The Commissioner is back from his Texas adventure with a look the first week of the new season in this edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
Alabama 52- USC 6: This game will go down as The Debacle at the The Death Star. Just what do we say folks about this massive beatdown by the Crimson Tide? Well, for starters, I'll say that USC's O-line was pathetic. Missed assignments on every play, bad footwork and no push helped Alabama just rush four players most of the night and get massive pressure on USC QBs. USC's defense did play well for awhile until injury and the realization that the offense wasn't going to help them at all killed their spirit. Second, it would be nice if the secondary actually knew their assignments. Third, one has to wonder just what did this coaching staff do for nine months leading up to this game? This was a massive failure on multiple levels for USC.
Telling Stat: 1; USC ran one play in the Alabama red zone all-night long.
Utah 24- Southern Utah 0: The Utah defense did its' job shutting down the Roadrunners which gave the Utes offense the time to score enough points to walk away with a disjointed, sloppy win. Dual threat QB Troy Williams did show some flashes of why he was one of the top Juco players in the nation last year at Santa Monica College. He threw for 272 yards and a pair of TDs. On the defensive side of things, Safety Marcus Williams picked off a pass, forced a fumble and recovered one to help keep SUU of the scoreboard.
Telling Stat: Little ground + No Air= No Chance; The Utah defense held Southern Utah to just 116 yards rushing and 42 yards passing to negate any chance the Roadrunners ever had to win this game.
BYU 18- Arizona 16: An old WAC conference rematch brought the Wildcats and the Cougars to The Big Toaster in Phoenix. The high scoring wasn't there, but BYU did look like it was in the old WAC with a 15-3 lead over the Wildcats in the fourth quarter. UofA did finally find their offense and stormed back to seemingly hand BYU what looked like a 16-15 gut-wrenching loss when RB Nick Wilson got free and raced 49 yards for a TD. However, BYU, under rookie HC Kalani Sitake and his 26-year old QB Taysom Hill calmly moved the Cougars into field goal range. Would BYU then send out PK Rhett Almond who had already missed a FG and a PAT attempt to win the game? No, Kalani sent out true freshman Jake Oldroyd for the attempt. Oldroyd was nails and his 33-yarder sailed through the uprights and BYU had the win. Hill finished the game with 202 yards passing and a TD for BYU. His RB, Jamaal Williams lugged the leather 29 times for 162 yards to lead all rushers. RB Nick Wilson was UofA's top player, rushing for 138 yards and 2 TDs on only 17 carries.
Telling Stat: Too little, too late; Arizona gained 190 of their 328 total yards and scored 13 of their 16 points late in the fourth quarter but it wasn't enough in the end to beat BYU.
Stanford 26- Kansas State 13: Midway through the second period in Palo Alto, Stanford held a 17-0 lead and it looked like the Cardinal would cruise to an easy win. Then on the edge of a rout, K-State woke up and a real game broke out. Over the final 36 minutes, the Wildcats anemic offense outscored the Cardinal, 13-9 and kept All-Everything RB Christian Mcaffrey in check. In fact with 2:20 to play the Wildcats had narrowed the gap to 19-13 on a 15-yard TD pass. Then, after recovering the ensuing onside kick, McCaffrey put the game away for The Farm. He broke through the K-State line and raced 41 yards to the end zone. He finished the game with 126 yards on 22 carries and a pair of scores. SU QB Ryan Burns was efficient if not spectacular, completing 14 of 18 passes for 156 yards and a TD. Jesse Ertz led the Wildcats offense with 207 yards passing and a TD.
Telling Stat: 2 for 22= loss; Kansas State held Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey to 50 yards rushing on 20 of 22 carries. His other two carries were for 76 yards and the two TDs that beat the Wildcats.
Colorado 44- Colorado State 7: The Buffaloes came out and did what a Pac 12 team should do to a lower tier Mountain West Conference team. That last sentence speaks volumes about how the Buffaloes did outplay an opponent in all phases of the game for the first time in years. CU QB Sefo Liufau shined, competing 23 of 33 passes for 318 yards and a TD while rushing for 66 yards as well. RB Philip Lindsay helped CU's offense as well by rushing for 95 yards on 20 carries and pair of TDs. CU's defense played well too. They forced four turnovers and held CSU to just 225 total yards.
Telling Stat: +353, +16, +9:12, +2; Those are the edges in total yards, first downs, time of possession, and turnovers for Colorado to show just how well they dominated Colorado State.
Oregon 53- UC Davis 28: After a slow start, new Duck QB and Montana State transfer Dakota Prukop got the Oregon offense going. That allowed the Ducks to gradually pull away with a closer-than-it-looked win over the Aggies. Prukop's slow day was still pretty good. He threw for 271 yards and three scores while rushing for 36 yards and another TD. UO RB Royce Freeman rushed for 87 yards on 11 carries and two TDs to help the Ducks cause. As for the Aggies, RB Manusamoa Luuga rushed for 96 yards and three TDs in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: Typical Webfoots; Oregon ran up 522 yards of offense in just a little over 22 minutes of possession time with no drive longer than 3:13.
Texas A&M 31- UCLA 24 OT: After stirring up the crowd in College Station earlier this week, SI cover boy, UCLA QB Josh Rosen didn't stir up much for the first three plus quarters in Aggieland. With the bRuins down 15 in the fourth period, UCLA's offense came alive scoring two TD in a two minute span. A 9-yard run by RB Bolo Olorunfunmi and a 62-yard TD pass from Rosen to WR Kenneth Walker III followed by a two-point conversion pass from Rosen to WR Austin Roberts tied the game with 2:39 to play. The game then went to overtime where the Aggies took control once again. Trevor Knight, A&M's QB and OU graduate transfer, found the end zone from a yard out for his second TD of the day and the Aggies just needed their defense to hold on to claim victory. The defense did hold on with Rosen's last pass being batted down to end the game. Knight was the Aggies offense throwing for 239 yards and a TD, while rushing for 31 yards and two scores. The Aggie defense did their job sacking Josh Rosen four times and picking him off three times on the day.
Telling Stat: Turnovers kill; UCLA's three turnovers, all interceptions from Josh Rosen, cost UCLA the game.
Arizona State 44- Northern Arizona 13: The Sun Devils sputtered and stumbled to a 10-3 lead over the Lumberjacks at the half. Then new ASU QB Manny Wilkins started to find his rhythm and the Sun Devils put up 34 points in the second half to rout NAU. Wilkins final stats were pretty good for a first start. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 180 yards and ran 89 yards on 14 carries and a TD. Four different ASU RBs scored as well on the night. For NAU QB Case Cookus threw for 369 yards and a TD in the loss.
Telling Stat: Late sigh of relief; Almost half of ASU's total yards and 24 of their 44 points came in the fourth quarter to turn this uncomfortably close game into a rout.
Eastern Washington 45- Washington State 42: Wazzu QB Luke Falk completed 41 of 51 passes for 418 yards and four TDs, yet he wasn't the best QB on the field last Saturday. EWU's Gage Gubrud was just a little bit better. He completed 34 of 40 passes for 474 yards and five TDs. Oh, and his team won too. The numbers on this game are staggering. The teams combined for 1,121 total yards of offense, ran 143 plays, made 60 first downs, while getting flagged 24 times for 219 yards in penalties. The Cougars were 21-point favorites over the Eagles, but it sure didn't look like it on the field. The Eagles from the Big Sky conference were just that little bit better in all phases of the game than the Cougars. EWU WR Cooper Kupp, last year FCS offensive player the year, torched the Wazzu secondary hauling in 12 passes for 206 yards and three TDs.
Telling Stat; Back and Forth all day: At one point in this game the teams combined to score TDs on seven straight first half drives.
Minnesota 30- Oregon State 23: This game on the Big Ten Network held a season's worth of drama for the fans. HC Tracy Claeys was a big storyline. He took over for Jerry Kill as HC after Kill had to retire due to complications from epilepsy. Would he get that first win? He did, but it took a lot of backups as not one, not two, but three Minnesota defensive starters were ejected from the game for targeting. New Beaver QB Darrell Garretson was a storyline too. Could he come in right away and lead OSU to a win? He didn't, but he did complete 25 of 40 passes for 228 yards and three TDs to provide a glimpse of how good he may become as the season wears on. Another storyline was if Minnesota's offense might finally be able to move the ball better than past seasons. The answer is no, not really. The Beaver defense held Minnesota to just 280 total yards, but the Gophers did convert 10 of 19 third downs and held the ball long enough to secure the win.
Telling Stat: 13, 59; Minnesota owned the fourth quarter, shutting out OSU 13-0 in the period and holding the Beavers to just 59 total yards in the final period to secure the victory.
Washington 48- Rutgers 13: The Huskies did live up to their preseason hype in the first week of the season by crushing the Big Ten's version of a dumpster fire, Rutgers. The Dawgs scored early and often, racing out to 24-0 lead after the first quarter lead and then a 34-3 halftime advantage. The second half was just a glorified scrimmage with the Scarlet Knights scoring their only TD long after the Huskies emptied the benches. UW QB Jake Browning cooly completed 18 of 27 passes for 287 yards and three TDs in about three quarters worth of work. Rutgers RB Josh hicks did lead all rushers with 70 yards on 14 carries in the contest.
Telling Stat: Over early; After the first quarter, Washington held 24-0 lead and yardage edge of 202-16 over Rutgers.
Observations
...A dubious tie; Hard to figure out which player is the most overrated in the Pac 12. Is it USC OT Zach Banner or UofA QB Anu Solomon?
...Added to the dubious list; USC's epic loss to Alabama now joins the list of other epic Trojan failures such as the 1966 loss to Notre Dame, 51-0 and the 1992 Freedom Bowl loss to Fresno State.
...From hot seat to Hawkeye legend; After thinking he would be fired before the 2015 started, Iowa HC Kirk Ferentz took the Iowa to the Rose Bowl and that has gotten him a contract extension through 2026.
...It's big; How big is AT&T stadium in Dallas? Well, the line, "That's no moon, it's a space station." went through my mind as we drove up to it on game day.
...Under 40,000 maybe; couple a soul crushing loos with an 11:00 am kickoff time and USC just may draw under 40,000 fans this week.
...21 big ones; Florida State PK. Ricky Aguayo scored 21 points in the Seminoles win over Ole Miss. Aguayo's 21 points were more than what 79 other teams scored in games involving FBS schools over the weekend.
...Just a rumor; There is no truth to the rumor that Navy is having T-shirts made that say, "Annapolis: Home of the real 12th Man."
...The best game nobody saw this week; After a nearly two-hour delay due to thunderstorms, Wyoming knocked off Northern Illinois, 40-34 in triple-overtime . The game-winning score came at 2:34 AM Sunday morning, Mountain Daylight Time.
...Way to go, big man; CU OT Alex Kelley scored the first TD for the Buffaloes this season when he recovered a fumble by his QB Sefo Liufau in the end zone v. Colorado State.
...Behind the conference eight ball; Both Boston College and Vanderbilt were 0-1 in league play before labor day.
...The best of us and the worst of us; Nebraska honored their senior Punter, Sam Foltz, who died in a car crash earlier this summer by sending only 10 men out on their first punt formation of the season. The Huskers took the delay of game penalty which Fresno State HC Tim DeRuyter graciously declined and the good side of humanity found the spotlight at Memorial Stadium. Unfortunately, the worst side of humanity was occurring at the same time. While Foltz's family was at the game honoring their lost son, their home was robbed.
...A positive for the Illini; It doesn't mean anything on the national scene, but Illinois went out and smashed their FCS opponent, the Murray State Racers. After all the turmoil of last season and this past offseason it is good for the Orange and Blue to get a win of any kind.
...What? It's too loud.; I believe somebody tried to ask bRuin QB Josh Rosen about how UCLA's last play went awry in their loss to Texas A&M, but he could not hear it over the crowd.
...Give him a call; Hey Fresno State, I hear Pat Hill is available.
...Just a rumor; There is no truth the rumor that the Big Sky Conference will be holding a lottery amongst its' members to see who gets to open up at Washington State next year.
...Eliminated from the playoff in week one; UCLA and especially USC embarrassed not only themselves, but the whole Pac 12 to the point where it is hard to see the league getting a team into the college football playoff right now.
...7-7 so what?; With the way Alabama looks, it doesn't matter that the SEC went 7-7 last weekend.
...Life imitates sarcasm; A couple of blogs ago, this intrepid reporter sarcastically said that all several hundred Kansas fans would be happy with a win over Iowa State. They were actually happy with the Jayhawks win over Rhode Island. The win broke a 15-game losing streak and a couple of hundred fans stormed the field.
...Still paying him; Kansas is till paying Mr. Schematic Advantage, Charlie Weiss. Notre Dame is finally off the hook with him, but he has been paid nearly 20 million dollars not to coach football.
Ugly Uniform of the Week
The first honoree of the 2016 season are the South Florida Bulls for wearing this heinous ensemble that made them look like a bad modern dance troop with a penchant for day glow.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: Winston-Salem, NC- With 14:16 to go on the second quarter, RB Kendall Hinton knifed into the end zone from 1-yard out to put the only TD on the scoreboard in Wake Forest's 7-3 win over Tulane. Wake Forest walked away with this win despite gaining just 175 total yards.
Blowout of the Week: Greensboro, NC- In the Gate City Soup Bowl, the Guilford Quakers whipped the Greensboro College Pride, 69-0. The Quakers amassed 672 yards of offense with a near even split of 338 rushing and 334 passing. In the 69-0 win, the Quakers also converted 69% of their third down conversions too. RB De'Eric Bell rushed for 125 yards and two TDs on just 13 carries to lead the Guilford offense.
Razorback Report: Well, it took four full quarters and two big fourth down conversions for the Razorbacks to escape with a 21-20 win over Louisiana Tech. The first big fourth down call came when new Hogs QB Austin Allen hit TE Jeremy Sprinkle with a four-yard scoring strike to give the Hogs a 21-20 lead. The other big call came when the Razorbakcs went for it on fourth and inches form their own 37-yard line to run out the clock. 240-pound RB Kody Wallker got that first down and the Razorbacks could breathe a little with the win. Up next for Arkansas is trip to take on old Southwest Conference foe TCU in Ft. Worth.
Georgetown Gridiron News: The Georgetown Hoyas took a bite out of the Davidson Wildcats, 38-14. QB Tim Barnes had the hot hand, completing 25 of 33 passes for 221 yards and four scores for the boys near The White House. Up next for the Hoyas is a trip to upstate New York to take on the Marist Red Foxes.
C.W. Post Press: The Pioneers hit the road for the first game of the 2016 campaign and came away with a 14-12 win at Virginia Union. Post got their 14 points in the first half the hard way via two safeties, a field goal and a touchdown. Up 14-6 with a 1:14 in the game, VU got a two-yard TD pass from QB Shawheem Dowdy to WR Jusse York to close within two points of the Pioneers. However that is as close as they would get as VU's two-point conversion attempt failed. Post then recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock for the win. Post QB Jeff Kidd had a bad day but it was good enough for the win as he completed only 13 of 33 passes for 106 and one TD. Up next for Post is their Northeast 10 conference opener at home v. the University of New Haven.
This Week's Three Notes about Dallas-Ft. Worth
...Cooper's BBQ in Ft. Worth rocks. Order the rib. Yeah, I just said the rib. One is a meal all by itself.
...AT&T Stadium in Arlington is just flat out amazing.
...I haven't felt an earthquake in California in years, but I sure felt the one Saturday morning that had an epicenter near Tulsa.
Until next time folks, remember No O-line= No Offense.
-The Commissioner
