Pac-10 power rankings
1 USC (1) 1-0: Trojans and QB Sanchez topped highest expectations.
2 Arizona State (2) 1-0: Senior QB Carpenter 22-of-28 in opener.
3 Oregon (3) 1-0: Gap between Northwest rivals is growing.
4 California (4) 1-0: Running game could cover for passing inconsistency.
5 Arizona (5) 1-0: Seventy is a lot of points, even against Idaho.
6 UCLA (7) 1-0: Storybook beginning; but we’ll see how it ends.
7 Stanford (9) 1-0: Cardinal far better than its fan base in opener.
8 Oregon State (8) 0-1: Looks more like rebuilding than reloading.
9 Washington (6) 0-1: Disastrous start with two top-15 teams up next.
10 Washington State (10) 0-1: Brandon Gibson performed as expected; but so did the Cougs.

Pac-10 picks
No. 15 BYU at Washington. I expect the Huskies’ offense will open up and produce not only more points, but more excitement. However, BYU's veteran precision offense seems to offer another challenge beyond what the UW defense has shown it can handle. Cougars, 37-31.
Stanford at No. 15 Arizona State. Reality check for both teams. ASU, 37-21.
Utah State at No. 18 Oregon. Aggies among worst teams in NCAA. Ducks, 63-7.
Oregon State at No. 19 Penn State. Beavers at Beaver Stadium, but a long way from home. Lions, 38-24.
Toledo at Arizona. Wildcats’ bowl-boosting schedule continues. Cats, 41-21.
California at Washington State: The Paul Wulff winning his first home game in renovated Martin Stadium would make for quite a story. But the Golden Bears running game looks like it could carry them quite a while. Cal, 38-24.

Last week: 7-1.

In his final meeting with the media before kickoff against BYU on Saturday, coach Tyrone Willingham said that tailback Brandon Johnson (calf) was limited Wednesday in practice, and he sounds doubtful for Saturday. Johnson was ranked as the No. 2 tailback behind Chris Polk, and if he can't go, Willie Griffin or David Freeman would likely move up to the top reserve role.

On the other hand, tight end Michael Gottlieb (hamstring) took part in full work Wednesday and is likely to make his season debut against the Cougars.

In more general terms, Willingham said the team bounced back to a better practice Wednesday after a relatively down return to the field on Tuesday.