It's time for the column that makes workers lose productivity all across the nation, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 42- Utah 24: After all the turmoil at Heritage Hall over the last couple weeks and a tough loss at Notre Dame, the Trojans came home to host the undefeated and #3 ranked Utah Utes who were feeling pretty insulted at being installed as 6 1/2 point underdogs. USC came out and staggered through the first quarter, then dominated the final three periods to scalp the Utes. The absolute star of the game for the Trojans was true freshman LB Cameron Smith. All he did was pickoff three passes, return one of those for a TD and was the key man in shutting down Utah's rushing attack as well. As for the Trojan offense, the rushing game prospered with the use of Soma Vainuku at fullback. He scored a TD going over the top from one-yard out, recovered a Trojan fumble to save a drive and handed out some devastating hits. The RB tandem of Ronald Jones II and Justin Davis combined to lug the leather 34 times for 139 yards and two TDs. QB Cody Kessler completed 21 of 28 passes for 264 yards a TD to lead the USC aerial attack. His favorite target was WR JuJu Smith Schuster who caught balls including Kessler's TD toss. He also called out and leveled Utah DB Dominique Hatfield with one of the best stiffarms of the year. The unsung hero of this game is C Khaliel Rodgers. Rodgers came in for the injured Toa Lobendahn who already was subbing at C for the injured Max Tuerk. The kid came in and played a great game under the circumstances. As for the Utes, their offense goes as QB Trevor Wilson goes, Wilson didn't go so good. He threw four interceptions and made numerous errant throws thanks to Trojan defensive pressure. He still finished with 254 yards passing and two TDs in the loss.
Telling Stat: 3 for 35; Cameron Smith's three interceptions propelled USC to the win over Utah.
Video: Bad JuJu for Hatfield
Colorado 17- Oregon State 13: 12:31 is a long time in a football game. It's a long time to hold a lead and a long time to wait for a Pac 12 win greatly overdue for the Colorado program and their fans. CU QB Sefo Luifau knifed his way into the end zone from four yards out to give CU a 17-10 lead over with 12:31 to play. The Colorado defense rose to the occasion and held that lead for the final 12:31 to notch their first Pac 12 win since beating Cal, 42-14 in Boulder back in 2013. It was also their first Pac 12 road win since they beat Wazzu, in 2012, 35-34. After Liufau's go ahead score, the Buffs defense did stagger, but a pair of offensive penalties in the red zone forced OSU to kick a 34-yard field goal and draw to within four points at 17-13. The CU defense then held OSU on their final three drives. They held for downs once, forced a punt and intercepted OSU QB Nick Mitchell to to seal the victory with :24 left. Liufau completed 16 of 23 passes for 140 yards and a TD to go with 44 yards rushing and another TD to lead the CU attack. RB Ryan Nall gained 122 yards on 20 carries and scored OSU's only TD in the loss.
Telling Stat: 1; All that matters for the Buffs is that number 1 in the Pac 12 win column.
Video: Buffs finish it off
Stanford 31- Washington 14: Another week, another Stanford victory led by RB Christian McCaffrey. Yawn. McCaffrey gained 300 all-purpose yards and scored two TDs as the spearhead of an offensive attack that held the ball for 40:05. SU QB Kevin Hogan had another fine night in the air, completing 17 of 24 passes for 290 yards and a pair of scores. UW QB K.J. Carta-Samuels filling in for starter Jake Browning completed only 9 of 21 passes for 118 yards in the loss.
Telling Stat: 40:05; Stanford's TOP edge allowed them to put a stranglehold on this game and literally run away from the Huskies.
Video: UW-SU Highlights
Washington State 45- Arizona 42: The Wazzu connection of QB Luke Falk to WR Gabe Marks is on the road to legendary status as the Cougs outgunned the Wildcats in Tempe. For Falk it was just another day at the office. He completed 47 of 62 passes for 514 yards and five TDs. Falk caught eight of those passes of 97 yards and four TDs. Falk completed throws to 10 different receivers en route to running up 631 yards of offense on the Wildcats. The Cougars never trailed in this shootout. However, Arizona did put themselves within striking distance of winning this game thanks to QB Jerrard Randall who completed 11 of 16 tosses for 137 yards and two TDs to go with 105 yards rushing on 10 carries. RB Nick Wilson can't be overlooked here as he scored three TDs to keep the Wildcats in the game. In the end though, it was Casey Skowron recovering UofA's onside kick with :41 left to finally let WSU put this one in the win column. The Cougs are now 5-2 and riding a three game Pac 12 winning streak. They haven't done that since 2003.
Telling Stat: Air Traffic Control; Wazzu ran off 93 plays, made 34 first downs, gained 631 total yards and held the ball for 37:53 with their Air Raid offense to beat the Wildcats.
Video: Wazzu Highlight Reel
UCLA 40- California 24: After getting destroyed by one Bay Area school last week, the bRuins took out their frustrations on the other Bay Area school. Cal's defense couldn't stop anybody in this game. UCLA QB and Country Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Josh Rosen outshined Cal QB Jered Goff, completing 34 of 47 passes for 399 yards and three TDs. His favorite target was WR Thomas Duarte who caught 10 balls for 141 yards and one TD. The bRuins did lose RB Paul Perkins in the second period, but backup Soso Jamabo filled in admirably rushing for 79 yards on 18 carries with a TD. As for the Golden Bears offense, Goff did throw for 295 yards and three TDs. However, the Bears rushing attack was completely stuffed by UCLA. The Bears were held to just 131 yards on 35 carries.
Telling Stat: Defenseless Bears; UCLA scored on their first seven possessions of the game, including a 60-yard field goal by PK Ka'imi Fairbairn to end this game early at the Rose Bowl.
Video: Fairbairn hits a 60
Observations
...Back to the past; The creators of Back To The Future didn't hit on their prediction of the Cubs winning the World Series in 2015, but they did get the past correct. In Back to the Future II when Old Biff from 2015 goes back to 1955 and finds Young Biff to give him the Sports Almanac, he uses a UCLA- Washington football game to prove that the book is real. In the movie, Old Biff was truly correct on that score. On November 12, 1955, UCLA's Jim Decker did kick a 35-yard field goal to to lift the bRuins over the Huskies, 19-17.
...Pac 12 nightmare= Big Sky Pride; If Wazzu upsets Stanford this week, the top team in the Pac 12 North will be Washington State. Yes, that Washington State. The team that lost in week one to Portland State.
...And then there were four; There are still four winless teams in the FBS, They are Central Florida, Kansas, North Texas and New Mexico State. Of these four, North Texas already fired their HC and UCF HC, George "Hey, check out my cool resume" O'leary, resigned. Don't cry for O'leary though, UCF owes him 200K a year through 2020.
...Golden's Parachute; The planes circling the Miami home games carrying banners that urged the firing of Miami HC Al Golden can stop now. He's gone. He's the seventh HC to be fired this season.
..New retirement plan; 1. Become the coach of an FBS school. 2. Run it into the ground. 3. Take my Golden Parachute and enjoy retirement and work as an analyst during the season for the Pac 12 Network.
...She's the Commish; Conference USA named Judy MacLeod the first female commissioner of a major athletic conference. To this news I have only one thing to say. I didn't think C-USA actually had a commissioner.
...Their time of year; The Big XII backloads their schedules so that their teams get off to a good start and fill in the top 25 rankings in October. Then in November chaos ensues. Big XII implosion now coming in 3-2-1...
...Oh Irony, you cruel comedian; Anybody ease realize that Al Golden getting fired by Miami happened with the team used to coach, Temple, now 7-0?
...Not feeling it; Miami's interim HC is named Larry Scott. Don't get excited there Hurricane fans, our Larry Scott stinks. Yours might too.
...Sign her up; The ringer from the USC women's Soccer team that nailed that 25-yard field goal at halftime of the USC game kicked the best looking ball of the night.
...This just in; Kansas still stinks.
...High School Stand-in; At USC's practices last week, San Clemente grad and Trojan freshman QB Sam Darnold ran the Utah offense pretending to be Ute QB and fellow SCHS grad, Trevor Wilson.
...ESPN Gameday blows it... again; Gameday will be at Temple for Temple- Notre Dame. Wouldn't have been great if the Gameday crew finally made that trip to Pullman, for Wazzu-Stanford? SMH.
...Memo to Pac 12 DBs; Don't make JuJu Smith-Schuster mad.
...This just in; Utah WR Brian Covey is really fast and really good.
...Feels even better than it looked; Not only did Georgia DB Lance Austin return FSU's blocked field goal 78 yards for the TD to beat the Seminoles on the final play Saturday night. He crossed the goal line with his twin brother blocking for him. Lance and Lawrence Austin are dedicating this season to their grandmother who died earlier this year.
...No story here; Clemson AD Dan Radakovich will most likely be recusing himself from voting on Clemson's ranking in the first CFP Selection Committee rankings that come out this coming Monday. The media is pumping this up like it's a big story. It's not. Four different board members recused themselves last year during rankings discussions.
...No way, no how; Anybody telling you that they thought that Pitt, Duke and North Carolina would be atop the ACC Coastal division standings at this point in the is lying.
...Not on the same page; Iowa State HC Paul Rhoads fired OC Mark Mangino, yes former KU HC Mark Mangino, because he and Rhoads couldn't "get on the same page." Hmmmm. Coordinators are usually reassigned, not fired. Mangino is known as very tough to work with in coaching circles. Nobody should be surprised by this move.
...Say it ain't so, Ancient Eight; That last bastion of protection of student athlete football experience, good hygiene and virginity, the Ivy League, has caved in. How? Well in case you haven't noticed, (and by the ratings for the games, you haven't), the Ivy League has been playing, (gasp!), Friday night games on NBC Sports Network. I'm shocked, shocked to see TV money rear its' ugly head in college football.
...It's a lock; Unless they have a major collapse against inferior competition, Iowa will be in the Big Ten title game.
...Memo to Fresno State fans; The crack team here at Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard has checked for you. Pat Hill is still available.
...Apathy hurts the most; Do you know what separates USC and other schools? No matter what happens at USC it's big news. Other schools just fall off the map. Just ask Oregon.
...They have an App for that; The Sun Belt Conference has an App. It's Appalachian Sate and they are 6-1 and 3-0 in Sun Belt play. Their only loss is a 31-point blowout by Clemson. Which is 27 points less points than the 58 point loss that Miami suffered to the Tigers.
...A small time heart; College football is a big business in the FBS, but the majority of college football is played in small towns in front of crowds that range from a couple of hundred folks, to maybe a couple of thousand. There are over 400 NCAA and NAIA member schools that play the game this way.
Ugly Uniform of the Week: UCLA wins this week's award for this just miserable black ensemble. You can't read the name on the helmets and the stripes are a joke. Also, what's with the weird cross-hatch pattern? It's just plain ugly.
Low Score Game of the Week: Valley City, ND- This week's game comes from the NAIA ranks. QB Kurtis Walls hit WR Colby Lum with an 8-yard TD pass with :17 left to give the Valley City State Vikings a 12-6 win over the Jamestown (ND) Jimmies. The win means that the Paint Bucket Trophy stays in Valley City for another season. It looked like it was an all-field goal day as the game stood 6-6 with 10:22 to play. Then with 2:13 left, Jamestown gambled by going for it on 4th and 5 from the VCSU 39-yard line. Jimmies QB Beau Erciskon had his 4th down pass attempt broken by up by DB Andre Peppers and the Vikings had held. VCSU seized on the momentum shift and charged down the field four plays to notch the game-winning score. Walls completed 17 of 37 passes for 193 yards and one big TD in the rivalry victory.
Blowout of the Week: Sioux City, IA- This rout also comes from the NAIA, where the Morningside (IA) College Mustangs crushed the Briar Cliff University Chargers, 79-7. The Mustangs' one-two punch combination of QB Ryan Kasdorf and RB Tyler Kavan couldn't be stopped by the Chargers. Kasdorf completed 13 of 15 passes for 276 yards and four TDs, while Kavan ran the ball 12 times for 80 yards an three TDs. The Mustangs led 56-0 at the half and emptied the benches the rest of the way. 18 different Mustangs handled the ball on offense in this laughter.
C.W. Post Press: West Haven, CT- The Universiy of New Haven Chargers charged up and down the field, building up a 35-3 halftime lead en rout to a 63-16 beatdown of the Pioneers. Post found no way to contain the Chargers running game. New Haven rushed for 401 yards with 255 of those yards and three TD coming form the RBs Andre Anderson and Trevor Officer. QB Ajee Patterson got in the act too, he completed 13 of 20 passes for 231 yards and four scores. In the loss, Post QB Jeff Kidd threw for two second half TDs as part of a 27 for 41 227 yard performance. Up next for Post is a home date with Southern Connecticut State Owls.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
I like my new Honda Pilot.
In a week or so the World Series be over and that means one thing; spring training is just a few months away!
How did I become so domestic lately?
Until next week folks remember winning the turnover battle determines who wins the game most of the time.
-The Commissioner
