ASU Football: A look around the Pac-12

Through three weeks of the college football season, the Pac-12 has established itself as one of the premier football conferences in America. After three weeks, the 12 teams in the conference have a combined record of 27-6 with five teams ranked inside the AP Top 25.

In case you missed some action, here is how each team stacks up after three weeks of play.

Pac-12 North

Oregon (3-0)

The Ducks are currently the highest rated Pac-12 team in the polls, coming in at No. 2 in the AP poll and No.3 in the coaches poll. Junior quarterback Marcus Mariota has thrown for 806 yards and eight touchdowns, propelling him to the top of many early season Heisman ballots.

Oregon has victories over South Dakota State, Michigan State and Wyoming in the early going, scoring no less than 46 points in any of their three games. Oregon ranks fifth in the nation in points per game and No. 27 in points against. Running back Byron Marshall is averaging 9.4 yards per attempt and also has 190 receiving yards.

Oregon State (2-0)

The Beavers have had a slow start to 2014. Mike Riley's club started off by needing 20 unanswered points in the second half to beat Portland State and then beat Hawaii on the road by just eight.

Senior Sean Manion has thrown for 628 yards and four touchdowns. Oregon State looks to be a team that will win 7-8 games this season and spring an upset over one of top teams in the North.

Washington (3-0)

The Chris Peterson era at Washington is off to a successful start, as the Huskies are 3-0. After beating Eastern Washington and Hawaii by a combined eight points, Washington throttled Illinois last week 44-19.

Freshman running back Lavon Coleman leads the team in rushing with 242 yards on 52 carries and sophomore wide receiver John Ross is averaging a staggering 37.3 yards per catch.

Washington State (1-2)

The Cougars are the only team in the Pac-12 North to carry two losses after three games. Washington State started the season with back-to-back losses to Rutgers and Nevada. The Cougars finally got into the win column last week against Portland State, helped by Connor Halliday's six touchdown passes.

Stanford (2-1)

Stanford, the only team to play a conference game in the North, sit in the cellar in the division thanks to a three-point loss to USC. The two opponents Stanford has played not named USC, the Cardinal have outscored them 80-0.

Barry Sanders Jr. is averaging 7.4 yards per attempt and Kevin Hogan has thrown for 705 yards and seven touchdowns.

California (2-0)

Coming into the season, Cal had beaten two FBS the past two seasons. Cal started the season with an impressive road victory against Northwestern and avoided the let down game with a 55-14 thumping of Sacramento State.

The Golden Bears rank 31st in points allowed per game, a major step up from their disastrous defense of 2013. Jared Goff continues to improve, as he's thrown for 510 yards seven touchdowns and one interception.

Pac-12 South

Arizona (3-0)

After an impressive season-opening victory against UNLV in which the Wildcats set a school record for offensive yards, Arizona has come back down to earth. The Wildcats have beaten UTSA and Nevada by a combined 10 points. Arizona's defense will have to improve quickly, as the Wildcats play three ranked opponents in their next five games.

Freshman running back Nick Wilson has rushed for 449 yards on 66 carries this season. Anu Solomon has thrown for 934 yards and eight touchdowns in Arizona's three victories.

Arizona State (3-0)

The Sun Devils have taken care of business before their gauntlet begins. The Sun Devils are averaging 47 points per game, and D.J. Foster ranks top 10 nationally in yards, touchdowns and yards per attempt.

USC (2-1)

USC was the talk of the nation after a drubbing of Fresno State and a gritty victory over Stanford on the road. Then, the Trojans traveled East and fell back down to earth. USC allowed 506 yards of total offense including 452 on the ground in a 37-31 defeat to Boston College.

The schedule for USC opens up nicely over the next few weeks, as Arizona State is the only ranked team the Trojans play until late November.

UCLA (3-0)

Perhaps no team on the West Coast has been talked about more than UCLA. The Bruins began the season as the favorite in the South, but only beat Virginia, Memphis and Texas by a combined 18 points. UCLA has shown issues along the offensive line and on defense.

That being said, UCLA is one of the most talented teams in the conference and despite their struggles are still undefeated.

Utah (2-0)

Utah seems to be the team that everybody forgets about in the Pac-12 South. The Utes are 2-0 this season and rank 3rd in the nation in points per game (albeit against Idaho State and Fresno State). We will find out how good Utah is when they travel to the Big House on Saturday to play Michigan.

Colorado (1-2)

Through three weeks, the Buffaloes look to be the weakest team in the conference. Colorado's only victory was by three points against UMASS. While they played hard against Arizona State, victories will be hard to come by this season for the Buffaloes.