It's another beautiful fall Tuesday morning and that means another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
Notre Dame 14- USC 10: If you told me that the Trojan defense was going hold ND to 14 total points, keep the Irish scoreless in the second half and knock out their QB midway through the game, I'd be very confident that USC would win the game going away. Well, an incredibly poor Trojan O-line, a flag happy Pac 12 officiating crew and an awful night from PK Andre Heidari left the Trojans with a loss in South Bend. The second half started with USC down 14-10. However, the poor SC offense and the Non-existent ND offense led to a scoreless second half that was nearly unwatchable. The stars in this snoozer were USC RB Silas Redd who ran for 112 yards and his team's lone TD and ND QB Tommy Rees who threw for 166 yards and two TDs before being knocked out of the game early in the third quarter with a neck injury.
Telling Stat: No third downs= no offense; The two teams combined to convert just 6 of 27 third downs in the game and neither team converted a third down in the fourth quarter.
Oregon State 49- California 17: The Beavers went into Strawberry Canyon and caged the Golden Bears. OSU QB Sean Mannion was great yet again, completing 35 of 45 passes for 481 yards and 4 TDs. Mannion's favorite target was WR Brandin Cooks who hauled in 13 balls for 232 yards and a TD. Cal Frosh sensation Jeff Goff wasn't very sensational in this one, throwing for just 220 yards and an interception on the evening. OSU RB Terron Ward had the best night of all the rushers by going for 36 yards and two TDs.
Telling Stat: It was an air war; 787 of the 936 total yards gained by both teams came via the pass.
Colorado 43- Charleston Southern 10: Sounds like an SEC game with the CSU Buccaneers involved, but no it was a Buffalo program poaching on an FCS program for a feel-good win. For CU, QB Sefo Liufau made his first career start and had a decent day. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 198 yards and a score while managing the offense well. Liufau's teammate Michael Adkins II had a big day, rushing for 137 yards on just 13 carries and four TDs. The Buffalo defense got to feel good about themselves, holding the Bucs to 196 yards of total offense and just 11 first downs on the day.
Telling Stat: it was over in 2:25; In a 2:25 stretch of the second quarter, Colorado scored two TDs to go up 22-3 on CSU and never looked back.
Arizona State 53- Washington 24: What once looked as a promising season for the Huskies went down in flames as they were forked by the Sun Devils down in Tempe. ASU ran all over the Dawgs. RB Marion Grice rushed 21 times for 158 yards and two TDs and QB Taylor Kelly ran for 84 yards and a pair of scores to go with 271 yards passing along with two more TDs through the air. Meanwhile, the ASU defense just shutdown UW. They held the Huskies to 212 total yards and negative five yards rushing on the day. QB Keith Price did throw for 217 yards and two TDs in the losing effort for the UW.
Telling Stat: 18 minutes of hell; After falling behind 7-0 to start the game, the Sun Devils scored 29 straight points over the last 18:01 of the first half to end this one early.
Stanford 24- UCLA 10: The bRuins and Cardinal have played some tight ones lately with the Cardinal always coming out on top and this one was no different. Coming off their upset at Utah, Stanford got back to playing their brand of football. That brand means using a tough defense and a balanced offense to grind down their opponents. With the game tied, 3-3 in the third quarter, the Cardinal put together two strong scoring drives that were topped off with WR Kodi Whitfield making an incredible catch for a TD on a 30-yard pass from QB Kevin Hogan and RB Tyler Gaffney crossing the double stripe from 1-yard out to take control of the game. The bRuins did make it a tight game when WR Shaq Evans hauled in a three-yard TD pass from QB Brett Hundley. The Cardinal then held just a seven point lead up 17-10 with one quarter to play. Stanford controlled both sides of the ball the rest of way capping off the scoring with another TD run by Tyler Gaffney with just 1:42 to play. Gaffney was the workhorse for the Cardinal today lugging the leather 36 times for 171 yards and two TDs.
Telling Stat: Not in this second half; UCLA had dominated their opponents in the second half this season until this game. Stanford dominated this second half, holding the bRuins to just 10 points while forcing two punts, and picking off two passes along the way.
Arizona 35- Utah 24: The Utes had no trouble holding the Stanford running game in check last week. They didn't stop the Wildcats rushing attack this week. It was the Ka'Deem Carey show as the UofA RB gashed the Utah defense for 236 yards on 40 carries and the game-sealing TD with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats were in control of this game, up 20-7 to start the third quarter and had knocked out Ute QB Tyler Wilson early in the game. However, Utah mounted a comeback behind the arm of backup QB Adam Schultz who threw for 142 yards and a TD in relief of Wilson. The Utes scored two TDs to go back on top, 21-20 to start the fourth quarter, but never really threatened again.
Telling Stat: He could have had 300; UofA RB Ka'Deem Carey had a 66-yard TD run called back early in the game or he would have finished 302 yards rushing on 41 carries. Hmmm.
Oregon 62- Washington State 38: The Ducks rolled over the Cougars to stay undefeated on the season and further QB Marcus Mariota's Heisman campaign. Mariota had another ho-hum day, completing 23 of 32 passes for 327 yards and two TDs while running for 67 yards and a another TD. Duck RB Byron Marshall also had a great day amassing 192 yards on 21 carries and three TDs. However all the attention in this game shifted to Wazzu QB Connor Halliday who put up this Playstation-style stat line. Halliday completed 58 of 89 passes for 557 yards, four TDs and four interceptions. Well, this goes down as just another crazy game in the Pac 12.
Telling Stat: Why they threw so much; Wazzu can't run the ball, that's why. The Cougars were out rushed in this game, 383 yards to 2. Yup, 383 to 2.
Observations
...This just in; The police in South Bend are still pursuing a missing persons case. It seems that many Trojan fans called into the police reporting that the USC offensive line disappeared from Notre Dame Stadium midway through the first quarter last week.
...Can't call him that anymore; Back in the mid 1970's, Wazzu QB Jack Thompson was called "The Throwin' Samoan." After Cougar QB Connor Halliday attempted 89 passes last week, Thompson's nickname just doesn't seem to fit anymore.
...Feeling suckered; Yup, I drank the Kool-Aid. I actually thought Clemson was that good.
...Quietly making west coast noise; Yes, they were embarrassed by FCS power Eastern Washington, but Oregon State is 6-0 since then and tied with Oregon atop the Pac 12 North standings.
...Missing the lead dog; Former Washington HC Don James died on Sunday at the age of 80. James took a Husky program that was on the ropes and built it into a power. I always had respect for his teams. They were always tough and ready to play. From players Slick Tom Flick to Warren Moon to Spider Gaines to Jacque Robinson to Mark Brunnell, the Dawgs were always strong under his leadership. R.I.P. Lead Dog.
...ESPN stupidity on display; ESPN headlines reads, "The biggest threat to the SEC's BCS title streak is the SEC" Gee, didn't know that. Hint: that happens in all the leagues right now. It's called conference play. It's been around awhile.
...25 minutes, 36 seconds; That's how long Oklahoma's hangover form losing to Texas last week lasted, before they took the lead and then slogged their way to a 34-19 win over Kansas. The sad thing about that is for awhile there, KU HC Charlie Weis actually thought that OU got the memo about schematic advantage. Sorry, Charlie.
...BCScrewed; Oregon got seriously hosed in the first BCS rankings. That stuff usually happens to the Pac 12, but maybe even more so now that most Pac 12 games are played after most of the country has gone to bed for the night.
...A moot point; The Oregon-Stanford game most people have been looking forward to all year will lose some luster if the Cardinal lose this week at Oregon State. I think that the Beavers have a great shot at the upset.
...Scratch 'em off the list; With Louisville losing to Central Florida last Thursday, there are no reasons left to watch an AAC game.
...And then there were six; There are six winless teams left in the BCS. They are Georgia State, Miami (OH), Western Michigan, Hawaii, New Mexico State and Southern Mississippi. Southern Mississippi was crushed by East Carolina last week to extend their losing streak to 18 games.
...Not feeling South Beach; The Miami sanctions, or lack of sanctions rather, show just how bad the NCAA needs to be destroyed.
...Just how much he threw; Here's a stat to put Wazzu QB Connor Halliday's 89 pass attempt night in perspective. There were six other games this past week featuring Pac 12 teams. None of those games featured as many total pass attempts combined between the two schools as Halliday threw by himself. The closest to Halliday was when Oregon State and and Cal combined to chuck the rock 81 times in their game.
Ugly Uniform of the Week
Oregon's pink helmets were too easy to pick on, so this week's winner is Wyoming
Special Section: My take on what's wrong with the USC offensive line
1. Poor fundamentals: This unit isn't well coached. The lack of good fundamentals is especially easy to see in pass protection. O-linemen need to set up in a balanced stance for pass protection. Meaning, that their feet are wide enough apart and their weight his evenly distributed over those feet. This group continually sets up with poor feet and with their weight too far forward. That makes them easy to get thrown to side or their shoulders turned to give the defensive line a straight shot at the quarterback.
2. The O-line is in poor condition. You can't use scholarship limits as an excuse to why these guys aren't in good enough shape. Usually your starting five up front play every snap and should function as one unit with five moving parts. An O-line should get stronger as the game goes on. The O-line always has an advantage because...
A. They know where the play is going
B. They only have one job to do on each play
C. The more they are on the field, the more tired the defense should get
3. The O-line got no help. Meaning that if the line is having a bad time, the play calling should have tried to negate this fact by throwing quick, three step drop passes like quick slants, skinny posts, and quick flips out of the backfield. Also, the receivers never got much separation form the ND defenders in their pass routes which led to Cody Kessler holding the ball longer in the pocket. The longer a QB holds on to the ball, the longer the line has to block and breakdowns occur.
So, add these three things up and you get an O-line that got flagged a lot because of the confluence of these three factors. An out of shape line with poor fundamentals, that has too block too long ends up getting sloppy and committing bad penalties.
Departments
Blowout of the Week: Owensboro, KY: The Quincy University Hawks hit the road and skinned the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers, 80-26. The Hawks set a Great Lakes Valley Conference record with their 80 points scored and 707 yards of total offense. Six different RBs piled up 445 rushing yards on the day with RB Sterling Ross running for just 77 yards, however he found the endzone four times.
Not So Close Game of the Week: Jackson State 1, Grambling 0. That is the official score of the game Grambling forfeited last week due to player revolt last week. There are plenty of articles out their on the situation and the horrible conditions under which the team was playing which included improperly washed uniforms that led to Staph infections on the team. Needless to say that's a mess down there. Eddie Robinson must be rolling over in his grave at the state of the program.
Razorback Report: The Hogs took a trip to Alabama and got rolled by the Crimson Tide, 52-0. That is all.
Horned Frog Headines: TCU went into Stillwater and came out with a 24-10 loss to the Okie State Cowboys. This was a sloppy game featuring 8 turnovers and 18 penalties between the two squads. The TCU offense never really got untracked as they behind 17-0 at the half and never recovered. QB Trevon Boykin did throw for 188 yards and run for 46, but his three interceptions hurt the Frogs greatly.
Tulane Times: The Green Wave was off last week. They will host Tulsa this week.
C.W. Post Press: Brokville, NY: It was homecoming at C.W. Post and the Pioneers did not disappoint the home folks, as they crushed the Pace Setters, 58-0. Post QB Steve Laurino completed 12 of 19 passes for 177 yards and four TDs to lead the way for his squad. Post is now 3-4 on the season and will play at Stonehill College this week.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
The miniature golf course on Catalina rocks.
There's nothing worse than having your DirecTV go out on a fall Saturday.
A Milky Way is still a pretty cool candy bar.
Until next week folks, remember that if you don't have an offensive line, you ain't got nothin'.
-The Commissioner
Blowout of the Week: Owensboro, KY: The Quincy University Hawks hit the road and skinned the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers, 80-26. The Hawks set a Great Lakes Valley Conference record with their 80 points scored and 707 yards of total offense. Six different RBs piled up 445 rushing yards on the day with RB Sterling Ross running for just 77 yards, however he found the endzone four times.
Not So Close Game of the Week: Jackson State 1, Grambling 0. That is the official score of the game Grambling forfeited last week due to player revolt last week. There are plenty of articles out their on the situation and the horrible conditions under which the team was playing which included improperly washed uniforms that led to Staph infections on the team. Needless to say that's a mess down there. Eddie Robinson must be rolling over in his grave at the state of the program.
Razorback Report: The Hogs took a trip to Alabama and got rolled by the Crimson Tide, 52-0. That is all.
Horned Frog Headines: TCU went into Stillwater and came out with a 24-10 loss to the Okie State Cowboys. This was a sloppy game featuring 8 turnovers and 18 penalties between the two squads. The TCU offense never really got untracked as they behind 17-0 at the half and never recovered. QB Trevon Boykin did throw for 188 yards and run for 46, but his three interceptions hurt the Frogs greatly.
Tulane Times: The Green Wave was off last week. They will host Tulsa this week.
C.W. Post Press: Brokville, NY: It was homecoming at C.W. Post and the Pioneers did not disappoint the home folks, as they crushed the Pace Setters, 58-0. Post QB Steve Laurino completed 12 of 19 passes for 177 yards and four TDs to lead the way for his squad. Post is now 3-4 on the season and will play at Stonehill College this week.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
The miniature golf course on Catalina rocks.
There's nothing worse than having your DirecTV go out on a fall Saturday.
A Milky Way is still a pretty cool candy bar.
Until next week folks, remember that if you don't have an offensive line, you ain't got nothin'.
-The Commissioner
