Hey All,
Here's another edition of the column that gets you through Tuesdays, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
Washington 17- Stanford 13: This game had the makings of a defense lovers dream as the 8th-ranked Cardinal led, 6-3 after a first half that featured three field goals, 11 punts and eight three-and-outs by both squads. However, the second half would feature just enough offense to make this one worth watching. The third quarter saw both teams trade TDs. Stanford LB Trent Murphy picked off an errant aerial by UW QB Keith Price and took it 40 yards to paydirt to put the Cardinal up, 13-3. The Huskies answered that score when RB Bishop Sankey broke off a 61-yard TD jaunt to cut Stanford's lead to just 13-10 on the last play of the period. Washington's game winning score came with 4:53 to left to play when Price hooked up with WR Kasen Williams for a 35-yard TD pass. The Husky defense then kept the Stanford offense in check the rest of the way to complete the upset. The real star of this game was the Husky defense which held Stanford's potent rushing attack to just 65 yards on the night. UW RB Bishop Sankey sliced up the Cardinal defense to the tune of 144 yards on 20 carries and a TD.
Telling Stat: The Dawgs had bite; The Husky defense forced seven three-and-outs and didn't allow a single Stanford drive to last longer than nine plays.
Arizona State 27- California 17: The QB position was the tipping point in this game for the Golden Bears. They couldn't protect theirs while not being able to get to ASU's enough in this win for the Sun Devils. ASU QB Taylor Kelly completed 26 of 45 passes for 292 yards and three TDs . His third TD pass, a 22-yard strike to WR Kevin Ozier put the game out of reach with 6:17 left. Cal QB Zach Maynard didn't complete many passes when he wasn't being hurried, hit, and sacked by the ASU defense. Maynard completed just 9 of 28 tosses for 126 yards and a TD. The offensive star for the Golden Bears was RB Isi Sofele who gained 105 yards rushing on 15 carries and a TD.
Telling Stat: Couldn't cross the street; Cal's offense crossed the 50 just three times in their 15 drives in a game that looked closer than it really was.
Oregon 51- Washington State 26: When this game went to the half, Wazzu had played a really great first half and trailed the second ranked Ducks, 23-19. Upset talk was going around the nation. Then, the third quarter happened. Two scoring drives capped by TD runs from De'Anthony Thomas (4 yards) and Kenjon Barner (10 Yards) were sandwiched around a 34-yard interception return for a TD by CB Avery Patterson and this game was over. The Cougars couldn't stop Barner all night. He finished the game with 195 yards rushing on 20 carries and 3 TDs. He also scored a fourth TD on a 30-yard pass from QB Marcus Mariota. For the Cougars, QB Connor Halliday connected on 33 of 60 passes for 348 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Telling Stat: 10 minutes, 33 seconds; That's how long it took Oregon to take this game from a four point lead to a 25 point lead in the third quarter.
UCLA 42- Colorado 14: After a big come-from-behind win last week, the Buffaloes were dragged back to cold reality by the bRuins. UCLA QB Brett Hundley threw for 281 yards and two TDs and ran for two more to lead the bRuin attack. The bRuin defense shutdown the CU offense, holding them to one score until the backups allowed a late TD when the game was already decided. CU QB Jordan Webb threw for 184 yards and a TD in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: Static Chains; Colorado converted only two of 15 third down conversions in this yawner.
Oregon State 38- Arizona 35: Thanks to the Pac 12 network not too many people saw an exciting game that the Beavers won with a little late heroics. The late offensive heroics came from QB Sean Mannion. He hit TE Connor Hamlett with a nine-yard TD pass to go ahead with 1:09 left. As for the late defensive heroics, Beaver CB Rashaad Reynolds picked off UofA QB Matt Scott's fourth down pass with :47 left to preserve the win for OSU. Mannion lit up the Wildcat defense for 433 yards through the air and three TDs, while RB Storm Woods ran for 161 yards and a TD on the ground for the Beavers. On the Wildcats side of things, Scott threw for 403 yards and 3 TDs and RB Ka'Deem Carey ran for 115 yards and 2 TDs on only 17 carries versus the stout OSU run defense.
Telling Stat: A big one; Connor Hamlett's game-winning TD catch was his only reception of the game.
Observations
...Won't enjoy it much; California has a newly renovated Memorial Stadium. Odds are Golden Bear HC Jeff Tedford will only see it for one season.
...Big Hurt; Former Arkansas HC Bob Petrino's infamous motorcycle accident can count the entire state of Arkansas as victims of the wreck.
..Big Heart; As Hawaii was getting smashed by BYU, 47-0, Warrior LB T.J. Taimatuia played with great heart and fire all the way to the bitter end. The kid truly has a warrior's heart.
...Purple Hearts; If there was such a thing as a purple heart for football players, I'd give one to the whole Idaho team. I really hope the two checks the Idaho athletic department got for getting their team beaten up at LSU (63-14), and North Carolina (66-0) were worth it.
...Park Ball; It was great to watch the Park Ball game that broke out at West Virginia last weekend. With WVU up over Baylor, 70-63 in the fourth quarter, I expected one of the players to say, "Hey, I gotta get home for dinner. Next touchdown wins."
...A stocked shelf; With ASU moving to 4-1, it's clear there was some talent left behind by Dennis Erickson's staff.
...0 for the big O; Rich Rodriguez isn't just 0-2 in league play, he's now 0 for the state of Oregon.
...Elementally speaking; I see Nitrogen beat Tungsten last week, 30-28. Oh, wait those are those new Nebraska and Wisconsin uniforms.
...A Stony Brook state of mind; I'm starting to really dig the Stony Brook Seawolves. The FCS school from New York is 4-1 on the season and just upset Army, 23-3. These guys are good. Heck, they had a second quarter lead on Syracuse before losing, 28-17 to the Orange.
...A vast conspiracy; It looks like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour are conspiring to destroy football uniforms across America.
...Playstation numbers; The totals from the Baylor-West Virginia game are staggering. 133 total points, 1,507 total yards of offense, 69 first downs, and 23 out of 31 third downs converted. Oh, and there were three punts.
...A-1 and a 2; After seven three-and-outs in their loss at Washington, it's clear the Cardinal were using the Lawrence Welk offense. You know, 1-2-3-kick, 1-2-3-kick.
...Ahead of schedule; It usually takes the Bowl Season for the Big Ten to look this bad. Seriously, the Big East is having a better year.
...And then there were eight; There are eight winless teams left in the FBS. They are Army, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB, Tulane, Massachusetts, Eastern Michigan, and Idaho.
...Crazy stat; WVU QB Geno Smith had 51 pass attempts last week v. Baylor. Army QB Trent Steelman has attempted 24 passes all season.
Three Notes About Nothing
...Big Red; By being both a USC fan and an Angels fan, I sure do have a lot of red shirts to wash.
...Not seeing it; Not having the PAC 12 network on DirecTv is really starting to make me angry.
...There's no way it should be over 100 degrees in Los Angeles on October 2nd.
Until next week folks, remember that most screen passes are thrown into the boundary because defenses usually over-rotate to cover the wide side of the field.
-The Commissioner
