Hey All,
It's time for that Column you dig on Tuesdays, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries:
USC 48- Arizona 41: The Trojan defense came out and kept UofA off the scoreboard in first quarter and that proved to be huge in this shootout at the Coliseum. USC ran out to a 17-0 first quarter lead behind two TD passes from Matt Barkley and a 46-yard field goal from PK Andre Heidari. USC DB TJ McDonald picked off UofA QB Nick Foles twice in the first quarter. The USC defense would not be heard from again. Neither would the Arizona defense as the schools would combine for 1136 yards of offense and 89 points. Foles went on to complete 41 of 53 passes for 425 yards and 4 TDs in a losing effort. Meanwhile, USC QB Matt Barkley set a new USC record with 468 yards passing. He also threw for 4 TDs as well. The two main recipients of Barkley's passes were WRs Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. Woods had 14 receptions for 255 yards and 2 TDs. Lee had 8 catches for 144 yards and a touchdown.
Telling Stat: TJ's 3= W for SC; TJ McDonald had two interceptions and recovered UofA's onside kick attempt with 1:00 to play. Those three plays were the difference in the game.
Washington 31- Utah 7: The Utes fumbled the opening kickoff in this one and the game went downhill from there for the boys from the Great Salt Lake. Even though the Utes only trailed at the half, 10-7, they would be without QB Jordan Wynn who was knocked out for the rest of the game with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. That left QB Jon Hays to run the Ute offense. Hays had only thrown one pass ever in am FBS game. The Husky defense harried, hit, and harassed Hays for the whole second half, only giving up a TD pass with few seconds left in the game. As for the Husky offense, QB Keith Price continued his stellar play, hitting on 22 of 30 throws for 226 yards and 3 TDs. RB Chris Polk ran for 189 yards on 29 carries to balance out the Dawgs' attack.
Telling Stat: UW's fab 5; The Huskies forced five Utah turnovers to turn this game into a rout.
Arizona State 35- Oregon State 20: ASU's hangover after beating USC last week lasted a little over one quarter. By then, ASU trailed 13-0 and had committed three turnovers. Then, QB Brock Osweiler and the rest of his squad woke up, outscoring OSU 35-7 over the last three quarters to get the victory. Osweiler would finish the day with 258 yards and 2 TDs. RB Cameron Marshal only tallied 80 yards rushing for the Sun Devils, but did score 2 TDs. OSU QB Sean Mannion completed 40 of 66 passes for 341 yards and one TD. However, he also threw four interceptions that derailed some promising Beaver drives.
Telling Stat: They were off; ASU only ran for 109 yards, committed four turnovers, and converted only 1 of 10 third downs, yet they sell had enough to beat the hapless Beavers.
Stanford 45- UCLA 19: The Cardinal came out and basically beat up UCLA for a full 60 minutes up on The Farm. SU QB Andrew Luck had his way with the bRuin defense completing 23 of 27 passes for 227 yards and 3 TDs, while RB Stepfan Taylor rushed 17 times for 112 yards and 2 TDs. The Stanford defense contained UCLA at almost every turn, laying punishing hits on any bRuin that touched the ball. A bright spot for UCLA was QB Richard Brehaut who completed 18 of 33 tosses for 202 yards and 2 TDs.
Telling Stat: Cold efficiency= victory; Stanford completed 85% of their passes, converted 71% of their third downs and didn't turn the ball over in their thrashing of the bRuins.
Washington State 31- Colorado 27: It was late in the fourth quarter up in Boulder, and the Buffaloes were on the verge of winning their very first Pac 12 game. Then, it all fell apart in 1:33 as Wazzu QB Marshall Lobbestael brought the Cougs back from the dead. First, Lobbestael hit WR Isiah Barton with a 19-yard TD pass. Then after the WSU defense forced a punt, Lobbestael silenced the home crowd with the 63-yard game-winning strike. Finally, the Cougar defense sealed the game eight seconds later when they recovered a Buffs fumble. In the victory, Lobbestael completed 32 of 49 passes for 376 yards and 3 TDs. As for Colorado, QB Tyler Hansen threw for 175 yards and 2 TDs on the afternoon.
Telling Stat: Tough down the stretch; In the last 23:33 WSU outscored CU, 21-7 to seal the victory.
Notre Dame 38- Purdue 10: The Fighting Irish excelled in all phases of the game in their dismantling of the Boilermakers under the lights at old Ross-Ade Stadium. ND QB Tommy Rees led ND through the air with 254 yards and 3 TDs. ND came just shy of having a pair of 100 yard rushers as RBs Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray ran for 191 and 94 yards respectively. They also combined for 3 TDs. Also huge for the Irish was that they didn't commit a single turnover. Meanwhile, the ND defense shut down Purdue's offense limiting them to 84 yards rushing and holding them to just 5 of 14 on third down attempts.
Telling Stat: Balance is beautiful; ND ran up 551 yards of offense in this game. 264 yards passing, 287 rushing.
...In reverse; If Oklahoma keeps winning they'll get dropped out of both polls as an undefeated team.
...If they only had to play two quarters; I can't imagine what it's like to be a coach at Texas A&M right now. The Aggies two consecutive second half collapses are two of the craziest things I've ever seen.
...To say Stanford plays physical football is an understatement. They are by far the hardest hitting team in the Pac 12 since the 2008 USC squad.
...Play at ASU- get flagged; in ASU's four home games their opponents have been flagged an average of 10 times a game for 94 yards. In ASU's one road game, their opponent was flagged only 5 times for 33 yards.
...Disturbing stat; USC has given up 40+ points in two consecutive games. That has never happened before in the history of the program. Great job, Monte!
...And then there were six. There are six winless teams left in the FBS. Middle Tennessee got off the list with a 38-31 win over Memphis. Oregon State continues to embarrass the Pac 12 as the only BCS conference school without a win.
...Harsh reality; It's early October, you're unranked, 0-2 in league play, lost your QB, and Arizona State is coming calling. Welcome to the Pac 12, Utah!
...Why the love? Virginia Tech has to be the most overrated team in the last 20 years.
...Big Ten surprise; Who thought Illinois would be 5-0 right now?
...Big hardware; The largest rivalry trophy in college football is up for grabs this week as UNLV and Nevada will battle for the Fremont Cannon. The cannon actually fires and weighs over 1,100 pounds.
...Hail to their schedule maker; Michigan may be 5-0, but all five games were at home. They have eight home games on their schedule and their longest road trip is to Illinois. The Wolverines also won't play Wisconsin in the regular season. Wow.
...One knee equals one game; Illinois LB Jonathan Brown was suspended by HC Ron Zook for this week's game against Indiana for kneeing Northwestern OL Patrick Ward in the groin int he first quarter of their tilt last week. Go find the video on this one, folks. It came well after the play and was just a cheap shot. Guys, cross your legs before viewing.
...From the amazing stat department; In Air Force's controversial 35-34 OT win over Navy, two stats stick out. One, Air Force won despite only having the ball for 19:14, and two USAFA QB Tim Jefferson completed 90% of his passes. He was a cool 9 of 10 for 136 yards and a touchdown.
...Quietly making noise; Don't look now, but SMU is 4-1. June Jones' squad has everyone in the Metroplex talking after their 40-33 upset win over TCU. The Ponies snapped TCU's 22 game home winning streak in the process.
...Small schools big rivalry; Occidental beat Whittier, 31-17 in the 68th meeting between the two rivals. Oxy gets to keep the rivalry trophy, a pair of bronzed cleats on a wooden base. The trophy known as "The Shoes" goes back to 1946.
Until next week folks, remember you can't sit in the same defense all game long. You'll just get torched.
-The Commissioner
