Washington Huskies

There are 11 conferences in FBS football. Bishop Sankey would have been the leading rusher in five of them last year -- including the ACC, Big 12, Big East and SEC. (Plus the independents, for those keeping track at home).

But the Washington running back plays in the Pac-12, where 1,439 yards, 16 touchdowns and 110.7 yards per game gets you a fist bump and an honorable mention.

With two of the three 2012 Doak Walker finalists in the league -- Kenjon Barner and Johnathan Franklin -- along with the nation's leading rusher, Ka'Deem Carey -- it was easy for Sankey's impressive exploits to be overshadowed.

"That's why I wanted to come to the Pac-12. I feel like it's the best conference in the nation," Sankey said." You have tons of talented athletes out here on the West Coast. That's motivation for me to keep working hard and to keep improving."

Anyone who saw Sankey shred the Boise State defense for 205 yards in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas knows how special of a player Sankey can be. He also caught six balls for 74 yards and was named the game's MVP in a losing effort. It was the first time in the 21-year history of the bowl a player from the losing team had won the MVP. He was that good. And people noticed.

Finally.

Anyone who watched him average 154.6 yards and score seven touchdowns over the last five games of 2012 knows how vital he is to Washington and its offense. Anyone who doesn't think Sankey is one of the premier running backs in the Pac-12 -- arguably the country -- just doesn't know football.

Boise State better have noticed. The Broncos are coming to Washington on Aug. 31 in a rematch of the bowl game.

"I feel like [the bowl game] is in the back of some of our minds as motivation," Sankey said. "But at the same time, we've also taken steps to move forward from last season and create a new identity for who we want to be for the upcoming season."

Sankey's rise came about under unfortunate circumstances. When Jesse Callier was lost for the year with a knee injury in the season opener against San Diego State, Sankey went from by-committee complement to every-down back.

At the time, Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said, "We're going to find out more about Bishop Sankey in a hurry." What he found was a powerful, yet speedy back who could not only shoulder the load -- but emerge as one of the most durable backs in the league. Sankey's responsibilities increased throughout the season and by the second half he was averaging more than 25 carries per game. Only Carey and Stanford's Stepfan Taylor had more rushing attempts in 2012. And when the last down had been played, Sankey had gone for more than 100 yards in seven games and scored at least one touchdown in 10 of them.

He points to last year's victory over No. 8 Stanford as the "ah-ha" moment of his career. The Cardinal -- who finished fifth in the nation against the run -- only allowed three players to go for more than 100 yards against them last season. Franklin had 194 in the Pac-12 championship game, Sankey had 144 in the win and Carey went for 132. Sankey's 61-yard touchdown run against the Cardinal, coming on fourth-and-1, brought the Huskies back to life and swung the momentum back their way.

This year, he's looking to improve on, as he says, everything. His performance in the bowl game showed he can also be an effective receiver out of the backfield. But he wants to get better at pass- blocking, reading defenses and being even more explosive.

This spring he's also adjusted to the fact that there isn't a running back competition to replace Chris Polk. Sankey is the unquestioned starter. Though he's not taking that for granted.

"We have a very competitive running back group and I know everyone is capable of doing this job," he said. "I'm just trying to get better at everything and improve my game and help out the young guys.

"We have great athletes here. We have a great scheme and we have the potential to be very explosive. I can't wait for that first game. It's pretty exciting."

Here's a quick look at Week 9 in the conference. All times are ET. All games are Saturday.

Colorado (1-5, 1-3) at No. 4 Oregon (7-0, 4-0) 3 p.m. Pac-12 Network: The series is tied at 8-8, but the Ducks have won two in a row, including a 45-2 win in Boulder last year. Oregon is No. 1 in the conference in scoring offense and No. 2 in total offense. Colorado is last in scoring defense and total defense. Oregon is No. 1 in the Pac-12 in red zone offense and red zone defense. Ducks opponents have converted just nine of 28 red zone visits into TDs.

UCLA (5-2, 2-2) at Arizona State (5-2, 3-1) 3 p.m. FX: UCLA leads the series 17-10-1, but the Sun Devils have won three of the last five. The Bruins, however, won memorably 29-28 in 2011. The Sun Devils missed a 46-yard field goal for the win as time expired. The Bruins' go-ahead drive featured a conversion on a third and 29 yards play. That was the first of five consecutive defeats for the Sun Devils, and coach Dennis Erickson was fired. Arizona State QB Taylor Kelly leads the Pac-12 in passing efficiency, while UCLA RB Johnathan Franklin leads the conference in rushing.

No. 9 USC (6-1, 4-1) at Arizona (4-3, 1-3) 3:30 p.m. ABC/ESPN2: USC leads the series 28-7 and has won the last two and nine of 10. The Trojans won a barnburner 48-41 last year. The last five games have been tight, even though the Wildcats only came out on top in 2009. The average margin of victory was 5.6 points per game with no game decided by more than seven points. USC QB Matt Barkley leads the Pac-12 with 22 TD passes. Arizona QB Matt Scott is second with 17.

Washington State (2-5, 0-4) at No. 17 Stanford (5-2, 3-1) 6:15 p.m. Pac-12 Network: Stanford leads the series 36-25-1 and has won four in a row by an average margin of 31 points. The Cardinal rolled in Pullman 44-14 last year. The Cougars rank 119th in the nation -- second to last -- in rushing with 40.6 yards per game. Stanford is No. 1 in the Pac-12 and fourth in the nation in run defense.

California (3-5, 2-3) at Utah (2-5, 0-4) 9:45 p.m. Pac-12 Network: California leads the series 5-3, including a 34-10 win in Berkeley last year. The Utes, however, have won three of the last five meetings, all of which happened before they joined the Pac-12. Utah is last in the conference and 112th in the nation in third-down conversion percentage on offense (30.1 percent). But Cal is 10th in the conference in third-down conversion percentage defense (42.9 percent).

No. 7 Oregon State (6-0, 4-0) at Washington (3-4, 1-3) 10:15 p.m. Pac-12 Network: Washington leads the series 58-34-4 but the Beavers have won seven of eight, including a 38-21 win last year in Corvallis. Washington's defense has struggled to pressure opposing QBs. It has just nine sacks this year, fewest in the conference. The Beavers have yielded just 11 sacks, the fourth-fewest in the conference. As good as the Beavers have been, they rank 119th in the nation in penalty yards per game (82.17). On the other hand, Oregon State is No. 1 in the Pac-12 in turnover margin (plus-10). The Beavers have turned the ball over just six times. The next fewest is Stanford, with 10. Washington has 16 turnovers.

We're tracking the offensive, defensive and coach-of-the-year races in the Pac-12.

For a more thorough look at offense, re-read our Heisman Trophy update.

Offensive player of the year

1. De'Anthony Thomas, RB/WR, Oregon: Thomas scored a touchdown against Washington State but it was a relatively quiet game for him. For the season, he's rushed for 302 yards (9.7 yards per carry) with five touchdowns and caught 19 passes for 193 yards and three TDs.

2. Johnathan Franklin, RB, UCLA: He ranks fourth in the nation and first in the Pac-12 with 139.4 yards rushing per game. He rushed for 111 yards on 15 carries in the blowout victory over Colorado. He also caught three passes for 48 yards.

3. Kenjon Barner, RB, Oregon: Barner rushed for 195 yards and three touchdowns in the victory over Washington State. He averaged 9.8 yards per carry and ran for scores of 22, 10 and 80 yards. He's second in the Pac-12 in rushing with 121 yards per game and his nine rushing touchdowns leads the conference.

4. Taylor Kelly, QB, Arizona State: Kelly is first in the Pac-12 and 16th in the nation in passing efficiency. The Sun Devils are second in the Pac-12 with 38.4 points per game. Kelly threw three TD passes in the win at California and now has nine for the season.

5. Matt Barkley, QB, USC: Barkley was off last week. His 12 TD passes still leads the conference, but he's fifth in the conference in passing efficiency.

Keep an eye on: UCLA QB Brett Hundley; USC WR Marqise Lee; Oregon State WR Markus Wheaton. Arizona QB Matt Scott; Stanford RB Stepfan Taylor.

Defensive player of the year

1. Will Sutton, DT, Arizona State: Won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after recording a career-high eight tackles (six solo), including three sacks, and forced a fumble in a 27-12 victory over California. He's second on the Sun Devils with 34 tackles, including 10 for a loss. Also has 6.5 sacks, a forced fumble and two pass breakups.

2. Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah: Off last week. Fourth on the Utes with 19 tackles. Also has four tackles for a loss, a sack, two pass defenses and two forced fumbles.

3. Chase Thomas, OLB, Stanford: Had a sack and four tackles against Washington. He's third on the Cardinal with 23 tackles. He also has five tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks.

4. Morgan Breslin, DE, USC: Leads the conference with 2.38 tackles for a loss per game and has five sacks.

Keep an eye on: T.J. McDonald, S, USC; Travis Long, OLB, Washington State; Chris Young, LB, Arizona State; Datone Jones, DE, UCLA; Anthony Barr, OLB, UCLA.

Coach of the year

1. Mike Riley, Oregon State: The Beavers, who went 3-9 last year, are now 3-0 and ranked 14th. 'Nuff said.

2. Chip Kelly, Oregon: Ducks are atop the Pac-12 and ranked No. 2. If they ended up winning a fourth consecutive Pac-12 title and earn another berth in the national title game, Kelly wins.

3. Todd Graham, Arizona State: While the Sun Devils are lacking a marquee win, they've been impressive during a 4-1 start. Of particular note is their discipline and efficiency on both sides of the ball. That wasn't what you said about the Sun Devils in the past, even during the good times.

Keep an eye on: Jim Mora, UCLA; Steve Sarkisian, Washington

 

Conference games, North-South matchups, Heisman watch and shoddy field-goal kicking are the topics on four downs this week.

Welcome to Week 3. Ted and Kevin both went 7-5 in Week 2. Double yuck. The problem was all picks were identical, and neither picked an upset. Silly Pac-12 bloggers.

For the season, Ted is 16-7 and Kevin is 15-8.

Friday

Kevin: Washington State 35, UNLV 17: Time for the Cougars to get a win over an FBS team. Should happen this week against a UNLV squad that is 0-2 and fell to FCS school Northern Arizona. (Remember them, Arizona State?) If all goes according to plan, the starting offensive linemen should be crushing the buffet at the Rio by the third quarter.

Ted: Washington State 40, UNLV 20: While quarterback Jeff Tuel is decidedly questionable; backup Connor Halliday is experienced and capable. The guess here is things go a little more smoothly on both sides of the ball as new systems start to sink in.

Saturday

Kevin: Ohio State 28, Cal 10: The defense, which was supposed to be the strength of this team, hasn't shown up yet. Nevada quarterback Cody Fajardo rushed for 97 yards -- most of it on zone reads the Bears couldn't stop. What's Braxton Miller going to do?

Ted: Ohio State 30, California 17: During the summer, I believed this was prime upset material. Then Cal played twice.

Kevin: Oregon 49, Tennessee Tech 14: It was De'Anthony Thomas in Week 1 and Kenjon Barner in Week 2. Who is the Duck du jour in what should be the latest Oregon pasting? Fortunately, Oregon's schedule allows for growth with younger players, and it needs that because of all the injuries of late.

Ted: Oregon 50, Tennessee Tech 10: Yawn. The good news is Oregon might have an interesting game the next week when Arizona comes to town. I bet Ducks fans are hungry for a game that at least raises an eyebrow.

Kevin: Washington 31, Portland State 7: Not a lot of time for the Huskies to get right after their ill-fated journey to Baton Rouge, La., with Stanford, USC and Oregon looming in the next three weeks. This might be their last opportunity for a win until late October/early November. They'd better take advantage of it.

Ted: Washington 30, Portland State 20: Will the Huskies be flat after falling flat at LSU? I suspect so. Not flat enough to lose but perhaps flat enough to further frustrate Huskies fans.

Kevin: USC 38, Stanford 24: David Shaw knows how to plan a scheme against USC's defense, so I'd expect the Cardinal to put up some points. But when push comes to shove, Stanford's defense won't get the number of stops needed to slow down the Trojans' passing attack.

Ted: USC 35, Stanford 20: I think it will be close at halftime, but the Trojans will pull away early in the fourth quarter. Eventually, Matt Barkley & Co. will gash the Cardinal secondary, and then Stanford won't be able to answer.

Kevin: Fresno State 31, Colorado 17: The Bulldogs showed a little bite against the Ducks -- enough to suggest they can certainly hang with, and beat, a lower-tier Pac-12 team.

Ted: Colorado 28, Fresno State 27: Why? Because I suspect we're going to see some pride from the Buffs.

Kevin: BYU 35, Utah 27: I think Utah will play inspired football given this week's turn of events. But last week we saw that the offensive line concerns are graver than we all initially thought. Bronco Mendenhall saw it too.

Ted: BYU 28, Utah 24: There's a lot going on at Utah, most notably injury issues. And it's not just quarterback Jordan Wynn. Running back John White and safety Eric Rowe are questionable. But the biggest issue, as Kevin noted, is the disappointing play of the offensive line.

Kevin: Arizona 49, South Carolina State 10: The offense has come together quickly. I'd expect Arizona to use this game to clean some things up before heading to Autzen for a game that suddenly looks very interesting.

Ted: Arizona 42, South Carolina State 20: I suspect that some fumes from the post-Oklahoma State victory celebration will cause the Wildcats to be a bit flat. They are fortunate the opponent will be forgiving.

Kevin: UCLA 48, Houston 21: Houston can't stop the run. UCLA isn't going to abandon the run. Another huge game for Johnathan Franklin and another win for the Bruins.

Ted: UCLA 44, Houston 24: Another possible flat performance, but the Bruins should recall the loss at Houston from 2011 to provide some motivation. Agree with Kevin: Franklin gets another 200, and his Heisman candidacy inches up another notch.

Kevin: Arizona State 38, Missouri 31: OK, ASU. I'll bite. The Sun Devils are second in the nation with six interceptions, and Missouri likes to throw a lot. Vegas likes the Tigers by a touchdown, but I'll throw my confidence behind Todd Graham & Co.

Ted: Missouri 35, Arizona State 27: The Sun Devils have whipped two inferior foes at home. The Tigers are pretty good and are playing at home. The Sun Devils have been impressive, but they are still young. And Missouri quarterback James Franklin is a load.