Instant reaction to Week 4 developments …

1. Morning ’til midnight

One of the longest Saturdays in memory, with one game starting at 9 a.m. (Pacific) in Salt Lake City and another ending a few minutes before midnight in Los Angeles, was heavy on blowouts.

Some were expected, with Oregon pasting Oregon State and Washington rolling past Washington State, although the Cougars were more competitive for three quarters than we envisioned.

Colorado whacked Wyoming, Stanford got thrashed at Virginia and USC recorded a fairly decisive win over Michigan State.

But two blowouts were decidedly unexpected, with Texas Tech thumping Utah in a statement game for well-paid rosters and San Diego State blasting Cal in an epic no-show from the Bears.

Put another way: Of the 10 Pac-12 legacy schools in action Saturday, nine were involved in games decided by at least 14 points.

Thankfully, there were a few moments of drama over the course of 15 hours as Arizona State needed a last-second field goal to escape Baylor with a victory.

2. Big 12 gonna Big 12

In fact, let’s start our recap with the thriller in Waco — a back-and-forth affair that ASU did its best to hand, silver-platter style, to the Bears.

The Sun Devils forced three turnovers and committed none, an equation that should produce an easy victory. But they struggled in the Red Zone and settled for three short field goals, which kept Baylor in the game.

The Bears eventually took advantage, scoring the game-tying touchdown with 1:52 remaining. But ASU went back down the field, with an assist from a personal foul penalty on Baylor, and Jesus Gomez’s 43-yard field goal as time expired was the difference.

The 27-24 victory could prove momentous for the Sun Devils (3-1) as they pursue a second-consecutive Big 12 title with a brutal schedule ahead.

ASU returns home to face TCU, then plays Utah, Texas Tech, Houston and Iowa State — a five-game stretch against teams with a combined record of 17-1. If the Sun Devils win four, they will be well positioned for the Big 12 championship. Win three, and the tiebreaker could come into view.

3. Big trouble on ‘Big Noon’

The day began with all eyes on Rice-Eccles Stadium and Fox’s ‘Big Noon’ showcase featuring two presumptive Big 12 frontrunners with six blowout wins (combined) on their resumes.

Turns out, just one of the participants is worthy of that description. The Red Raiders looked the part of a College Football Playoff contender, rolling to a 34-10 victory despite losing quarterback Behren Morton to injury.

If the alarms aren’t sounding in every corner of the Utah football office, something’s wrong. The Utes were outplayed in the trenches — Texas Tech is one of the few teams in the Big 12 capable of countering Utah’s size and physicality — and they failed to muster any semblance of a downfield passing game.

“I never would have believed if you were to say we would lose the line of scrimmage,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Never would have believed that in a million years, but we did.”

Quarterback Devon Dampier threw two interceptions and managed just 4.3 yards per attempt, an abysmal total that reminded us of the Utah offenses of the 2012-15 era, when the program was new to the Pac-12 and struggled to stretch the field in the passing game.

If playcaller Jason Beck can’t solve the downfield issue — Dampier’s 5-foot-11 frame doesn’t help matters — the Utes will be hard pressed to beat the best teams on their schedule.

Incremental movement of the ball (three yards here, five yards there) is no way to win a conference title. Chunk yards are critical, and Utah had one pass completion of at least 20 yards against the Red Raiders.

4. Northwest rivalry routes

Oregon and Washington were favored by a combined 53 points in the Civil War and Apple Cup, respectively.

They won by 69, albeit with different means to the same end.

Aside from the final minutes of the first quarter and the first half of the second quarter — a total of roughly 11 minutes —  the Ducks thoroughly outclassed the Beavers.

The Ducks finished with 585 yards to OSU’s 147 — a difference of four-to-one. The Beavers’ second-half possessions went as follows: three plays/six yards, three plays/two yards, three plays/six yards, three plays/five yards, five plays/24 yards — what a drive! — and three plays/zero yards.

Had coach Dan Lanning been interested, Oregon could have hung 50-something on the Beavers, who are one of five winless teams in major college football. (The others: Sam Houston, Massachusetts, Miami-Ohio and UCLA.)

Washington did hang 50-something in Pullman. But the flow of the Apple Cup was not in the fashion many would have imagined.

The Cougars actually looked competent on offense thanks to a quarterback change, with Zevi Eckhaus directing three touchdowns drives.

When the third quarter ended, WSU trailed by a mere touchdown. The final 15 minutes were as one-sided as a quarter can be as the Huskies powered to a 59-24 win.

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Quarterback Demond Williams Jr., tailback Jonah Coleman and receiver Denzel Boston offered their standard amount of playmaking — the Huskies scored touchdowns on seven of their eight possessions.

But UW’s defense looked a tad vulnerable at just the wrong time: one week before the Huskies host Ohio State.

5. Cal’s epic fail

It has been a long time — a long, long time — since the Hotline witnessed a no-show performance of the magnitude produced by coach Justin Wilcox’s program Saturday night.

The previously-undefeated Bears were a double-digit favorite at San Diego State, which lost badly at Washington State two weeks ago.

Yet Cal, not the Aztecs, looked like a poorly-coached, no-talent FCS team in a 34-0 loss.

You read that right: 34-0.

It was the most lopsided shutout by a non-power conference team over a power conference team since BYU beat UCLA 59-0 in 2008, according to the Associated Press.

The result would have been shocking for any other program. But under Wilcox, Cal has offered up several spectacular flameouts:

— The Bears were the only team to lose to Arizona in 2021.

— They were the only team to lose to Colorado in 2022.

— And they were the only (FBS) team to lose to Florida State in 2024.

For whatever reason, the Bears play below the level of their competition at least once each season.

The loss won’t impact the Bears’ trajectory in the ACC, where a bevy of winnable games await — unless they play like they did in San Diego. If that’s the case, they won’t win another game.

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