The Commissioner is back from another victorious trip to Bezerkeley and has for your perusal another edition of Notes On a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Herb Caen.
Summaries
USC 27- California 21: The Trojans came to Berkeley looking for their first road win for interim HC Clay Helton and their 12th straight win over the Golden Bears. They got that win thanks to their defense and a strong running game. The USC defense held Cal to over a hundred yards under their season average and to their lowest scoring total of the season. The defense also found the end zone for the second week in a row. CB Adoree Jackson picked off Cal QB Jered Goff in the third quarter and returned the pick for 46 yards for a TD that staked USC to a 24-7 lead over the Bears. Cal did comeback to close within six points of the Trojans latte, but USC ground out two big first downs on their final drive to garner the win. RB Tre Madden's great run where he bounced outside to gain 14 yards on third down converted the first, first down and then RB Justin Davis ground out a seven yard run on 3rd and 6 to allow USC to kill the clock and leave Memorial Stadium victorious. The RB tandem of Jones and Madden combined to rush the ball 25 times for 142 yards and a pair of TDs. QB Cody Kessler completed 18 of 22 passes for 186 yards for SC. Cal QB Jered Goff threw for 272, two TDs and two interceptions in the loss.
Telling Stat: Turnovers still kill; In a game v. two evenly matched squads, USC's +3 turnover margin was the difference in the contest.
USC-CAL Highlights
Washington 49- Arizona 3: The Huskies showed just how far their team has come this year under new HC Chris Petersen. What was also evident is how far down the Wildcats have sunk this year under HC Rich Rodriguez. The Huskies were sharp and focused in the cold Seattle rain as they allowed an opening field goal by UofA PK Casey Skowron then methodically built up a 21-3 half-time lead thanks to three short TD passes from true freshman QB Jake Browning. Browning then accounted for two of the Dawgs three third quarter scores and UW had 42-3 lead through three quarters. While, Browning was having all of his success, the Husky defense easily rendered the Wildcat offense inert. UW forced four four UofA turnovers. Two of those turnovers were interceptions of QB Anu Solomon who hadn't thrown an interception in over 200 attempts coming into the game. Solomon was lifted for backup Jerrard Randall after throwing those two picks and completing only 18 of 31 passes for 160 yards. Randall completed 7 of 11 throws for 43 yards and interception in what was just mop-up duty. Browning finished the game completing 16 of 24 passes for 263 yards and four TDs to go with seven yards rushing and a TD on the ground.
Telling Stat: One and done; Arizona drove 65 yards in 15 plays on their first drive which resulted in their only score of the game. After that drive, Washington's defense forced four turnovers, held for downs three times and forced five punts in the final 54:39 of the game.
UofA-UW Highlights
UCLA 35- Colorado 31: The bRuins, with the sun shining brightly in HC Jim Mora's eyes, built up a 21-6 halftime lead over the Buffaloes. Then, he watched in horror as his sun-soaked bRuins blew that lead and had to come from behind to escape with a victory. Despite holding the ball for more than 41 minutes, running 114 plays and racking up 554 yards of offense on the bRuins, CU couldn't keep them off the field when it mattered and gave up the game-winning TD with 8:28 to play when RB Soso Jamabo knifed in the end zone from two yards out. Colorado's last chance for the upset came when the Buffs had a 2nd and 5 at 50 yard line. Liufau's pass was intercepted with :51 left. Liufau completed 37 of 57 passes for 312 yards and two interceptions. RB Patrick Carr led the Buffs rushing attack with 100 yards on 19 carries and a TD. As for the bRuins, RB Paul Perkins seems to be back in fine form gaining 118 yards on 12 carries and scoring one TD. QB Josh Rosen, who just earned a certificate from his Presidential Committee on Physical Fitness, completed 19 of 33 tosses for 262 yards and one TD.
Telling Stat: 22 point swing= loss; Colorado came up eight points short when they settled for field goals twice in the red zone, then suffered a 14 point swing when they were poised for another score on the UCLA goal line only to turn the ball over and have the the bRuins take the it back 96 yards for a TD. Those lost opportunities lost Colorado the game.
CU-UCLA Highlights
Oregon 61- Arizona State 55 3OT: This game was a battle of long drives by ASU and big plays by Oregon. Oh, and throw in a couple of bad calls, including the one that gave Oregon their winning score and you have what was a crazy game in Tempe. This game never should have gotten to overtime, but QB Vernon Adams' desperation toss on fourth and goal from the eight was hauled in by WR Dwayne Stanford as he collided with teammate TE Johnny Mundt with :12 left in regulation. The teams traded TDs in the first two OT periods then Adams found WR Bralon Addison for a 20-yard TD to take a 61-55 lead, or did he? Multiple replays showed Addison's right foot to be seemingly over the end line which would have been an incomplete pass. However, the replay crew said that call stands and UO took the lead. Then in ASU's final possession, QB Mike Bercovici's second down pass from the Oregon 3-yard line was intercepted in the end zone by CB Arrion Springs and UO walked away with the controversial win. What wasn't controversial in this game was how much better Oregon is with Vernon Adams back at QB. He threw for 315 yards and four TDs. Adams ability to make something out of nothing makes Oregon such a better team than they were earlier in the year when he was injured. RB Royce Freeman benefitted from Adams return as well, rushing for 112 yards and two TDs on the night. For ASU, Bercovici completed 32 of 53 passes for 398 yards and five TDs in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: Dialing long distance; six of Oregon's eight TDs in this game came on plays of 20 yards or longer with three of them covering 60 or more yards.
UO-ASU Highlights
Stanford 30- Washington State 28: Good teams find ways to win. Not so good teams find a way to lose. Both those sayings were proven in the Palouse late Saturday night. Wazzu played a dominant first half and change, holding a 15-3 lead over the Cardinal after PK Erik Powell connected on his fifth field goal of the game early in the third quarter. However, that was the problem with Wazzu's effort. They drove into the Cardinal red zone several times only to come away with field goals . That left the door open for Stanford and they managed to rumble through it thanks to the strong running QB Kevin Hogan. Yes, lumbering Kevin Hogan. He rushed for 112 yards and two TDs on 14 carries. Hogan's rushing changed the game as the Cougars had bottled up the rest of the Stanford offense for the most part. Was did fight back after the Cardinal took their first lead of the night when QB Kevin Falk led the Cougs on a 16 play, 81-yard drive to reclaim the lead at 28-27. However, WSU came up a yard short on the two-point conversion and that left Stanford a chance at victory. The Wazzu defense forced a punt from the Cardinal on the ensuing possession, but the Cougs handed the ball right back when Falk threw his second interception of the second half. That pick by CB Quenton Meeks set up the Cardinal at the Wazzu 39-yard line. Five plays later, PK Conrad Ukropina nailed the chip shot, 19-yard field goal to put Stanford on top for good. The Cougs had one last shot to win, but Powell's 43-yard FG attempt sailed wide right as time ran out. Kevin Falk threw for 354 yard, two TDs and two big interceptions in the loss.
Telling Stat: Don't blame the kicker; Kevin Falk's two second half picks along with the Cougs inability to score in the red zone was what lost this game for Wazzu.
SU-WSU Highlights
Utah 27- Oregon State 12: The Utes looked like they were gonna run away and hide after taking a 14-0 lead on the Beavers after two possessions. Then the Beavers defense stiffened, but the Beavers offense never got it going and fell to defeat in Salt Lake City. That mainly occurred because starting QB Seth Collins injured his knee in practice on Thursday and stayed home in Corvallis. Backup Nick Mitchell completed 19 of 35 passes for 204 yards and a TD which wasn't a bad night, but it didn't match up ti Utah's 1-2 punch of QB Travis Wilson and RB Devontae Booker. The pair looked as good as they've looked all season with Wilson, the pride of San Clemente High School, completing 14 of 17 passes for 198 yards and a TD to go with 56 yards rushing and another score. Booker toted the rock 25 times for 121 yards and a TD. The pair were the Utah as they were responsible for all of the Utes 372 total yards gained.
Teling Stat: No self-inflicted wounds; Utah didn't allow any big plays on defense and didn't turn the ball over in this grind-it-out win over the Beavers.
OSU-Utah Highlights
Notre Dame 24- Temple 20: Gameday came to Philadelphia. The Temple students came out in force to support their surprisingly undefeated Owls. Signs were made, the crowd cheered, and then Lee Corso picked Notre Dame. The Irish made another fourth quarter comeback and downed the Owls at Lincoln Financial Field. QB DeShone Kizer had an incredible game for the Irish. He completed 23 of 36 passes for 299 yards and A TD. He also ran for 143 yards on 17 carries and two TDs on the ground. Down 20-17 with 4:45 to play, Kizer led ND on a six play, 75-yard drive that was capped off when Kizer hit WR William Fuller with a 17-yard scoring pass. QB P.J. Walker passed for 188 yards and a TD in the loss.
Telling Stat: Closer than it should have been; ND outgunned Temple by almost two hundred yards, but turnovers and a poor their down conversion rate let the Owls come very close to pulling the upset.
ND-Temple Highlights
Observations
...'Nuf Ced; Got tipped off to this pretty accurate assessment of Georgia HC Mark Richt that was posted by one of the many armchair coaches on the USC message board known as The Peristyle, "He is the Jeff Tedford of the SEC, nobody does less with more than Mark Richt."
...Next zebras up; I keep hearing about how hard officiating is and how that the referees need a little compassion after butchering the end of the Miami-Duke game. They don't. A two-game suspension isn't enough in this case. Fire them. Now. There are thousands of qualified refs out there to take their place.
...12 for 12; USC has won 12 straight over Cal. Funny that's the same number that Joe Roth wore.
...Early by a tad; Seems like the first College Football Playoff Committee Poll came out just a week too early this year.
...Screwing up my yard; The new L.A. Coliseum renovation plans are underwhelming to say the least. An overblown set of luxury boxes come in while seating capacity goes down to an unacceptable level and the Sundeck stays. What a joke.
...Channelling a jerk; ND HC Brian Kelly reminds me a lot of former ASU HC and total jerk, Frank Kush.
...Hoping for a little help; Need to find a good cheese shop, so I can get bRuin HC Jim Mora the perfect Chrsitmas gift to go with all of his whines.
...And then there were two; Central Florida and Kansas are the only two winless teams left in the FBS. Odds are, they will finish the season that way.
...He bleeds Maroon; Sad to see Jerry Kill have to step down from the Minnesota job due to health concerns stemming form his bouts with Epilepsy. The guy lives to coach and always had his teams ready to play hard for a full 60 minutes.
...Marlins win, 8-5; Trojan fans are not happy about having five head coaches in the last three seasons. The Miami Marlins fans aren't so happy either. New manager Don Mattingly will be their eighth skipper since 2010.
...Nothing good there; ESPN's Paul Finebaum has a face made for radio.
...Quietly making (some) noise; Uconn is 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the AAC. if the Huskies finish at .500 it'll be an amazing year for this moribund program.
...Pac 12 blows it, again; With all of the attention going to the absolute shafting of Duke by ACC officials, the Pac 12 had two more horrible calls that went under the radar. One, Oregon's wining score v. ASU came after the replay boys failed to overturn the TD call of a receiver who was clearly out of bounds. Two, the replay refs in the Wazzu-Stanford game failed to make the proper call when the Cougs stripped and recovered the ball from the Cardinal. Both bad calls contributed to touchdowns that changed both games.
...Pass the barf bag; Watching the ESPN pundits falling all over themselves to praise the selection committee for including one-loss Alabama in the top four of the first rankings was truly sickening.
...Aloha Norm; Norm Chow got canned like a Dole Pineapple this week. Norm has had a pretty stellar coaching career, but he couldn't make it work at Hawaii. The program is teetering on the brink of existence financially and may not be around much longer. That's pretty sad.
...Halloween humor in Huskerland; A disgruntled Nebraska fan handed out some interesting treats on Halloween to show his disgust with the Cornhuskers current season. Actually, it's the best the Huskers have looked in a bowl in years.
...The end of Beamer-Ball; Frank Beamer is leaving Va Tech at season's end. The man built an also ran program into a national contender. That's a great legacy to leave behind.
...Note to Minnesota; Just. Kick. The. F#*&%^G. Field. Goal!
...Great in the air; Once again, USC's best pass was thrown by Jalen Greene.
Good Throwback Uniform of the Week: Arizona State wins an award this week for their 1996 throwbacks. I thought adding the camouflage leggings and TILLMAN to the back of each jersey was a little much, but the 1996 design is clean and crisp. Also, I loved seeing Sparky make an appearance on the helmets again.
Low Score Game of the Week: Tacoma, WA- WR Brennan Schon hauled in an 18-yard TD pass from QB Hans Fortune with 4:25 left in the game to lead the Puget Sound Loggers to a 6-2 win over the Pacific Lutheran Lutes. PLU picked up their only points when they recorded a team safety when Fortune fell in his own end zone late in the second quarter. The 6-2 score was the lowest point total in this rivalry since a scoreless tie in 1962.
Blowout of the Week: Arkadelphia, AR- The Henderson State Reddies easily weathered the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm, 76-7. HSU QB Dallas Hardison completed 10 of 13 passes for 166 yards and 3 TDs., while RB Ryan McDonald was incredibly productive gaining 10 yards on four carries and scoring three TDs on those four carries. HSU scored in all 11 possessions in the game and emptied the benches after building up a 63-0 halftime advantage.
C.W. Post Press: Brookville, NY- The Pioneers built up a 49-24 lead after three quarters of play thanks to six TD passes from QB Jeff Kidd and then held on for dear life in the fourth quarter to escape with a 49-46 victory over Southern Connecticut State. Kidd's six TD tosses were one shy of the school record held by Perry Klein. Yes, that Perry Klein Cal fans. However, it was RB David White who picked two key first downs in the final 3:35 to seal the victory for Post. Kidd finished the day completing 19 of 27 passes for 282 yards and those six TDs. Up next for Post is their final game of the regular season at Bentley University.
...And Now This Week's Five Notes About the Bay Area Road Trip
The New Honda Pilot held up like a champ.
The Chuckwagon Soup at Harris Ranch is perfect on a rainy day.
My San Francisco tolerance is three days.
My Berkeley tolerance is four quarters.
I have never had a bad time at Lefty O'Doul's and probably never will.
Until next week folks, don't let the refs take the game away from you,
-The Commissioner
