Hey All,
Here's the Thanksgiving Week edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
UCLA 38- USC 28: Tell me if you've heard this one before. The Trojans come out flat, fall behind, mount a comeback, then lose to to a team with lesser talent that's more focused and has more heart. UCLA came out inspired and carried the day. UCLA QB Brett Hundley sure didn't look like a freshman as he threw for 234 yards an one TD while running for two more scores. Meanwhile, USC QB Matt Barkley had another mixed bag day throwing for 301 yards, three TDs and two huge interceptions. The lackluster Trojan defense had another unimpressive game. They once again failed to tackle and looked lost in simple pass coverage.
Telling Stat: Starting late; UCLA put three scores up on the board before USC had made three first downs in this debacle at the Rose Bowl.
Stanford 17- Oregon 14 OT: The D-line got to the mesh point on almost every play, the linebackers shot the gaps making life hell for Duck QB Marcus Mariota and the secondary refused to be blocked. That is how you stop the spread option. Stanford turned Oregon into an ordinary team. That was what the Stanford defense did. The Stanford offense beat on the Oregon defense four plus quarters until they had enough points to win. Freshman QB Kevin Hogan threw for 211 yards and one TD pass. He also ran for 37 yards and another score. Mariota threw for 207 yards and a TD for the Ducks in the loss.
Telling Stat: No Chains= No Rhythm; Oregon came into the game with a third down conversion rate of 48% and a fourth down conversion rate of 74%. Stanford held Oregon to 23% on third down conversions (4/17) and 0% on fourth down conversions (0/2).
Oregon State 62- California 14: Mix in a whole lot of OSU frustration from their loss to Stanford with with a lackluster Golden Bear squad playing most likely their final game with HC Jeff Tedford at the helm and you have a recipe for a blowout in Corvalis. The Beavers ran up 559 yards of offense and crushed California. OSU QB Sean Mannion, subbing for the injured Cody Vaz, calmly completed 24 of 35 aerials for 325 yards and four TDs. The Beavers handled things well on the ground too with RBs Terron Ward and Storm Woods combining for 192 yards rushing on 25 carries and 3 TDs. The Beaver defense forced four turnovers and easily dominated Cal's injury-ridden offensive line. The lone bright spot for Cal was that RB Isi Sofele ran for 104 yards and a TD.
Telling Stat: Far away goalposts; Cal's average starting field position for this game was their own 24 yard-line with no possession ever starting in Oregon State's side of the field.
Washington 38- Colorado 3: The Huskies road woes have been well documented, so when UW only led 7-0 at the half, things looked they could get interesting at Folsom Field. However, there was no need for UW fans to worry as the Dawgs took care of business in the second half. UW's one-two punch of QB Keith Price and RB Bishop Sankey did in the Buffaloes. Price threw for 248 yards and five TDs while Sankey ran for 139 yards and caught four balls for 48 more. The Husky defense held CU to 141 total yards and forced five turnovers while living in the CU backfield all game.
Telling Stat: In, then quickly out; Colorado was in the game with 12:20 to go in the third quarter. 2:53 later after two quick scores off miscues, the Buffs were down 21-0 and out of the game.
Arizona 34- Utah 24: At the end of the third quarter Utah held a 24-17 lead on UofA and all looked good in Salt Lake City. However, the final 15 minutes and the game would belong to Arizona. A two-yard TD run by RB Daniel Jenkins, an 18-yard TD toss from QB Matt Scott to WR Austin Hill and a 24-yard field goal by PK John Bonano comprised UofA's 17-point final period. RB Ka'Deem Carey had another big day as the RB ran the ball 26 times for 204 yards and a TD. Utah QB Travis Wilson had a good day with 304 yards through the air and two TDs, but it wasn't enough to defeat the Wildcats.
Telling Stat: 449/4; UofA gave up 449 yards of offense to Utah, but held the Utes scoreless on their final four drives to finish the game strong.
Arizona State 46- Washington State 7: The Sun Devils snapped a four-game losing streak and gained bowl-eligibility with an easy win over the Cougars. ASU QB's Taylor Kelly and Michael Eubank combined to torch Wazzu for five TD tosses on the afternoon. Meanwhile, the ASU defense held the Cougs to one yard rushing and 241 yards total. They also held Wazzu to just 1 of 16 on third down conversions.
Telling Stat: Well after the fact; Wazzu's lone score came with just :57 left, long after ASU had emptied their bench.
Notre Dame 38- Wake Forest 0: The Fighting Irish got off to quick start and made quick work of the Demon Deacons in South Bend. ND held a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 68-yard TD run by RB Cierre Wood and two TD passes covering 2 and 50 yards by QB Everett Golson. It was over from there as the ND defense easily shutdown Wake's anemic offense. Wake only generated 201 yards of offense and nine first downs all day. Cierre Wood had a big day for the Irish rushing for 150 yards on 11 carries and one TD.
Telling Stat: Picture of a shutout; ND forced 10 punts, one fumble, and held for downs once while shutting out Wake.
Bowl Math
Coming into the final two weeks of the regular season, there are 64 bowl-eligible teams. 13 others still have shot to go bowling. That means there could end up being 77 teams for the 70 bowl slots this year. The Pac 12 and the SEC lead all conferences with eight bowl-eligible teams.
Observations
...And then there was one; Southern Mississippi is still the only winless team left in the FBS. They are 0-11 and will take on Memphis this week to try and avoid the big zero.
...Air Force infantry; The Falcons beat Hawaii 21-7 on Friday night without attempting a single pass. Their Run/Pass ratio for the game was 68/0. It was the fifth time in USAFA history that they've gone an entire game without a pass attempted.
...Crazy stat; Earlier this year Arizona RB Ka'Deem Carey rushed for 366 yards and five TDs v. Colorado. As a team Washington State has rushed for 330 yards and three TDs all season.
...Funny stat; I don't believe anyone out there thought that Oregon State would score more points (23) than Oregon (14) v. Stanford this year.
...No Owls on the islands; A few days ago, Hawaii cancelled their final game of the season with Temple. The negotiations between the two schools on the financial split of the game did not end well. I just want to know why were the schools still negotiating about that during the season?
...A new scramble; With the Big Ten taking in Maryland form the ACC and Rutgers from the Big East, there will be while new round of conference alignments shifting. Get ready for the Pac 16 soon.
...Useless games; The fact that Stanford could end up playing UCLA twice in a six day makes conference championship games look as pointless as I think they are.
...It's a Quaker world; Penn beat Cornell, 35-28 to claim the 2012 Ivy League crown.
...Most invited guest; Stanford Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio will be a headline speaker at almost every major coaching clinic this year.
...Note to Lane Kiffin; When you are both the Offensive Coordinator and the Head Coach, you really are neither.
...Another kiss of death; After pumping up Louisiana Tech as the last WAC Champion, they went out and lost in overtime to Utah State. Oh, but it's safe to say that Utah State will be the last WAC champion as the only game left for the Aggies is against Idaho.
...Quietly making noise; San Jose State is 9-2. That's pretty darn good for a program that was almost dropped a few years back.
...Never gonna see his kind again; St. John's (MN) HC John Gagliardi announced his retirement Monday. He spent the last 64 years as the HC for the Johnnies. His record is 489-138-11. The 86-year old Gagliardi started out as the coach of his own high school team in 1943 at age 16 because the team's HC was drafted into the service in World War II. Asked about why he hung up his whistle, "Seventy years is a long time to be doing the same job."
...Bittersweet holiday; Thanksgiving is always a little bittersweet for me because it means that the college football season is almost over.
...I thought they were so over that league; With the new college football playoff system containing an automatic bid to the highest rated champion of a "Group of Five" lesser conferences, it seems that San Diego State, BYU, and Boise State all want back into the Mountain West Conference. Sounds like a bad romance to me.
...A different light; Oregon QB Marcus Mariota finally looked like a true freshman while he was running for his life from the Stanford defense.
A little love for the CFL
Yes, the Canadian Football League. This week the Toronto Argonauts will take on the Calgary Stampeders in the 100th Grey Cup. Canadian professional football does have a pretty crazy history and shares many things with the American game. One of those you see every week. The CFL was the first league to use the tuning fork or slingshot style goalposts that are the norm in just about every stadium in America.
And now this week's Three Notes About Nothing
Emoji attacks are fun.
One of my favorite scenes in movie history will always be watching Chuck Yeager break the sound barrier in The Right Stuff.
The day after a good rain is always so beautiful in San Pedro.
Until next week folks remember that emotion and heart swing rivalry games
-The Commissioner
