It's time for that column you all love, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 13- Stanford 10: Well, Trojan fans was that enough suspense and drama for you? Let's see, a tight conference game on the road that featured hard hits, big plays, bad penalties, an AD running down to the field to dispute those calls, an ejection, and a 53-yard game-winning field goal. Just another Ho-Hum day up on The Farm. It was a game that boiled down to Stanford's sputtering offense in the red zone, an opportunistic USC defense and just enough offense by the Trojans to come away with a win. Stanford errors and some great plays by the USC defense held the Cardinal to just 10 points on six trips within the USC 25-yard line. That was the difference in the game along PK Andre Heidari's foot. His 53-yard field goal was a thing of beauty. Well, it was after all USC fans held their breath for the first 52 1/2 yards of it.
Telling Stat: A thumb, a kick, and a strip; USC got three huge plays to win this game. DL Delvon Simmons' thumb deflection of a Stanford field goal attempt, PK Andre Heidari's 53-yard field goal, and DE J.R. Tavai's strip of Stanford QB Kevin Hogan in the final seconds spelled Conquest for USC.
Arizona 26- Texas- San Antonio 23: Since starting from scratch as a program in 2011, the UTSA program led by HC Larry Coker, (remember him?), has, as the old Virginia Slims ad said, come a long way baby. The Roadrunners upset Houston in week one and just narrowly missed pulling an upset over the Wildcats this week. The Wildcats escaped with a win as QB Anu Solomon led the charge for the 'Cats hitting on 17 of 32 passes for 231 yards and a TD. UofA RB Nick Wilson also helped the cause by slicing throughout the UTSA defense for 174 yards rushing and a TD of his own on 30 carries. However, despite the effort from those two, UofA's offense did sputter in the red zone. UofA PK Casey Skowron bailed out the offense by connecting on all three of his field goal attempts on the night. UTSA was led by QB Tucker Carter who threw for 228 yards and a TD in the loss.
Telling Stat: They won the turnover battle; It was the only turnover forced all night, but Arizona safety Jared Tevis' interception with 1:20 left let the Wildcats ride out of San Anotonio with a victory.
Oregon State 38- Hawaii 30: The Beavers came out and slapped around Hawaii for nearly three quarters, building up a 38- 7 lead behind the strong play of a pair of Beavers. QB Sean Mannion's 300 yards passing and three TDs went with RB Terron Wards' 124 yards rushing and a pair of scores to build that big lead. Then, in the final 18 minutes, the Beavers lost their edge. Next thing you know, the Warriors had scored 23 straight points and were attempting an onside kick with 1:33 to play. Luckily for OSU, they recovered the onside kick, ran out the clock and ducked out of Hawaii with a win. UH RB Joey Iosefa continued to play well this season, crossing the double stripe three times in the loss.
Telling Stat: They had an early check out time; The Beavers disappeared in the final 18 minutes of the game, getting outscored 23-0 and outgained 219-24 which almost turned a rout into a loss.
UCLA 42- Memphis 35: The bRuins offense seemed to solve the problems they had at Virginia, while the defense had problems in this unexpected shootout at the Rose Bowl. bRuin QB Brett Hundley looked stellar in this one, completing 33 of 44 passes for 396 yards and three TDs. As for Memphis, QB Paxton Lynch threw for 305 yards and one TD in the loss.
Telling Stat: Tough when it counted; UCLA's defense sealed a win by shutting out Memphis in the fourth quarter.
Oregon 46- Michigan State 27: This game was a tale of two halves. The first half was a see-saw affair that was carried by Michigan State. The Spartans held a 24-18 lead as they came back from the break. Oregon then took over. Behind some amazing plays from Heisman Hopeful QB Marcus Mariota and a fired up UO defense, the Ducks outscored Sparty 28-3 to turn this game into a laugher and possibly the Big Ten's death rattle for the 2014 season. Mariota completed 17 of 28 passes for 318 yards and three TDs to lead the UO attack. RB Royce Freeman chipped in 89 yards rushing and a pair of scores of his own to aid the cause. MSU QB Connor Cook threw for 343 yards and two TDs in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: 0 for 19:05; While the UO offense exploded in the second half, the UO defense shutout Michigan State for the final 19:05 to ensure the win.
Nevada 24- Washington State 13: The Wolfpack jumped on Wazzu early and never trailed in their upset of the Cougars. Once again, QB Connor Halliday threw for a bunch of yards and a TD, but the two interceptions he threw once again derailed the Cougars efforts. For Nevada, QB Cody Fajardo didn't turn the ball over, throwing for 110 yards and rushing for 100 more. He and the rest of the Nevada rushing game chewed up Wazzu like a bunch of termites. Nevada only rushed for 3.8 yards per carry, but did rack up 214 yards rushing on 56 carries. That just chewed up clock and kept the sluggish Wazzu offense off the field. PK Brent Zuzo's 40-yard field goal with just 5:07 left took what left of the wind out of the Cougs sails as they never threatened to score again.
Telling Stat: Hidden turnovers killed them; In addition to those two Connor Halliday interceptions, The Cougars also missed two field goals and turned the ball over on downs twice in the loss.
Arizona State 58- New Mexico 23: In a matchup of old Border Conference foes, the Sun Devils played three out of four quarters and ran away from the Lobos. The Sun Devils did run away, over and around the Lobo defense to the tune of 423 yards rushing. 216 of those yards on just 19 carries belonged to RB DJ Foster who also ran for a TD. In fact, five different ASU backs scored on the ground for ASU. The Sun Devils took an early 22-0 lead in the first quarter, took the second quarter off allowing UNM to cut the score to 32-21 by halftime. Then ASU flipped the switch back on and outscored the Lobos 26-2 in the second half to claim the win.
Telling Stat: Second half shutdown; The Arizona State defense tranquilized the Lobo offense in the second half holding to UNM to 83 yards, forcing 4 punts, a fumble and holding for downs once in the process.
Colorado 41- Massachusetts 38: The Buffaloes needed a win and they traveled three time zones to get it as they came from behind to beat the Minutemen. UMass has been absolutely awful since joining the FBS ranks, but they gave CU all they could handle with QB Blake Frohnapfel (Don't ask me to pronounce that) lit up the Buffs secondary by completing 20 of 38 tosses for 267 yards and 3 TDs. Frohnapfel's day was a good one, but not as good as CU QB Sefo Liufau who had a day they'd hoped he have when they recruited him to Boulder. He completed 26 of 42 passes for 318 yards and 3 TDs, including what would be the game winner with 11:16 left in the fourth quarter. The loss drops Umass to 2-24 overall since joining the FBS back in 2012.
Telling Stat: -17 yards to victory; Colorado lost 17 yards while trying to run out the clock to end the game. The ball ended up on their own 8-yard line s tine expired.
Washington 59- Eastern Washington 52: FCS powerhouse Eastern Washington just narrowly missed spoiling the return of UW QB Cyler Miles from suspension. Miles did lead his team to the win in this shootout, by rushing for three TDs and throwing for another. However, it was the performance of Eagle QB Vernon Adams, Jr. that left the crowd amazed. All Adams did was complete 31 of 46 passes for 475 yards and seven TDs. Yes folks, seven TDs. He was the EWU offense. Oh, and he also attempted the EWU's onside kick late in the game too. As for the Dawgs offense, most of their yards came on the ground as RB Lavon Coleman led a bevy of Husky backs with 118 yards on 17 carries and a TD. UW as a team toted the rock 57 times for 356 yards and seven TDs. Despite all this offense form the Huskies, the team and their fans couldn't breathe easy in this one until Adams' onside kick fell into UW's hands with just 3:14 to play.
Telling Stat: 2=14=W; Washington's cashed in both of Eastern Washington's turnovers into touchdowns which was the difference win the game.
California 55- Sacramento State: 14 The Golden Bears easily crushed their foes from the Big Sky Conference and easily moved to 2-0 on the young season. Cal QB Jared Goff threw for four TDs and completed 17 of 22 passes for 229 yards ind one half's worth of work. The Bears rolled up a 45-7 halftme lead and turned the second half into glorified scrimmage when they emptied the benches. Sac State QB Garret Safron threw for 149 yards and a TD while running for 60 yards and another score in the loss.
Tellng Stat: They all got a touch; 16 different players handled the ball to help run up the 549 yards of offense and 55 points that the Golden Bears amassed against boys from the capitol city.
Utah 59- Fresno State 27: Fresno State picked up where we all left them last week; getting pounded by a Pac 12 school. As with their game with USC, the Bulldogs found themselves down 24-0 before they could blink. Ute QB Travis Wilson completed only 11 of 20 passes on the day for 181 yards, but five of those completions went for TDs. Most of Utah's yardage came via their running game where a committee of seven RBs lugged the leather 54 times for 258 yards and a pair of scores. As for the Bulldogs, their QB tandem of Brian Burrell and Brandon Connette combined to complete 24 of 40 passes for 283 yards and three TDs.
Telling Stat: They never let 'em get started; Utah forced five three-and-outs on Fresno State's first five possessions, allowing just 2 yards of offense in the process. That allowed the Utah offense the time to bury the Bulldogs early.
Notre Dame 31- Michigan 0: The last scheduled game in this rivalry could not have ended any better for the Fighting Irish. The ND defense forced four Michigan turnovers and harassed Wolverine QB Devin Gardner all night. ND didn't put up a lot of numbers offensively in this one, but they were efficient with the ball and capitalized on the short fields they had after the turnovers. ND QB Everett Golson completed 23 of 34 passes for 226 yards and three TDs. His favorite target seemed to be former Trojan RB and now Irish WR Amir Carlisle who caught seven balls for 61 yards and two TDs. This game marked the first time Michigan had been shutout since a 26-0 loss to Iowa, in 1984.
Telling Stat: A pair of zeroes; 0 points in this game for the Wolverines and 0 chances to avenge this loss for the foreseeable future.
Special Section: Officiating at Stanford
The Pac 12 is known for having some pretty poor officiating. That legendarily poor officiating was on display last Saturday at Stanford. I'm not here to dispute the Sarkisian sideline infraction or the Hayes Pullard targeting call. Those were both legitimate calls that could be made by the letter of the rules. However, I did notice a couple of things during that same kickoff return in which the Pullard targeting call occurred. Just look at these screenshots of the last couple of seconds leading up to the hit by Pullard.
Picture One :47 Mark, Third Quarter
Please look at the Sideline. That's USC PK Andre Heidari getting blocked in the back by #24, Stanford's Patrick Skov.
Picture Two :46 Mark, Third Quarter
Please look in the center of the picture. That's USC's Hayes Pullard being blocked in the back by #44, Stanford's John Flacco. I find it odd that the referees missed both illegal blocks in the back while catching the targeting penalty. Hmmmmmm.
Observations
...Worst winning drive ever; Colorado's drive in which they ran out the clock to preserve the win over Umass was amazingly poor and nearly disastrous. After Umass kicked off following their TD that cut CU's lead to three points with 2:55 to play, the Buffs did manage to make a first down at their own 36-yard line after forcing the Minutemen to burn their timeouts. Then, while burning clock, the Buffs proceeded to lose 26 yards on the next three plays. The game ended with the ball resting on CU's own 8-yard line as time ran out. Whew.
...Just a rumor ; There is no truth to the rumor that new bowl season calendars were issued to all members of the Big Ten Conference in which the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl and National Championship Games were deleted from the bowl schedule.
...SMH and cursing at my TV screen; That's what I did when I learned that Penn State's actions due to the Jerry Sandusky scandal were ended two seasons early by the NCAA. The NCAA is a joke of an organization.
...A little late; South Carolina HC Steve Spurrier's 200th coaching win came a week late for all Gamecock fans.
...The thousand yard stare; Near the end of the Wazzu-Nevada game, many a Cougar player had that vacant look in their eyes. They had checked out of this game long before the clock hit 0:00.
...Channeling Donahue; UCLA does look sputtering and inept at times, however they have eerily similar feel to Terry Donahue's bRuin squads. Those teams would play to the level of their competition, look bad and end up with double digit wins.
...42 = 0; 42 is the number of games in a row that Stanford had won in a row when giving up 13 points or less. Now it's 0.
...Just Run and Shoot me; Sad to see June Jones resign from SMU. His teams were always fun to watch, especially those Hawaii squads with QB Timmy Chang in the shotgun.
...Memo to Texas; Quit scheduling BYU, and if you have already, envoke the buyout clause...NOW!
...A fleeting thought; After seeing the end of the SDSU-North Carolina game and hoping that the Aztecs would have pulled the upset, I saw old Buffet Bob Toledo. I forgot he's the OC for the Aztecs. I now hope SDSU goes 1-11.
...Looking back; Do ya think Notre Dame remembered that Michigan blasted the chicken dance after beating the Irish last year on the day after ND pulled out of the series? I do.
...No need to throw; Georgia Tech only attempted eight passes last week in their 38-21 win over Tulane. The kicker is that they only completed three of those passes for 15 yards while rushing 57 times for 344 yards.
...Ancient Eight Alert; No need to search for the Ivy League. They don't begin playing games until September 19th.
Ugly Uniform of the Week: This goes to the Fighting Hi-Liters of Oregon. No other words are necessary...
Blowout of the Week: Greenville, TN- The Tusculum Pioneers smashed the College of Faith Warriors, 71-0. Normally, I would talk about the offensive stars of this kind of game. This time I will talk about the defense. The Pioneer defense held the Warriors to -124 yards rushing and -100 total yards of offense total for the game. Those totals are NCAA records for all divisions according to several sources. Oh, and Tusculum recorded three safeties in the game as well for good measure.
Close Game of the Week: Saint Joseph, MO- The Griffons of Missouri Western University pulled out a 10-9 win over the Central Missouri State Mules thanks to NT Arbanas Elliot. With the Griffons down 9-3 and a little over two minutes to play, Elliot came up with a lineman's dream. He intercepted QB Hayden Hawk's pass at the Mules 12-yard line and rumbled seven yards to give his squad a first and goal at the CMoSt. five-yard line. Three plays later RB Raphael Spencer hit paydirt from three yards out to tie the game. Then, PK Will Mondragon's PAT kick split the uprights to give Missouri Western their margin of victory.
Razorback Report: The Hogs took out their frustration over losing to Auburn last week on FCS foe Nicholls State, 73-7. Arkansas ran up a 35-0 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back. The Razorbacks rushed the ball 40 times for 495 yards and six TDs. That's a nifty 12.4 YPC if you're doing the math at home. RB Alex Collins ran for three TDs and 131 yards on 13 carries in this laugher. Up next for the Razorbacks is a trip to Texas Tech.
Tulane Times: It was not a good home opener for the Green Wave as they were stung by Georgia Tech, 38-21. Tulane was in this game, down only 24-21 at the half, but the Yellow Jackets came out and shutout the Green Wave, 14-0 in the second half. Tulane QB Tanner Lee threw for 172 yards and a pair of scores, but also had three big interceptions in the loss. Up next for Tulane is another home game v. Southeastern Louisiana.
Horned Frog Headlines: TCU had a bye last Saturday. The Horned frogs will host Minnesota this week.
C.W. Post Press: Brookville, NY- The Pioneers of C.W. Post went out and dropped their opening game of the season 43-35 to East Stroudsburg. Pioneer QB Steve Laurino had a good day in defeat, completing 28 of 43 aerials for 351 yards and a pair of TDs, but ESU QB Matt Soltes had a better one in victory. Stoles hit on 19 of 34 passes for 384 yards and 4 TDs. The game was a see-saw affair with ESU scoring 13 points in the last eight minutes to claim the win. Up next for Post is a visit from the University of New Haven.
UCA Bear Facts: Conway, AR- The Bears opened up their home slate and pulled off a fourth quarter comeback to beat Tennessee-Martin, 26-24. The winning score came when QB Ryan Howard connected with WR Courtney Whitehead from 14 yards out. Following a missed PAT by PK Jace Denker, Bear DB Bobby Watkins picked off UTM QB Jarod Neal on their own 30-yard line to snuff out the Skyhawks final drive. UCA is now 1-1 on the season and will travel to Bozeman, Montana to take on the Montana State Bobcats.
From Our field office in Palo Alto...
"Timmmberrrr!" - A USC band tweet.
And Now This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
The tri-tip sandwich at Harris Ranch rocks.
The beach at Carmel in the early morning is a beautiful thing.
Ready Player One is a great book for any of us kids who grew up on the Atari 2600.
Until next time folks, remember that the right blitz called at the right time can win you a game.
-The Commissioner
