Column: College football: The Pac-12 won’t be perfect after this weekend

At least one thing is certain as we head into the second full weekend of college football:

Pac-12 Conference teams won’t go undefeated.

Someone has to lose in Saturday’s showdown between No. 6 USC and No. 14 Stanford, precluding a repeat of last week’s 11-0 performance that began with Utah defeating North Dakota and ended with UCLA’s thriller over Texas A&M.

“It was a great start for the conference,” Stanford coach David Shaw said, adding that, to him, “it wasn’t a surprise.”

Even if a perfect repeat won’t be possible, another strong showing could nudge more Pac-12 teams into the Associated Press top 25. And the West Coast isn’t the only region with something at stake in coming days.

Life without Francois

Not only did Florida State lose to top-ranked Alabama on Saturday, it lost quarterback Deondre Francois to a torn knee tendon. The Seminoles, who dropped seven spots to No. 10 in the AP poll, must prove they can succeed with freshman James Blackman under center.

Asked whether he might dial back the playbook, coach Jimbo Fisher said: “You go do what you’ve got to do to win the game.”

Passing questions

Fisher isn’t the only coach facing a quarterback dilemma — No. 15 Georgia is expected to be without sore-kneed Jacob Eason against No. 24 Notre Dame. Injuries aside, No. 22 Florida is still sorting through a multiple-passer rotation and No. 8 Michigan temporarily inserted reserve John O’Korn into its opener after starter Wilton Speight had consecutive pick-sixes.

“Wilton is going to be the starter,” coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday. But he quickly added: “We very much believe in John and John will be used again.”

Revenge special

The marquee game of the weekend should be a rematch between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Oklahoma. The Sooners have been looking toward this date since they got trampled by the Buckeyes 45-24 on their home field last fall.

This time around, they have a new coach in Lincoln Riley, a revamped 4-3 defense and Baker Mayfield, a Heisman Trophy candidate, looking to make good on his senior season at quarterback. But Ohio State has reasons to play angry, trying to erase memories of a blowout loss to Clemson in the 2016 playoffs.

Best of the West

Apart from Stanford-USC — a big rivalry in recent years — the story lines should be somewhat tamer in the Pac-12. No. 7 Washington is favored to defeat Montana and No. 20 Washington State has Boise State at home.

Among the “others receiving votes” in the AP poll, UCLA, Utah and Colorado hope to prove they belong in the top 25 and all are favored to win Saturday.

If the conference stays on a roll, Shaw figures it will set the stage for stranger things to come in the league.

Lots of parity, lots of upsets.

“We all know this season is going to be wild,” the Stanford coach said.

david.wharton@latimes.com

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