Well, so much for an off week.

USC’s near-upset, UCLA’s complete upset, and Colorado’s escape act in Tempe were more than enough to cause some strong emotions.

Here are 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 6 in the Pac-12 …

10. Colorado saved its bowl chances with one big pass

After allowing Arizona State to tie the game with a 94-yard drive in the final 4 minutes, Shedeur Sanders did what he’s done so often this season for Colorado and put the Buffaloes on his back.

Sanders’ 43-yard completion to little-used Javon Antonio set the Buffs up for a malleable field goal, and Alejandro Mata banged it through from 43 yards with 12 seconds left to keep Colorado’s postseason hopes alive.

“Yeah, I wanted him to do his thing. Mata is Mata,” coach Deion Sanders said after the game. “Guys, you didn’t believe in Mata. I believe in Mata. Why do you think I brought him here? Mata don’t miss. You call a timeout and freeze him all you want. That don’t mean nothing to Mata. That’s who he is and that’s what he always says to me when I walk over to him and give him a hug. He says, ‘I don’t miss’, and I love it. So I told him to do your thing. ‘Do your thing. Get your shine on. It’s your moment, baby, live it.’ That’s what I told him.”

Beat Stanford at home next weekend, and the Buffs will just need to find one win amidst UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona, Washington State, and Utah to become bowl-eligible for the first time in a full season since 2016.

What a Year 1 that would be for Coach Prime.

9. Jedd Fisch squandered an all-time upset with one horrendous play call

An outside toss? Going for 2? In triple-overtime? With a backup running back? On the road? Against a USC offense that can score at will?

Fisch is going to be haunted by the ridiculous play call that determined the Wildcats’ 43-41 3OT loss at the Los Angeles Coliseum. That’s one of the worst calls I can imagine in that scenario. Zero imagination. Zero ingenuity. Just a squandered opportunity altogether.

You hate to see a game end like that.

“I didn’t hear a word in the locker room,” Fisch said. “It was dead quiet. There was disappointment there. This team believes in wins. They don’t believe in trying hard. They believe in the final score representing all of their hard work.”

8. Arizona has a full-blown quarterback controversy

Last week, I wrote about how good Fisch has to feel about having the best backup quarterback in the league in Noah Fifita. Well, after a thrilling near-upset on the road at USC, I wonder if Fisch feels quite as good. Because he might have a mess on his hands.

Noah Fifita has looked better than Jayden de Laura in the past, but after tossing 5 touchdowns against the Trojans, including 4 to Jacob Cowing alone, it’s fair to ask if he’s done enough to earn the starting gig. He just may have.

It’s not that de Laura has been bad this year. He’s completing 70% of his passes and is averaging 8.6 yards per attempt. But he’s thrown 5 picks, and I have to believe his leash is shorter now.

7. Arizona State’s season would be a lot different had it started the right guy from Day 1

It’s a real shame that college coaches can’t seem to ignore the “former walk-on” label, or I firmly believe Trenton Bourguet would have been the man behind center for the Sun Devils to start the season and not third string.

Bourguet isn’t the flashiest passer in the Pac-12, but how can you overlook the frequency at which Bourguet tops the 300-yard mark? It’s getting ridiculous. He did it again Saturday in a close loss to Colorado. That makes it twice in 2 starts this year.

Kenny Dillingham has his answer, it just took a little while to get there.

6. … and the same with Cal

Cal coach Justin Wilcox must have seen what so many on the Bears beat saw during fall camp: That Fernando Mendoza looked better than both Sam Jackson V and Ben Finley. Jackson has the legs but not the arm. Finley has the arm and no speed.

The redshirt freshman had both on Saturday in a shootout with Oregon State. He passed for 207 yards and 2 scores and ran for 41 yards in Cal’s best offensive performance of the year, against a very good Beavers defense.

He’s the guy going forward in Berkeley.

“The offense and Fernando were the reason we were even in that game with what the defense and special teams were doing,” Wilcox said after the game.”

5. Oregon State must own the next month, which suddenly looks scary

Don’t look now, Jonathan Smith, but that walk-in-the-park that Oregon State expected over the next month looks a little more fraught with obstacles.

The UCLA defense comes to town next weekend playing better than all but a few in the country. Then comes back-to-back trips to Arizona and Colorado, which both look much more daunting than they did before Week 1.

OK, so then comes a home game against Stanford which should be about 50-0. And then we know what’s next: home against Washington and at Oregon, arguably the nation’s toughest 2-game stretch to close the year.

Act now, Beavers, or forever hold your peace.

4. I’m loving UCLA’s new identity

The Bruins are doing something they haven’t done in Westwood in maybe ever. It’s not just that UCLA’s defense is good. It’s been good in the past. You don’t boast the likes of Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Kenny Clark, and Datone Jones and not have some decent seasons.

But the Bruins haven’t been as unbalanced as this in a long time. This is a California offense with a Midwest defense. Strong. Decisive. Overpowering.

Cam Ward and the Cougars came to the Rose Bowl with the nation’s No. 2 passing attack and left with their tails between their legs. It was a truly impressive defensive performance.

If Dante Moore can grow up over the next few weeks, the Bruins are going to be a tough out come November.

3. USC’s issues go deeper than Alex Grinch

We’re about to find out why USC pays Lincoln Riley the big bucks over the next few weeks. Something stinks in Heritage Hall, and it’s not just the USC defense. That 43-41 3OT win over Arizona may have proven USC’s resiliency, but the fact that we’re still talking about a top-10 team’s resiliency halfway through the season says something.

If not for Caleb Williams, is this team even .500? Dorian Singer, who rocked the Pac-12 with Arizona last year, didn’t have a catch. Only 2 wideouts topped 60 yards, none over 100. That potential game-winning field goal attempt?

Weird.

Most of all, it’s the body language. I don’t love watching the USC sideline this year. That’s going to come back to bite them.

“What a college football game,” Riley said. “I give Arizona a lot of credit. I’m not going to make a lot of excuses in any way. They played well, played a lot better than us, certainly, at some times in the game. I mean, anytime you go down 17-0, you’ve got a mountain to climb, and we certainly had a lot of moments where we didn’t didn’t play very well in the beginning of the game.

“But our team’s fight and resolve to get back and find a way to win that, with some of the craziness that happened in this game, I’m really proud.”

2. Washington State must use Week 7 as a get-right game before season-defining tilt at Autzen Stadium

There may not be a softer schedule over the next 5 weeks than what Washington State has lined up.

There’s beatable Arizona. There’s more than beatable Cal. There’s ASU and Stanford, the stomping mats of the conference.

And there’s Oregon. In Autzen. One of these things is not like the other.

But while the Ducks fly north to Seattle in Week 7 for the single biggest game of the Pac-12 schedule, Washington State hosts an emotionally spent Arizona team with back-to-back near-misses against Washington and at USC.

Coming off an offensive offensive performance against a very good UCLA defense, the Cougars need to get back into a rhythm before they square off with Oregon. What’s at stake? If they get back on track, they could be a 1-loss team heading into the Apple Cup, with a chance at a Pac-12 title game berth on the line.

1. All it took was one near upset to make Week 6 interesting

After a run of madness the likes of which the Pac-12 had never seen, and just in time for the league to dissipate like a dandelion in the wind, things cooled off for the conference in Week 6.

Three of the conference’s 6 ranked teams were in a bye week. Not one matchup between ranked teams, after 3 in Week 3 and 1 in Week 5. Colorado, everyone’s favorite lightning rod, was playing Arizona State after taking on Oregon and USC in back-to-back weeks.

But, as has become custom in the Pac-12, things were wacky and wild just the way they were. UCLA kicked off the day by upsetting No. 13 Wazzu. The Buffaloes staved off a scare with a final-minute field goal. DJ Uiagalelei tossed 5 touchdowns after only 8 in 5 games. And USC wriggled out of the claws of disaster to preserve its playoff chances.

All in all? Pretty fun week.