Hey All,
It's time for that column you love to read on Tuesdays, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. In honor of his great columns after every USC-ND clash, we miss you, Jim Murray.
Summaries
USC 31- Notre Dame 17: ND moved this game to prime time, handed out 80,000 rally towels, and brought in great names from the past to inspire the squad in a game that was supposed to be ND's big step back into relevancy. Then, USC came in and physically dominated for four full quarters. USC's much maligned O-line paved the way for 219 rushing yards and didn't allow a sack of QB Matt Barkley who completed 24 of 35 passes for 224 yards and 3 TDs. Pint-sized RB Curtis McNeal rushed 24 times for 118 yards. He carried the ball the final 10 plays of the game to kill the clock and secure the Trojans' fifth straight win at ND and USC's ninth win their last 10 games v. ND. As for the Trojan defense, they bottled up the Irish all night long and forced three turnovers, which included an 80-yard TD return of Irish QB Dayne Crist's fumble by CB Jawanza Starling that put USC ahead to stay late in the third quarter. The win by USC ended any hope of ND making a BCS bowl.
Telling Stat: A balanced win; USC's ability to run the ball led to a total offense split of 224 yards passing and 219 yards rushing and a time of possession edge of almost 20 minutes.
California 34- Utah 10: Well, Utah dove back into Pac 12 play and lost yet again. This time the Golden Bears worked over the Utes at AT&T Park. CAL QB Zach Maynard completed 19 of 29 passes for 255 yards and a TD. He also ran for another score. As for CAL's running game, RB Isi Sofele gained 84 yards on 26 carries and scored a TD of his own. The Golden Bears controlled this game from the start as their defense forced four Utah turnovers and held the Utes to just 13 yards on the ground and 178 total. The defense also put a bow on this win early in the fourth quarter when DB Josh Hill returned an interception 32 yards for a TD. That return put Cal up 34-0 and the parties began in Berkeley.
Telling Stat: A weak 178; the last 64 of Utah's 178 total yards came on their final drive of the game after Cal had emptied their bench.
Oregon 45- Colorado 2: This had to be the most boring game of the weekend as the Ducks made quick work of the Buffaloes. Behind two Kenjon Barner TD runs, and two TD passes from QB Bryan Bennett, the Ducks were up 29-0 after one quarter of play. The Webfoots then put the game on cruise control and built up a 45-0 lead at the end of three quarters of play. Barner led all Duck RBs with 115 yards on 10 carries and those two TDs. As for Colorado, the Buffs offense only crossed the 50-yard line twice and never mounted a serious scoring threat.
Telling Stat: 350/231; The Ducks ran up 350 yards of offense in the first quarter of this mismatch, while Colorado gained 231 yards total in the game.
Arizona 48- UCLA 12: With HC Mike Stoops fired, and UofA looking pretty bad after losing to Oregon State two weeks ago, it looked like this game might be close. Yeah, right. UofA QB Nick Foles came out and torched the bRuin defense for three first half TDs. Wildcat RB Taimi Tutogi ran for two TDs in the first half and that helped UofA end this game early with a 42-7 halftime lead. However, those performances were lost in the shuffle of a bench-clearing brawl just before the intermission. The fight started about 50 yards away from where a streaker, originally dressed as a referee, disrupted the game. The fight spread all over the field. When it was all over, one player from each squad was ejected and a day later 10 players total on both sides were suspended for at least one game and one player from UCLA, DT Cassius Marsh got a two game suspension.
Telling Stat: No O= a battered D; UCLA's lack of offense left their defense hanging. The bRuin defense gave up 573 yards, 32 first downs, and allowed UofA to convert 10 of 16 third downs.
Oregon State 44- Washington State 21: This was a back and forth affair for the first 25 minutes until the Beavers went on a 20-0 scoring run to pull away from the Cougars. Beaver QB Sean Mannion had his best game, completing 26 of 34 passes for 376 yards and 4 TDs. As for the Beaver defense, they forced 3 Wazzu turnovers and knocked out WSU QB Jeff Tuel right before the half. The Cougs could only muster seven second half points behind backup QB Marshall Lobbestael.
Telling Stat: They still won; OSU won despite committing 14 penalties for 120 yards.
Stanford 65- Washington 21: SU QB Andrew Luck completed 16 of 21 passes for 169 yards and 2 TDs, but it was the Stanford O-line that administered this beat down. Stanford's big uglies paved the way for seven backs to carry the ball 44 times for 446 yards on the ground. In fact, the Cardinal came seven yards shy of having three backs break the 100 yard mark in the game. RB Stepfan Taylor carried the ball 10 times for 138 yards and a TD, while fellow RB Tyler Gaffney carried the ball 9 times for 117 yards and a TD, and RB Anthony Wilkerson lugged the leather 14 times for 93 yards and 2 TDs. As for the Huskies, QB Keith Price did throw for 247 yards and a TD and RB Chris Polk rushed for 144 yards and 2 TDs.
Telling Stat: Strong Drives; Stanford's average scoring drive lasted just 6 plays and covered 61 yards.
...Hmmm Stat; with USC's 31-17 win over Notre Dame, OB Matt Barkley became just the third visiting quarterback to win two games at Notre Dame Stadium. The other two are USC's Matt Leinart who won at ND in 2003 and 2005, and Purdue's Len Dawson who won there in 1954 and 1956.
...And then there were two; Alabama-Birmingham got a 40-yard field goal by PK Ty Long with 21 seconds left to beat Central Florida, 26-24. The Blazers finally have a win in 2011. That leaves just Florida Atlantic and New Mexico as the only winless schools in the FBS.
...This just in; They are still celebrating MSU's Hail Mary pass in East Lansing.
...This seven ain't heaven; By losing their seventh game of 2011, Indiana, New Mexico, Colorado, and Florida Atlantic are the first schools to play their way into bowl ineligibility for 2011.
...Requiem for a Trojan; I like to think that somewhere Marv Goux is smiling. Goux will always be the standard by which all true Trojans are measured.
...Not an Oxford brain; Only Houston Nutt is stupid enough to run wide from his own end zone.
...Another one for Joe; Here's to Penn State HC Joe Paterno for tying Eddie Robinson for all-time wins by a Division I coach with 408 when his squad beat Northwestern, 34-24 last week. That puts JoePa only 73 wins behind the all-time record holder, John Gagliardi of D-III St John's (MN).
...After their beat down by Stanford, the Huskies must feel like they've been through the Iditarod.
...He got what?; Minnesota HC Jerry Kill had been working at Minnesota without a contract, just a memorandum agreement. He then starts out 1-6, and has been hospitalized twice with seizures. So, for that he gets a seven year deal at 1.1 million a year. Wow, if I had known that's all it would take to make me a millionaire I would have volunteered years ago to run some school's program into the ground.
...Some punishment; If you're a UCLA football player, I would think being suspended right now would be more like a vacation than a punishment.
...Definition of Desperate; The Big East keeps handing out invites to join their league like comped meals in Las Vegas. They just don't realize it's hard to get people to come over to your house when it's burning down.
...Flying tortilla time; Gotta love Texas Tech's upset of Oklahoma. I just feel sorry for the guys who have to clean up all the tortillas that were flung around Lubbock in celebration.
...A new leader; Here's a salute to Houston QB Case Keenum who broke the NCAA Career Total Offense record. At over 17,000 yards and still going, Keenum surpassed previous record holder Timmy Chang's total of 16,910 yards. Chang as you remember did his damage as Hawaii's Qb from 2000-2004.
...Pac 12 Commissioner's nightmare; After a dismal start and a fired HC, Arizona can still make it to the inaugural Pac 12 Championship Game. The Wildcats could win out and finish at 7-5 as Southern Division Champs.
...A gauntlet; Penn State looks good at 7-1 atop the Big Ten Leaders division. They're only loss is to Alabama, but they have a tough month ahead. The Blue and White's last four games are at home v. Illinois and Nebraska, then two on the road at Thee OSU and Wisconsin. That's tough.
...Not OK at KU; The Kansas Jayhawks have been just awful the last two years. Do you think they miss the days, not so long ago, when they were nicknamed the Fighting Mangino's?
Until next week folks, remember that most bubble screens are thrown to the boundary side of the field because the defense usually over rotates coverage to the wide side.
-The Commissioner
