Conference Review: PAC-12

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With college football in full swing, we’ll be bringing you a review of the “Big Five” conferences each and every week. These recaps will feature sections for “Premier Conference Performer,” “Rising Players,” “Falling Players,” and a special Freshman spotlight. These weekly reviews will keep you up-to-date on all the happenings in devy leagues and allow you to keep tabs on future dynasty league assets. By the time the NFL Draft rolls around, you won’t see too many strangers.

Premier Conference Performer

Jaelen Strong, WR Arizona State
10 receptions for 202 yards and three touchdowns

Jaelen Strong did what you want every high caliber prospect to do when it counts; put the team on his shoulders and gain a win through shear will. Strong’s performance carried Arizona State to a win over the #16 ranked USC Trojans with a last second 46-yard Hail Mary to put an exclamation point on the night. Arizona State’s victory also marked a night of career highs in receiving yards and touchdowns for Strong, who catapulted himself to third in receiving yards in the PAC-12 and fifth in receptions. Strong has always looked like a strong prospect but his performance Saturday night helps renew the first round conversation surrounding him.

Rising

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Connor Halliday, QB Washington State
49 completions for 734 yards and six touchdowns

Holy cow! Connor Halliday sure can sling the ol’ pigskin around can’t he? Halliday’s performance broke the NCAA single game passing record with an absolutely bonkers 734 passing yards against Cal. He also attempted 70 passes, but didn’t surrender a single interception. For as much talk as there is surrounding fellow PAC-12 quarterback Marcus Mariota’s game, it’s Halliday who is absolutely destroying the NCAA record books this season. Ultimately though, Halliday’s performance just wasn’t enough to secure the win for Washington State, surprisingly enough. The Cougars, despite scoring an incredible 59 points, where beaten by the Golden Bears by a single point. Halliday appears to be on pace to break the NCAA single season passing record and if he continues to stack up performances like this then it will make that feat even more likely.

Jared Goff, QB Cal
37 completions for 527 yards and five touchdowns

The other side of the Washington State/Cal match-up featured a quarterback nearly as explosive as Halliday in Jared Goff. Goff also had a career passing game throwing for 527 yards en route to Cal’s 60-59 win. Goff and Halliday combined for an NCAA record 1,261 passing yards in a game that saw no less than 11 passing touchdowns in the game. Goff’s season has started off with an offensive explosion which has seen him average 23 completions for 375 yards and four touchdowns per game. Cal’s win over Washington State now place them as the sole leaders over the PAC-12 North and could put them in line for a Top 25 ranking in the very near future if their play continues at this pace.

Falling

Dres Anderson, WR Utah
Two receptions for 38 yards and one touchdown

Sure, Dres Anderson caught a touchdown and that’s what people are going to remember most about his performance Saturday. However, that touchdown only masked his poor performance on the day. Anderson only managed two receptions for 38 yards, his lowest total so far this year and lowest in almost an entire year. As a player on the Blietnikoff Award watch list, one would expect Anderson to consistently post impressive stat lines. However just the opposite has been true as of late. Anderson’s receiving yards have shown a steep downward trend and his receptions have dwindled as of late with a complete shutout occurring last week even. Through five game Anderson only has 15 receptions for 290 yards, an average of only three receptions for 53 yards a game. Anderson needs to bounce back quickly or his draft stock is going to take a severe hit.

DJ Foster, RB Arizona State
Ten rushes for 13 yards

Wow, things can change fast for a player in a very short time. In Week Two I had Foster tagged as the Premier Conference Performer, and here only four weeks later, he appears under the Falling section. Foster looked amazing to start off the season but he has declined significantly in the past two weeks as his usage in the rushing game has diminished. Last week Foster rushed nine times for only 30 yards, this week he only hit 13 yards on ten attempts! Something is definitely off in Foster’s game as he was averaging 170 rushing yards per game through the first three games. One saving grace for Foster is his utilization in Arizona State’s passing attack where he continues to see between four and five passes per game and where he hauled in five receptions for a season high 73 yards and a touchdown, so all is not lost. However, Foster needs to get his act together in the rushing game if Arizona State hold any hope of knocking off bitter rival Arizona atop the PAC 12 South.

Freshman Spotlight

Nick Wilson, RB Arizona
13 rushes for 92 yards and two touchdowns, one reception for 34 yards and one touchdown

I spotlighted Wilson last time I wrote this article and I defy anyone to tell me he doesn’t deserve it again. Wilson looks like the real deal as he led Arizona against the #2 team in the nation in Oregon and not only won, but dominated the Ducks with an impressive display. Wilson accounted for three touchdowns in the game with two coming on the ground and another through the air while proving he is definitely a player to take seriously in the PAC 12. The win over such an imposing opponent automatically makes Arizona a team to watch with the possibility that Arizona could represent the PAC 12 South behind the incredible play of this freshman.

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