It's Tuesday! Time for the column you all love, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 31- Oregon State 14: The Trojans hadn't won up in Corvalis since the "fog game" of 2004. So, you can imagine all Trojan fans surprise and glee when USC held 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Then, the Beavers came roaring back in the second quarter on the strength of a 27-yard TD pass form QB Sean Mannion to WR Brandin Cooks and a 41-yard pick-six from CB Ryan Murphy. It looked like USC, as it has in the last couple of seasons, would collapse and OSU would take the game. However, the Trojans put together an answering drive of 10 plays, 75 yards that was capped off by an 18-yard TD run by RB Buck Allen to go up 21-14 at the half. The second half was all USC as the Trojan offense chipped in 10 more points and the defense shutout the Beavers the rest of the way to get the win. For USC, it was the Buck Allen and Silas Redd show as the pair of RBs rushed for 133 and 140 yards respectively with Allen scoring three TDs. USC QB Cody Kessler completed 17 of 21 passes for 247 yards and a 75-yard TD strike to Marqise Lee to aid the wining cause. As for the Beavers, QB Sean Mannion Threw for 377 yards, a TD and three interceptions.
Telling Stat: 0 for 3= W; The Trojan defense held the Beavers scoreless on their three trips inside the Red Zone to ensure the win.
Arizona State 55- Washington State 21: It was a Thursday night up in the Palouse, the Wazzu crowd was roaring and upset thoughts filled the air. Then the game kicked off and ASU skinned the Cougars. Sun Devils QB Taylor Kelly did a Marcus Mariota impression lighting up the Wazzu defense. He threw for 275 yards and five scores, while running for 66 yards and two more scores. ASU RB Marion Grice chipped in with 125 yards total yards form scrimmage as well. On the Wazzu side of things, QB Connor Halliday completed 29 of 54 passes for 300 yards and a pair of TDs.
Telling Stat: 1st round KO; ASU rolled up 149 yards of offense and 21 points, while holding Wazzu to 53 yards and 0 points to take control of this game after one quarter of play.
Arizona 33- California 28: It was a tight one in Strawberry Canyon, but the Wildcats managed to hold on for the win over the Golden Bears. UofA QB B.J. Denker threw for 261 yards and one TD, but he really hurt the Bears with his legs. Denker only rushed for 44 yards, but racked up TD runs of 9,1, and 14 yards to stymie the Cal defense. Cal couldn't stop RB Ka'Deem Carey either, who rushed for 152 yards on 32 carries. Meanwhile, Cal QB Jeff Goff was his now expected blend of great numbers and bad mistakes. Goff completed 34 of 56 aerials for 289 yards and four TDs. He also threw two costly interceptions. WR Kenny Lawler was Goff's favorite target, catching six passes for 72 yards and three TDs in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: Waiting to exhale until 1:35; The Wildcats didn't get to breathe easy in this one until Ka'Deem Carey broke off a 17-yard run with 1:35 to play to seal the win.
UCLA 45- Colorado 23: After getting worked over by Stanford and Oregon the last two weeks, UCLA welcomed Colorado came to Pasadena the help the bRuins get back in the win column. It wasn't easy though, as UCLA held just a 21-13 lead at the half, then managed to pull away in the third quarter to ensure the win. bRuin QB Brett Hundley completed 19 of 24 tosses for 273 yards and two TDs. He also ran for 72 yards and two more TDs. For CU, QB Sefo Liufau threw for 247 yards and one TD to lead the Buffs offensive attack.
Telling Stat: 14-0. After grinding to a 21-13 halftime lead, the bRuins put away the hapless Buffaloes by dominating the third quarter, outscoring CU 14-0.
Notre Dame 38- Navy 34: The Irish had trouble with the pesky Midshipmen all day. The Middies ran the ball 70 times for 331 yards and 4 TDs on the Irish. However, the Navy defense couldn't stop ND either. ND QB Tommy Rees tallied 242 yards through the air and two TDs, while RB Tarean Folston toted the rock 18 times for 140 yards and one TD on the cold grey afternoon in South Bend. However, it wasn't until ND stopped WR Shawn Lynch on fourth down for no gain with 2:39 left to put this game firmly in the win column for the Irish.
Telling Stat: Yards in chunks; Notre Dame faced only five third down conversions all game long and averaged 9.03 yards per play v. Navy.
Observations
...Necessary evils; It's widely becoming the belief amongst Trojan fans that the embarrassing losses to Wazzu and ASU were necessary things.
...Dullsville; This past weekend of college football was one of the dullest in recent memory. Only one real big national matchup and not many big conference games. It was really dull if you're a Pac 12 fan. There were only four Pac 12 games this week and two of them were played before Saturday.
...A donnybrook on The Farm; Yes, for some dumb reason it's being played on Thursday night, but who isn't stoked about the Oregon-Stanford game this week? I've had it circled on my calendar for about a year.
...A twit on twitter; Former Miami Hurricane player and radio personality Dan Sileo posted a bounty on Florida State DT Timmy Jernigan. Sileo posted a picture of Jernigan and offered a $1,000 to anyone who "takes this kid out." Needles to say Sileo was fired by his radio station WMEN 640-AM. Sileo said he is shocked by the backlash over the incident. What an idiot.
...And then there were four; There are four winless teams left in the FBS. They are Southern Mississippi, Miami (OH), Hawaii, Georgia State. Southern Mississippi is riding a 20-game losing streak.
...We're with stupid; The Pac 12 extended commissioner Larry Scott's contract through the 2017-18 academic year. By then, Scott may have his goal realized of every Pac 12 game being played at 7:30 PM with no games being played on Saturday.
...Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing; That sums up Ohio State's season. The Buckeyes are undefeated and the national opinion of the Big Ten is so low that nobody cares outside of Columbus.
...A really Big 10; With three weeks left in season, Minnesota has a chance at 10 wins. It's a slim chance. but if the Golden Gophers pull it off, it would be the first 10 win season for the Gophers since 2003 and the second double-digit win season in school history.
...The gift that keeps on giving; Texas worked over Kansas last week, 35-13. Poor Charlie Weis. Yeah right. Feel free to insert your own joke about schematic advantage. I'm really gonna miss Chuckles when he gets fired.
...Quietly making noise; Fresno State is 8-0 with a three game lead in their division of the Mountain West Conference.
...Just an idea; Wouldn't an Oregon-Baylor game be the closes thing to a real-life version of NCAA Football on Playstation?
Ugly Uniform of The Week
Oregon State is this week's winner for this all-orange ensemble they wore v. USC last Friday.
Call 'em pumpkins, CalTrans uniforms or prison jumpsuits, these things are U-G-L-Y. This picture is hurting my eyes right now, yuk.
Departments
Close Game of The Week: Pittsburgh, PA- Well, The Washington University (MO) Bears make this department with a second straight close victory. The Bears got a 45-yard field goal from PK Alex Hallwachs with eight seconds left to eek out a 9-7 win over the Carnegie Mellon Tartans. Hallwachs kick made up for the PAT he missed in the first quarter or else this game may have gone to OT at 7-7. the announced attendance that witnessed Hallwachs big kick was just 572 fans.
Blowout of the Week: Belton, TX- The Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders swatted the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets, 80-0. Nine different Crusaders combined to rush the ball 51 times for 323 yards and 5 TDs on the day, while QBs Zach anderson and Brian Gallagher combined for four TDs in the rout. The Crusader defense got in the act too. They scored two defensive touchdowns and held the Yellow Jackets to just 144 total yards and seven first downs.
Razorback Report: Another week, another loss for the Razorbacks. This tine it was a 35-17 loss to Auburn. The Razorback defense had no answer for Auburn RB Tre Mason. Mason racked up 168 yards rushing on 32 carries and found the endzone four times. Hog QB Brandon Allen threw for 112 yards and a TD in the loss. Up next for the Hogs is a trip to Ole Miss.
Horned Frog Headlines: West Virginia came to Ft. Worth and escaped with a 27-24 OT win over the Frogs. This see-saw affair saw the Frogs hold a 17-3 lead, then find themselves down 27-17 with 7:11 to play. The Hogs then got a 3-yard TD pass from QB Casey Pachall to WR David Porter to cut the deficit to three points. The Hogs then got the ball back and sent the game to overtime when PK Jaden Oberkrom nailed a 45-yard FG with :19 left. In overtime, the Hogs went in reverse. A six yard loss, a omne-yard pass, and a 15-yard penalty all led to Oberkrom trying a 62-yard field goal. He missed and West Virginia moved the ball down to the TCU 17, where PK Josh Lamberet nailed a 34-yarder =to hand the Mountaineers the victory. Up next for the Frogs is a trip to Iowa State.
Tulane Times: The Green Wave couldn't withstand a big fourth quarter form Florida Atlantic and fell 34-17 to pick up their first C-USA loss of the season. It was a miserable day on offense for Tulane as they racked up only 167 total yards. QB Nick Montana had an awful game, completing just seven of 22 passes for 71 yards and three interceptions. Up next for the Green Wave is a trip to UTSA.
C.W. Post Press: Manchester, NH- The Pioneers came away with a thrilling 41-40 victory over Saint Anselm. Post surged ahead for good when QB Steve Laurino hit TE Sean Binckes with a 10-yard TD strike with just 24 seconds left. Binckes had a career game nine passes for 99 yards and four TDs. Laurino had a great as well, throwing for 429 yards and those four TDs. Up next for the Pioneers is a home game with Assumption College.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing
Just not a fan of falling back to Pacific Standard Time.
The Lafayette Park Hotel is an awesome place.
Harris Ranch breakfasts rock.
Until next week folks, remember that you always remember the games played in November.
-The Commissioner
