Pac-12 the good, the bad and the unknown week six: USC and Oregon falling apart

The Good

Washington's defense - Yes, a lot of Washington's win over USC had to do with the horrific situation at the program, but Washington's defense, especially against the pass showed up in a major way. The Husky defense locked down Cody Kessler, beat up the former Heisman candidate with pressure and forced three turnovers.

Luke Falk - I know it seems like every QB could load up on numbers in Leach's Air Raid, but the Cougar raid had actually been grounded a little bit until Saturday when Falk unloaded against Oregon. And it wasn't just about numbers, Falk's ability to make every play down the stretch and his ball security was the difference in the game.

Royce Freeman - Freeman put the entire Duck program on his back Saturday and damn near carried them to victory. Almost 300 total yards with three scores and nearly 10 yards per-carry on 27 carries. That was a monster of a game.

Utah's defense - The Utes went right back to relying on their defense to take care of business against Cal and six caused turnovers was more than the difference in a game that their offense could have easily let slip away.

Devontae Booker - The Utah offensive line and Booker, who ran for 222 and two scores saved a struggling again Utah passing game.

Arizona - Most seemed to think that Arizona would at least struggle with Oregon State a little bit, but they silenced doubters with an outright thrashing. They are a different team with Anu Solomon and maybe aren't completely dead in the South just yet.

Arizona State - The Sun Devils avoided any kind of let down game and comfortably dismissed Colorado, showing that they are still a major contender in the South.

The Bad

Everything about USC right now - I don't even know where to start. This was supposed to be USC's return to glory, but once against, their season is a dumpster fire.

Steve Sarkisian - The joking period about Steve Sarkisian might officially be over. Seeing him standing by himself on the field being ignored by both teams after Thursday's humiliating loss was one of the darkest moments I have maybe ever seen in Pac-12 football. This guy, and USC, have a major problem on their hands.

Almost everything about Oregon right now - Many people thought Oregon would come down to Earth a little bit this season, but I don't think anyone foresaw them struggling as much as they have. The Ducks have almost nothing going for them right now after starting the season with somewhat reasonable national title hopes. Blowing up the system and rebooting might have to become a serious thought if the Ducks can't start turning things around real soon.

Cal's turnovers - The Bears kind of did to themselves what Washington did to themselves against Cal by turning the ball over six times in a game that they still somehow could have won.

Oregon State - The Beavers were DOA in Tucson against an Arizona team that hadn't shown anything all season. The Beavers' offense is especially putrid right now and there is little to get excited about thus far in the Gary Andersen era.

Cody Kessler - Kessler had been playing an almost perfect season before Thursday and then suddenly could barely complete a pass downfield. Washington's defense gets a ton of credit, but it was still shocking to see him struggle the way he did. Maybe the Huskies saw something in how Stanford frustrated him.

The Unknown

The Pac-12 - I don't know what to think of this entire conference right now. To me, the conference is stronger than it has ever been, but the downside is almost everyone could lose to almost everyone any given Saturday and that is going to make it really hard for the conference to have teams that compete at the very top of college football. I also feel that, more than ever, each team is a different team every week.

Steve Sarkisian - I think Sarkisian is done at USC and I really wonder where he is going to end up in the long run.

USC - Sounds like Clay Helton is stepping in for now, but I (like everyone I am sure) am really curious to see how their coaching situation unfolds and who might be brought in to be the next head coach at USC.

Oregon - I touched on it earlier, but I really don't know what is going to happen at Oregon. The schedule only gets tougher from here and unless something major happens, the Ducks are in danger of missing a bowl game. Can Mark Helfrich survive if the Ducks implode?