Hey All,
It's a Tuesday during football season, must be time for Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 42- Syracuse 29: The Trojans hit the road for a cross-country trip to take on Syracuse and came away with a disjointed looking win. USC held a 14-3 lead at half then waited through an over an hour weather delay before taking the field for final 30 minutes. Syracuse came out a little more fired up and cut USC's lead to just 21-16 before USC put two quick scoring drives together that put the game firmly in the win column. USC QB Matt Barkley tied his own USC record by throwing for all six of USC's TDs on the day while the receiver combo of Robert Woods and Marqise Lee combined for 169 yards receiving and five TDs. LB Dion Bailey led USC's defensive effort with two interceptions and a ton of tackles. On the Syracuse side of things, QB Ryan Nassib threw for 322 yards and a pair of scores.
Telling Stat: Saving it for the end; Both teams combined to score 35 points in the final quarter after scoring a total of just 37 for the first three quarters.
Oregon State 10- Wisconsin 7: It was the biggest nonconference game ever in Corvalis according to OSU HC Mike Riley and the Beaver defense played like it. The Beaver defense shutdown Wisconsin RB Montee Ball, holding him to just 61 yards on 15 carries for the afternoon. As for the OSU offense they did just enough to win the game. OSU was nursing a 3-0 third quarter lead when QB Sean Mannion hit WR Brandin Cooks with 20-yard TD pass to extend their lead to 10-0. The Badgers crawled back into this game late when QB Danny O'Brien hit TE Jacob Pedersen with an 11-yard TD pass with just 1:31 to play. The Badgers then attempted an onside kick which was initially ruled to be recovered by PK Kyle French. However, upon further review the ball was awarded to OSU as French was ruled to have touched the ball before it went the necessary 10 yards.
Telling Stat: 6-3's; The Oregon State defense forced six there-and-outs in Wisconsin's 13 total possessions.
Sacramento State 30- Colorado 28: Instead of bouncing back from a bad loss to Colorado State, the Buffaloes went out and embarrassed the Pac 12 by losing at the gun to the Sacramento State Hornets. All looked good early on for CU when they held a 14-0 lead behind two Christian Powell TD runs halfway through the first quarter. Then, the Hornets fought back behind to take a 24-21 halftime lead behind the arm of QB Garrett Safron who led his squad on four straight scoring drives. Powell would put the Buffs ahead to start the fourth quarter with his third TD run of the game. The rest of the game belonged to the Hornet defense. they kept CU off the board. The hero for Sac State was PK Edgar Castaneda who nailed the game-winning field goal from 30 yards away as time ran out. Powell ran for 147 yards and 3 TDs in the losing cause.
Telling Stat: Tough in the clutch; Sac Sate QB Garrett Safron went 5 for 5 passing and rushed twice to account for 69 of the Hornets' 72 total yards on their game-winning drive.
LSU 41- Washington 3: Down in Baton Rouge, the Tigers feasted on the Huskies. LSU gashed the Washington defense with their running game, gaining 242 yards on 52 carries. RB Alfred Blue led all rushers with 101 yards on 14 carries and a TD. As for the passing game, QB Zach Mettenberg hit on 12 of 18 passes for 195 yards and a TD as the Tigers made the new-look Husky defense look like last year's edition. The Huskies never got anything started offensively all night as they were held to 183 total yards with just 26 of those coming on the ground. U Dub QB Keith Price threw for 157 yards with an interception in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: Not much when it mattered; 117 of Washington's 183 total yards came after LSU had a 27-3 lead and the game well in hand.
Stanford 50- Duke 13: After looking pretty lethargic in their narrow win over San Jose State, the Cardinal came out in all-black uniforms and blew out Duke. Stanford's defense led the way in this one. In the first half they forced Duke to punt on every possession. Then they forced four Blue Devil turnovers in the second half to put the game away. As for their offense, QB Josh Nunes completed 16 of 30 throws for 275 yards and 3 TDs to lead the charge for the Cardinal. RB Stepfan Taylor also chipped in with a TD run of his own. The capper of this game was provided early in the fourth quarter by S Kyle Olugbode who returned an errant Blue Devil aerial 71 yards for the game's final TD.
Telling Stat: All three phases; Stanford got TD's by their offense defense and special teams en route to victory over the Blue Devils.
Washington State 24- Eastern Washington 20: HC Mike Leach got a win in his home debut for Wazzu. QB Jeff Tuel threw for 171 yards and a pair of TD passes to WR Isiah Myers. The Cougs scored all their points in the first half with PK Andrew Furney making a 60-yard field goal to give Wazzu a 24-14 lead at the half. The Eagles had their chances to force overtime in this one, but the Cougar defense wouldn't let it happen. SMU transfer QB Kyle Padron led the EWU offense completing 26 of 54 tosses for 379 yards and two TDs in the loss.
Telling Stat: Wazzu's #2; Cougar PK Andrew Furney's 60-yard field goal is the second longest in Cougar history behind Jason Hanson's 62-yarder v. UNLV in 1991.
Arizona 59- Oklahoma State 38: Let's see here 1,137 combined yards of total offense and 97 total points equals a wild one in Tucson. Wild isn't the word here. Crazy is more like it as Okie State jumped out to a 14-0 lead only to fall behind 30-14 early in the third quarter. The Cowboys then closed the gap to 30-28 before UofA dominated the fourth quarter to get the win. UofA took full advantage of Okie State's mistakes. Okie State turned the ball over four times and committed 15 penalties for 167 yards in the contest. Wildcat QB Matt Scott threw for 320 yards and 2 TDs while RB Ka'Deem Carey ran for 126 yards and 3 TDs. Cowboy QB Wes Lunt completed 37 of 60 passes for 436 yards, 4 TDs and 3 interceptions.
Telling Stat: Losing it; Four of Okie State's school record 15 penalties were personal fouls.
California 50- Southern Utah 31: This was a see-saw affair until the Golden Bears used a big fourth quarter to pull away with the win over the Thunderbirds from the Big Sky Conference. Cal was up 27-17 with just under 11 minutes to play when CB Mark Anthony picked off SUU QB Brad Sorensen and raced 61 yards to the house to give Cal a 34-17 lead. Cal got two other big plays to put the game away when WR Keenan Allen took a punt back 69 yards for a TD and RB Daniel Lasco broke off a 77-yard TD run with just 3:21 to play. The Golden Bear offense ran up 518 yards of offense on the day with 289 of those coming on the ground. Meanwhile, Sorensen threw for 292 yards and 4 TDs for the Thunderbirds.
Telling Stat: Tougher than it had to be; Cal won despite being penalized 12 times for 106 yards.
Utah State 27- Utah 20 OT: The battle of the Beehive state went to the boys from Logan as they pulled off the upset. The Aggies built an early 13-0 lead behind a blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone and a TD pass from QB Chuckie Keeton to WR Joe Hill. The Utes lost QB Jordan Wynn for the game with yet another shoulder injury but managed to tie the game at 13-13 in the third quarter when PK Coleman Petersen connected from 40 yards out. The teams would trade TDs in the fourth quarter to go to overtime at 20-20. After scoring a TD to open the OT period, the Aggies kept the Utes out of the end zone largely by way of an offensive pass interference penalty that nullified Utah's tying TD. That left Utah with a 4th and goal from the 17. Their next pass fell incomplete and the game belonged to the Aggies. Keeton threw for 216 yards and 2 TDs in the win, while Wynn's backup Jon Hays threw for 154 yards and a score for the Utes.
Telling Stat: Killing themselves; Utah converted on only 2 of 17 third downs and committed 10 penalties for 87 yards in their loss to the Aggies.
Arizona State 45- Illinois 14: Illini QB Nathan Scheelhaase didn't play in this one due to an ankle injury, but it wouldn't have made much difference as ASU sliced and diced the Illinois defense in a romp at Tempe. ASU QB Taylor Kelley completed 18 of 24 aerials for 249 yards and a score, while his tag team partner at QB Michael Eubank completed all five of his passes for 69 yards and two scores. Eubank also ran for a TD too. The Sun Devil defense basically shut Illinois down form the get go. The score could have been worse as ASU fumbled twice inside Illinois' 10-yard line.
Telling Stat: Not really stopped; ASU faced only seven third downs while rolling up 510 yards of total offense in this laugher.
Oregon 42- Fresno State 25: The Bulldogs went into Eugene with a new HC, new offense and new defense, but came away with another moral victory for their trophy case. The Ducks looked like they'd score 70 on the Bulldogs as they built a 35-6 halftime lead behind two TD runs a piece by RBs Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas to go along with a 22- yard TD pass from QB Marcus Mariota to TE Colt Lyerla. It was a different story in the second half as Fresno State came out and disrupted UO's high octane offense, while the Bulldog offense cut the deficit to 35-19. The Ducks managed to put the game away though as Barner got his third TD of the day with 3:51 left to play. Barner finished the day with 201 yards rushing on 34 carries and 3 TDs. As for Fresno State, QB Derek Carr, (David's little brother) completed 29 of 47 tosses for 234 yards and a TD in the loss.
Telling Stat: Too many 3s not enough 7s; Fresno State just couldn't break through Oregon's defense settling for four field goals instead getting the touchdowns they needed to upset the Ducks.
UCLA 36- Nebraska 30: As with last week at Rice, the bRuins survived a roller coaster first half, then shut down their foe for the second half and came away with the win. This time though, it was a big upset of the Cornhuskers. Neither squad could really stop the other early on as the game stood tied at 24-24 at half. Then, both teams stalled as the defenses took over. The game stood tied at 27-27 when the bRuin DE Datone Jones sacked Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez for a safety that put UCLA ahead for good. The UCLA offensive combination of QB Bret Hundley and RB Jonathan Franklin accounted for 522 of the bRuins 653 total yards. Hundley completed 21 of 33 passes for 305 yards and 4 TDs, while Franklin topped the 200 yard mark for the second straight week by rushing for 217 yards on 26 carries. 'Husker QB Taylor Martinez did rush for 112 yards and a TD, but he completed only 17 of 31 passes for 179 yards and an interception in the loss.
Telling Stat: Big Red sidelined: UCLA held the ball for 37:40 against Nebraska's vaunted blackshirt defense.
Notre Dame 20- Purdue 17: As the Fighting Irish fought jet lag after their trip to Ireland last week and a feisty Boilermaker squad, it was the guy who didn't make the trip that won the game. With the score knotted at 17 with just 2:12 to play and QB Everett Golson injured an unable to grip a football, HC Brian Kelly turned to QB Tommy Rees to rescue the Irish. The former ND starter at QB who was coming off suspension stepped in and calmly led his squad on the game-winning drive. The Irish went 55 yards in 12 plays to set up PK Kyle Brindza's 27-yard go ahead field goal. This game looked like the Irish were well in control up 17-7 midway through the third quarter, but Purdue fought back and knotted the score at 17 when QB Caleb TerBush hit WR Antavian Edison with a 15 yard TD toss with 2:12 to play.
Telling Stat: They faded; Until that final 55 yard drive, Notre Dame's previous five possessions covered all of 40 yards.
Observations
...A stumbling start; Pitt is not it after dropping to 0-2 overall, 0-1 in the Big East. It's bad to have your season fall apart right after Labor Day.
...Big in Pullman; Wazzu is now rulers of the roost in the Palouse after beating Eastern Washington who a week earlier beat Idaho.
...Not a fab five; Penn State kicker Sam Fickens miseed four field goals and an extra point in PSU's 17-16 loss to Virginia. Oh, he's not their regular kicker. The regular kicker transferred to Texas in July.
...Good Adjustments; UCLA has given up just six points in the second half so far this season.
...Bad Dawgs; Washington's dismal showing at LSU hurt the Pac 12 far more than Utah and Colorado's embarrassments ever could.
...Blowing smoke; There's no way that Oregon's new pot patrol will catch any of their starters who use the Jamaican Weed of Wisdom. However, backups should be very afraid.
...Didn't see it coming; Okay, who thought the New York Jets would outscore USC last weekend? I sure didn't.
...The brutal game; Utah QB Jordan Wynn has hung up his cleats. Facing a fourth, yes fourth shoulder surgery after being knocked of Utah's loss to Utah State last week, Wynn has decided it's time to get on with life after football.
...They knew better; After getting smacked around by ASU, it's easy to see why no Penn State players transferred to Illinois after the sanctions were handed down.
...Bad cupcake; I guess whipping up on Savannah State didn't do much to help Oklahoma State get ready for Arizona last week.
...Crazy stat; Arizona is 2-0 despite giving up 994 yards offense in their two wins.
...Epic failure; Whoever neglected to schedule a bye the week for Notre Dame after a seven time zone road game just blew it.
...Hit the road jack; After Wisconsin rushed for a dismal 35 yards last week, OL coach Mike Markuson was fired. I've heard fans call for a position coach's head from time-time, but man the Badgers actually listened to 'em.
...It's a Navy town; I thought Army had no chance on the road against San Diego State. The Aztecs 42-7 win over the Black Knights wasn't a surprise.
...Fun to watch; USC's young defensive line has been a pleasant surprise and will only get better as the season rolls along.
New Feature
The Commissioner is gonna try his hand at prognostication this season. So, in honor of degenerate gamblers everywhere here's...
The Commissioner's Super Duper Stone Cold 20 Star Lock of The Week
BYU -4 v. Utah
This game is "The Holy War" where these two squads battle for bragging rights. BYU is cruising so far this year with a big win already over a lower tier Pac 12 team in Wazzu. Couple that with Utah losing QB Jordan Wynn for the year and it adds up to a BYU victory.
Until next week folks remember that disrupting the timing of the spread offense is one of the keys to stopping it.
-The Commissioner
