My CFB 9* Total of the Week is on Oregon St/Washington Over at 11:00 ET.

The Pac-12 and the Big Ten Conference voted to postpone fall sports back in August but the Big Ten was first to reverse that decision, leaving the Pac 12 as the only Power Five conference still postponing. However, the Pac 12 announced on Sep 24 that it would return to the field with each school playing a conference-only seven-game schedule (championship game is scheduled for December 18). The conference finally began play last Saturday but unfortunately, two games were canceled because of COVID issues (Arizona at Utah and Washington at Cal). Four games went on as scheduled, including a rematch of one of the wildest games in the 2019 Pac-12 season. Washington St overcame an 11-point deficit at home in the final 2:10 to win 54-53 over Oregon St. The rematch went to Washington St again, as the Cougars beat the Beavers 38-28.

The Beavers will travel to Seattle this Saturday to face Washington, which saw its long-delayed season opener called off, as contact-tracing protocols the city of Berkeley mandates forced Cal to cancel the game with the Huskies. Jonathan Smith was a four-year starter for the Beavers at QB and he's now Oregon St's head coach, beginning his third season. His first ended with a 2-10 record but in 2019, a victory in the above-mentioned game with Washington St would have given OSU a 6-6 record, with the Beavers becoming bowl-eligible. Instead, the Beavers finished 5-7. Oregon State has a new QB this season, as Jake Luton, who passed for 2,714 yards and 28 touchdowns against just three interceptions in 2019, is now with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. Luton's backup a season ago, Tristan Gebbia, got the start last Saturday, passing for 329 yards and just one TD. However, he threw 48 times and was NEVER intercepted. RB Jefferson battled injuries last season but still ran for 685 yards on 4.8 YPC with eight TDs, after he ran for 1,380 yards as a freshman. He had 120 yards on 5.7 YPC and scored three TDs. Four players caught five passes or more. Defense remains an issue, as the Beavers allowed 38 points on 456 yards (team allowed 32.5 PPG on 445.7 YPG last season).

Washington likely can't wait to finally play a game, as its originally scheduled season opener was a home game vs Michigan back on Sep 5. Jimmy Lake joined the Washington Huskies staff in 2014 as a defensive backs coach under head coach Chris Petersen. This was his second stint at the school after serving one year under Keith Gilbertson in 2004. In 2016, he was promoted to co-defensive coordinator. Petersen announced he would step down as Washington's head coach at the end of the 2019 season and Lake would be his successor. It became official on December 2, 2019. QB Jacob Eason (3,132 yards with 23 TDs and 8 INTs) and RB Ahmed (1,020 / 5.4 YPC / 11 TDs) both left early. Eason was drafted in the 4th round but Ahmed went undrafted. The Huskies will feature their third different opening-week starter in as many seasons. However, Lake has not declared a starter among the four competitors for the job: Jacob Sirmon, Dylan Morris, Ethan Garbers and Sacramento State transfer Kevin Thomson. With Ahmed gone, expect Newton to assume "featured" RB status. He gained 498 yards rushing last season, scoring 11 TDs (10 rushing). Washington's defense is always top-notch (has allowed less than 20.0 PPG in each of the last FIVE seasons) and that's unlikely to change much this season.

Washington's offense has plenty of questions but I expect them to have little trouble against this Oregon St defense. Meanwhile, the Beavers' offense looked just fine last Saturday and with a game under its belt, should give Washington's defense all it can handle. Go OVER!

Good luck...Larry