It's time for the column that makes Tuesdays a little bit better, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Mal Florence.
Summaries
USC 44- Washington State 17: Just how would USC respond after last week's devastating loss to Utah? Just fine. Especially if you break your opposing QB's leg in the first quarter. USC QB Cody Kesller threw for 400 yards and five TDs, with WR JuJu Smith hauling in three of those TD tosses. Nelson Agholor returned a punt for a 65 yards TD and caught 8 passes for 220 yards and a TD too. Agholor's punt return TD was the fourth in his career at SC, which made him the Trojans all-time leader in punt return touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Trojan defense did force three Wazzu turnovers in addition to the broken leg and managed to keep the Cougars off the scoreboard for most of the second half after they had closed to within striking distance of USC early in the third quarter. USC RB Buck Allen had yet another 100-yard rushing game, his sixth straight. Allen leads the Pac 12 in rushing. WSU QB Luke Falk threw for 346 yards and two TDs in relief of injured QB Connor Halliday.
Telling Stat: This game was was over when...; When the USC defense broke WSU QB Connor Halliday's leg in the first quarter. Sorry folks, that's the cold hard fact.
Arizona State 19- Utah 16 -OT: This battle for the top slot in Pac 12 South was not seen by most of the nation due to its' 8:00 PM kickoff time, but as one of the few who did see it, I can tell you it was a really good game. ASU owned the stat sheet, but found themselves on the wrong side of a 16-13 deficit as Utah's defense and rushing game kept the Utes ahead. Utah RB Devatae Booker was the Utes offense toting the rock 37 times for 146 yards and his team's lone TD. For ASU, it was QB Taylor Kelly's 205 yards passing and one TD that kept them in the game. However, this game came down to the kickers. After sending the game to OT with a 30-yard file goal, ASU PK Zane Gonzlaez watched Utah PK Andy Phillips miss not once, but twice in the lone overtime period. On Phillips' first attempt from 35- yards out, he missed wide right, but time-out had been called by Utah because the play clock had almost hit zero. Then, on the second attempt, Phillips overcorrected and missed wide left. Gonzlaez then got his shot and hit from 36 yards put to give ASU the win.
Telling Stat: It's when you miss a kick that matters. ASU and Utah's K both missed kicks in this game. However, ASU's PK missed in the second quarter, Utah's PK missed in OT and that, my friends, was the difference in the game.
California 44- Oregon State 21: The Beavers fell behind early in this one, then rallied to take a 31-27 lead late, only to see the Golden Bears go on an 18-0 run to finish the game and get out of Corvalis with a win. The Bears offense, which lives and dies by the pass, beat OSU with the run. RB Daniel Lasco rushed for 188 yards on 30 carries and three TDs. As a team, Cal racked up 269 yards rushing on the Beavers. Not to be forgotten on this night is OSU QB Sean Mannion's record setting effort. Mannion passed USC's Matt Barkley to be the Pac 12's career passing yardage leader. Mannion completed 30 of 45 passes for 320 yards and two TDs.
Telling Stat: 3 out of 4 = W; The Golden Bears played well for the first half, took the third quarter off, then owned the fourth quarter to claim victory.
UCLA 17- Arizona 7: The bRuins new ugly uniforms matched their nasty attitude as they wanted to erase their near embarrassment at Colorado last week. Coupled with that nasty attitude was an Arizona QB who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn which led to a 17-7 bRuin victory. Neither offense did much all night as Arizona took a 7-3 lead into halftime behind a 14-yard TD pass from QB Anu Solomon to WR Cayleb Jones. UCLA took over the game in the third quarter with a methodical march and a lightning strike. The methodical march was a 12 play, 58 yard drive that culminated with RB Paul Perkins scampering in from five yards out to put the his squad ahead. Then, a little over a minute later, the lighting strike occurred when UCLA QB Brett Hundley found WR Jordan Payton wide open for a 70-yard touchdown. UofA's anemic offense tried respond after that TD, but could never capitalize on those opportunities.
Telling Stat: Not his night; Despite throwing for a TD pass on his team's opening drive, UofA QB Anu Solomon played like a freshman, hitting on only 18 of 48 passes. Many of his throws missed wide open receivers.
Washington 38- Colorado 23: The Huskies turned the ball over three times, converted on only 2 of 11 third down attempts and had the ball 10 minutes less than CU, but escaped Boulder with a win thanks to special teams and defense. Up just 24-23 late in the third quarter, UW DB Travis Feeney picked off a Sefo Liufau pass and took it back 30 yards for a TD. Then, early in the fourth period, PR Dane Pettis raced 87 yards for a TD on a punt return to seal the win for the Dawgs. UW's offensive standout was Shaq Thompson who played RB this week and gained 174 yards on 15 carries with a TD. As for the hapless Buffs, QB Sefo Liufau completed 36 of 53 passes for 314 yards and a pair of scores.
Telling Stat: They finished strong; The Washington defense forced three punts, two fumbles, picked off a pass and held for downs once on Colorado's final seven drives to hand their struggling offense the win.
Oregon 45- Stanford 16: This matchup has been one of the marquee games in the Pac 10/Pac 12 over the last few seasons. Styles make fights, and Stanford's power v. Oregon's speed was one always worth finding DVR space for. Ummm, Not this year. Oregon showed just how ordinary Stanford has become by trouncing the Trees up in Eugene. The Cardinal had no answer for UO QB Marcus Mariota who completed 19 of 30 passes for 258 yards and two TDs to go with 85 yards rushing on nine carries and two more TDs. Stanford QB threw for 237 yards in a losing effort.
Telling Stat: beat in all phases; Oregon whipped Stanford from beginning to end. The Ducks owned the scoreboard and the stat sheet. They even had over 100 yards more rushing than the Cardinal.
Notre Dame 49- Navy 39: ND QB Everett Golson shined, but as a whole the Fighting Irish looked far from a playoff team in their shootout with the Midshipmen. Golson had the night of his life, completing 18 of 25 passes for 315 yards and three TDs. He also ran for 33 yards and three more scores. However, the Irish defense gave up 454 yard to Navy with 336 of those coming on the ground. In the loss, Navy RB Noah Copeland ran for 138 yards and QB Keenan Reynolds threw for 118 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Telling Stat: Too close; ND didn't put this game away until the 1:27 mark of the fourth quarter. That really impressed the playoff committee.
Observations
...No class, no excuse; The decision of the Maryland team captains not to shake the hands of the Penn State captains was a classless gesture. I think team captains need to be held to higher standard and so does the Big Ten. From their statement on the matter, "For many, many decades the intercollegiate pregame handshake has been in place to reflect a spirit of good will and utmost appreciation for your, opponent, the game, and the institutions that sponsor your sport. Selection as a team captain is an honor that carries with it a greater responsibility to act in a manner consistent with those principles."
...Running down hill; Wyoming freshman RB Brian Hill almost single-handedly dismantled Fresno State last Saturday. He had 387 yards from scrimmage and two TDs on just 26 touches. He ran the ball 23 times for 281 yards and had three receptions for 106 yards. Hill's two TDs came on runs of 32 and 66 yards. Ragtime Cowboy Joe is happy indeed.
...Quietly making noise; Colorado State is 8-1 this season with a shot to get to the Mountain West title game.
...You can't spell suck without K-U; Kansas got smashed by Baylor, 60-14. It was another loss in a dismal Jayhawk football season. Now, with former HC Chalie Weis still fired, does KU send people memos informing them that Kansas has a schematic disadvantage? Hmmmmm
...Lots of laundry again; The flag-happy refs of the Pac 12 had another big day. There was a full slate of six conference games with 78 penalties accepted for 714 total penalty yards in those six games. That's an average of 13 penalties accepted for 119 yards per game. Wow.
...Eight is not great; Really folks, the ASU-Utah game's 8:00 PM kickoff was nuts. Way to go Pac 12 schedule makers! The only way for less people to have seen the game would have been to show it on the Pac 12 Network in exciting standard def.
...Slow, plodding, and can't come from behind; Those have been the knocks on the Stanford offense over the last few seasons, however antiquated now seems to apply.
...Gameday fail; College Gameday is going to be in East Lansing this week for the OSU- Michigan State game this week. I think they should be in Fort Worth for the TCU- Kansas State game. Then again, I see the Gameday Crew's reasoning. It may be their only chance to attend a semi-relevant Big Ten game this season,
...Not impressed; Sorry Irish fans, you shouldn't be struggling in the fourth quarter with Navy if you want to be taken seriously. Remember Irish faithful, you were in a close game with a school that has height and weight restrictions for military service.
...A little love for Lee; Corso that is. The former Louisville and Indiana HC and College Gameday mainstay did his 250th headgear selection last Saturday. He donned the TCU Super Frog head and TCU won the game. Corso is 179-71 in headgear selections. That's a winning percentage anybody would love. Oh, and by the way, Corso is 16-0 when picking USC to win.
...No love for the Tigers; Funny, how with Georgia's inexplicable loss to Florida, that nobody is talking about how Missouri is once again the top team in the SEC East.
...Hoosiers don't tackle; Newcomers Rutgers and Maryland have better Big Ten records than Indiana. Here's a tip Indiana fans. Watch that copy of Hoosiers that you downloaded and pray for Bobby Knight to return to Indiana basketball.
...Random football movie line of the week: "Reno Hightower was the greatest quarterback in the history of Kern County."- Jack Dundee
Going Bowling
It's time to start talking about bowls and bowl eligibility. There are 39 bowl games this year. Two teams will play in the two games because of the playoff, so that means that there will be 76 teams going to bowls this season in the FBS. Currently there are 45 bowl-eligible teams. The SEC leads with eight bowl-eligible teams, the American Athletic Conference is worst with one bowl-eligible team. The American, MAC, and Sun Belt conferences have more teams eliminated from bowl eligibility than are bowl-eligible. It will be interesting to see if all 76 post season slots can be filled this season without an NCAA waiver.
Ugly Uniform of the Week: Could there be any other choice than the UCLA bRuins? Their "L.A. Steel" uniforms didn't look like like steel. They looked like what you' have to wear in jail if your were caught stealing. Oh, the illegible gold numbers and their West Hollywood Gold cleats provided the finishing touches to this award-winning ensemble.
Bad Helmet of the Week: Maryland has several variations of the Maryland state flag on several different sets of helmets. Well, Texas Tech got into the state flag theme last week v. Texas with helmets that resembled the Texas state flag. The problem is that they added a Texas text logo to the flag. Just a bad idea and an ugly helmet for a team whose colors are red and black.
Yes, that is the same helmet. It took two photos to show both sides. YUK.
Close Game of the Week: Hartford, CT- QB Max Lippe hit WR Jackson McGonagle with a 20-yard TD pass with just 6:43 to play to lift Amherst College to a 7-6 victory over the Trinity College Bantams. This was a defensive battle for supremacy of the New England Small College Athletic Conference. The teams combined for only 21 first down and were a woeful 7 of 33 on third down conversions. Also, Amherst wins for the unofficial title of worst mascot of this week. The MAherst mascot is Lord Jeffrey Amherst. Yes, that's pretty new england upper-crusty lame.
Blowout of the Week: Commerce, TX- Down in the Lone Star conference, the Texas A&M Commerce Lions put a Texas-sized beating on the McMurray University War Hawks, 91-13. The lions had plenty of short fields to play on in this game as Mcm array pun ted poorly and managed to turn the ball over several times. Before taking the second half off, QB Tyrik Rollison completed 7 of 10 passes for 203 yards and three TDs.
C.W. Post Press: New Haven, CT- The Pioneers fell behind on an early field goal to the Southern Connecticut State Owls, but then took control of the game the rest of the way earning a 28-3 win. Qb Steve Laurino hit on 21 of 36 passes for 281 yards and three TDs to go with one TD rushing to account for all four Post TDs on the afternoon. Up next for Post is a home game with Bentley University. The Pioneers sit in second place in the Northeast-10 standings and a win would mean a spot in the Northeast-10 title game and a possible rematch with American International College. The winner of that game would most likely move on to the Division-II playoffs.
Tulane Times: The Green Wave took a trip to Cincinnati last Friday and were whipped by the Bearcats, 38-14. The one and only Munchie Legaux led the Bearcat offensive with 211 yards passing with three TDs. As for Tulane, QB Tanner Lee got the start this week and threw for 205 yards and a TD on the night. Up next for the Green Wave is a trip to Houston.
Razorback Report: It was another floes, heart-breaking loss for the Hogs as they came within an eye-lash of upsetting the number one team in the land, Mississippi State. The Hogs nada 10-0 lead but just couldn't hold on as the Bulldogs scored the last 17 points of the game. with 13:21 left in the fourth period, MSU Q Dak Prescott hit WR Fred Ross with a 69-yard TD strike. Hogs RB Alex Collins was a bright spot for the Hogs finishing with 93 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Up next for the Hogs is a much needed bye week.
Horned Frog Headlines: The Horned Frogs came back from deficits of 13-0, 27-14 and 30-21 to defeat West Virginia on a last-second field goal by PK Jaden Oberkrom. The TCU defense forced five turnovers to help their offense overcome their worst outing of the season. TCU QB Trevone Boykin finished with 166 yards passing, 49 yards rushing and both a passing and a rushing TD. Up next for the Frogs is a Big XII showdown with Kansas State for the top spot in the conference.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing
I don't like hard-wired smoke detectors.
Went to Target on Halloween, the Halloween section was already mostly torn down and Christmas stuff was on the shelves. Yuk.
I never seem to get that extra hour of sleep I think I'm going to get when we all "Fall Back" to standard time.
Until next week folks, remember that you are allowed to ask for a free kick after a fair catch.
-The Commissioner
