Pac-12 gets season off to a shaky start
PHOENIX (AP) — The Pac-12 had some impressive victories during college football's opening weekend.
UCLA looked sharp behind star-in-the-making freshman quarterback Josh Rosen, California scored 73 points in a rout over Grambling State and Southern California beat Arkansas State by 51.
Stanford moved the ball on its opening drive to set up a field goal, but stalled out after that.
The Cardinal finished with 240 total yards — 64 of those on the opening drive — and had a rapid fall out of this week's poll, receiving one vote.
The Sun Devils had a hard time keeping the Aggies' defensive ends out of their backfield and their receivers struggled to get open against Texas A&M's press coverage, leading to nine sacks of quarterback Mike Bercovici.
Arizona State spent the offseason putting a huge emphasis on special teams and had some big breakdowns again, including a long punt return for a touchdown.
The special teams were pretty close to awful, including a blocked field goal attempt and a fumbled punt that set up a touchdown for Portland State.
The Cougars have had their share of losses in four seasons under coach Mike Leach, but this one — their first to a Big Sky school since 1947 — will rank as one of the worst.
Quarterback Sefo Liufau threw a red-zone interception, Colorado lost two fumbles and had a blocked punt that set up Hawaii's first touchdown.