The second week of college football has come and gone. With it came an impressive performance from the Pac-12 Conference, as Pac-12 college football teams went 6-2 against non-conference opponents. The Oregon Ducks got back on track against Nevada, Utah separated from Northern Illinois, and Colorado had a huge win over Nebraska at home.
Pac-12 conference play also begin last week, with California dispatching Washington and USC handling Stanford.
From these games came many outstanding performances. Here are the best from Pac-12 football week 3.
Offense
Quarterback – Kedon Slovis, USC
Is college football ready for USC football to back? Because from first look the 2019 Trojans may be the real deal along with freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis.
Starting in place of injured quarterback JT Daniels, Slovis completid 28-of-33 passes for 377 yards and 3 TDs in a big 45-20 win over the Stanford Cardinal. Exercising the abilities that made him a top competitor for the starting role out of camp, Sedonis showed the Pac-12 just how dangerous USC could be in 2019.
Running back – Marcel Dancy, California
There was thunder and lightning in the air and on the ground in Seattle on Saturday night. After a 3-hour delay to the game, the California Golden Bears shocked the Washington Huskies in a 20-19 upset on the road.
One of the reasons Cal managed the upset and its first Pac-12 win of 2019 was junior running back Marcel Dancy. Though he finished with 8 fewer yards than fellow Cal running back Christopher Brown Jr. Dancy made the most of his 7 carries, exploding for 72 yards and 2 TDs. The Oakland native had runs of 23 yards and 20 yards on Cal’s momentum-building first drive of the second half.
Wide receiver / Tight end – K.D. Nixon, Colorado
For the second year in a row the Colorado Buffaloes are victorious over the Nebraska Cornhuskers. One of the big reasons? Colorado wide receiver K.D. Nixon.
In the upset win over Big Red, Nixon had 6 receptions for 148 yards and 1 TD. One of his receptions was a 96-yard explosion that allowed the Buffaloes to stay within reach and establish momentum in the game. While Laviska Shenault Jr. commanded the most attention from Nebraska on Saturday, Nixon’s impressive effort was a big reason the Buffaloes came away with the win.
Defense
Evan Weaver, Linebacker, California
18 tackles, 14 of them solo and two for loss. That massive stat line belonged to California linebacker Evan Weaver, who did everything humanely capable to help the Golden Bears beat Washington. Expect to see him be a Pac-12 football top performer a number of times this year.
Greg Johnson, Cornerback, USC
While Sedonis commanded much of the attention in USC’s win over Stanford, not lost is USC cornerback Greg Johnson. With the Trojans establishing a two-score lead over the Stanford and needing to forward momentum, Johnson had a key interception to set USC up for another score, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Johnson finished the game with 6 tackles (4 solo) and one INT.
Bradlee Anae, Defensive End, Utah
Any day you get a sack is a big deal. A day when you get three? That means you’re about to be a Pac-12 top performer.
Making his debut of 2019, Utah senior defensive end did just that on Saturday against Northern Illinois. Finishing with four total tackles, Anae made the most of his efforts with three big sacks that kept the Huskies from any second half momentum.
Special Teams
Cristian Zendejas, Kicker, Arizona State
Nobody could have predicted redshirt sophomore kicker Cristian Zendejas would be the difference maker in Arizona State’s game against Sacramento State. Nobody!
That’s exactly what he was, however. Zendejas converted all four field goal attempts, helping the Sun Devils avoid the big upset at home. A Pac-12 football top performer? You bet!