Pac-12 Football Notebook: Week 3

Amidst a time of growth and optimism in the future Pac-12 Conference, this weekly series explores compelling stories & quotes from each Pac-12 member school.

Boise State

The Broncos are on a bye, which should come as a relief to their fans. After reaching the College Football Playoff quarterfinal last season, many experts tabbed Boise State to repeat their playoff bid as the G5’s highest ranked team. Those hopes were dashed after USF throttled the smurf-turfers in their season opener.

A Mountain West Conference championship is still up for grabs, but the Broncos will need better play from star quarterback Maddux Madsen. So far, his passing numbers have been lackluster: 41 of 72 (57%) for 532 yards, and 3 touchdowns through 2 games.

Colorado State

Colorado State is on a bye as well, but their coaching staff is hard at work in the recruiting cycle. Earlier this week Rams head coach Jay Norvell told Colorado State Director of Athletics John Webber in a Youtube video: “Our coaches are all on the road this week. 10 of ‘em are hitting the road, looking for great, young high school players with the kind of character and toughness we’re looking for at Colorado State, and we want to bring those kids back to Fort Collins to add to this great team.” 

According to 247Sports, the Rams’ hard work is paying off: the Colorado State 2026 football signing class currently has 21 commitments, including 19 three-star prospects. Colorado State’s class is ranked 70th overall, which is competitive with traditional power conference Pac-12 members Oregon State & Washington State.

Fresno State

After upsetting Oregon State last Saturday at Reser Stadium, Fresno State has a two game win streak, with no end in sight. The Bulldogs will likely be favored to win each of their next three matchups, starting with Saturday’s home game against the FCS-level Southern, a historically black college and university (HBCU) with a 1-2 record so far this season. 

Fresno State had no problem running the football in each of their past two wins - the Bulldogs ground game currently ranks 47th in FBS rushing offense thanks to a dazzling 5.74 YPC and 8 TDs  - and their backs should smash through Southern’s defense on Saturday. 

Fresno State’s matchup with Southern will be streamed on the Mountain West Network app Saturday at 7 PM PST.

Oregon State

Fresno State’s statement win is Oregon State’s statement loss. For added measure, last Saturday saw head coach Trent Bray drop an f-bomb in a halftime interview, and then in the second half one of The CW’s field mics caught RG Ryan Berger venting after a holding penalty. 

Frustrations are high and expectations are low ahead of this weekend’s road trip to top 25 ranked Texas Tech. If the Beavers can somehow eke out a win, their first of the season, tensions in the fanbase will ease up just in time for next weekend’s rivalry matchup with Oregon.

Oregon State’s fight with Texas Tech will be televised on FOX Saturday at 12:30 PM PST.

San Diego State

The Aztecs have the week off, and they’re using that time to fix mistakes after a rough 36-13 loss last Saturday at Washington State.

San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis laid it all out postgame: “So, we got a dose of humble pie there, and now we got 14 days to sit with this poor taste in our mouth, and we need to get better. We need to use it as fuel as we go, because I truly, truly believe that we have a good team that had a bad night. We need to be better as coaches, and we need to play better as we go.”

Texas State

After outgunning UT San Antonio 43-36 last Saturday, hopes are high in this season’s Texas State squad. 

This week, the Bobcats are set to battle last season’s Big 12 Conference champions, and a College Football Playoff quarterfinalist, Arizona State. “Sparky” is fresh off an upset loss at Mississippi State, and will be keen to avoid another upset Saturday. 

Texas State’s tussle with Arizona State will be televised on TNT and TruTV Saturday at 7:30 PM PST.

Utah State

In a Battle of the Aggies, the better team won. Now, the Utah State Aggies are looking ahead to their conference schedule. 

New Utah State head coach Bronco Mendenhall gives Utah State fans reasons to believe they can make noise in their final Mountain West Conference season: in 7 prior MWC seasons at BYU (2005-10)  and New Mexico (2024), Mendenhall racked up a 42-13 conference record (.764). At BYU, he also won consecutive league titles in 2006 and 2007, plus a Mountain West Coach of the Year honor in 2006. 

Utah State’s MWC-opening fray with Air Force will be televised on FS1 Saturday at 6:45 PM PST. 

Washington State

Two weeks ago, the Cougars won an ugly Pyrrhic victory 13-10 against regional rival Idaho, an FCS school. Experts aren’t too keen on Washington State this season.

North Texas head coach Eric Morris, who coached receivers for Mike Leach in  2012 and called plays for Jake Dickert in 2022, doesn’t care about the experts’ opinions. This week, he heaped praise on his former employer: “So, we know what these guys are. They're coming to our house, [they are] a really good program. I mean, this head coach [Jimmy Rogers] has lost three games since he's been a head coach, which is incredible, right? So a ton of respect, and I have a little bit more of a personal respect for this place, just being in Pullman two different times. I think I know what it's like to be a Coug, I know that, blue collar, bring your lunch pail to work every day in Pullman, and, so, I know that they'll come out and be ready to play.”

Washington State’s row with North Texas will be televised on ESPNU Saturday at 12:30 PM PST.