It must be Tuesday and that means another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
Arizona State 38- USC 34: Well where do I begin to describe this epic collapse at the Coliseum? Well, I could start off with the good things. Good things like the fact that USC RB Buck Allen rushed for 143 yards and two TDs or that the USC defense held ASU to 31 yards rushing for the game or that USC PK Andre Heidari has become money in the FG department easily nailing two more three pointers this week or I could just describe the epic collapse and get it over with. Let's get it over with. With 3:02 to play USC held a 34-25 lead over the Sun Devils and just needed one defensive stop to really seal the win. Instead USC CB Kevon Seymour decided to jump an out route instead of just making the tackle. 73 yards later WR Cameron Smith had cut the Trojan lead to 34-32. Then after, not being able to run out the clock and a horrifically shanked punt by QB Cody Kessler (Why again was this guy punting?) ASU had one last chance from the USC 45-yard line. At this point mass confusion hit the Trojan coaching staff. Two separate defenses were called. Half the defense heard one call, the other half heard the other call. Despite this though, they were eight Trojans back defending the Hail Mary throw by ASU QB Mike Bercovici. However, all of them looked like they were ready to make a fair catch or ready to play a game of Three Flies Up. While the defenders stood around, ASU WR Jalen Strong actually jumped for the ball, hauled it in and waltzed into the end zone. Yes, the Trojans had pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. In the process, Bercovici became an ASU football God throwing for 510 yards and five TDs on the night. Meanwhile, USC was left with a stunning loss, but some really good artificial enthusiasm from USC HC Steve Sarkisian's towel-waving sideline walk-on dancers.
Telling Stat: 20/243; In the final six minutes, the USC defense gave up 20 points and 243 yards to lose a very winnable game.
California 60- Washington State 59: With 19 seconds left on the clock, Wazzu QB Connor Halliday had played the game of his life. He completed 49 of 70 passes for 734 yards and six TDs. He had engineered one final drive and had his team poised to score with a 3rd-and-goal on the Cal two-yard line. He wouldn't get another chance to throw. Wazzu HC Mike Leach sent out the field goal unit. PK Quentin Breshears came on for a 19-yard field goal attempt. Breshears' kick sailed wide right and Cal escaped with the win. Halliday's 734 yards passing set a new NCAA all-division record for yardage surpassing the 716 yards thrown for by Houston's David Klingler in 1990. As for the winning squad, Cal QB Jered Goff completed 37of 53 tosses for 527 yards and five TDs.
Telling Stat; The one down he didn't use; With it only being third down on the two-yard line and 19 seconds left, Wazzu HC Mike Leach decided on the field goal instead of letting QB Connor Halliday have one last shot at the end zone.
Oregon State 36- Colorado 31: It was a three-legged monster that led the Beavers to a win in Boulder. The first two legs belonged to RB Teron Ward who carried the ball 12 times for 102 yards a pair of TDs to lead the Beaver rushing attack. The third leg belonged to PK Trevor Romaine who aided the cause by connecting on field goals of 33, 38, and 47 yards. The Buffaloes were led once again by QB Sefo Liufau who completed 32 of 49 aerials for 308 yards and two TDs. The OSU defense sealed the victory holding for downs at their own 40-yard line with under two minutes to play.
Telling Stat: Two early punches; Oregon State came out and took a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter and held on from there to pick up the win at Colorado.
Arizona 31- Oregon 24: For the second straight year the Wildcats had a good Duck hunt. This time they shot the Ducks down in Eugene. UofA did what they did last year when they beat Oregon. They hit UO QB Marcus Mariota early and often. It didn't help that UO had three O-line starters out due to injury. While dodging a ton of lookout blocks, Mariota managed to still throw for 276 yards and a pair of scores in the loss. Meanwhile, Arizona's running game led the way for their offense with RBs Terri Jones-Grigsby and Nick Wilson combining to tote the rock 40 times for 207 yards and three TDs. Wilson also caught a pass for a TD too.
Telling Stat; Sack+Strip+Recovery= Upset; UofA LB Scooby Wright sealed the upset for Arizona when he sacked Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, stripped the ball from him and then recovered it.
Utah 30- UCLA 28: By the time UCLA took the field Saturday night, almost half the top 25 had been beaten and a win by the bRuins would vault them into the AP top five. So, in typical bRuin fashion, they choked. UCLA was sluggish from the start, trailing all game long to the inspired Utes. Then with just 4:50 to play, bRuin QB Brett Hundley connected with WR Eldrige Massington for a 40-yard TD pass to go ahead 28-27. After the ensuing kickoff, Utah calmly drove 63 yards in 10 plays and took the lead back on a 29-yard field goal by PK Andy Phillips. However, the UCLA wasn't done. The bRuins drove down the field far enough for a long field goal attempt from Kai'Imi Fairbairn. He missed the 55- yard attempt, but drew a running into the kicker penalty with a great flop. That gave UCLA one more shot at the field goal with no time left on the clock. Fairbairn missed again and the Utes came away with the win. For the victorious Utes, RB Devonte Booker was the star, rushing for 156 yards on 33 carries and one TD. As for UCLA, Hundley threw for 2269 yards in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: They had to win it twice; Thanks to the Pac 12 refs horrible call, Utah had to wait out two missed field goals to claim victory over UCLA.
Notre Dame 17- Stanford 13: The Stanford formula of winning tight games with a strong running game and a good defense has seemed to fall apart a bit this season. Saturday was another example of this fact. Despite being held to just 205 total yards by the Irish, the Cardinal held a 14-10 lead with just 3:01 to play. ND's final drive was aided with a timely pass interference call on Stanford, but the Cardinal did have ND backed into a 4th and 11 from the Stanford 23-yard line. Then, the vaunted Stanford defense fell apart again. ND TE Ben Koyack was left all alone in the end zone where QB Everett Golson found him for the winning TD pass. Golson finished the day completing 20 of 43 aerials for 241 yards and both Irish TDs. As for the Cardinal QB Kevin Hogan threw for 158 yards and ran for a score.
Telling Stat: Flags just don't fall on the Irish; In this even game, two of Notre Dame's three scoring drives were aided by 15-yard penalties on Stanford. As for the game as a whole, Stanford was flagged nine times, ND just once. Hmmmmm
Observations
...Sooner or later; With the changes to the college game over the years to increase competitive balance in the all the conferences, a weekend full of upsets like this past one was bound to happen.
...Ordinary Ducks; Funny how bad the Oregon defense looked when they had to really play a full four quarters.
...4-1 and irrelevant; How's that decision to go independent working out for ya, BYU?
...Scooby drinks free; For the rest of his life, UofA LB Scoobey Wright will never have to pay for a drink in Tucson.
...The inside track; Well, the Commander-In-Chief''s trophy is all but decided after Air Force beat Navy over the weekend.
...A note to USC HC Steve Sarkisian; KNOCK IT DOWN!!!
...Golden Barely getting it done; California is 2-0 in their last two games despite giving up 115 points and 1442 yards of offense.
...He's still not there; former ND and Kansas HC Charie Weis is still fired.
...Plenty of laundry out there; In the five Pac 12 conference games this week there was an average of 12 penalties called per game. That's way too much yellow on the green. Oh, and the only reason the average wasn't higher is that there were only seven flags thrown in the UCLA-Utah game. All the others were double digit flags.
...It only took five games, but the Lane Kiffin effect has hit Alabama.
...Just a thought; I think Oregon would trade some of their ugly uniforms for a good offensive line. I know Marcus Mariota would.
....A tip from The Commissioner; With almost every Pac 12 game coming down to the wire lately, better add that 30 minute extension to all your recordings.
...A note USC DC Justin Wilcox; KNOCK IT DOWN!!!
...And then there were five; There are five winless teams left in the FBS. They are Idaho, Kent State, Massachusetts, SMU, and Troy.
...Stop pretending ESPN; Just tell us all for the rest of the year that College Gameday will be at an SEC school each week.
...A Boulder feeling; The Pac 12 Network should be called the Colorado Football Channel.
...Hail to the what?; Forget all about the other stats, here's the only one that matters. Michigan is dead last in the Big Ten with a 2-4 overall record and 0-2 record in conference play. Yes folks, mighty Michigan is in the cellar of the Big Ten East behind the likes of Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana.
...Getting jacked for the Bears and Frogs; Looking forward to this week's Baylor-TCU game. Maybe it's just the old Southwest Conference fan in me.
...They are lying to you; Anybody who tells you they expected this week's Northwestern-Minnesota matchup to be for sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West is lying through their teeth.
...7,100 feet; That's roughly the drop in elevation the Wyoming Cowboys will deal with as they travel to Hawaii this week.
...Quietly making noise; The Georgia Southern Eagles, you know the team that beat Florida at The Swamp last season, is having a really good first year in the FBS. They are 4-2 overall and 3-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Eagles two losses were by a combined five points to NC State and Georgia Tech.
...Not the sharpest tools in the shed; This USC team has to be one of the lowest registering teams in terms of football IQ I've seen in a long time. To paraphrase Cheech Marin's Character of Romeo in Tin Cup, "You know, the mental game, en la cabesa, they don't got it."
...Brian Dowling alert; Haravrd and Yale are both 3-0. Shades of 1968 abound.
...Just not the same; It's about this time of year that I miss Keith Jackson, Chris Schenkel, and Bill Fleming.
Ugly Uniform of the Week: When you have no real tradition and your selling point is infinite ugly uniform combinations, after a loss all you're left with is the ugly uniform and no tradition. Nice job, Fighting Pink Ducks of Oregon.
Departments
Blowout of the Week: Columbus, OH- Perennial Division III power Mount Union destroyed Capitol College, 75-0. The Purple Raiders ran up 730 yards of offense with 10 of their TDs and 491 of those yards coming on the ground. Mount Union's top four RBs all average over 10 yards per carry. Meanwhile the Purple Raider defense held Capitol to 60 total yards and just eight first downs.
Close Game of the Week: Middlebury, VT- Just 25 seconds into the third period, Amherst RB Nick Kelly broke through the Middlebury line and scampered 59 yards to paydirt. Kelly's TD would be all that Amherst would get in a 7-0 win over the Middlebury Panthers. Amherst dominated every phase of the game in this one, but the Middlebury defense played 'em tough.
Tulane Times: The Green Wave was off last week and will host Connecticut this coming Saturday.
Horned Frog Headlines: Well, for anyone that didn't hear, TCU pulled off the the home upset of #4 Oklahoma, 37-33. The Frogs never trailed in this one, racing out to an early 14-0 lead and never looking back. TCU QB Trevone Boykin threw for 318 yards and a pair of scores to lead the offense. Up next for TCU is a trip to Waco to take on the Baylor Bears.
Razorback Report: The Hogs were off last week and will host Alabama this Saturday.
C.W. Post Press: Pleasantville, NY- The Pioneers raced out to a 44-21 lead, then hung at the end to defeat the Pace Setters, 44-36. It was an all around effort that led to victory as the Pioneers scored on offense and defense and had a strong kicking game. QB Steve Laurino only threw the ball 14 times but competed eight of those tosses for 136 yards a pair of TDs. Laurino also carried the ball 11 times for 62 yards and another score. Up next for Post is a home date with Stonehill College.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing
There hasn't been one movie this year that I've really wanted to see.
I miss football cards being 10 cents a pack.
A mix up with my new wife's new email address has led to meeting more cousins in the family that we never knew existed.
Until next week folks, remember to KNOCK THE BALL DOWN!
-The Commissioner
