It's Tuesday and that means another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Mel Durslag.
Summaries
Arizona State 55- Notre Dame 31: Have you ever been to a baseball game that looked to be a great matchup on paper and then one of the starting pitchers just self-destructs and the game is lost early? Well, that happened here as ND QB Everett Golson self-destructed for the Irish, but unlike baseball, ND didn't have a reliever to go to. Golson turned then ball over five times which led to 35 ASU points. He couldn't handle the ASU pass rush and the Sun Devils rode those turnovers to a 34-3 halftime advantage. Then, thanks to a great blocking adjustment by ND and ASU's way too conservative play-calling, ND dug themselves out that hole and trailed by just three points with just 6:37 to play. Then, the Sun Devils woke up and put together a 5-play, 75 yard drive to push their lead back out to 10 points. What followed next was Golson's last interception. It was a tipped pass that CB Lloyd Carrington took back 58 yards to the house. That TD sealed the game for ASU and killed off ND's playoff hopes in the process.
Telling Stat: Too much bad to go with all that good; ND QB Everett Golson killed his team with four interceptions and a fumble. However, he also threw for 446 yards and pair of TDs.
Washington State 39- Oregon State 32: Wazzu QB Luke Falk got his first start for the Cougars a week after replacing teammate QB Connor Halliday whose ankle was broken by the USC defense. Falk ran with his first start completing 31 of 41 aerials for 419 yards and five TDs. Falk led the Cougs on drives of 70 and 52 yards to give them a 39-25 lead midway through the fourth quarter. OSU QB Sean Mannion then led his squad on a 11-play, 75 yard drive that was topped off by an 11-yard TD run by RB Terron Ward. The Beavers looked like they held the Wazzu on third down with a little over a minute to play, but OSU CB Larry Scott was flagged with a personal foul. The penalty handed the Cougs a first down and the win. Mannion threw for 419 yards and a TD in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: 1-0; that's the stat that matters to the true Freshman Luke falk who is undefeated as the starting QB at Wazzu.
Oregon 51- Utah 27: The Ducks looked to be on the ropes twice in this one, only to put together two impressive scoring runs to put the Utes away and claim the Pac 12 North title. With the Ducks down 7-0 in the first quarter, Utah WR Kaelin Clay, found himself on the good end of what everyone thought was a 78-yard TD pass from QB Travis Wilson. Unfortunately for Clay, he started his celebration a bit early. He let go of the ball at the one-yard line. While the Utes were celebrating the apparent TD, UO LB Joe Walker saw the referee had thrown his bean bag onto the field. That's the way a ref marks the spot of a fumble. Walker knew that and went for the ball. After a brief scrum he came up with the ball and raced 100 yards for game-tying score. The Utah home crowd was stunned. So were the Utes. UO raced out to 24-10 halftime lead. However, Utah got off the deck and climbed back into this game. In fact, with a little over eight minutes left, the Utes trailed 30-27 and were lining up for a game-tying field goal attempt from PK Andy Phillips. Phillips' 48-yrd attempt doinked off the right upright and the Utes never recovered. Oregon then went on one of their patented blink-and-you-miss-it scoring runs and the final score look like a Duck blowout. UO QB Marcus Mariota kept his Heisman hopes alive throwing for 239 yards and three scores, while running for 114 yards and another TD. As for the Utes, QB Travis Wilson completed 18 of 28 passes for 297 yards, a pair of TDs and a pair of interceptions.
Telling Stat: Fumble 24, Doink 21; The Ducks seized on Utah's two big mistakes and ran with them. Well, they actually ran and passed with them. After Utah WR Kaelin Clay fumbled, the Ducks went on a 24-0 run, after the Doink by PK Andy Phillips, the Quack Attack went on a 21-0 run to seal the game.
Arizona 38- Colorado 20: Colorado actually led this game after three quarters, 24-20 but a strong fourth quarter by UofA QB Anu Solomon made up for an abysmal performance last week v. UCLA and brought home a win for the Wildcats. Solomon completed 21 of 38 passes for 211 yards and four TDs. He also racked up 105 yards rushing on 13 carries. The UofA defense got into the act too. They didn't really shutdown Colorado. but did manage to return a fumble for a TD. For the Buffaloes, QB Sefo Liufau completed 24 of 33 passes for 252 yards and a TD. CU WR Shay Fields led all receivers on the night with 94 yards on five catches and a TD.
Telling Stat: 14-0; UofA blanked Colorado 14-0 in the fourth quarter to won the game. UofA QB Anu Solomon threw two TD passes while the Wildcat defense forced two CU punts, picked off a pass and held for downs to help claim victory.
UCLA 44- Washington 20: A lot of attention was paid to UCLA HC Jim Mora heading into this game as it was a homecoming for him to his old stomping grounds in Seattle. Everyone left the game talking about bRuins QB Brett Hundley. Hundley had a showcase kind of game, throwing for 302 yards and a pair of TDs. He also ran for a pair of scores and set the UCLA career passing touchdown
record in the process. The bRuins jumped on the Dawgs quickly jumping out to an early 14-3 lead, then UCLA extended that to a 31-10 advantage by halftime. The second half saw both teams trade scores with UCLA firmly in command of the game. The match of dual threat QBs didn't turn into much of one as UW QB Cyler Miles threw for only 155 yards with no TDs and an interception.
Telling Stat: Too little, too late; 2/3 of Washington's offensive output came in garbage time after UCLA built up a 38-13 lead and started to look ahead to their annual showdown with USC.
Observations
...A different game; Came across this tidbit in the paper the other day. Back in 1925, Boston University and Brown played a football game that didn't use a clock. The experiment was called a "scripted game." Each quarter consisted of 40 plays. That broke down to 20 offensive plays per team, per quarter. Brown won this experimental game, 42-6.
...Only a rumor; There is no truth to the rumor that ASU students were seen wearing new t-shirts this week that said, "I intercepted an Everett Golson pass, didn't You?"
...Embrace it, don't chase it; Why does the USC administration try so hard to make sure nobody has any fun on campus when a game is on a Thursday? Every other school with a Thursday game treats it like a Saturday and just adds a day to the academic calendar to make up for it. They approved this deal that includes Thursday night games, they need to roll with it.
...A big win, now a big loss; Remember when UCLA's crushing of ASU was a resume builder for the bRuins? Now, it's a resume detractor for the Sun Devils.
...All by himself; To say that ND QB Everett Golson is a tunrover machine is an understatement. Golson has lost the leather via fumble or interception 17 times this year. His personal turnover total is higher than the team turnover total of 74 FBS squads.
...Not even a blip on the radar; Miami has dropped so far off the college football map, you'd think they entered the FBI witness protection program.
...Par for this year's course; Every USC opponent in the Pac 12 South has more time to prepare to face USC than the Trojans do for their opponent. It breaks down to USC's Pac 12 South foes having 34 extra prep days over the course of the season. Wow.
...Tied with Mr. Schematic Advantage; Kansas knocked off Iowa State for their first Big XII win in almost two seasons. Interim HC Clint bowen picked up his first Big XII win in just his fifth game as HC. That ties him in Big XII wins with Charlie Weis. It took Weis 28 games to acquire one Big XII win.
...Kid with a gun; in just two games with significant playing time, Wazzu QB Luke Falk has completed 69.5% of his passes for 817 yards and seven TDs.
...Best line of the weekend; It was uttered by my sister as we tuned in for a look at the Michigan-Northwesrtern game. It was scoreless in the third quarter. She said, "This game is so boring. It's like watching the World Cup."
...Unbeaten and uncared for; Marshall is 9-0 and nobody cares.
...On Brave old Army team; The Cadets beat the UCOnn Huskies, 35-21 at the new Yankee Stadium. Just seems like a classic thing hearing about Army playing at Yankee Stadium. Oh, by the way, USC played Army once at Yankee Stadium. It was 1951 and SC won, 28-6. Some guy named Vince Lombardi was Army's backfield coach.
...The shootout nobody saw; Boise State survived a barn-burner, escaping with a 60-49 win over New Mexico. The game featured 1,285 yards off offense, 52 first downs and 15 TDs. However, New Mexico had the best stat. The Lobos rushed for 505 yards on the Broncos. Wow.
...Opposite directions; ASU WR Jalen Strong's one-handed TD grab v. ND and Utah WR Kaelin Clay's fumble at the goal line and return 99 yards for an Oregon TD show the true ecstasy and agony of college football.
...Cruel irony; Minnesota has a legitimate shot at winning the Big Ten title. The Gophers are the Big Ten team with the longest Rose Bowl drought, not having been since beating UCLA, 21-3 in 1962. However, this year the Rose Bowl is a National Semi-Final game in the new College Football Playoff. So, even if they win the Big Ten, there will be no roses for the Gophers.
...And then there was still one; SMU is still the only winless team in the FBS.
...Attack of the underdogs; How screwed up would the bowl season be if Minnesota won the Big Ten, Duke won the ACC and Missouri won the SEC?
Going Bowling
As of this week, 57 FBS squads are bowl eligible. That's 19 teams shy of the 76 needed to fill this year's bowls. Several teams will become bowl-eligible soon, but as of this week it is funny to see that Duke is bowl eligible and Stanford, Michigan, Texas and Florida are not.
Cool Uniform of the Week: Army gets the nod for a cool alternate uniform with their all-black and camo look. This is the USMA, they are the Black Knights of the Hudson. Camo is also something they wear at the academy. So, if anybody is allowed this uniform combo it is Army. They also made it look really good.
Good Helmet of the Week: I usually hate it when teams don't wear their school colors, but ASU's Desert Fuel uniforms look pretty good. The nod to the state's copper mining industry came off well. The white helmet with the copper pitchfork and facemask rocked.
Departments
Close Game of the Week: Amherst, MA- Amherst College makes it in this column a second straight week with their 17-9 win over Williams. This game didn't make the column because of Amherst QB Max Lippe's two TD passes or that this game was the first one played at night in this rivalry. It made the column because of the rivalry itself. It's the fourth most played game in NCAA history. This was the two teams 129th meeting. The rivalry is called The Biggest Little Game in America.
Blowout of the Week: Northfield, MN- The Tommies of St. Thomas (MN) crushed the Carleton College Ravens, 83-7. St. Thomas QB John Gould completed 12 of 14 passes for 176 yards and three TDs in one half's worth of work. Meanwhile, the Tommies rushed for 356 yards as a team while holding the Ravens just nine first downs and a little over 100 yards gained for the game.
C.W. Post Press: QB Steve Laurino brought the Pioneers back from a 31-21 fourth quarter deficit to beat the Bentley College Falcons, 34-31. Laurino had another huge day accounting for all five Pioneeer TDs. He completed 38 of 48 passes for 363 yards and three TDs and ran the ball for 97 yards and two more scores. The win puts Post in the Northeast 10 Championship Game. Post will travel to Springfield, MA to take on the American International College Eagles. The winner will claim the conference crown and a spot in the D-II playoffs.
Razorback Report: The Hogs had a much needed bye week and will host LSU this coming Saturday.
Tulane Times: The Green Wave took a trip to Houston and came away with a 31-24 win. QB Tanner Lee hit on 24 of 35 passes for 237 hards and three TDs. The Green Wave took control of this game in the second half, forcing several turnovers and stuffing the Houston offense. The Green Wave allowed a late score, which made this game look closer than it really was.
Horned Frog Headines: The Horned Frogs stayed in contention for the Big XII title with a huge 41-20 spanking of the Kansas State Wildcats. QB Trevone Boykin threw for one score, but it was his legs that beat K-State. Boykin ran the ball 17 tines for 123 yards and three TDs. Up next for the Frogs is a trip to the Sunflower state to take on the Kansas Jayhawks.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing
I actually enjoyed first discussions about Holiday plans that took place over the weekend.
I don't really know how much wood is in a cord of wood and I'm not really motivated to find out.
I've come to the conclusion that Halloween candy is meant to bridge the gap between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Until next week folks, remember that you can't celebrate until you've crossed the goal line.
-The Commissioner
