Hey All,
It must be Tuesday. That means another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 27- California 9: It wasn't a thing of beauty, but USC ground out a victory over the Golden Bears thanks to a strong running game and an even stronger defensive effort. Two Trojans RBs eclipsed the 100 yard mark as Silas Redd lugged the leather 21 times for 158 yards and a TD while Curtis McNeal carried the ball 10 times for 115 yards. QB Matt Barkley threw for 192 yards and 2 TDs for the Trojans air attack. The USC defense sacked CAL QB Zach Maynard nine times and held the Golden Bears to a meager 77 yards rushing and 250 yards of total offense.
Telling Stat: Three 3s and a pick; USC's defense forced the Golden Bears to kick three field goals and intercepted a pass in CAL's four dives into the USC Red Zone.
Colorado 35- Washington State 34: The Buffaloes came away with a big comeback win under hazy conditions in the Palouse. The heavy haze over the field was because of smoke being blown over Martin Stadium due to wildfires in central Washington. The comeback was due mainly to CU QB Jordan Webb who led his squad back from a 31-14 fourth quarter deficit. Webb threw a 70-yard TD pass to TE Nick Kasa with 7:06 to go to start the comeback. Then on their next possession, Buffs RB Tony Jones broke off an 84-yard TD run and suddenly Colorado was within three points at 31-28. Wazzu then moved down the field and settled for an Andrew Furney 42- yard field goal to extend the Cougars lead to 34-28 with 3:17 left. CU's final drive started on their own 30-yard line. Webb guided the Buffs to Wazzu's four-yard line where he scored on QB draw to tie the game with nine seconds left. PK Will Oliver nailed the PAT to complete the comeback. As for the Cougars, QB Connor Halliday completed 31 of 60 passes for 401 yards and four TDs in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: Road Buffs; This was CU's second ever Pac 12 win. Both have come on the road.
ASU 37- Utah 7: The Sun Devils put the Utes in an early hole, then cruised to an easy win in Tempe. ASU built a 21-0 lead in the first quarter behind a 1-yard TD jaunt by RB Cameron Marshall and two TDs passes by QB Taylor Kelly. The recipients of those passes were WR Rashad Ross and RB Marion Grice. Taylor would throw for one more score when he hooked up with Marshall for a 13-yard tally with 4:56 left in the second quarter. With ASU up 31-7, the second half turned into a glorified scrimmage. Taylor finished the game with 326 yards passing and 3 TDs. Meanwhile, the Utes could never get their offense going as they generated only 209 total yards for the night.
Telling Stat: They didn't even bend; The ASU defense held Utah to 10 first downs and just four of 14 on third down conversions.
Oregon State 27- UCLA 20: The Beavers picked a good time to finally play well on the road. The OSU one-two punch of QB Sean Mannion and RB Storm Woods proved to be too much for the bRuin defense to handle. Mannion threw TD passes of 75 and 42 yards as part of his 379 yards on the day, while Woods rushed for 96 yards and TD of his own. The Beaver defense had a big day as well limiting bRuin RB Jonathan Franklin to just 45 yards rushing and UCLA as a team to just 72 yards on the ground. For UCLA, QB Brett Hundley threw for 372 yards and one TD. He also ran for a score.
Telling Stat: They couldn't sustain; UCLA couldn't move the chains converting on only two of 15 third downs in the contest.
Oregon 49- Arizona 0: This game was supposed to be a battle of offensive juggernauts. It turned out that Arizona's offense was just plain offensive. The Wildcats offense wasted three trips into the Red Zone in the first quarter alone by being stopped on downs twice and throwing an interception. Then, in the second quarter The Wildcats missed one field goal attempt and had another blocked. Even after this, UofA was only down 13-0 as the first half ended. However, the second half would belong to the Ducks as they would grind out two scores to go up 28-0 at the end of the third quarter behind a 1-yard TD run by Colt Lyerla and a 55-yard TD pass from QB Marcus Mariota to WR BRain Addison. UoA's offense completed their self destruction in the fourth quarter when QB Matt Scott threw two balls to wrong colored jersey and had them both returned for TDs. The final one provided the final tally on the day for the Ducks. Mariota finished the game completing 26 of 35 passes for 260 yards and 2 TDs, while Scott threw for 210 yards and 3 interceptions for the Wildcats.
Telling Stat: It was D for the Ducks; Oregon's defense forced five turnovers, held Arizona on two goal line stands, blocked a field goal attempt and scored two TDs in this rout.
Notre Dame 13- Michigan 6: This game was a defensive battle and ND's defense won the day by shutting down the Wolverines high powered offense. LB MAni Te'o led the effort by intercepting two passes and making tackles all over the field. As for the Wolverine defense, they gave up one TD, a 2-yard dash by QB Tommy Rees, but the UM offense just couldn't counter that score. Rees came in to take over for ND in the second quarter when starter Everett Golson was pulled due to ineffectiveness. Rees would finish the game with 115 yards passing while running for the game's lone TD. Michigan QB Denard Robinson threw 138 yards and four big interceptions in the loss.
Telling Stat: 6=10; Notre Dame scored just 10 points off six Michigan turnovers.
Observations
...Dumb move; One of the worst coaching decisions in so far this year has to be when BYU HC Bronco Mendenhall opted to go for two v. Boise State. His defense had kept Boise's offense off the scoreboard for 56 minutes up to that point. He took away his team's chance to get to overtime.
...Live by the pass, die by the pass; Wazzu proved once again that you can't win games by passing alone.
...Red faced; The Big Ten has to be relieved that conference play is starting this week. Things were starting to get embarrassing.
...4 and no O; How Notre Dame is undefeated without an offense is mind boggling.
...And it begins; Florida State is now being called the real deal after beating Clemson. Clemson collapses every year. Soon, that win won't look so impressive for the Seminoles.
...And then there were eight; There are eight winless team in the FBS. They are Army, Tulane, UAB, Memphis, So Miss, Massaschusetts, Eastern Michigan, and Idaho.
...So much for the hype; Arizona looked like a great team until they actually had to play a road game.
...Quietly making noise; Don't look now, but Northwestern is 4-0.
...Big in Albuquerque; The Lobos are the best team in New Mexico after beating New Mexico State, 27-14 last week. For HC Bob Davie it's the first building block in changing the culture at UNM.
...Wow stat; ASU QB Taylor Kelly leads the Pac 12 this year in completion percentage. He's completed a remarkable 72.5 % of throws this year.
...The century mark; USC's 27-9 win over California marked the 100th meeting between the two schools.
...Don't have it. Can't see it; The Pac 12's inability to get a deal with DirectTv is ruining my football season.
...It's old Southwest conference week; SMU takes on TCU and Arkansas plays Texas A&M.
...Redd smile; RB Silas Redd has to be the happiest transfer in America right now.
...No more Maize and Blue; Notre Dame is canceling their series with Michigan due to their new ACC partnership. I know all off us were looking forward to that big ND- Wake Forest matchup.
Until next week folks, remember that ugly wins are still wins.
-The Commissioner
