It is back for 2013! Yes, the column that makes Tuesdays a little better, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 30- Hawaii 13: The buzz leading into this game was about who would start at QB for the Trojans. It turns out, it didn't matter much because both Cody Kessler and Max Wittek turned in lackluster efforts. The two combined to throw for 172 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. They didn't get much help form the wideouts who dropped several passes and an O-line that looked overmatched for most of the game. What carried the day for SC was the new 5-2 heavy pressure defense that recorded seven sacks and forced four turnovers.
Telling Stat: No chains, but a win; USC managed to win this game despite converting on only 3 of 18 third downs.
Washington 38- Boise State 6: The Huskies new up tempo offense was eating up yards in chunks against the Broncos, but the Dawgs only had a 10-6 lead early in the third quarter. Then the UW Offfense really clicked in and they buried Boise in the first game at the newly renovated Husky Stadium. UW QB Keith Price looked better than he ever has completing 23 of 31 passes for 324 yards and a pair of TDs. As for the Husky ground game, RB Bishop Sankey toted the rock 25 times for 161 yards and two TDs of his own. Meanwhile, the UW defense did the proverbial bend-but-don't-break routine giving up 346 yards, but only two field goals on the night.
Telling Stat: Dawgs unleashed; With the score sitting at 10-6 in after Boise's FG in the third quarter, the UW offense scored four straight TDs on drives of 61, 64, 77, and 51 yards to put the game away.
Oregon 66- Nicholls State 3: The glorified scrimmage that was the Ducks home opener showed that there won't be much dropoff between the Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich eras in Eugene. Marcus Mariota broke a sweat in this one throwing for 234 yards, running for 113 more and tallying 3 TDs in the process. De'Anthony Thomas also got some work in rushing 18 times for 128 yards and two TDs. that's a nifty 7.1 YPC for the afternoon.
Telling Stat; they ran up Playstation numbers; The Quack attack tallied 772 yards of total offense in this laugher with exactly 500 yards coming on the ground.
Utah 30- Utah State 26: It wasn't pretty or anywhere near easy, but the Utes did get revenge for last year's loss to the Aggies. Trailing by two with just 10:39 to play, Utah QB Travis Wilson led drives for field goals that put the game in the win column. Wilson completed 17 of 28 passes on the night for 302 yards and two TDs. as for the Utah defense they had their hands full with Aggie QB Chuckie Keeton who completed 31 of 40 aerials for 314 yards and two TDs while running for 85 yards and another score in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: Almost did it by himself; Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton accounted for 399 of USU's 487 total yards and all three TDs in this narrow loss to the Utes.
Arizona 35- Northern Arizona 0: On a rainy desert night, the Wildcats powered past the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. With RB Ka'Deem Carey serving a one game suspension "per team policy" that stemmed from an arrest in the offseason, Backup RB Daniel Jenkins got the start. He did a fine job, rushing for 139 yards and a TD. As for the UofA defense, they easily shutdown the Lumberjacks rendering their offense no threat.
Telling Stat: They didn't need it much; UofA only had the ball for a total of 19:44, but rolled up 35 points and 393 total yards in the contest.
Colorado 41- Colorado State 27: The Buffs got a good looking win for new HC Mike MacIntyre over their rivals from Fort Collins. CU QB Connor Wood had a big day completing 33 of 46 passes for 400 yards and 3 TDs. The main recipient of Wood's tosses was WR Paul Richardson who hauled in 10 passes for 208 yards and two TDs. CSU QB Garrett Grayson threw for 201 yards in the losing effort for the Rams.
Telling Stat; They shut 'em down in the fourth; The Colorado defense held for downs twice, forced a punt, and returned a fumble for a TD to seal the game for the Buffaloes.
Eastern Washington 49- Oregon State 46: This game should now be known as "The Cataclysm in Corvalis." The squads combined for 95 points and 1,152 yards of offense, but it was the fact that the Beavers couldn't stop EWU QB Vernon Adams that changed this game. Adams torched the Beavers for 411 yards passing and four TDs, He also ran the ball too. He lugged the leather for 107 yards and two more TDs. As for the stunned Beavers, QB Sean Mannion had a big day as well, throwing for 422 yards and three TDs in the loss.
Telling stat; No cheapies here; Neither team turned the ball over and the shortest scoring drive was 49 yards.
Northwestern 44- California 30: The new "Bear-Raid" offense looks to be a hit in up in Strawberry Canyon. However, a couple of key mistakes in that offense cost the Golden Bears an upset over the Wildcats. Northwestern LB Collin Ellis had the game of his life, turning two interceptions thrown by Cal QB Jared Goff into TDs and that turned the game in favor of the purple. Northwestern RB Treyvon Green provided a good chunk of offense for his squad with 129 yards rushing on 16 carries and two TDs on the night. New Cal QB Jeff Goff threw for 445 yards, 2 TDs and three hurtful interceptions in the loss.
Telling Stat: 3>2; Cal QB Jeff Goff's three interceptions overshadowed his two TD passes in this contest.
Auburn 31- Washington State 24: Well, the Cougars looked better than last year and hung tough, but in the end, the game just turned out to be another stop on the Wazzu moral victory tour. The Cougars out gained and out first downed Auburn, but couldn't put enough together to pull it out. Wazzu QB Connor Halliday threw for 344 yards and a TD, but he threw three big interceptions that kept the game going Auburn's way. Having no rushing game hurt as well. Auburn out rushed WSU 295 to 120.
Telling Stat: lots of noise, little points; In the fourth quarter, the two teams combined to gain 200 yards, but the only points were a 42-yad field goal by Auburn.
UCLA 58- Nevada 20: For thirty minutes, Nevada was strong, quick and hanging every step of the way with the bRuins trailing just 17-13 at the half . Then the second thirty minutes happened. The bRuins outscored the Wolfpack 41-7 and turned the close game into a big rout. UCLA QB Brett Hundley completed 22 of 33 passes for 274 yards and 2 TDs while running for 63 yards and two more scores. bRuin RB Jordan James led all rushers with 155 yards on 21 carries and a TD.
Telling stat: second half beatdown; UCLA's offense racked up 41 points and 326 yards while their defense rendered the Nevada offense inert in the second half.
Notre Dame 28- Temple 6: With Everett Golson gone for the season, Tommy Rees stepped back in as ND's QB and had a good game against the Owls. Rees lit up the birds by completing 16 of 23 passes for 346 yards and three TDs. The Fighting Irish took a stranglehold on the game in the first quarter when Rees connected with WR DaVaris Daniels for a pair of 32-yard TD strikes. The ND defense gave up some yards, but only allowed one Owl drive to reach paydirt. Also of note was that USC transfer Amir Carlisle gained 68 yards on seven carries to aid ND's cause.
Telling stat: They took the air out of the ball; Up late with a 28-6 lead, ND ran the ball 17 of their final 21 plays to kill the clock.
Observations
He has become a trivia question; Tulane CB Lorenzo Doss became the first player ejected from a game for violating the new targeting rule. He leveled Jackson State QB LaMontiez Ivy in the first quarter of Tulane's 34-7 win over JSU.
The Too Early Tammy Wynette Award ; It goes to USC AD Pat Haden for issuing an "I support Lane Kiffin" video to the Trojan faithful in the middle of July. I wonder how Pat feels after the Hawaii game?
Happy returns for the Gophers; Minnesota scored TDs on a 98-yard kickoff return, a 51-yard blocked field goal return and an 89-yard interception return in their 51-23 beatdown of UNLV.
A magnificent seven for the FCS; Seven FCS teams upset FBS teams over the weekend. The most significant is Eastern Washington's 49-46 win over #24 ranked Oregon State. The most embarrassing has to be McNeese State's destruction of South Florida. The 53-21 romp by the Cowboys was so complete that only thing they didn't do was take USF's post game meal from the stadium as they left town.
A memo to OSU; Hey, Beavers! Thanks for embarrassing Pac 12!
Talk about a penalty for celebrating; While joining in to help celebrate teammate Todd Gurley's 75-yard TD run v. Clemson, Georgia WR Malcolm Mitchell torn his ACL. He's out for the season.
Painful realizaton; There are some awesome QBs in the Pac 12 this season and USC doesn't have one of 'em.
It stands at 13; Southern Mississippi went 0-12 last season and now owns a 13-game losing streak after being embarrassed at home by FBS newbie Texas State, 22-15.
The line is lacking; USC's offensive line was so lackluster v. Hawaii, that they could have replaced the line with a set of revolving doors and the doors would have been just as effective in protecting the quarterback.
Feels like a bad romance; The seven FBS schools that were upset over the weekend paid their FCS opponents a total of 2.375 million dollars in appearance fees. That's a lot of dough to be humiliated.
This just in; UCLA QB Brett Hundley is really, really, good.
Off the hook for a week; Kansas HC Charlie Weiss isn't the worst coach in Kansas for at least a week. KSU HC Bill Snyder holds that distinction after his Wildcats were upset by FCS power North Dakota State on Thursday.
Holding the beef; With almost everyone running an up tempo offense this year, it's interesting to see how the O-lines that run this offense are getting lighter. Quickness is key in these offenses. Power size, and strength become secondary qualities on the line.
Special Section
Requiem For a Trojan- Bill Seixas: (1921-2013) USC OL 1940-41-42
A True Trojan was lost on July 1st. "Wild Bill" Seixas treated me like a son from the first time I ever set foot in his house back in 1985. Meaning, I got lectured about how I was playing at the time, questioned about my schoolwork and told about his Trojan life. One of my new and soon to be best friends was his youngest son, John. I still remember being told to "act like Trojans and not some bRuin dumbasses" one time after one of our epic adventures. While spending a lot of time at their house, I used to bug the old coach to tell me about his USC playing days. Here's some of the highlights.
...He was an All-State player coming out of San Diego Union High School. In fact, when he played in the Shrine California All-State Game, 93,000 filled the Rose Bowl to watch.
...After a good year on the USC freshman squad, he found out going into his sophomore year that he hadn't made the Trojan varsity. The next practice, he was on the scout team and knocked the starting fullback out cold with a devastating tackle. That got the attention of HC Howard Jones. Who, according to the Bill, told one of the assistant coaches, "Get that kid a varsity jersey!"
...In 1942, Bill stood up the Ohio State fullback just before halftime to finish off a goal line stand at The Horseshoe, in Columbus. His teammates told him a few minutes later that he made the stop. He knocked himself out on the play and woke up in the locker room.
...Also in 1942, he leveled a block so huge on some poor guy from St. Mary's Pre-Flight that it was a part of big cartoon in the LA Times sports page celebrating the football season.
...Lastly in 1942, Bill was named All- Pacific Coast Conference 1st Team. He's in the record books as the smallest All-Conference lineman in USC history. He was tough for being just 5'8" 160 lbs.
There were many more highlights for the old coach. He told great stories of a life when playing on the road at Notre Dame and Ohio State meant several days on trains in sleeper cars and getting off the train to practice in empty fields across the country. He also lost a lot of meal money playing poker on those trains too.
There was so much more to Bill's long and storied life, but the stories of playing at USC were my favorites. I hope now that the coach is where I'd like to think all old Trojan football players go. Which is the Coliseum when it is bathed in fall sun and the stands are packed. I bet the right now, Bill is laying a huge block on some guy from Notre Dame and hearing the cheers again. Fight On, Coach. Fight On!
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| Bill Seixas in his Trojan Prime |
-The Commissioner
