Hey All,
It's time for that column that makes Tuesday's fun, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 30 -California 9: The Game was played in San Francisco in a baseball park and USC was the team that hit the home runs. The much maligned Trojan defense forced five Cal turnovers while the Trojan offense sputtered, but did put up 30 points. USC QB Matt Barkley completed 19 of 35 passes for 195 yards and 2 TDs while RB Curtis McNeal lugged the leather 17 times for 86 yards and a TD of his own. Cal QB Zach Maynard was intercepted three times by the USC defense wit two of those coming deep in Cal territory.
Telling Stat: A great 8; USC's win was their 8th straight over the Golden Bears. That's three short of USC's record of 11 straight wins in the series from 1959-69.
Utah 26- Pittsburgh 14: After getting slapped around by their new friends in the Pac 12, the Utes went out of conference to Pitt and did the slapping for a change. Utah revived their rushing game behind 171 yards on 36 carries from RB John White IV, while Ute QB Jon Hayes threw for 127 yards and a TD. However, it was PK Coleman Petersen who was the offensive star. At Heinz Field, which is known for its' tricky winds, Petersen made all four field goal attempts to lead his team to victory. The Ute defense did a great job too. They held the Panthers to 120 total yards. DB Derrick Shelby sealed the game for Utah when he returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown.
Telling Stat: Zero; Utah's defense shutout Pitt's offense. Pitt's two touchdowns came on a blocked punt return and a kickoff return.
Washington 52- Colorado 24: The Buffaloes Pac 12 nightmare just won't end. The boys from Boulder were whipped by the Huskies. UW QB Keith Price connected on 21 of 28 passes for 257 yards and 4 TDs. The Huskies ran well too. They ran for 295 yards as a team with RB leading all rushers with 117 yards on 18 carries. The Huskies got off to a fast start and held a 38-10 halftime lead before letting everyone play in the second half.
Telling Stat: CU Couldn't get off the field; The Huskies didn't face too many third downs, but when they did they converted 8 out of 10. That's 80% for the non-math majors out there.
Stanford 44- Washington State 14: The Cougars came out strong in the first half. They hit the Cardinal hard, forced turnovers and even knocked a couple Cardinal players out of the game. They trailed 10-7 at half and were confident. Then Stanford came out and declawed the Cougars, scoring 34 second half points to stay undefeated. SU QB Andrew Luck completed 23 of 36 passes for 336 yards and 4 TDs. The Stanford defense played another strong game, holding WSU to just 48 yards rushing and just 5 of 15 on third downs.
Telling Stat: It ain't just Luck; The Stanford defense held Wazzu scoreless in there third quarter. In fact, the Stanford defense has only given up only six points all year in the third quarter.
BYU 38- Oregon State 28: Three weeks ago, BYU QB Jake Heaps was replaced by his backup Riley Nelson. Heaps may never get his job back after Nelson led BYU to their third straight win. All Nelson did was complete 17 of 27 aerials for 217 yards and 3 TDs. He also led all BYU rushers with 87 yards on 12 carries. Nelson's main target was WR Cody Hoffman who caught nine passes for 162 yards and touchdown. As for the Beavers, QB Sean Mannion threw for 306 yards and a TD, but also threw two interceptions. BYU's defense choked off OSU's rushing game, holding the Beavers to just 59 yards on 23 carries.
Telling Stat: No aerial circus; Usually pass-happy BYU attempted only 29 passes, but ran the ball 48 times for 282 yards v. OSU.
Oregon 41- Arizona State 27: In a preview of what could be the first Pac 12 Championship Game, Oregon got a big boost from a backup QB to hold off the Sun Devils, in Eugene. After starting QB Darron Thomas was knocked out of the game in the third quarter, Freshman Bryan
Bennett came in and calmly led the Ducks on scoring drives of 68 and 88 yards. UO took control of the game with those two TDs and never looked back. The Ducks ran up 536 yards of offense on ASU, with 327 of those coming on the ground. As for ASU, QB Brock Osweiler threw for 291 yads and a pair of TDs, while RB Cameron Marshall ran for 97 yards and a score of his own.
Telling Stat: Just that fast; Oregon went from trailing 24-21 to in control of the game up 35-24 in a four minute span in the third quarter.
Observations
...Fickle Cougars; BYU made a big deal a little while back about how great they would be as an independent team. They spun the issue endlessly extolling the virtues of the independent life. So why are they now considering an invitation from the Big XII?
...Hmmmm Stat; In 39 of the last 42 games between Michigan State and Michigan, the winning team has been the team that has rushed for the most yards in the contest.
...The fact that the NCAA acquitted Auburn of all charges so quickly shows just how agenda driven and corrupt the NCAA has become. The NCAA's agenda was to find Auburn not guilty, so they did so, quickly. It looks like USC will hold the record for longest NCAA investigation ever.
...And then there are still three; Alabama-Birmingham, New Mexico, and Florida Atlantic are all still winless. However, UAB will play FAU in a few weeks, so there will only be two teams soon.
...Glasses strikes again; ASU fans will have Pac 12 ref Jay Stricherz and his crew on their hate lists for quite some time after his crew blew a key third quarter fumble call in the ASU-Oregon game. Silly me, I thought the Pac 12 supposedly upgraded their officiating this season.
...Great name department; Illinois has a DL named Whitney Mercilus. (Merciless).
...Why not the Badgers? Wisconsin's schedule is weak enough to make the SEC proud.
...Ifs and buts; Utah would be undefeated if they didn't have to play those annoying conference games.
...Shotgun wedding; The football only merger of the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA has disaster written all over it. I just don't see Hawaii making a seven time zone trip to play at East Carolina.
...Not easy in the Big Easy; Buffet Bob Toledo has resigned as HC at Tulane. He was just 13-35 in four plus seasons there.
...Uglier than their uniforms; Oregon plays at Colorado this week. The spread is 32 points and that was the number before CU announced that their top LB and RB will miss the game due to injuries. Oh, and the Ducks aren't known for backing off with a big lead. The Webfoots might put up 80 on the Buffs.
...New Uniforms; It seems that almost everyone is sporting new uniforms this season. I have just one request. Can the teams stick to their school colors? Since when does gold figure into Michigan State's colors or black into Arizona State's scheme?
...Price is right; QB Keith Price has been great so far for Washington. He's completed 69.4% of his passes with 21 TDs and just 4 interceptions. He's quickly made Husky fans forget about Jake Locker and could make a lot of fans remember his name throughout the conference with a big game at Stanford this week.
Until Next week folks, remember that it takes more new uniforms to win games.
-The Commissioner
