This season, we’re rounding up our writers for their views on other conference games that took place during gameweek.

ShadowSandrock – Honestly, I still don’t know what a mirage is here. My gut feeling is that UW was more overrated than we thought (looking at you Sparty), which also makes me think UCLA is a bit of a mirage too, but the Pac12 may be all smoke and mirrors this year, so no matter. Still, it’s kind of crazy that this game ended as close as it was. UW should have forfeited after DTR tricked those two defenders against each other like a cartoon.

TD_24 – DTR and UCLA offense look good. Will he look as good after Utah and Oregon? Stay tuned.

Avinash – Washington has finally hit the talent wall since Jimmy Lake left. The speed of the UCLA team on both sides overwhelmed them for three quarters. The Huskies have pulled off a solid comeback though, so the good news for UW is that they have a very good coach in place to put them in position to win. But the Bruins look like they’re part of that core four who can compete for the title. The super-senior DTR is now in pure control of Chip Kelly’s offense and is very locked down. A huge battle with Utah is looming.

Bk97 – Flashbacks to every time Cal plays in the Rose Bowl and is crushed by the UCLA attack. It’s going to be a dreadful week if we go 5-6 heading into the season finale against the Bruins.

Christopher_h – UCLA dominated this early game with unusually poor UW high school play. UW made a late comeback, but UCLA was bailed out by dubious umpire calls ruling ‘forward progress has been halted’ to keep the clock running late in the game when UCLA was playing apart. Come on referees, why protect the B1G team with fake calls?

Rob Hwang – I still don’t know what this game told me? Is UW not as good as we thought or is UCLA much better than we thought?

ShadowSandrock – Delayed dead cat bounce? Lincoln Riley is like Super Saiyan Sonny Dykes.

TD_24 – USC goes through the motions and wins. Wazzu and Utah the next two weeks has my intrigue.

Avinash – Great team coverage. Good job on the Sun Devils hanging out with the team they have as long as possible. But Caleb Williams is currently by far the best player in the conference. The Trojans have one more solid test against a very good Wazzu team before they know if they are true playoff contenders in Utah. But they have to find their defense.

Bk97 – ASU looked pretty good in the first half. Then they totaled 2 meters over the next 20 minutes.

Christopher_h – USC is very much like a Sonny Dykes team, hoping to score in every practice and earn a turnover or two on defense to gain a possession advantage. ASU kept up the momentum in the first half, but when the score started to slip away from them, they weren’t able to leverage the passing game enough to keep pace with the USC throughout the game. Kudos to the ASU player who threw his water on USC QB Caleb Williams on the sidelines, though. I like pettiness.

Rob Hwang – I don’t think ASU will go 1-11, but the odds are still there until they win. Not serious. Their next two matches are Stanford and Colorado. They WILL win at least one, right? Right…?

ShadowSandrock – I want to be able to hate Kyle Wittingham, but I can’t. He’s so good and it’s so frustrating. Really really glad we miss Utah this year. OSU is still legit and I don’t like that.

TD_24 – Chance Nolan has had a tough few weeks. The defense certainly tried.

Avinash – Oregon State beat Utah in this game. But their quarterbacks aren’t good right now and that could sink a promising season. I feel a bit better about Cal’s chances in this game, but it’s getting risky to pin our hopes on a win at Corvallis. The Bears really need to score an upset in their next three games after Colorado to ease the pressure of having to win that one.

Bk97 – Luck Nolan, how are you? That’s a lot of interceptions recently.

Christopher_h – Really tough for OSU QB Chance Nolan. Hope he’s okay with the injuries. OSU is a good team that won’t get the respect it deserves, but it will be a must game for Cal if they want to go bowling.

Rob Hwang – Oregon State may have concerns at QB not because of the game, but in terms of health and if Nolan is unable to go, we could see more of a double attack with Gulbranson and Coletto. If there’s an offensive spirit in the conference that could make it work, it’s probably Johnathon Smith.

ShadowSandrock – I think the yellow pants make everyone look faster. I feel like there is something to learn here…..Stanford is bad and I feel good with the Big Game spots I got this year.

TD_24 – This score is not indicative of the game. Oregon wiped the floor with these boys. But Casey Filkins looks solid.

Avinash – Bo Nix might lose the memes. He’s perfect for Oregon right now and is breaking personal bests everywhere. If it hadn’t been for the penalties, it could have been an easy 60 for the Ducks. And more importantly for the Ducks, all of their biggest games are at home. Their biggest issue is their very fragile defense, which continues to give up explosive play after explosive play.

Bk97 – It looks like the LSJU MO this season is to let the other team score 4 touchdowns and then start scoring enough to try to make the game more respectable. Down 31-3 this week, then they lost 45-27. Last week: led 30-7, then finished 40-22. Against USC: led 28-7, then finished 41-28.

Christopher_h – Stanford’s defense is terrible, they just couldn’t defend the edges at all and Oregon was up 31-3 at halftime. As bad as Stanford’s offense is, I respect that they’re at least trying to do something different on offense.

Rob Hwang – Good Lord Stanford looks bad.

ShadowSandrock – Yeah, we better plan the game for UW this week. The CU game should be a good game for us.

TD_24 – Cal facing a new head coach and defensive coordinator in Boulder? This is going to give me a little anxiety.

Avinash – COLORADO IS FREE! COLORADO IS A FREE BUFFALO! I would say Arizona definitely has the offensive juice to upset someone. And hey, it’s Dennis Dixon… uh… Bo Nix is ​​coming to town this week.

Bk97 – It’s a shame we can’t do a bunch of stupid Karl Dorrell mustache jokes next week.

Christophe_h – I’ll probably save most of my thoughts for my preview articles, but the bottom line is that Colorado absolutely can’t tackle, and so even routine plays are going for big yards against them. All of Arizona’s receivers have had monster games, cutting through Colorado’s defense like a hot knife through butter. Colorado also doesn’t trust its freshman offense enough to do much offensively.

Rob Hwang – Colorado looks REALLY beatable. Arizona is bouncing back and looking like a pretty good quality win.

Avinash – At least UNLV continues to look like a quality win. I know UC Davis had a tough FCS schedule, but that 1-4 start is tough given how unimpressive that win was.

Bk97 – I’m not looking forward to the end of Cal’s schedule. With the exception of LSJU, these teams are all well equipped to win a shootout. We are not.

Christopher_h – I just want to watch Cal in a bowling match. That’s all. Other than that, it would be really nice if Cal could ruin USC’s playoff hopes, which I’m sure would send them into a tailspin. They’re just gonna get Oklahoma in the playoffs anyway.

Rob Hwang – Has anyone seen my only ring? I got it in the mail from this Sauron guy last week.

This season, we’re rounding up our writers for their views on other conference games that took place during gameweek.

TD_24 – This game kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I didn’t have the Beavers defense, which made Caleb Williams look terrible on my bingo card. Too bad Chance Nolan had one of his random bad games of the year because OSU looked set to win.

Christopher_h – Of course, a game between the top offenses in the conference ends in a low-scoring affair. USC QB Caleb Williams looked terrible this game, with a few head-scratching throws, but the USC defense kept up their ridiculous pace of turnovers to rock this game.

Avinash – USC has a spin margin of +14 (14 spins forced, 0 given). I don’t know how long this trend can last, but the +4 turnovers saved them on Saturday. What about Oregon State Defense? Only 3 USC points in 3 quarters. The sad part is that this might be USC’s last trip to the spooky Corvallis in quite some time.

ShadowSandrock – Oregon State kinda blew it, but I think they might be real

Bk97 – The two best attacks in the conference meet and we get… a fight of stones? It’s a shame that Nolan is throwing interceptions everywhere, because this could have been a game-breaking win for Jonathan Smith and the Beavs.

Piotr T Le – Lincoln Riley realizes that the Pac-12 has moments where anyone can win and anyone can lose. Note that Oregon State is one of the worst defenses it will face this season. Kyle Whittingham licks his chops to give SC and his crew a warm welcome to the Pac-12.

Rob Hwang – I rarely cheer for the Beavs, given their eternal heartbreaking acts against us, but right now I really hoped they would pull it off.

TD_24 – Utes takes care of business. You just know they’re looking forward to their game against USC.

Christopher_h – Utah lost TE Brant Kuithe for the season…ouch.

Avinash – Utah losing Kuithe for the season is a blow. The Utes are still very good, but their ability to hang on to the best offenses in the conference will no longer be there for them to keep faint playoff hopes alive. There’s still a chance for a Pac-12 title – their defense is still the best in the conference, probably by a wider margin than we thought.

ShadowSandrock – Turns out when your list is bad you don’t get a dead chat bounce

Piotr T Le – Utah continues to vent its anger on teams after Florida’s loss in the swamp. However, with the loss of their Star TE, their attack will face more challenges. I think Cam Rising needs to step up to make up for the loss and really elevate the Utes.

Rob Hwang – Losing Kuithe but winning against a team that is under investigation and without HC, is a tough end result of a heavily tilted game.

TD_24 – Welp I imagine Coug’in is still on the menu. Does that always happen with Cal in town? Stay tuned to find out.

Christopher_h – Wazzu QB Cam Ward worked his magic all night, but it was his expensive pick-6 that put this game aside for Oregon.

Avinash – The old Pac-12 Nord has proven itself today. Washington State can’t be taken lightly as they fought their way through a sometimes-confusing Oregon defense. But Bo Nix went ham in the second half and the Ducks proved they could fight back anytime they wanted. The Ducks are more dangerous than ever.

ShadowSandrock – The term “cougin’ it” exists for a reason

Bk97 – I have no interest in the Cougs and yet I always find myself disappointed by their amazing meltdowns. I can’t imagine how their fans feel.

Piotr T Le – Bo Nix gives, Bo Nix takes. Wazzu showing again that they can play against both their opposition and their Cougness.

Rob Hwang – NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

TD_24 – Stanford looks really bad. Outside of some Washington red-zone errors, this offense is on track to start the year.

Christopher_h –Stanford QB Tanner McKee was harassed all night; 8 sacks, 2 fumbles and an interception. Meanwhile, the UW offense is firing on all cylinders here as they headed for another win, hopefully on a collision course with a ranked Cal in a few weeks.

Avinash – Washington is scary. The Huskies have a competent coach with a good QB and great talent and it shows in every way. UCLA is their first major test though – Michigan State is unhappy and Stanford is still trying to find each other. But the Huskies just shred the opposition – they’ve taken a more than 20-point lead in every game.

ShadowSandrock – If a tree punts into the woods 4th from their opponent’s 40, but no one is in their stadium to see it, am I really there?

Bk97 – The LSJU team has an ominous feel, Cal/Tedford-in-2012.

Piotr T Le – Jimmy Lake was banned from coaching anywhere near Washington and could only travel on Airbus planes due to the negative impact he had on overall life in Seattle.

Rob Hwang – Good Lord UW looks good. Good Lord Stanford looks bad.

TD_24 – The Bruins go through the moves and sending Buffs. I don’t know where Colorado can turn and say it’s going to be a chance to win this season.

Christopher_h – I said this last week, but Colorado gave up, and they’re just playing real freshmen now for the experience. Worse still, Colorado has terrible game designs, where too many receivers end up in the same zone. Sometimes it’s not obvious who the intended target is, but instead of stretching the defense, Colorado guides them to an area where the ball is going. Colorado needs to keep its young talent and get rid of these coaches as soon as possible.

Avinash – Colorado rightly looked to the youth movement and showed some punch before giving in as usual. The Bruins are 4-0 and I have no idea how good they are, but the good DTR and Charbonnet give them just enough juice to win every game they play.

ShadowSandrock – Nam suggested that we plan a game for UW on our week off and risk being cursed for it, but honestly, I think I’m okay with it.

Bk97 — One of Colorado’s non-zero chances of victory comes this weekend as the Buffs visit Arizona. If they suffer another brutal loss (and there’s a 90% chance they will), will they take advantage of the upcoming bye week and fire Dorrell on Sunday?

Rob Hwang – Bowling Green. Southern Alabama. State of Alabama. Colorado. I’ll be waiting to see if this UCLA team is the real deal, because they play UW on Friday night.

TD_24 – 3-1 to 4 games? I’ll take it. Head to Wazzu.

Christopher_h – Man, those Cal bloggers and their crazy predictions, huh? I’m not going to drop that one anytime soon.

Avinash – The offense of Our Lady lives! Although facing a Gene Chizik defense in North Carolina was a big adrenaline rush. UNLV is also looking for a stronger test than we thought, beating Utah State with six turnovers. UC Davis has faltered, but Weber State is likely an FCS title contender – they busted Utah State a few weeks ago by a bigger margin than UNLV!

ShadowSandrock – I like when Musgrave calls the touchdown game

Piotr T Le – Pac-12 remains a conference where most teams (sorry ASU and Colorado, they would need an act of God to win) can challenge anyone at any time.

Rob Hwang –

This season, we’re rounding up our writers for their views on other conference games that took place during gameweek.

TD_24 – UCLA is escaping. They may not be as good as people think, but that remains to be seen.

Christopher_h – I was hoping for Sun Belt’s upset magic and was so disappointed when UCLA came back to win it.

Bear SG – Yookla is saved by a stunning decision not to kick an FG to go up a five with less than 3 minutes to go. I think it’s a blip and they’ll be rock solid the rest of the year.

Berkelium97 – UCLA was a very dumb coaching decision (South Alabama’s decision to go 4th-and-2 at UCLA 22 rather than throw a 39-yard field goal) away from possibly losing this one. It might not be another one of Chip Kelly’s no-bowl teams, but they’re definitely not in contention for the Pac-12 title.

Piotr T Le – Despite the pain of being a Cal fan, it’s worse to be a UCLA fan. Winning by the skin of the teeth against South Bama at home and that’s only because someone from the South Alabama team out of the galaxy surrounded the Colts on special teams and attempted a conversion despite a Obtainable FG. Unlike Cal, UCLA has an offense with a top 5th year QB and much better player recruiting and yet it literally took them the last second to earn their cupcake. At least Cal had to do it against UNLV.

Rob Hwang – Did UCLA really just play two Alabama schools (not named Alabama or Auburn) in consecutive weeks?

TD_24 – The Ducks seem to be turning things around. I can’t wait for their game against Washington State.

Christopher_h – Was rooting for Christopher Brooks this game, but Oregon’s lines proved too much for BYU…which kind of makes Georgia look like it’s on a whole new level.

Bear SG – I definitely thought this game would be sooner. Former Golden Bear Christopher Brooks struggled to generate reliable yards. Oregon, USC and Utah are still Pac class and I think that proves they’ll handle almost anyone pretty easily.

Berkelium97 – Raise your hand if you thought Oregon would enter the 4th quarter with a 31-point lead. If your hand is still up, you are lying. A very impressive performance to crush the Stormin’ Mormons like that.

Piotr T Le – Oregon had the ability to beat BYU all the time, all they needed was a good Bo Nix to come play. National media speculated that BYU would start their CFP campaign in Autzen only to get shoved by the Ducks.

TD_24 – I don’t know if Karl Dorrell will make it through the season.

Christopher_h – Each defeat is more embarrassing than the previous one. I’m pretty sure Colorado gave up football here.

Bear SG – Oh my God. CU looked unhappy. Like terrible on both sides. They could be winless.

Berkelium97 –Karl Dorrell must be feeling good that he wasn’t the first Pac-12 coach fired this season.

Piotr T Le – 2020 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Karl Dorell! Probably one of the bottom 5 teams in the country right now which means once they face Cal we’ll take them out or the game will come down to cause #JustCalThings

Rob Hwang – Imagine getting paid to hire Karl Dorrell.

TD_24 – The Washington State defense gave up a total of 24 points in three games. No matter how you cut it, it’s pretty good.

Christopher_h – Washington State is slowly developing into a strong team. The Pac-12 Nord is surprisingly strong this year.

Bear SG – It’s hard to read too much in this game. CSU is bad. And Wazzu is one of those third-quartile Pac teams that should probably be underdogs but will somehow beat a good team. I would put Cal in this level.

TD_24 – I tried to tell you to buy shares in Washington’s attack. Just keep Michael Penix Jr healthy.

Christopher_h – Big game for Michael Penix (I have to triple check my phone’s autocorrect here) and Ja’Lynn Polk. UW seems to be a much more offensive team this year.

Bear SG – Man, U Dub made the Spartan defense look bad. They are going to be tough to beat.

Berkelium97 – UW looks good. Like, fighting for the Pac-12 title is good. If Penix can clean up some of his inconsistencies (eg occasionally missing wide open receivers) this will be a very tough offense to stop. Though I wonder how much of that offensive outburst was down to MSU incompetence, because it was a garbage cover by their secondary.

Piotr T Le – I’m tired of the national media, it’s more obvious that most guys on the big pods just watch anything west of the Mississippi and can’t name 5 players on a Pac-12 team even though their life depends on it. Most were surprised that UW was a 3-point favorite over an 11-ranked Michigan State. The only thing that surprised me was how good RGIII was as an announcer.

TD_24 – Oregon State vs. USC next week has my intrigue.

Christopher_h – Montana State was in the FCS Championship last year and OSU dismantled them. Another surprisingly strong win for the Pac-12 North.

Bear SG – Jonathan Smith has something magical about OSU.

TD_24 – Utah got very physical and SDSU faded.

Christopher_h – I don’t think SDSU is as good as they have been for the past few years, but Cam Rising set them apart.

Bear SG – Utah is still damn good. Not good USC. But fight UCLA for the 2nd good.

Rob Hwang – This loss in Florida will fuel this team all season.

TD_24 – USC continues to score in clusters. Several key injuries to Evan Williams and Jake Haener will make life difficult for the Bulldogs going forward.

Christopher_h – Fresno State kept things close to OSU, but this one wasn’t.

Bear SG – Yeah. And that’s how good they are with new coaches, new teammates, new system, brand new? They are scary.

Berkelium97 – This offense is horrible.

Piotr T Le – Good USC = unbearable USC fans. Such is life in Eastern Europe…

TD_24 – NDSU ran like bulls on the field but Arizona finally stiffened in the 4th quarter saved them from an upset.

Christopher_h – From an embarrassing loss to a mediocre FCS team last year to a win over defending champions FCS, it’s amazing what replacing the entire roster with transfers can do.

Bear SG – Laura’s Jayden is still himself so he’s good for a game or two and then he won’t have a great game. God, I hope he’s the last.

Piotr T Le – Arizona is booming with this win. NDST haven’t lost an FBS match in a long time and despite their FCS affiliation they are a very good team. De Laura has one of the largest ranges of “holy shit” pieces both good and bad.

Rob Hwang – It’s going to be a ridiculous game against them this week isn’t it…

TD_24 – Well this is the Herm Edwards era.

Christopher_h – I had no upset from EMU and Herm Edwards immediately pulled my bingo card here.

Bear SG – The dumpster was already smoking and smelled of gas. This is the point where you hear a loud ignition hiss and hope no one innocent gets hurt afterward.

Piotr T Le – ASU despite losing won the game having cause to fire Herm. I’m a bit sad that we’re getting the better of the Zona teams this year.

Christopher_h – It’s hard to tell on the show (mainly because ND’s green stands out a lot more than Cal’s blue), but there were a ton of Cal fans at Notre Dame. Really proud of how Cal fans have travelled.

Bear SG – Preseason pretty much cemented what everyone was saying about teams with the minor tweaks that maybe Arizona, WSU and Oregon State are slightly better than expected and ASU, L Utah and CU are worse. Cal’s O and D lines are worse than I thought and unless they can be miraculously improved, I’m looking at 3-6 against the conference and 5-7 overall.

Piotr T Le – Despite being screwed over by the referees, I think there’s a worse fate than being a Cal fan: being a UCLA fan.