Bryce Bobo’s one-handed catch with over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter gave the Buffaloes a 39-38 lead; Bobo also caught the two point conversion to push Colorado’s lead to three. The Ducks failed to do anything with their last two possessions, sealing Colorado’s upset victory.

This might be the end of the Helfrich era in Eugene, Ore.

Colorado started freshmen Steven Montez in place of the injured Sefo Liufau on Saturday, and he filled in admirably. The freshmen quarterback completed 72% of his passes, while averaging 10.4 yards per pass, and tossing three touchdowns. Montez did the majority of his damage on the ground as he carried the ball 21 times for 135 yards per carry. His most impressive pass of the day was the game winning touchdown to Bobo, as it was thrown to a spot that only his receiver could get to it.

For Oregon, the defense still has a lot of work to do. Giving up 10.4 yards per completion and 6.4 yards a carry to a freshmen quarterback is embarrassing. It’s going to be a long season for the Ducks if they are going to give up large chunks of yards on the ground and through the air.

1) Stanford Cardinal: Stanford  scored 16 points in the third quarter — six of those were scored during a fumble return as time expired — to earn its ninth straight victory over UCLA. The Cardinal did not play well during the first three-quarters of the game but were able to overcome their own mistakes to pick up their second straight victory in conference play.

2) Washington Huskies: Washington’s defense struggled contain Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins on the ground (Dawkins carried the ball 13 times for 176 yards); but was able to stop Dawkins from too many big plays. The Huskies avoided being Arizona’s annual top ten upset, and that’s a big step for the maturation of the program.

3) Utah Utes: Utah’s come from behind win over USC on Friday night involved several head scratching decisions by Clay Helton, and Kyle Whittingham’s giant brass balls. Whittingham went for it on 4th and 1 twice on the Utes game winning drive and it paid off big for his program.

4) Arizona State Sun Devils: A 31-point fourth quarter gave ASU a 51-41 victory over Cal on Saturday night. It was another entertaining game in Tempe, Ariz. that moved the Sun Devils to 4-0 on the season.

5) Oregon Ducks: The defense is a tire fire and the offense can’t keep up with their opponents offensive output. That’s not a recipe for success, especially with the Air Raid coming up next week.

6) UCLA Bruins: UCLA outplayed and out coached No. 7 Stanford, but couldn’t hang on for the win. Jim Mora’s seat has to be getting warmer with each passing week.

7) Arizona Wildcats: Dawkins made a strong case to become the Wildcats starting quarterback. He was impressive in the narrow loss to No. 9 Washington, and would have benefited from more aggressive play calling in the last quarter.

8) California Golden Bears: While Cal’s defense held the Sun Devils to 5.7 yards per play, two costly turnovers at the end of the fourth quarter led to a heart breaking loss in Tempe, Ariz.

9) Colorado Buffaloes: A big win on the road for a rebuilding Colorado program has the Buffs halfway to bowl eligibility.

10) USC Trojans: Helton was too cautious when playing with a lead — punting the ball on 4th and 1 inside Utah’s 40, for example — and it cost his team a win. The Trojans are now 1-3 on the season.

11) Washington State Cougars: Washington State stayed out of the headlines during the bye week, and that’s pretty nice.

12) Oregon State University: The Beavers never were in their game against Boise State on Saturday. A ten point third quarter was the only thing that made the final score look respectable.

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