It's time for the column that let's you take a peek back at last Saturday, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Mal Florence.
Summaries
USC 27- Colorado 24: It was Senior Night in Colorado and the Buffaloes came out ready for the Trojans. The Buffaloes held a 17-6 lead over USC at the half and the fan were entertaining thoughts of an upset in Boulder. Then, the second half happened. In an 11 minute span covering parts of the third and fourth quarters, USC's offense scored three TDs while the defense forced a fumble and blocked a CU field goal attempt. The Trojans then held off a late rally by CU to hold on for the win. It also helped that USC knocked out Buffalo QB Sefo Liufau for the rest of the season at the end of the first quarter. However, his backup Cade Apsay had a good game, completing 18 of 23 passes for 128 yards and two TDs. For USC, QB Cody Kessler completed 17 of 27 passes for 204 yards and three TDs.
Telling Stat; 2 for #52; USC DT Delvon Simmons made the two big plays that turned this game around for USC when he forced a Colorado fumble to set up the Trojans second TD of the game. Then he blocked a Colorado field goal attempt on the very next drive to set up USC's third TD of the game.
USC-CU Highlights
Arizona State 27- Washington 17: This game was the classic tale of two halves. Washington built up a 17-3 lead over the first two quarters thanks to a 29-yard TD pass from QB Jake Browning, a 1-yard TD run by RB Myles Gaskin, and a 35-yard FG by PK Cameron Van Winkle. ASU looked listless and lost. Then, the Sun Devils came out in the second half on fire. They forced four Huskies turnovers and scored 24 unanswered points to come away with the comeback win in Tempe. QB Mike Bercovici completed 22 of 34 passes for 253 yard and a TD for ASU, but it was RB Kalen Ballage that did the damage for the Sun Devils. The 6-3, 230 pounder ran over and around the Huskies. He scored on a 3-yard run to pull his squad within seven point in the third quarter, then finished off the game by breaking a few tackles on the way to a 48-yard TD with 5:59 left that firmly placed the game in the win column for ASU. Browning finished with 453 yards passing a TD and three huge interceptions in the loss.
Telling Stat; A fantastic final four; Arizona State forced four Washington turnovers on their final four drives of the game to set the stage for the Sun Devils comeback victory.
UW-ASU Highlights
Oregon 38- Stanford 36: Oregon's speed came out on top of Stanford's power on The Farm. The Ducks not only upset the Cardinal, but killed their playoff chances as well. The Ducks did have a hand in the win, but Stanford killed themselves with a pair of fumbles in the fourth quarter that came off two bad exchanges between SU QB Kevin Hogan and his center. The lead see-sawed back and forth between the two teams in the first half. Then Oregon seemed to take control in the second half behind a 19-yard TD run by RB Royce Freeman, a 49-yard TD pass from QB Vernon Adams to WR Taj Griffin and a 31-yard FG by PK Adam Schneider which gave the Ducks a 38-30 lead with 1:03 to play. The Cardinal then drove 49 yards in :53 seconds and scored a TD when Hogan hit TE Greg Taboada with a TD pass from 4 yards out. However, Stanford's two-point conversion attempt to tie the game failed and the Ducks escaped with the upset. Oregon's offense was led by Adams who completed 10 out of 12 passes for 205 yards and a pair of scores. UO's three-headed RB monster of Freeman, Charles Nelson and Karl Benoit combined to gain 238 yards on 24 carries and score three TDs. For the losing Cardinal, Kevin Hogan threw for 304 yards and a pair of scores while RB Christian McCaffrey rushed for 147 yards on 33 carries and a TD.
Telling Stat: +2; Oregon won the turnover battle and the game v. Stanford.
UO-SU Highlights
Arizona 37- Utah 30 2 OT: Arizona had battled all game long and stood tied at 27-27 with the favored Utes. However, things did not look so good for UofA after QB Anu Solomon was knocked out of the game with a concussion. There was just a little over nine minutes left to play in regulation. when backup Jerrard Randal came into the game. He stumbled and bumbled his way through the final minutes, while the UofA defense kept the Utes off the scoreboard to force overtime. In the first overtime, the teams traded field goals. Then in the second overtime Randall completed his only pass of the game. it was a 25-yard TD strike to WR Nate Phillips. The Arizona defense then held on as they had the whole time Randall was in at QB. Utah's last chance at forcing a third OT period ended when DB Kenneth Scott picked off QB Travis Wilson's fourth down pass. Randall finished the game with one of the worst stat lines in history for a winning QB. He ran four times for minus three yards and completed just one pass in five attempts for a TD and interception. Before he was injured, Solomon had completed 17 of 27 passes for 277 yards and two TDs. He also had rushed for 86 yards on 10 carries and a TD. Utah's top player was RB Devontae Booker who amassed 145 yards on 34 carries and a TD.
Telling Stat: All it took was one; UofA QB Jerrard Randall's one completion came at exactly the right time for Arizona to beat Utah.
Utah-UofA Highlights
Washington State 31- UCLA 27: The bRuins disrespected their guests by using their opponents side of the field in pregame warmups. They also disrespected their opponents in the game with cheap shots and taunting. In the end though, they had to respect the toughness and resilience of QB Kevin Falk who came back from having had his bell rung in the second quarter to throw a 21-yard TD pass to WR Gabe Marks with :03 left to lift Wazzu to victory over UCLA. Falk took a lot of hits, but completed 38 of 53 passes for 331 yards and two TDs. Gabe Marks was his favorite target, catching 12 passes for 92 yards and two TDs. UCLA RB Paul Perkins 121 yards on 20 carries to lead the UCLA rushing attack. bRuin QB and Haggen Supermarket Employee of the Month, Josh Rosen completed 33 of 57 passes for 340 yards. However, his biggest play came from his legs when he ran 37 yards for the TD that seemingly put UCLA ahead to stay with a little over a minute to play.
Telling Stat: 3s aren't 7s; UCLA kicked four field goals in this game. Two of those came after the bRuins had driven the ball inside Wazzu's 10-yard line. Not converting those opportunities into touchdowns cost UCLA the game.
WSU-UCLA Highlights
California 54- Oregon State 24: The Golden Bears had a sluggish first quarter then kicked it into high gear to whip the Beavers and become bowl eligible for the first time since 2011. The Golden Bears set a single-game record by piling up 760 total yards on OSU. Cal QB Jared Goff completed 26 of 37 passes for 453 yards and six TDs. The Bears also ran for 307 yards with RBs Tre Watson and Vic Enwere combining to rush the ball 26 times for 199 yards and a TD. The Beavers just did not have enough on both sides of the ball to compete with the Bears. QB Nick Mitchell was knocked out of the game in the second half with a concussion after completing 14 of 28 passes for 161 yards and two TDs.
Telling Stat: 7 for 8 is great; In a 25:25 span covering form the end of the first quarter through the middle of the third quarter Cal scored on 7 of 8 possessions to pull away from Oregon State and go bowling for the first time since 2011.
OSU-Cal Highlights
Notre Dame 28- Wake Forest 7: Making your possessions count is what gave ND a win that wasn't as dominant as one would think form looking at the score. Wake held the ball for 11:36 longer than ND and had eight more first downs, but never got the big play when they needed it and fell to the Irish. ND got two huge plays that let them get a lead they would never relinquish. Up, 7-0 after 12-yard TD run by QB DeShone Kizer, ND went up 14-0 under a minute later when DB Andrew Trumbetti picked off a Wake pass and took it back 28 yards for a TD. Then in the middle of the second quarter, when backed up in the shadow of their own goal, RB Josh Adams broke through the line and rambled 98 yards to put the Irish up 21-0. Both teams traded TDs in what was nothing more than a televised scrimmage in the second half. Adams led all rushers with 141 yards and that long TD run. QB John Wolford passed for 219 yards and ran for the Deamon Deacons only score in the loss.
Telling Stat: 55 seconds; Thats all it took for ND to go from a 7-0 to a 21-0 lead over Wake Forest and essentially end the ballgame.
Wake Forest- ND Highlights
Observations
...Brown all around; Can't make this up. The toilets backed up and overflowed at Brown Stadium during Brown University's game last week v. Dartmouth. That's a lot of brown on and off the field.
...Whining with immunity; Why is bRuin HC Jim Mora not getting more bad publicity for his meltdown at the end of his squad's last-second, gut-wrenching loss to Wazzu? His screaming at the head official as he left the field and then subsequent whines to UCLA AD Dan Guerrero to have that ref fired on the spot should get some publicity.
...And there are still two; Central Florida and Kansas are still the only two winless teams in the FBS. This is a recording.
...Bush league move; UCLA came out and warmed up on Washington State's side of the field during pregame warmups. They threw passes and continued to use Wazzu's side of the field during the pregame period. Even hated rivals give their opponents half the field to use as a matter of sportsmanship. Just another low class move from Jim Mora and his bRuins, the low class leaders.
...Great player, lousy team; Oregon State WR Jordan Villamin is easily the best player on his team and will be playing on Sundays.
...Yawn; Ohio State is Undefeated and Uninteresting. Snore.
...Soft in the middle; Even though they lost in overtime, it was impressive to watch Indiana run up the middle at will on Michigan in the fourth quarter.
...Feeling Albuquerque; Bob Davie is alive and well and coaching in New Mexico. Davie's Lobos upset Boise State at Boise Saturday and now have a shot to win the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. If the Lobos win their next two games over Colorado State and Air Force, they will play in the MWC title game.
...Head scratcher; So, did anyone else notice that Missouri wore all-white uniforms for their game with BYU?
...Just a rumor; There is no truth to the rumor that the commissioners of the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, and Big XII sent thank you notes to Arizona and Oregon after their upset wins on Saturday.
...The price of independence; BYU is 7-3 and nobody cares.
...Larry's Late Night Lounge; Just how ridiculous is the late Pac 12 start time of 7:45 PM? Well, the Hawaii game in Honolulu v. Fresno State finished just 19 minutes later than the UCLA-Washignton State game. Way to go, Leisure Suit Larry Scott. SMH
...Always worth a beer; No matter what happens in the rest of Arizona career, Jerrard Randall will always get a free drink Tucson.
...Under the Bay area radar; San Jose State's Tyler Ervin is quietly having a great year. He's rushed for 300 yards in one game, 263 yards in another and has rushed for 1,303 yards this season.
...Classic and cool; With all the horrible uniforms out there, Oklahoma's road whites were a classy look v. Baylor.
...Hadows of Berkeley; The lighting at Cal for their game v. Oregon State was pretty poor to say the least. I've seen better lighting at high school games.
...Memo to Fresno State fans; You beat a hapless Hawaii team to stay out of the Mountian West Conference cellar. Pat Hill can be reach at LOnesome 7-7, 2-0-3.
...Must be the system; Cincinnati has had two different QBs throw for over 500 yards in game this season.
...Not much brotherly love; Remember a few weeks ago when Temple hosted College Gameday and they were the flavor of the month? Well, the Owls are now in a fight for survival to win their division of the AAC and nobody is talking about them.
...Four points; North Carolina is a bad, four point loss to South Carolina away form being undefeated and in the playoff discussion. The Tar Heels are 9-1 and will face Clemson in the ACC title game.
...Maybe a cookie, not a creampuff; Arkansas State is undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play and is a pair of wins away from another SBC crown.
...A dilemma; Six of the top 20 scoring defenses in the FBS are in the Big Ten. Is that because the defenses are that good or are Big Ten offenses that poor? Hmmmm
...This just in; Auburn stinks.
...Fenway for football; Notre Dame is playing Boston College at Fenway park this week. What will be interesting in this games is watching both teams use the same sideline. Baseball parks don't make good football fields.
...Just change the O for a Swoosh and get it over with; There was a special guest in the Oregon coaches box during the Stanford-Oregon game. Phil Knight, AKA Mr. Nike, was in the coaches box and was wearing a headset listening to the play calls. I don't know a coach in the land that would allow anybody besides his staff in the coaches box. I guess when you make a deal with devil, you have to dance to his tune. Knight is on the bottom right, in the suit jacket sitting next to Oregon OC Scott Frost.
Pac 12 North
Stanford
Games Remaining: 11/21 California, 11/28 Notre Dame
Stanford is still in the driver's seat here. If Stanford beats Cal this week, they clinch the Pac 12 North.
If Stanford loses to Cal, then they can still make it in if Oregon loses one of their final two games. Stanford holds the head-to-head tie-breaker with WSU.
Oregon
Games Remaining: 11/21 USC, 11/27 Oregon State
Oregon wins the North if they win out, then get a Stanford loss to Cal and a WSU loss to either Colorado or Washington.
Washington State
Games Remaining: 11/21 Colorado, 11/27 @ Washington
The Cougars go to the title game if Stanford loses to Cal and Oregon loses one of their final two games.
A three way tie between these schools would send Oregon to the title game. The key to this is Oregon's intra-divisional record. While Stanford and WSU would have two losses in the North, only one of Oregon's losses was in the North. UO's other loss was to Utah.
Pac 12 South
USC
Games Remaining: 11/21 @ Oregon, 11/28 UCLA
USC controls it's own destiny. If the Trojans win their final two games of the season, they are in. They would hold the tiebreaker over Utah thanks to their victory over the Utes on 10/24.
USC can still get into the Pac 12 title game even if they lose to Oregon. The Trojans would also need UCLA to win at Utah. If that happens, then the winner of the USC-UCLA game would win the division.
If Utah loses their final two games, USC would still need a win over UCLA to go to the title game.
UCLA
Games Remaining: 11/21 @ Utah, 11/28 @USC
UCLA must win their final two games to go the title game. A loss to either USC or Utah will eliminate the bRuins from contention.
Utah
Games Remaining: 11/21 UCLA, 11/28 Colorado
Utah needs to win their final two games and for USC to lose one game in order to win the Pac 12 South.
If USC loses both games, then Utah would still need a win over UCLA this week to claim the crown.
Ugly Uniform of the Week: UCLA wins going away for their all-black and blue and gold outfit v. Wazzu. You couldn't really see what the decals were on the helmets and there was just some gaudy gold crap on the jerseys. Hey bRuins, just leave the all-black uniforms to San Diego State.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: Ithaca, NY- With 5:55 left the first quarter, PK Zach Mays booted a 35-yard field goal for the Cornell and that would be all the Big Red would need for a 3-0 win over the Fighting Blue Lions of Columbia. Cornell only made 11 first downs and gained 193 total yards, but forced three Columbia turnovers to stay in control of the game. Columbia looked like they had scored the go-ahead TD with 5:53 left to play, but an apparent 6-TD scamper by QB Anders Hill was wiped out by a holding call. The Blue Lions then missed a 33-yard field goal attempt and Cornell took over at their own 20-yard line. The Big Red ran out the clock with nine straight running plays. The win was Cornell's only victory of the season. Oh, where have you gone, Ed Marinaro?
Blowout of the Week: Abilene, TX- The Hardin-Simmons Cowboys crushed the Louisiana College Wildcats, 82-21 to claim share of the Southwest Conference championship. The Cowboys built up a 61-7 halftime lead behind 292 yards passing and four TDs from QB Ryan Breton and a defense that allowed a 55-yard TD pass, but still managed to keep the Wildcats to under 100 total yards in the first half. The second half was a glorified scrimmage with everyone in a uniform seeing the field for the Cowboys.
C.W. Post Press: Waltham, MA- Last week, the Pioneers lost a hear-breaker to the Bentley Falcons. This week, the Pioneers did not let that happen in their rematch to end the season. Post QB Jeff Kidd teamed up with WR Shane Hubbard for a pair of TD passes to lift the Pioneers to a 34-20 win over the Falcons. The TD passes covered 8 and 92 yards for Kidd who completed 20 of 35 passes for 284 yards and those two TDs. Meanwhile, the Pioneer defense shutout Bentley over the final 23:19 to secure the win. The win gives C.W. Post a final record of 7-4 on the season. C.W. Post did not make the Division II Playoffs.
...And Now This Week's Three Notes About Nothing
Putting up blinds is never as easy as it looks.
It's that time of year for foghorns to be heard through the night.
I still love puzzle books.
Until next week folks, remember that no games have been won in the first quarter, but many have been lost.
-The Commissioner
