, obviously.
• What was said: ““I thought our guys were gritty. We played hard. We didn’t execute well at times, especially on offense. We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. That’s a tough football team on the road and we made some plays when we needed to.” — Rich Rodriguez to the great Daniel Berk. 
• Up next: NAU (2-0) which beat New Mexico Highlands 41-5 in its home opener

UCLA at UNLV

• Final score: UCLA (2-0) won 37-3
• Some stats: Josh Rosen (22 of 42, 223 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) came back down to earth, while Paul Perkins (18 carries, 151 yards, 2 TD) ran wild. WR Jordan Payton had 70 yards and a TD. The Bruins had 30 first downs, held UNLV to 2-of-15 on third downs and 56 — yes, 56 — passing yards.
• What happened: UCLA was “only” up 17-0 at half-time, but it was never even really that close. Bruins have a solid BYU team next week before Josh Rosen will face his biggest test of the season in his Pac-12 debut on the road at Arizona, possibly with Scooby Wright back in tow.
• Team MVP: Perkins for gashing the UNLV defense.
• What was said: ““This offense really gets rolling when things start to click. We misfired a few plays here and there. A lot of it was on me. I’m not too proud of how I played, but I think we’ll definitely get better as a team and move forward.” — Rosen, according to the Orange County Register. 
• Up next: BYU (2-0), who just won on a Hail Mary for the second week in a row, this time against Boise State.

Colorado against Massachusetts

• Final score: Colorado (1-1) won 48-14
• Some stats: The Buffs were phenomenal running the ball, getting 390 yards and 5 TDs led by Michael Adkins II (119 yards, 1 TD) and Christian Powell (105 yards and 2 TDs. QB Sefo Liufau (15 of 24 for 168 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 36 rushing yards, 1 TD) was also better than in the week one Hawaii loss. Still gave up nearly 400 yards to UMass, but only 14 points.
• What happened: At one point, Colorado scored on eight straight possessions. That’ll do it.
• Team MVP: Adkins II and Powell in tandem. The duo averaged 8.3 yards per carry.
• What was said: “"Almost don't know what to say, it's been so long," CU head coach Mike MacIntyre, according to Buffzone.com. 
• Up next: Colorado State (1-1), which lost to Minnesota in overtime on Saturday.

ASU against Cal Poly

• Final score: ASU (1-1) won 35-21
• Some stats: Mike Bercovici (283 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT) had a nice bounce-back from week one, and RB Demario Richard (121 and 2 TDs) had a nice night. ASU held Cal Poly to 46 yards passing, but that’s mostly because they only attempted 8 passes, rushing for 284 yards on 72 (!) attempts.
• What happened: Well, this could’ve been ugly. With less than 10 minutes left, ASU was tied up with the FCS Cal Poly. They closed it out with two passing touchdowns, though, and held Cal Poly scoreless the rest of the way.
• Team MVP: WR/RB D.J. Foster, who tallied 134 yards of offense with a touchdown
• What was said: “Whew. That was difficult.” — ASU coach Todd Graham, according to azcentral. 
• Up next: New Mexico (1-1) on Friday. The Lobos lost to Tulsa 40-21 in week two.

USC against Idaho

• Final score: USC (2-0) won 59-9
• Some stats: Cody Kessler (410 yards, 3 TD, 83.8 completion %) was stellar, the rushing attack garnered 284 yards and 5 TD and WR Juju Smith-Schuster had 10 catches for 192 yards and 2 TDs. Numbers are obviously bloated since it is, you know, Idaho. Team stuff: 737 total yards, held Idaho to 71 rushing yards, USC was only 1-of-6 on third down.
• What happened: No need to elaborate much on this one. Next week against Stanford, though, will be more interesting.
• Team MVP: Everyone on offense, but especially Kessler/Smith-Schuster.
• What was said: “We jumped out on (Idaho), which is probably what we should have done. It was a great win, but we understand what lies ahead." — Steve Sarkisian, according to AP. 
• Up next: Stanford, which won against UCF on Saturday.