The good, the bad and the unknown week four: utter Pac-12 chaos

The Good

Utah (holy s***) - I thought someone in the Pac-12 might blow Oregon off the rails this season, but I didn't think it would be Utah, especially in Eugene with Travis Wilson and Hunter Dimick questionable with injuries. The Utes proved me and pretty much every one else wrong by curb stomping the Ducks the way they used to everyone else in the Pac-12.

Again... Utah... and Kyle Whittingham - Utes praise needs an encore and Whittingham needs some singled out praise because the Utes didn't just bash Oregon, they outsmarted them and out-schemed them into embarrassment. This was also huge for Whittingham in the grand scheme of things. I honestly was one of those people who wondered if Utah could cut it in the Pac-12 in the long run and Whittingham is silenced me and my fellow doubters. The Utes more than belong in the Pac-12.

Travis Wilson - Wilson's unreliability was one of the reasons I thought Utah had no chance to win at Autzen, but he proved me wrong and then some with the game of his career. He looked like the QB that  I'm sure Ute fans have dreamed of him becoming since he became  their starter ages ago and almost looked a big Mariotaesque in  Autzen.

UCLA - Simply put, the Bruins were awesome in the desert, especially on offense. This win reminded me a lot of Arizona's thrashing of Arizona State in Tempe last season.

USC - The Trojans simply did exactly what they needed to do by brushing off Arizona State on the road like they were an FCS school. This will take a little of the sting off of the Stanford loss until their next true challenge.

Adoree Jackson & Juju Smith - These two guys are going to make a lot of defenses look silly the next two years. Have fun watching it.

Stanford's offense - Putting up 42 on Oregon State isn't quite like putting up 41 on USC, but it was a minor statement for the Cardinal offense to show that they are far past the six point performance against Northwestern. Also, going in, this looked like the classic game against a lower-Pac-12 squad that Stanford has to grind out 23-16, but they again showed they can win games in more than one way.

Christian McCaffrey - He has a ways to go, but McCaffrey looked a bit like he could be a Stanford style Reggie Bush Friday night.

Jared Goff - Cal might now win enough games  to make Goff a Heisman contender, but he played like one at Washington, even if his stats weren't overwhelming. Goff placed perfect strike after perfect strike just when Cal needed it to get the win on the road and executed a gutty fake punt to seal the deal.

The Bad

Oregon - The Ducks looked as bad as they have since those dark days in 2007 after Dennis Dixon got hurt. They just got eviscerated at home by a Utah team that should be very good, but not the type of team that should beat a team as talented and as experienced as Oregon 62-20.

Oregon's QB situation - Vernon Adams made it about a quarter of the Pac-12 season before exiting and Jeff Lockie came in to show why Oregon was so desperate to bring Adams in. The Ducks need to find an answer, stability and a future at the all-important quarterback position in their next two very winnable games, or they could really struggle to win games against solid teams.

Oregon's defense - One of the nation's perpetually underrated units is no longer such. The Ducks gave up more points to the Utes than  Michigan and Utah State did combined and almost 20 more than hapless Fresno State did.

Rich Rodriguez against Jim Mora - RichRod's Arizona got smacked by Mora's UCLA again.

Arizona's QB situation - The Wildcats cannot afford to lose Anu Solomon for long to a head injury, especially considering Jerrard Randall is an electrifying runner but nowhere near a Pac-12-caliber passer.

Arizona State - The Sun Devils have started the season with a massive thud. They cannot seem to find a way to work around their weaknesses at tackle and receiver on offense and Todd Graham hasn't seemed to be able to get his defense to play to the level that he usually does yet.

Washington's offense - Washington's offense managed just 17 (their defense scored a TD) points and 259 yards against at home a defense that gave up 650 the week before to a putrid Texas offense. The Huskies look severely limited on offense again and squandered a tight performance from their defense by turning the ball over five times, all of which were random fumbles or interceptions off horrible passing decisions.

The Unknown

Can Oregon recover again? The Ducks have faced dark points in their last two seasons - 2013 after two bad losses in three games and 2014 after an ugly loss at home to Arizona - but they were able to rally both times and keep the wheels on the wagon. Can they do it again? Three-straight very winnable games (at Colorado, Washington State, at Washington) followed by a bye will certainly help.

Is Utah a Playoff contender? The Utes are a Top 10 team after their destruction of Oregon and with nice wins over Michigan and Utah State also on their resume, they have just as strong of a September showing as anyone in the country in my opinion.

Who is Oregon's starting QB? Vernon Adams is banged up and didn't look good against Utah and Lockie didn't look like a Pac-12 quarterback against the Utes either. Can the Ducks find an answer, and find it soon at QB?

Are the Arizona schools DOA? The Arizona schools took it hard on the chin in their Pac-12 openers against the LA schools and it seems like their South championship aspirations might already be over. However, keep in mind last year that Arizona State got bashed early at home against UCLA and Arizona lost to both LA schools last year and still won the division.

Is Cal a North contender? The Bears are 4-0 and ranked, but those who watched them need a missed PAT to avoid overtime with Texas and nearly lose to Washington despite getting five gift wrapped turnovers have to wonder if Cal isn't just the same team they were last year who are getting the breaks this time around. The Bears look like at least a shoe-in to get back to a bowl this year, but can they truly make a run at Oregon and Stanford for the division title?

Can Stanford be last year's Ohio State? Some forget how bad Ohio State looked  out-of-conference in a loss to Virginia Tech at home early on last year because of how well they turned it around. The Cardinal are not as purely talented and well-coached as the Buckeyes were in 2014, but could they put together a similar run after stumbling in an early non-conference game?

Is there a Pac-12 national title contender? Obviously UCLA and Utah are still in really good position, but I feel like confidence is very low for both of those programs. Stanford and USC are there as well, but the margins are razor thin for them just one month into the season. Can one of these four make it to the Playoff?