Hey All,
It's time for the column that make Tuesdays worthwhile, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 38- Syracuse 17: It was the Orange's first visit to the Coliseum since 1924, and like in 1924, the Trojans whipped the Orange. USC QB Matt Barkley completed 26 of 39 passes for 324 yards and 5 TD passes. The Serra connection of WRs Robert Woods and Marqise Lee combined to catch 10 of Barkley's passes for 145 yards and 2 TDs. As for the Trojan defense, they dominated the Orange all evening, giving up only one real scoring drive. Syracuse's first TD came on a trick play.
Telling Stat: Moving chains; USC completed 10 of 14 third down conversions in the win.
San Diego State 42- Washington State 24: The Aztecs scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to send the Cougars to their first loss of the season. Things were looking good for the Cougars, up 24-14 with 12:03 left in the third quarter. However, the Aztec defense shut down the Wazzu offense the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the Wazzu defense never stopped Aztec RB Ronnie Hillman. Hillman lugged the leather 32 times for 191 yards and 4 TDs. SDSU QB Ryan Lindley aided the cause by completing 21 of 37 passes for 273 yards and 2 TDs. WSU QB Marshall Lobbestael hit on 20 of 42 passes for 368 yards and 3 TDs, but his two interceptions and a fumble in the last 7:36 of the game spelled doom for the Cougs.
Telling Stat: No Red Zone; Wazzu's two TD in this game came on TD passes of 80 and 78 yards.
Colorado 28- Colorado State 14: CU QB Tyler Hansen continued his hot play from last week by accounting for all four of the Buffaloes scores in their rivalry game victory. Hansen only threw for 215 yards, but he did throw 2 TD passes that covered 24 and 44 yards. He also had a pair of two-yard TD runs. That was all the Buffs would need as their defense held CSU to 243 total yards with just 67 of those coming on the ground.
Telling Stat: 7 for 50; After giving up an early 80 yard touchdown drive, the Colorado defense held CSU to just 163 yards and one TD in the final 55:00 of the game.
Texas 49- UCLA 20: There wasn't much that went right in this one for the bRuins. bRuin QB Kevin Prince was pulled after throwing three interceptions in his team's first four drives. That put UCLA in an early 21-0 hole that they never could dig out from. Texas used their running game to just punish UCLA. Freshman RB Malcolm Brown rushed 22 times for 110 yards and 2 TDs
to lead the way for a Longhorn ground game that as a team ran for 284 yards and 4 TDs on the bRuins. Texas hurt UCLA through the air too. Colt McCoy's younger brother Case completed 12 of 15 passes for 168 yards and 2 TDs. The Texas defense held UCLA to just 12 first downs came up with ll the big plays when they needed them.
Telling Stat: The chains stood still. UCLA only converted 3 of 13 third downs in this loss.
Oregon 56- Missouri State 7: A glorified scrimmage was held up in Eugene as the Ducks whipped the FCS also-ran Bears, 56-7. The Ducks ran up 681 yards of offense. QB Darron Thomas threw for 206 yards and 3 TDs , while RB LaMichael James ran for 204 yard and 3 TDs of his own. The Ducks led 35-7 at the half, then emptied the benches the rest of the way.
Telling Stat: Lots of Defense. UO's offense scored so quickly and so often, that Missouri State actually had the ball for nearly 40 minutes of possession time.
California 63- Presbyterian 12: The Golden Bears held the other glorified scrimmage in the Pac 12 this week. They easily smashed the Presbyterian Blue Hose at AT&T Park. QB Zach Maynard threw for 215 yards and 3 TDs, while RB Isi Sofele ran for 105 yards and 2 TDs to lead the plethora of Bears who handled the ball for CAL.
Telling Stat: CAL's first scoring drive covered 50 yards. Presbyterian gained 48 yards total for the game.
Utah 54- BYU 10: The game known as "The Holy War" was played for the 93rd time and it was a banner day for the Utes. Utah took out all their frustrations from last week's loss to USC on BYU. The Utes defense forced seven Cougar turnovers, scored two defensive TDs and smacked BYU QB Jake Heaps on almost every play. As for the offensive side of things, Utah RB John White IV sliced through the BYU defense for 174 yards rushing and 3 TDs, while QB Jordan Wynn threw for 239 yards a pair of touchdowns.
Telling Stat: No room to run; Utah held BYU to 11 yards rushing on 22 carries. That's a cool 0.5 yards per carry.
Stanford 37- Arizona 10: In the second ever Pac 12 game, Stanford chipped away relentlessly until they wore down. No big plays for SU QB Andrew Luck who dined and dunked the Wildcat defense to death. He completed 20 of 31 passes for 325 yards and 2 TDs. Stanford's running game came alive too. RB Stepfan Taylor carried the ball 22 times for 153 yards on the night. The SU defense shined by once again shutting down an opponent in the second half. In fact, UofA only crossed the 50-yard line twice in the second half. Stanford now owns the nation's longest win streak at 11 games.
Telling Stat: 239 < 51; UofA QB Nick Foles completed his first 17 passes en route to 239 yards passing, but he couldn't make up for the 51 yards rushing his team was held to by a stout Stanford defense.
Illinois 17- Arizona State 14: It was the Illini defense that carried the day in this one. Illinois blitzed, pressured, hurried, and harassed ASU QB Brock Osweiler all game long. He was sacked six times and threw a pair of interceptions. Meanwhile, Illini QB Nathan Scheelhasse did just enough to get the win. He only threw for 135 yards, but he did complete 11 of 15 passes and threw for the winning touchdown with 9:59 left in the game. It was a 16 yarder to WR A.J. Jenkins.
Telling Stat: No Run= No Pass; Illinois held ASU to just 106 yards rushing, that allowed the Illini to concentrate on stopping ASU's passing attack.
Nebraska 51- Washington 38: These two teams combined for 884 yards of offense and 89 points, but it was the Cornhuskers dominance in the third quarter that mattered. NU shutout the Dawgs, 17-0 in the third quarter and that put them ahead 37-20. It was a lead they would never relinquish. QB Keith Price had a great day in defeat for the Huskies, completing 21 of 37 tosses for 274 yards and 4 TDs. RB Chris Polk didn't have a bad day either, rushing for 130 yards and 1 TD of his own. However, NU QB Taylor Martinez threw for only 155 yards and 2 TDs, but also ran for 83 yards and a TD en route to the win. Martinez kept the Huskers offense moving well all day.
Telling Stat: Big D in Lincoln; In that third quarter, the Husker defense stopped UW twice on downs in the Red Zone to end long drives.
Notre Dame 31- Michigan State 13: The Fighting Irish only committed three turnovers this week, but forced two Spartan turnovers and got a big 89 yard kickoff return from George Atkinson III to help knock off the Spartans in South Bend. The Irish didn't roll up much offense, only gaining 275 total yards, but their defense did shutout MSU for the final 26:57 of the game to pick up the win. ND QB Tommy Rees completed 18 of 26 passes for 161 yards and 1 TD to guide his team onward to victory.
Telling Stat: No ground assault; Notre Dame held MSU to 29 yards rushing in the game.
...I guess the reports of Wazzu's ressurection are greatly exaggerated.
...I predicted what? Well, my first bad pick of the season occurred as my tout for going 0-12, UNLV, stepped up and smacked Hawaii, 40-20. Thanks a lot, Rebels.
...After midnight, they let it all hang out. The game was a late start to begin with, but the Oklahoma State-Tulsa game was delayed for over three hours after Tulsa's Chapman Stadium was cleared due to monsoon rains, lightning, and tornado warnings. The game kicked off just after midnight, which led referee Randy Smith to ask the team captains during the coin toss, "Are you guys ready to finally play some football?" Okie State won, 59-33 and the game finished at 3:35 AM.
...And then there were 12. There are 12 winless teams left in FBS football. Five of them are in the Sun Belt Conference. Only two of those teams come from BCS conferences. Those two are Oregon State out of the Pac 12 and Boston College from the ACC.
...He was where? With all the Pac 12 expansion stories flying hard and heavy again this week, I understand why Pac 12 Commissioner Larry Scott was in attendance at the UCLA-Texas game. It sure as heck wasn't due to UCLA's stellar play.
...This victory had a price. Stanford lost stud linebacker Shayne Skov for the season with a knee injury in the second quarter of their rout of Arizona.
...My new best bet to go 0-12 this season is Akron. That would be zip for the Zips.
...Expensive Real Estate; Presbyterian College was paid $400,000 to take a beating from CAL. The Blue Hose gained only 48 yards in the game, so each yard was worth $8,333.33 to Presbyterian's athletic fund.
...Okie State-Tulsa Part II: Who in the heck agreed to play that game at midnight after the delay?
...You know this season is a strange one when three of the biggest stories on Saturday were that Syracuse and Pitt are looking to jump to the ACC, Iowa State and Baylor are looking to join the Big East and that Oregon got an official letter of inquiry into their recruiting practices by the NCAA.
...The start of the college football season has now truly arrived. All eight Ivy League teams hit the field last week. Here's a little nod the schools of the Ancient Eight that started all this way back when.
...Hey, BYU! How's that decision to go independent treating you?
...After another injury to QB Kevin Prince, I hear UCLA is opening a shelter for battered quarterbacks.
...He said what? The biggest crowd reactions at the USC-Syracuse game were large choruses of Boos leveled by the USC fans at the referee who referred to USC as South Carolina, twice.
...A game of very expensive musical chairs; If the current theory holds that there will be four, 16 team power conferences, 56 teams will be left out in the cold. Oh, and that cold will be very cold. The money and power difference between the schools be about as wide as the difference between the Major Leagues and Single A baseball, and like the old saying goes, There ain't nothin' major about the minor leagues.
...Lose to Vanderbilt, lose your job. I believe ole Houston Nutt's days are numbered at Ole Miss. When you get slapped around by Vandy, they put 'For Sale' signs on your lawn.
Until next week folks, remember that you need to throw into the blitz to beat the blitz.
-The Commissioner
