It's Tuesday and that means another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Mal Florence.
Summaries
USC 20- Stanford 17: The Cardinal came to the Coliseum as the #4 team in the nation. They left as the #2 team in the Pac 12 North. The Trojans played tough, physical football and beat the Cardinal at their own game. Stanford RB Tyler Gaffney had another great game, rushing for 158 yards on 24 carries and found the end zone twice. However, SU QB Kevin Hogan did not. He hit on 14 of 25 passes for 127 yards, 0 TDs and two huge interceptions. The first interception came with game tied at 17-17 and the Cardinal facing a 3rd and goal at the USC 10-yard line. Hogan's pass was intercepted by USC Safety Dion Bailey who jumped the route and made a great play. Hogan's second interception came with a little over three minutes to play and the Cardinal facing a 2nd and 3 at their own 40-yard line. Hogan was heavily pressured and let go an ill-advised pass that was batted around and then intercepted by USC Safety Su'a Cravens. That pick set up USC's game-winning drive that featured a great fourth down conversion pass from QB Cody Kessler to WR Marqise Lee. Then the Trojans got the game-winning 47-yard field goal from PK Andre Heidari. When the clock 0:00 after The Trojans stopped Stanford's last gasp, the Coliseum erupted with the fans rushing the field. What a sight it was.
Telling Stat: Truly Special Teams; The USC special teams blocked a Stanford field goal attempt, got a 47-yard game-winning field goal, and held the nation's leading kick returner, SU's Ty Montgomery in check all night.
Washington State 24- Arizona 17: UofA RB Ka'Deem Carey racked up yet another 100 yard game by rushing for 132 yards and a TD on 26 carries, but it wasn't enough as Wazzu got the upset in Tucson. The Cougar defense had been torched lately, giving up 162 points in their three previous games. However, they stepped up and kept the Wildcats in check on Saturday. As for the Wazzu offense, QB Connor Halliday completed 39 of 53 passes for 319 yards and 2 TDs. The Wildacts did have one last shot to send the game to overtime, but QB B.J. Denker's fourth down pass from the Wazzu 13-yard line fell incomplete.
Telling Stat: They bent, but didn't break; The Wazzu defense gave up 142 yards in the fourth quarter v. UofA, but forced a punt, got a missed field goal and held for downs to hold on for the victory.
Oregon 44- Utah 21: The Ducks hangover from their loss to Stanford lasted 34:51 v. the Utes. At the 10:09 mark of the third quarter the quacks looked sluggish, having just given up a TD to have their lead cut to just 17-14 over the Utes. UO KR De'Anthony Thomas gave his squad a wake up call by taking the ensuing kickoff back 86 yards for a TD. Then, as they say, the rout was on. The Ducks went on to score 27 straight points to put away the Utes. QB Marcus Mariota led the quack attack with 288 yards through the air and three TDs while playing on an injured knee. QB Adam Schultz threw for 181 yards and a TD in the loss for Utah.
Telling Stat: 27/12; In just over 12 minutes, the Ducks went on a 27-0 run to put this game firmly in the win column.
Colorado 41- California 24: Something had to give. someone had to finally get a Pac 12 win and the home team got it last Saturday. The Buffaloes had lost 14 straight conference games coming into the this contest, but QB Sefo Liufau turned in his best effort of the season. He completed 23 of 36 passes for 364 yards and three TDs to lead CU to victory. The Golden Bears still had a chance to get back in this game down 34-17 with 6:15 to play, but their onside kick was returned 46 yards for a TD by CU's Nelson Spruce. Cal QB Jeff Goff threw for 173 yards and a TD in the loss.
Telling Stat: There is no D in Berkeley; Through 11 games Cal has given up an average of 44 points per game.
UCLA 41- Washington 31: The legend of Myles Jack continues to grow in bRuinland as the LB/RB scored four more TDs in UCLA's win over the Dawgs. The other big story in this game was the injury to UW QB Keith Price. He injured his throwing shoulder just before the half. Price did not answer the bell for the second half and the Dawgs couldn't muster enough offense to mount a serious threat. bRuin QB Brett Hundley threw for 159 yards and two TDs on the night, while his counterpart, Price threw for 181 yards and one TD in one half worth of work.
Telling Stat: 2=14; Washington turned the ball over twice in the first three minutes. That led to 14 quick points for the bRuins which put the Dawgs in a hole that they never could climb out of.
Arizona State 30- Oregon State 17: A strong first half by the Sun Devils propelled them to the victory over the Beavers in Tempe. A pair of TD runs from RB Marion Grice went with a TD jaunt by RB D.J. Foster gave ASU to a 20-3 halftime lead. The Beavers fought back a bit when QB Sean Mannion hit WR Caleb Smith with a 6-yard scoring strike to cut ASU's lead to 20-10 to start the fourth quarter. The Sun Devils then put the game out of reach with a 18-yard field goal by PK Zane Gonzalez and a 23-yard pick-six by DB Robert Nelson. Grice carried the ASU offense rushing for 118 and those two TDs. As for OSU, QB Sean Mannion threw for 320 yards and two scores, but he also threw four costly interceptions.
Telling Stat: The D did it; The ASU defense set the tone in this game holding OSU to just three points, while forcing three punts and two turnovers in the first half.
Observations
...A princely sum of yards; Heidelberg University's mascot is the Student Prince. Heidelberg has a football player on campus too. RB Cartel Brooks set a new NCAA all-division single game rushing record by toting the rock 38 times for 465 yards to lead The 'Berg to a 42-14 win over Baldwin Wallace. Way to go, kid.
…Two wins away; Duke is two wins away from going 10-2 and meeting Florida State in the ACC title game. If the Blue Devils end up shocking the world and making a BCS bowl, it would be their first trip to a major bowl since beating Arkansas, 7-6 in the 1961 Cotton Bowl.
…13 Iron Trojans; USC used just 13 total players on defense in their upset of Stanford last week.
…Quietly making noise; Colorado State is a win away from being bowl-eligible. That's pretty good for a team that's gone 13-35 over the last four seasons.
…And then there were five; There are still five winless teams in the FBS. They are Connecticut, Southern Mississippi, Miami (OH), Hawaii, and Georgia State.
…This air-raid is gonna last awhile; Wazzu HC Mike Leach was given a contract extension through the 2018 season on Monday.
…They got the memo; West Virginia must have actually got the memo that Kansas had the schematic advantage over them. The Jayhawks stopped their 27-game conference losing streak with a 31-19 win over the Mountaineers. That wins shows that every so often even a blind squirrel can find an acorn.
…Ahhh, The exuberance of youth; As the final seconds were counting down in Duke's 48-30 pasting of Miami, the Blue Devil student section started chanting, "We want 'Bama!"
…From our field office in Gridley, CA; One of The Commissioner's field reporters had this comment after Kansas students tore down the goalposts and threw into the lake near campus after KU finally won last Saturday, "The lake should now be called Lake Schematic."
…Their menu options have changed; Stanford went from the Rose or Fiesta Bowl to the Alamo or Holliday Bowl in a little over three hours last Saturday.
…0 for the FBS; Cal is 1-10 this season and the Golden Bears only win is a 37-30 decision over FCS foe Portland State. The Golden Bears have not beaten an FBS foe since last October 13th when they beat Wazzu, 31-17.
…From our field office in Arlington, TX; One of The Commissioner's field reporters in attendance at the Baylor-Texas Tech game texted about how the stadium erupted when USC's upset of Stanford was announced over the PA. These are some fun times going on with the Bears nowadays.
…The Whiner speaks; With Thee Ohio State looking at being hosed by the BCS computer this season, Buckeye HC Urban Meyer is whining about how the BCS is a "flawed" system. Funny, he never said much when he was coaching at Florida. Hmmmmmm.
...Well said, Ted; ESPN Pac 12 blogger Ted Miller said this in his article about Coach O that came out on Monday, "At this point, however, Orgeron is not only getting his guys to run though those brick walls, he's also getting them to hit the wall in the right spot and use good technique while doing so."
Sad Photo Break
You know Your team has lost the fan base when…
You don't have enough students show up to do a decent card stunt. Yes, they have given up at Illinois.
It's time for this year's first edition of Bowl Math!
There are 35 bowl games for the 2013 football season. That means 70 teams will go bowling. Here's the list of bowl eilgible teams as of this week.
There are 42 teams bowl-eligible in the BCS conferences, here's the breakdown:
AAC- 4 (UCF, Louisville, Cincinnati, Houston)
ACC- 8 (Florida State, Clemson, BC, Maryland, Duke, Ga. Tech, Va. Tech, Miami)
Big XII- 6 (Baylor, Okie St. Texas, OU, Kansas State, Texas Tech)
Big 10- 7 (Michigan St., Minnesota, Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio St., Wisconsin)
Pac 12-8 (Oregon, Stanford, Oregon St., Washington, ASU, USC, UCLA, Arizona)
SEC 9- (Missouri, South Carolina, Georgia, Vandy, Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Ole MIss, LSU)
There are three FBS independent teams that are bowl eligible:
Notre Dame, Navy, BYU
There are 20 bowl eligible teams from the Non-BCS conferences:
Conference USA- 6 (East Carolina, Marshall, MTSU, North Texas, Rice, Tulane)
MAC- 6 (Bowling Green, Buffalo, Ohio, Northern Illinois, Ball St., Toledo)
Mountain West- 4 (Fresno St., SDSU, Boise, Utah St.)
Sun Belt- 4 (Louisiana- Lafayette, Arkansas St., Texas St., Western Kentucky)
That means there are a total of 65 teams eligible to fill the 70 available slots. HOWEVER,
There are teams 18 teams on the bowl eligibility bubble. That means there could be a bunch of bowl eligible teams that won't get a bowl bid this season.
Ugly Uniform of The Week
This week's winner is our old friends, the Oregon Ducks.
This olive colored uniform is just horrible. Period.
Departments
Close Game of the Week: San Antonio, TX- With 4:40 to go in the third quarter, Angelo State QB Kyle Washington teamed up with WR Quinn Reels for an 85-yard TD strike. That would be all the Rams would need for a 7-0 win over the Incarnate Word Cardinals.
Blowout of the Week: Livingston, AL- The West Alabama Tigers racked up 13 TDs in a 91-28 rout of the Central State Marauders. The Tigers rushed for 444 yards on 41 carries. That's a nifty 10.8 yards per carry. Gotta give credit to West Albama's PK for going 13 for 13 on PATs.
Razorback Report: The Hogs were off this past week. They will host Mississippi State on Saturday.
Tulane Times: The Green Wave took this last week off. They will host UTEP this coming Saturday.
Horned Frog Headlines: The Frogs fell on a last-second, 41-yard field goal by PK Jack Cantele to Kansas State, 33-31. QB Casey Pachall threw for 248 yards and one TD in the loss. Up next for the Frogs is a bye, then they'll host the Baylor Bears on November 30th to finish the season.
C.W. Post Press: The Pioneers finished the 2013 season by whipping the Pace Setters, 62-28. Post QB Matt Brennan completed 16 of 27 passes for 222 yards and 4 TDs playing in place of the injured Steve Laurino. The Pioneers finish the season at 5-6 and will not be going to the Division II playoffs.
This Week's Three Notes about Nothing
Butterscotch brownies rock.
Pacific Standard Time sucks.
I still miss the old Prudential College Scoreboard.
Until next time folks, remember that Our 75 was better than their 85.
-The Commissioner
