AROUND THE PAC-12
WEBER STATE (0-0) at #24 UTAH (0-0)
Thurs., Sept. 2 • 5:30 pm MT • P12N
UTAH: 5-0 all-time vs Weber State (3-0 under Kyle Whittingham). 26-1 in regular season non-conference games since joining the Pac-12, with only loss coming in 2012 at Utah State Charlie Brewer named starting QB after transferring from Baylor. Brewer has 12 career 300-yard passing games, tied with Iowa State’s Brock Purdy and Florida State’s McKenzie Milton for the most among active FBS players. The Utes have had 11 games with a 300-yard passer in last 10 seasons.
WEBER STATE: Head Coach Jay Hill is a former Utah player (1998-99) and assistant coach (2001-13). Wildcats have made the FCS playoffs in each of the last 5 seasons.
SOUTHERN UTAH (0-1) at #25 ARIZONA STATE (0-0)
Thurs., Sept. 2 • 7:30 pm PT • P12N
ARIZONA STATE: 17-1 in non-conference home games over the last 10 seasons, only loss coming to San Diego St. in 2017. 19 of the Sun Devils 30 games under Herm Edwards have been decided by 7 points or less. Finished the 2020 season with 2 straight wins, with 116 points and 1000 total yards combined. Scored 45+ points in consecutive games for the first time since 2015. QB Jayden Daniels has 22 career pass TD and 3 INT, the 2nd highest ratio among active FBS QB.
SOUTHERN UTAH: First ever meeting against Arizona State and facing a Pac-12 opponent for the first time since 2018 (lost at Arizona 62-31). Lost 2021 season opener, 45-14 at San Jose State on Saturday,
NORTHERN COLORADO (0-0) at COLORADO (0-0)
Fri., Sept. 3 • 7:00 pm MT • P12N
COLORADO: 11-1 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2013 season. RB Jarek Broussard is first Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year to return the following season since Bryce Love returned to Stanford after winning in 2017. LB Carson Wells led FBS with 2.7 tackles for loss per game last season
NORTHERN COLORADO: 2-10 all-time vs. Colorado but their last win was in 1934. Lost at Colorado 41-21 in 2017. Ed McCaffrey, a Stanford alum, will be making his head coaching debut.
STANFORD (0-0) vs KANSAS STATE (0-0)
in Arlington, TX
Sat., Sept. 4 • 11:00 am CT • P12N
STANFORD: 8-4 under David Shaw in games played on neutral fields (including bowl games). 3rd season opener on a neutral field since WWII (1992- Anaheim, CA, 2017- Sydney, Australia). Only Power 5 school to start 2021 season with 3 straight road/neutral gams and only school with 12 Power 5 teams on their schedule. Finished the 2020 season with a 4-game win streak, all 4 wins coming by 5 points or less. 287.3 pass YPG last season was their most since 1999.
KANSAS STATE: Lost their only previous meeting with Stanford, 26-13, in 2016. Have lost 4 of their last 5 regular season non-conference games vs Power 5 opponents. Finished 2020, with a 5-game losing streak, started season 4-1.
FRESNO STATE (1-0) at #11 OREGON (0-0)
Sat., Sept. 4 • 11:00 am PT • P12N
OREGON: 12 straight home wins is the 6th longest active streak in FBS, having not lost at Autzen Stadium since Sept 2018 vs Stanford. Have not lost a nonconference home game since 2008 vs Boise State. Anthony Brown will be making his first start at QB with Oregon, but started all 28 games he played for Boston College from 2017-19. RB CJ Verdell needs 23 rush yds to pass Ricky Whittle for 8th on Oregon’s career rushing list.
FRESNO STATE: Beat UConn 45-0 in their 2021 season opener. Washington transfer QB Jake Haener threw for 331 pass yards and 3 TD against UConn, including one touchdown to fellow UW transfer WR Ty Jones.
SAN JOSE STATE (1-0) at #15 USC (0-0)
Sat., Sept. 4 • 2:00 pm PT • P12N
USC: 12-1 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2013 season and have won 13 straight season openers at home. 19 straight wins vs Mountain West Conference opponents. QB Kedon Slovis, in his career in the 4th quarter, has 14 pass TD and 1 INT. 319.3 pass YPG last season, just the 4th time in school history with 300+ pass YPG.
SAN JOSE STATE: Have lost 14 straight games against Pac-12 opponents with last win coming in 2006, and last road win over Pac-12 team in 2000. Won season opener 45-14 over Southern Utah on Saturday. 0-4 all-time vs USC.
OREGON STATE (0-0) at PURDUE (0-0)
Sat., Sept. 4 • 7:00 pm ET • FS1
OREGON STATE: First road game at a Big Ten school since 2018 season opener at Ohio State. Have averaged over 400 yards of total offense in each of the last 3 seasons, the first time in school history they’ve done that. Transfer Sam Noyer was named starting QB for this game after being 2nd team All-Pac-12 with Colorado last season.
PURDUE: Lost their only previous meeting with Oregon State in 1967, also in Wetst Lafayette. Finished the 2020 seaon with a 4-game losing streak after starting the season 2-0. QB Jack Plummer is the older brother of Arizona QB Will Plummer.
MONTANA (0-0) at #20 WASHINGTON (0-0)
Sat., Sept. 4 • 5:00 pm PT • P12N
WASHINGTON: Have won 20 straight non-conference games at home with the last loss coming in 2010 vs then #8 Nebraska. Played all 4 games last season at home, the only FBS team to play only home games. 1 of 2 FBS teams last season that did not lose a fumble (San Jose State). LB Edefuan Ulofoshio has 10+ tackles in 5 of his last 7 games dating back to 2019.
MONTANA: Has beaten Washington only once in 19 matchups (1-17-1), with the win coming in 1920. Last meeting was in 2017 with the Huskies winning 63-7. Have lost their last 6 vs FBS opponents with their last win coming in 2003.
#16 LSU (0-0) at UCLA (1-0)
Sat., Sept. 4 • 5:30 pm PT • FOX
UCLA: Won season opener vs Hawai’i 44-10 on Saturday. Michigan transfer Zach Charbonnet ran for 106 yards and 3 rush TD on just 6 carries in his UCLA debut. Charbonnet is the 4th Pac-12 player since 1996 to have 100+ rush yds and 3 rush TD in their fist game with the team. Dorian Thompson-Robinson had 1 pass TD vs Hawai’i to tie him with Troy Aikman for 7th on the school’s all-time passing TD list with 41. The defense held Hawai’i to 26 yards rushing, their fewest allowed since allowing 23 at BYU in 2016. Looking to start 2-0 for the first time since 2017.
LSU: Won 7 straight true road games vs non-conference opponents and has not lost a true road non-conference game since 2002 at Virginia Tech. 5-5 last season, the first time they have finished .500 or worse since 1999. Allowed 5 opponents last season to score 40+ points after allowing 4 opponents to score 40+ points the previous 10 seasons combined. CB Derek Stingley is a 2-time first team All-American.
NEVADA (0-0) at CALIFORNIA (0-0)
Sat., Sept. 4 • 7:30 pm PT • FS1
CALIFORNIA: 10-1 in non-conference games under Justin Wilcox, 9-0 in the regular season. 14-5 in games in which QB Chase Garbers has started and played more than half the game. Defense has held opponents to under 400 yards a game in each of the last 3 seasons, prior to that had not done it in a single season since 2011.
NEVADA: 3-22-1 all-time vs Cal but has won the last 2 matchups (2010, 2012). 3-7 vs Pac-12 schools in the last 10 years. Head Coach Jay Norvell is a former assistant at both Arizona State and UCLA. QB Carson Strong was the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2020.
BYU (0-0) vs ARIZONA (0-0)
in Las Vegas, NV
Sat., Sept. 4 • 7:30 pm PT • ESPN
ARIZONA: Jedd Fisch’s first game as head coach at Arizona, Fisch was 1-1 as the interim head coach at UCLA to end the 2017 season. 2-1 all-time in season openers
at neutral sites. Added 17 transfers from FBS schools in the offseason. First nonconference game since beating Texas Tech 28-14 in September 2019.
BYU: WIll play 5 games against Pac-12 opponents this season, including their first 3 games of the season. 3-10 against Pac-12 schools since the start of the 2015 season but have won their last 2 matchups with Arizona.
UTAH STATE (0-0) at WASHINGTON STATE (O-0)
Sat., Sept. 4 • 8:00 pm PT • P12N
WASHINGTON STATE: 18-3 at home since the start of the 2017 season and have won their last 8 home games vs non-conference opponents. RB Max Borghi is the only player listed on the watch list for both the Doak Walker (Top RB) and Biletnikoff (top receiver) awards.
UTAH STATE: First meeting with Washington State since 1961 and first in Pullman since 1949. First game at Utah State for head coach Blake Anderson after 7 seasons at Arkansas State . Added 15 players in the transfer portal this offseason, including former Oregon State RB Calvin Tyler, Jr.
