No. 25 Oregon hosts No. 12 BYU for first time since 1990
By The Associated Press
Here are some things to watch this week in the Pac-12 Conference:
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 12 Brigham Young (2-0) at No. 25 Oregon (1-1), Saturday. The Ducks play their second ranked opponent of the season when the Cougars make their first trip to Autzen Stadium since 1990. Oregon has won 29 straight nonconference home games, the second=longest active streak in FBS, including seven against ranked teams. QB Bo Nix had five touchdown passes against Eastern Washington last week after throwing two interceptions in the opener vs. Georgia. BYU won all five games against Pac-12 teams last season, including two against ranked teams. Jaren Hall is 7-1 as a starting QB against ranked teams.
MATCHUP OF THE WEEK
North Dakota State (2-0) at Arizona (1-1), Saturday. The defending Football Championship Subdivision champion Bison are facing a Pac-12 team for the first time. They have a six-game winning streak against FBS teams and are 9-3 overall. The Wildcats are 15-1 vs FCS opponents with the only loss occurring last year against Northern Arizona. WR Jacob Cowing leads the conference with 15 receptions and has four touchdowns.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
UCLA (2-0) has won five straight dating back to last season when it hosts South Alabama (2-0) Saturday. … Colorado (0-2) has been held under 100 passing yards six times since the start of last season as it makes its first visit to Minnesota (2-0) since 1992. … Jake Dickert looks to become the ninth Washington State coach to start his first full season 3-0 when the Cougars host Colorado State (0-2). … No. 14 Utah (1-1) has been ranked in the top 15 six straight weeks dating back to last season going into its game against San Diego State (1-1). … Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. is averaging a conference-best 341 passing yards per game as the Huskies (2-0) host No. 11 Michigan State (2-0). … Oregon State (2-0) faces Montana State (2-0) in the Beavers’ first game in Portland since 1986. … Arizona State (1-1) has not allowed a scrimmage play of 50 yards or more in 17 straight games going into its matchup against Eastern Michigan (1-1). … Stanford (1-1) is off.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Jaydn Ott, California. The running back has been the named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week the first two weeks. His 156 rushing yards are fifth among FBS true freshman as the Golden Bears (2-0) face Notre Dame (0-2) for the first time since 1967.
UPSET WATCH
No. 7 Southern California (2-0) vs. Fresno State (1-1), Saturday. The Trojans are in the top 10 for the first time since 2017, but are facing a Bulldogs squad that has split its last six games against Pac-12 teams. Each of the three losses has been by one score. USC QB Caleb Williams has completed 79.6% of his passes and has thrown six TDs.
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://bit.ly/3pqZVaF
