Ranking the Pac-12 Quarterbacks: Week Eight

While the numbers are finally seeming to come back to Earth a bit for the conference's quarterbacks, there were some fantastic, gutty performances last week. Highlighted by Cody Kessler's record breaking day, and Marcus Mariota's ruthless efficiency, read on to see if your favorite quarterback made the top five cut!

1)   Cody Kessler, USC

There have been some fantastic quarterbacks to play for USC over the years. Cody Kessler, however, wrote his name in for arguably the highest profile quarterbacking record there is: touchdowns in a single game. His seven touchdowns on just 26% is an absurdly efficient day. Throwing as many touchdowns as incompletions is impressive in itself, let alone on this scale.

From Conquest Chronicles: "The efficient pocket passer made the smart throws, tested the Buffaloes' secondary deep and was able to finagle through some early pressure to throw open his top targets. If Kessler can keep playing solid football, USC will have a chance."

2)   Marcus Mariota, Oregon

Mariota hasn’t found himself atop many single-week quarterback rankings because of the eye-popping performances that have been happening week to week. 24-33 for 336 and two touchdowns is a very solid day, and yet another week has passed without an interception. Mariota is going to find himself in the Heisman conversation by default, but if he keeps playing like this… well, it certainly makes the conversation an interesting one.

From Mark Helfrich, Via Addicted To Quack: "His leadership has been unbelievable. The guy is a special guy in every phase and that element of his personality has developed so much, it's night and day. He's always been a powerful leader, but it's totally changed how much volume has come out of his mouth. That's been really neat to see develop."

3)   Brett Hundley, UCLA

330 passing yards and 96 rushing yards are about as much as UCLA could possibly ask of their quarterback. This week’s surprisingly close scoreline is being laid on his feet to some degree because of the continued turnover problem, but the defense didn’t exactly shut down the Cal attack. Week-in week-out performances like this from Hundley are keeping UCLA in games they arguably shouldn’t even be hanging around in.

From Bruins Nation: "Brett Hundley had a great game, passing for 330 yards and rushing for another 96, but it was his 4th quarter interception which set up the Bears' go ahead touchdown."

4)   Jared Goff, California

Although Goff’s numbers are back down to earth against the teeth of their schedule, he looks much smoother than the sophomore that he is. 25-41 for 303 and two touchdowns is quite good, but the interception that sealed the game is a definite negative. If Cal can ever get their offensive line protection together, look out.

From California Golden Blogs: "Goff still isn't looking back in form, but that's most likely just because we're playing better defenses now. He's still sharp. Once we have a good offensive line in front of him, he looks to be unstoppable."

5)   Mike Bercovici, Arizona State

23-33 for 245 yards and a touchdown is a good performance against any defense, let alone the vicious Stanford one. If anyone Sun Devil fan bet on their backup quarterback performing so well each week, well, I hope they’re collecting their winnings and enjoying bankrupting the Vegas casinos.

From House Of Sparky: "Mike Bercovici is a better passer than Taylor Kelly: "Passer" not "quarterback". Kelly is more mobile and better on the run ... Bercovici goes through his progressions very well and does not make a lot of mistakes. He has a stronger arm than Kelly isn't afraid to check the ball down or even take a sack when he has to. At this point, Bercovici is the better pure passer."

While this wasn't as eye-popping of a week for quarterbacks, this week brings a good mix of marquee games and great offenses against not-so-great defenses. It will definitely be a fun weekend of games, no matter what happens!