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Roundup: Can USC still make a run to the College Football Playoff?

Oct 6, 2017
John Hefti/USA TODAY Sports

USC

The Saturday action starts in Los Angeles with USC hosting Oregon State (1 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Network), so take some time to read this Los Angeles Times USC mailbag put together by Zach Helfand. Can USC still make a run to the College Football Playoff? That’s a question discussed at length here. My answer – go 12-1, including a victory in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, and the Trojans are in.

Oregon State

Oregon State running back Ryan Nall is still “iffy” to play against USC, writes Ken Goe of The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Washington State

Huge game in Eugene with the Cougs visiting the Ducks (5 p.m. PT, FOX), and Theo Lawson has Washington State’s keys to victory against Oregon in this piece for The Spokesman-Review. How will Wazzu respond to its first road test of the season?

Oregon

Justin Herbert is out for this game with a broken collarbone, but The Oregonian/OregonLive reminds us that Oregon has won big games with backup quarterbacks before (Tony Graziani in 1994 at USC for starters).

Colorado

Colorado is still looking for its first conference victory coming into Saturday night’s contest against Arizona (5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Networks), and Brian Howell writes that the Buffs will be tested by Arizona QB Brandon Dawkins.

Arizona

Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez announced that wide receiver Cam Denson will likely medically retire from football. Denson injured his foot during spring practice and has appeared in only one game this year.

Stanford

Heading into the Cardinal’s game at Utah (7:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. MT, FOX Sports 1), Stanford football coach David Shaw said that both Keller Chryst and KJ Costello will play at quarterback against the Utes.

Utah

Cardinal-Utes could very well come down to a field goal, and Utah senior kicker Matt Gay has been perfect (much like Stanford’s Jet Toner). So it was a piece of good news when it was announced that Gay was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA (The Salt Lake Tribune).

Washington

We know how Chris Petersen feels about his Huskies’ 7:45 p.m. PT kickoff time against Cal on Montlake (ESPN), so let’s discuss where Myles Gaskin ranks on the list of best running backs in Washington football history. The preceding link is Percy Allen’s take on the matter.

California

Here’s a look at Washington by the numbers, courtesy of Golden Bear Report, for all you Cal fans out there. Tall task ahead for the Bears.

UCLA

UCLA women’s soccer coach Amanda Cromwell won her 300th career match Thursday night with the top-ranked Bruins’ 3-0 triumph over Arizona State.

Arizona State

Arizona State offensive coordinator Billy Napier proclaimed that N’Keal Harry is the Sun Devils’ Secretariat (The Arizona Republic). Harry is 17th in the country in receiving yardage and has become a key player in ASU’s Sparky formation, throwing a touchdown pass off a direct snap against Stanford last week.