After a triumphant return from the Valley of the Sun, it's time again for the column that makes your Tuesday better than usual, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Dave Diles.
Summaries
USC 42- Arizona State 14: While Arizona's self destruction was being seen by all on the vision boards at Sun Devil Stadium, it became clear that ASU would have the hold up the honor of the cactus state v. the Trojans. However, ASU took their turn to self destruct as USC built up a 35-0 halftime lead and then turned the second half into a glorified scrimmage. It was another five TD game for USC QB Cody Kessler who connected on 19 of 33 aerials for 375 yards and five scores. Oh, and WR/CB Adoree Jackson was Mr. All-Everything for the Trojans again hauling in three passes for 131 yards and one TD while playing tough defense. The Trojans turned this game into a rout by extending a 21-0 lead to a 35-0 lead at the half in a span of 22 seconds. First, DB Chris Hawkins scooped up a Sun Devil fumble and raced 94 yards with it to the house to put SC up 28-0. Then on the ensuing kickoff, ASU KR Gump Hayes, made a pure bonehead play by hesitating then finally deciding to take the kick out from deep in his own end zone. He was slammed by USC's LB Quinton Powell. The ball popped out and FB Soma Vainuku recovered the ball on the ASU 4-yard line. Three plays later, Kessler hit WR Juju Smith-Schuster for a TD and a 35-0 lead going into halftime. ASU RB Demario Richard rushed for 131 yards and two TDs on 14 carries in the loss.
Telling Stat: 5 for 35; USC's defense forced three turnovers and two missed field goals which the offense turned into a 35-0 lead and an easy win.
California 30- Washington 24: With all the attention usually focused on QB Jared Goff, the Cal defense doesn't get much attention and rightfully so. The Cal defense has been pretty poor in recent years. However, the defense rose up an asserted itself last Saturday. They forced five turnovers to lead the Bears to a win. In addition to the turnovers they held UW to just 259 total yards on the day. Meanwhile the Cal offense held the ball for almost 40 minutes with Goff throwing for 342 yards and two TDs. The Huskies hung tough in this game and had a chance to pull it out with just under three minutes to play, but QB Jake Browning's third down pass was intercepted by Cal CB Damairay Drew and the game belonged to the Golden Bears.
Telling Stat: 2 out of 3= W; Cal's defense forced two Washington turnovers in their last three possessions to bring home a win.
Utah 62- Oregon 20: Utah QB Travis Wilson came back from a shoulder sprain suffered against Utah State two weeks ago and led the Utes attack in an epic beatdown of the Quacks in Eugene. He completed 18 of 30 passes for 227 yards and four TDs. Wilson also worked the Ducks over on the ground too. He ran for 100 yards on 6 carries and a score. While Wilson and the offense had their fun, the Utah defense had its' way with Ducks as well. UO QB Vernon Adams, Jr. only completed two of seven passes before being lifted for a broken finger and "bad decisions" by HC Mark Helfrich. Backup Jeff Lockie didn't do much better completeing 10 of 20 passes for 139 yards and a pair of interceptions. The loss was the worst one suffered by the Ducks at home since 1977 when Washington whipped the Webfoots, 54-0.
Telling Stat: 35 in 20 = Silence; Up 27-13 at the intermission, Utah came out and scored 35 points in the next 20 minutes to turn the normally raucous Autzen Stadium into a library. Which is a place many an Oregon player has never seen.
Colorado 48- Nicholls State 0: The Buffaloes were the only home team to win in the Pac 12 this week when they routed the Colonels. There was a stampede in Boulder as the Buffs rushed for 357 yards. RBs Philip Lindasy and Donovan Lee toted the rock well. Lindsay rushed the ball 17 times for 113 yards and two TDs. Lee, the pride of Chaminade High, gained 110 yards on 10 carries and a score. Buffs QB Sefo Liufau threw for 227 yards and a TD. For the Colonels, they only made eight first downs in the game and gained barely over 100 total yards.
Telling Stat: 1 catch= Happy Family; CU QB Sefo Liufau threw a 35-yard TD pass in the second quarter of this game. The receiver was CU HC Mike MacIntyre's son, Jay. It was his first collegiate reception.
UCLA 56- Arizona 30: It was billed as the big game of the week in the Pac 12. Heck, even ESPN's Gameday crew traveled to Tucson, which was their first trip to a Pac 12 school that wasn't USC or Oregon. The fans showed for the show. There was even an interview with UofA HC Rich Rodriguez with his daughter, a UofA cheerleader by his side. Then, to top it off, Lee Corso donned the head of Wilbur the Wildcat, picking the Cats to win the game. The only thing left was to actually play the game. Well, that's when things went off the rails for Arizona. The bRuins offense shined, while the Arizona offense self-destructed and their defense ran for the hills in this game that was not as close as the final score indicated. UofA did take a quick 7-0 lead, but followed that up with three turnovers in their next six possessions which UCLA took full advantage of to build up a 42-14 halftime advantage. Once again, the bRuins running game was stellar with RBs Paul Perkins and Soso Jamabo shredding the Wildcats for a combined 181 yards on 30 carries and four TDs. Meanwhile, bRuin QB and Lady Byng Trophy Winner, Josh Rosen bounced back from his poor effort v. BYU by completing 19 of 28 tosses for 284 yards and two scores. As for the stumbling, bumbling Wildcats, they did rush for 353 yards and two TDs, but got such inept QB play from Anu Solomon and Jerrard Randall that they could could never really get back into this game.
Telling Stat: 1>3; UCLA QB Josh Rosen played twice as well as Arizona's three QBs used in this game. Rosen completed 19 of 28 passes for 284 yards and two TDs while the Wildcats trio completed 10 of 28 passes for 115 yards and two TDs with an interception.
Stanford 42- Oregon State 24: The big talk this week was whether Stanford QB Kevin Hogan would take the field in Corvalis. Hogan did take the field, but so did RB Christian McCaffrey and the Stanford offensive line. The line paved the way for a career day for McCaffrey. He rushed the ball 30 times for a career best 206 yards. He didn't cross the double stripe, but RB Barry Sanders, Jr. did. He scored two TDs. Hogan completed 9 of 14 pass for 164 yards and a pair of scores. OSU QB Seth Collins did throw for 275 yards and a pair of TDs, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinal shutdown the Beavers rushing game, allowing only 111 yards on the ground. Oregon State did play the Cardinal tough, but never had the ball enough and made some key mistakes to ever have a real chance to grab the lead.
Telling Stat: Running to daylight; Stanford played keep away again, rushing for 368 yards and gaining a 10 minute edge in T.O.P which paved the way to victory.
Notre Dame 62: Massachusetts 27: With six minutes left in the second quarter, the Minutemen trailed ND just 21-20. ND looked sluggish and UMass was thinking upset. Then, Notre Dame woke up, realized they were Notre Dame and went on a 41-0 run to provide the rout we all expected. RB C.J. Prosise led the Irish ground attack, rushing for 149 yards on 15 carries and two scores. As for ND's passing game, DeShine Kizer completed 15 of 22 passes for 207 yards, two TDs and an interception. The ND defense completely stymied the Umass offense after they woke as well, but did allow Minuteman RB Marquis Young to rush for 103 yards and a TD, but 83 of those yards and his TD came on the last play of the first quarter.
Telling Stat: 28 under 7; Notre Dame turned this close game into a rout by scoirng 28 points in a 6:59 span that covered the end of the second and beginning of the third quarter to send everyone to the bars early in South Bend.
Observations
...Thighs, hips, and buns of steel; With all the plays that are called at the line of scrimmage nowadays, I'd be really angry about the amount of time spent in my stance every game if I was an O-lineman.
...And then there were six; There are six winless teams left in the FBS. They are Kansas, UTSA, North Texas, Massachusetts, Wyoming and New Mexico State.
This just in; Utah is for real.
...A reason for undefeated; The Northwestern defense leads the nation in 3rd down conversion percentage. The Wildcats have allowed only 11 conversions in 59 attempts. Thats a very very cool 18.6 percent. Simply put, they get off the field so their offense can.
...On, Brave old Army team; The Black Knights of the Hudson are 7 1/2 point favorites at Penn State. I can't remember the last time Army was a road favorite.
...Nothing left; After playing road games at Nebraska and UCLA with a home game with Boise State sandwiched in-between, it was easy to see that BYU had no gas in the tank to take on Michigan. The Wolverines played well, but the Cougars were clearly gassed.
...California Road Warriors; All four California teams won on the road this week in the Pac 12. Add in Utah's plucking of the Ducks and all five road teams won conference games this week.
...It was that bad; Utah did everything to Oregon except flatten the tires on Phil Knight's car on the way out of Eugene.
....Never thought that would happen; This week's Cal-Utah game is a matchup of undefeated teams. Hmmmmmmm.
...A Hot Seat that burns bright orange; After his team blew both a 17-3 lead v. Oklahoma three weeks ago and a 20-7 lead at Florida last week, Tennesee HC Butch Davis is definitely on the hottest of hot seats.
...Shades of the Orange Bowl; ASU KR Gump Hayes' epically poor kick return v. USC reminded most Trojan fans of the poor decision to return a punt by OU PR Mark Bradley in the 2004 Orange Bowl.
...Knowing the way in San Jose; San Jose State RB Tyler Ervin ranks second in the nation with 641 yards rushing on 95 carries and nine TDs. It just might be worth watching what he'll do against Auburn's subpar defense this week.
...Can't be fooled; No matter how much I want to believe Clemson can beat ND this week, they will just choke like usual.
...Just another rumor; There is no truth to the rumor that Washington State was a 3 point underdog to themselves on their bye week.
...Quietly making noise; Indiana is 4-0. The Hoosiers have outscored their opponents, 51-0 in the third quarter this season. IU hasn't stated a season 4-0 since 1990.
...In and Out; Oregon dropped out of the AP poll for the first time since 2009 while Cal jumped back in for the first time since 2009.
...Jayhawks don't fly; With their 27-13 loss at the dumpster fire known as Rutgers, Kansas has lost 31 straight road games. That's the longest road losing streak since the FBS (D-I) and FCS (D-IAA) split in 1978.
...Sad but true; Oregon has a lousy defense and ugly uniforms, so basically they are now Maryland.
...Trending Up and Down; UP: Michigan's narrow loss at Utah in week one. DOWN:Michigan State's narrow win over Oregon in week two.
...Cardiac Kids; TCU won't win the Big XII with this many games coming down to the wire.
...Wait a minute; I think Utah just scored again.
Undere the Radar Highlight of the Week: Watch East Carolina QB James Summers throw aside a Virginia Tech defender and race to pay dirt in ECU's 35-28 win over the Hokies. I could only get the video in a highlight package, so please fast forward to the 55 second mark.
ECU Highlights
Most Cultural Uniform of the Week: The San Diego State Aztecs have truly embraced the culture of their nickname this year in their uniforms. The Aztecs have incorporated the Aztec calendar into their uniforms. Pretty crazy.
Departments
Blowout Game of the Week: Salisbury, MD- The Salisbury Sea Gulls racked up 537 yards rushing, completed just two pass in five attempts and smashed the Southern Virginia Knights, 91-7. Aaron Moore led the Salisbury attack rushing for 104 yards on a scant four carries and scored three TDs. 14 different players rushed the ball for the Sea Gulls. The Salisbury defense was pretty good too. They held the Knights to 1t players rushed the ball for the Sea Gulls. The Salisbury defense was pretty good too. They held the Knights to 126 total yards and six first downs.
Low Score Game of the Week: Dillon, MT- The Carroll College Fighting Saints held off the Montana Western Bulldogs, 10-9. QB Mac Roche hit WR Connor Fohn with a 35-yard TD pass in the third quarter to give CC a lead they would not relinquish. Lost in the loss for Montana Western was a 29 carry, 191 yard rushing performance by RB Sam Rutherford. Roche finished the game with 176 yards passing and that one TD for the Fighting Saints.
C.W. Post Press: Brookville, NY- With 1:10 left in the fourth quarter, Post held a 37-20 lead on the Stonehill Skyhawks. Skyhawk QB Matt Foltz then threw three TD passes in the final 1:10 including a 41-yard Hail Mary to WR Cory White on the final play to lift Stonehill to a 40-37 win. Foltz truly was outstanding as he completed 30 of 46 passes for 421 yards and six TDs. Post RB Mailk Pierre had a huge game too, rushing for 238 and 3TDs on 33 carries. Pierre's 238 yards were the most by any Post RB since 2005. The Pioneers fall to 3-1 overall, and 1-1 in Northeast 10 play. Up next for Post is a trip to Springfield, MA and a game with the American International College Eagles.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing
There's nothing like an ocean breeze.
I miss my truck.
I really really miss my truck.
Until next week folks, remember that when all the hype is over, you still have to play the game.
-The Commissioner
