Pac-12 The Good, The Bad & The Unknown week six: Pure Pac-12 chaos

The Good

Excitement - We are only basically three weeks into the Pac-12 season and there has already been what seems like three season's worth of excitement and fantastic finishes. It seems like almost every Pac-12 game this season so far has gone down to the last play and always wrapped up in breathtaking fashion.

The conference has never been more wide open - Unless you are a fan of one of the preseason favorites, it has to feel good knowing that your team has a legit shot right now at winning the conference. I don't think there is a season that I can remember where pretty much every team in the conference had a real shot at winning it in October except for just one.

The rest of the country is a mess too - It may seem depressing that the recent Pac-12 powers now face very long odds at getting back into the College Football Playoff, but just about every other power program from the other power conferences have also slipped up. The cavalcade of upset all around the nations means that a Pac-12 power still has a shot at the Playoff with a loss and maybe even two losses.

Quarterbacks - Just another week of epic performances by Pac-12 quarterbacks. Connor Halliday, Jared Goff, Anu Solomon, Marcus Mariota, Sefo Liufau and Sean Mannion and even Mike Bercovici and Kendal Thompson in relief duty on the road getting huge wins. This is going to be remembered as the year where Pac-12 quarterbacks became unstoppable.

Specifically Connor Halliday - In a time and conference where 500 yards passing are becoming the norm, Halliday took it to another level with 734 yards and six touchdowns without an interception.

...and don't forget about Jared Goff - Goff wasn't quite as prolific as Halliday, but just as good and ended up getting the win in maybe the craziest Pac-12 battle I have ever seen.

Trevor Davis - It was a week full of epic individual performances, it is hard to single too many people out, but you gotta mention Davis. Back-to-back, 98-yard plus returns for touchdowns in a tight game is one thing, topping it off with a long game-winning touchdown catch is another.

Southern bouncebacks - Just when it looked like Arizona State and Utah might be left for dead, both got gutty wins in LA and turned the Pac-12 South into a five-team race.

Scooby Wright's steal - The Pac-12 most-important play of the year thus far is probably Scooby Wright's strip of Marcus Mariota to essentially seal Arizona's upset of the Ducks in Eugene. Wright took the game into his own hands and very well could have single-handedly kept the Ducks from just marching down the field and tying things up again along with maybe snatching the Heisman away from Mariota.

The Bad

Pac-12 defenses - I am giving Pac-12 offenses credit where I can and the game is changing to where defenses are getting less important, but dear lord are Pac-12 defenses getting abused. Every Saturday is becoming almost a marathon of Pac-12 defenses giving up yardage and scores.

Pac-12 refs - Again guys? Again? The unsportsmanlike conduct foul against Tony Washington that put the Ducks in a terrible spot was an atrocious call that was set up by making a bad unsportsmanlike penalty earlier in the game against Arizona, but regardless, once again having a flag determine so much of the game in crunch time is hard to watch. They also dodged a massive bullet in the UCLA/Utah game because of Ka'imi Fairbairn made his second shot at that field goal, I don't think Utah fans would have ever let that go.

Stanford's offense & Kevin Hogan - Notre Dame has a tough defense, especially in South Bend, but the Stanford offense still looks painfully sluggish. No running back threat appears to be emerging, the talented and young offensive line is taking a while to get things going and Kevin Hogan simply looks like a guy who will forever have to force things and hold the Cardinal back.

Pac-12 Playoff chances - It sure doesn't look like the Pac-12 is going to get a team into the first-ever Playoff. Oregon and UCLA maybe have shots if they can run the table from here, but neither look like they have the ability to do that. In a crazy turn of early-season events, Arizona is the conference's best shot at getting in, but they are just as vulnerable as anyone else, needing a miracle Hail Mary to get by Cal at home just a few weeks ago.

Late execution - Failing to get a snap down and make a 17-yard field goal for the win (Washington State). Giving Pac-12 refs a chance to do their thing by showboating a bit too much and then failing to secure the ball (Oregon). Failing to cover on the final play of the game (USC). Failing to avoid giving a kicker a chance to take a dive and let the Pac-12 refs do their thing (Utah). Failing to connect on two long field goals when given the chance to get a win (UCLA). Pac-12 teams are really struggling to take care of things late.

The Unknown

Who is the leader? After what was probably the craziest week of Pac-12 play that I have ever seen, who actually is the better teams in the Pac-12 are to me is a complete mystery. Obvious Arizona is the default leader for now, but who will it be next week? Or after that?

Oregon's mojo? The Ducks flat out look like a different team in their past handful of games. Gone is the team that would dismiss any team that wasn't more talented than them by 35-40 with ease. Will that team every come back? Or are the Ducks human again for at least the near future?

Mariota & Hundley's Heisman chances? Both guys came into the week with red hot Heisman hopes, both left with decent, but nothing special performances against unranked teams at home in loses. Can both or either stay in the race?

Next week? Who knows what the hell we are going to see?