Oregon Ducks & USC Trojans Tower Over The Pac-12

If there's anything you can be fairly convinced by after Week 1 action, it's the thing you probably knew already. USC and Oregon are the class of the conference, and at this point it's hard imagining any team in the Pac-12 being more than a footnote to their titanic clash in the Coliseum in November.

Oregon rolled Arkansas State. If you blinked, you probably missed the Ducks scoring another touchdown. Oregon piled up seven touchdowns in one quarter and a half of play, compiling a staggering 50-3 lead. Marcus Mariota was as good as advertised, Kenjon Barner barely needed to touch the ball, and De'Anthony Thomas began his Heisman quest in spectacular fashion. The Oregon defense was solid for much of the game, and if the offense keeps on rolling the way it did Saturday, there will be no stopping them.

USC's dismantling of Hawaii wasn't quite as spectacular, but it was nonetheless extremely effective. The Trojans still have their kinks to work out offensively, particularly considering Matt Barkley missed some throws, but you can tell the upside is all but there to be a devastating offensive force once they put it together, particularly with Marqise Lee exploding as USC's new number one receiver and most prominetn offensive weapon. Just as impressive was the defense, who shut Hawaii down for much of the contest. While the Trojans didn't look as impressive as the Ducks, if they put it altogether, they have the talent and experience to really challenge Oregon on both sides of the football.

If USC and Oregon are going to be challenged for conference supremacy, Saturday wasn't encouraging. Top dark horses in the Pac-12 in Washington and Stanford disappointed in victories against San Diego State and San Jose State respectively. Cal fell apart against Nevada. Arizona exploded for nearly 700 yards but kept on 2x4ing their offense. Arizona State, Utah and UCLA won fairly comfortably with impressive performances against underwhelming competition, but ASU played one of the worst teams in the country, UCLA struggled with consistency issues in all three phases of the game, and Utah's offense is still a big question mark.

Right now it's the Ducks and the Trojans who dominate the Pac-12, with nary a contender in sight.