Its time for that column that makes Tuesdays feel like game days, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
Utah 31- USC 27: The good news is that USC found their QB for the foreseeable future in Sam Darnold. Darnold made some freshman mistakes, but the San Clemente High surfer kid showed that he has a cannon arm and the running ability to lead the SC offense. If only the coaches were as good. The Trojans looked unprepared yet again and were outplayed and outwitted by the Utes when it counted down the stretch. Despite all that, the Trojans still held a 27-24 lead with 5:30 to play. However, when faced with a fourth-and-3 at the Utah 37, USC punted instead of going for the first down that would have enabled USC to run the clock and force Utah to burn their time outs. Utah took the ball at their own seven-yard line and thanks to a poor timed interference call on SC marched down the field, converting two fourth downs in the process, to score the game-winning TD. Many things in this game showed how HC Clay Helton is in over his head at HC. The most glaring was that the team had no full pad practices heading into this game. That might have had a little to do with SC fumbling on three drives to open the game.
Telling Stat: 1 Not ready for prime time = L; USC HC Clay Helton is the one not ready for prime time. That will lead to many losses and a new HC for SC next year.
Stanford 22- UCLA 13: When you want to beat the champ, you have to knock him out. UCLA did everything but throw the knockout blow in yet another loss to The Farm. The bRuin defense had done well, they bottled up ALL-Everything RB Christian McCaffrey. He did gain 138 yards rushing, but he did not score a TD, only grabbed 13 yards receiving and had just one kick return for 14 yards. However, the bRuin offense was held in check by the Stanford defense and themselves. Numerous drops from the wideouts kept Stanford in this game and QB Josh Rosen from having a great night. As it was, he completed 18 of 27 tosses for 248 yards and a TD, but he would have been near perfect without the drops. The Cardinal stayed close and went ahead for good when they marched 70 yards in 10 plays that was capped off with a TD pass when QB Ryan Burns completed an eight yard fade route to TE JJ Arcega-Whiteside with :24 left. Then in a move to cement the win, SU DT Joey Alfieri Sacked and stripped Rosen of the football. the fumble was picked up by DT Solomon Thomas and he raced 42 yards for a TD as time ran out.
Telling Stat: Ryan Air Flight 6-66; Stanford QB Ryan Burns completed 6 passes for 66 yards with a TD on The Cardinal's final drive to beat the bRuins.
Washington 35- Arizona 28 OT: The Huskies made the trip to UofA to face a real opponent after three cupcakes to start the season. A pair of missed field goals from PK Cameron Van Winkle, a failed fourth-and-1, dropped passes and an inability to stop Arizona's fourth string RB almost cost the Huskies this game. It looked like the Dawgs would hold on to this win in regulation, but they allowed UofA to march down the field and score the game-tying TD with :17 left. However, the OT belonged to UW. They had the ball first and scored on a four yard TD pass from QB Jake Browning to WR Dante Pettis. Then they held UofA on the ensuing possession claiming the win when QB Brandon Dawkins' pass fell incomplete on 4th down from the Huskies 11-yard line. UofA QB Brandon Dawkins was the offensive star of this game, throwing for 167 yards and a TD and rushing for 176 yards and two more score.
Telling Stat: -1 for the win; The UW defense had given up 476 yards in this game, but it was the -1 yards they gave up on Arizona's final four plays in OT that made the difference in this game.
Boise State 38- Oregon State 24: The Broncos went to Corvallis and dammed up the Beavers. It was the Jeremy McNichols show in the first half as the BSU RB ran for TDs of 5, 6 and 70 yards and caught a TD pass that covered six yards to shred the Beaver defense. Thanks to McNichols, BSU went up 31-7 at the break and held off a mild OSU second half comeback to take home the win. For the hapless Beavers, RB Ryan Nall only gain 66 yards rushing but did score two of the Beavers three TDs on the day. BSU QB Brett Rypien completed 19 of the 36 passes for 215 yards and a TD in the win.
Telling Stat: Boatraced Beavers; Boise jumped on OSU from the opening kickoff and didn't let up for the half, building up a 31-7 halftime edge while holding the Beavers to just 77 total first half yards.
Arizona State 51- California 41: This game was billed as a meeting of two powerful offenses with little defense and it lived up to the billing. Cal had the control of this game going into the final period, holding a 27-20 lead. ASU then put up a quarter for the ages, putting 31 points on the board to get the win. Sun Devil PK Zane Gonzalez gave ASU their first lead of the day when he connected on a 23-yard field goal to go up 37-34 with 3:17 to play. ASU then looked liked they had put the game away when DB Viliami Moeakiola picked off Cal QB Davis Webb and took it 28 yards to the house to put ASU up 44-34. However Cal drove right back down the field and closed the gap to 44-41on a 26-yard TD pass from Webb to WR Demetris Robinson. ASU had to put this game away again and they did with :48 left. Cal attempted an onside kick after their last TD, but Freshman LB DJ Calhoun showed why he was on the hands team for ASU by fielding the onside kick and taking it back 42 yards for a TD to really put the game away for the Sun Devils. Wilkins had a huge night for the Sun Devils, completing 21 of 30 passes for 290 yards and a TD while also rushing the ball 23 times for 72 yards and three more scores. Cal's Webb ended the game with 478 yards passing, five TDs and two costly interceptions.
Telling Stat: 3 into 4 =W; ASU won this game with TDs from offense defense and special teams in the fourth quarter.
Colorado 41- Oregon 38: The Buffaloes rose to the occasion and told Oregon, "Not this time. Not here. Not today." Colorado played their best fourth quarter in a long time. The defense that looked so bad in the third quarter, shut down the Ducks in the fourth. The offense behind QB Steven Montez and an amazing catch by WR Bryce Bobo scored the winning TD with 8:43 to play to send Phil Knight and the rest of a very subdued Oregon crowd home with a loss. Montez who played in place of injured starter Sefo Liufau completed 23 of 32 passes for 333 yards and three TDs. He also ran for 135 yards and a TD too. Without injured RB Royce Freeman in the lineup, the Ducks fortunes rested on QB Dakota Prukop. He played well with 293 yards in the air and two TDs, but his inability to run on the Buffs hurt the Oregon offense. He also threw his only interception of the day with just 1:43 to go in the Colorado end zone to end UO's last chance to win.
Telling Stat: 3 knees for CU; The best three plays Colorado HC Mike Mike MacIntyre called all day were the three victory formation kneel downs to kill the clock and finish off Oregon.
Observations
...The future is here; USC QB Sam Darnold has the potential for a great career with good coaching. I hope he receives some soon.
...No guts on the call; Both the on-field officials and the replay refs missed what should have been a targeting call and ejection on UCLA DB Ismael Adams for his head hunter hit on Stanford WR Francis Owusu.
...Hold all tickets until results are final; That's a law to live by for those who play the ponies, but it came into play in the Stanford-UCLA game. Stanford was either a 3 or 3.5 point favorite when the game kicked off depending which sports book you follow . The Cardinal held a 16-13 lead when on the final play, the Cardinal executed a sack, strip and fumble return for a score to end the game at 22-13. It was estimated the Las Vegas sports books took a several hundred thousand dollar hit with that late TD.
...As exciting as creamed corn; Iowa has to be the most boring team in America.
...Odd but true; Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey hasn't scored a TD in a true road game in his Stanford career.
...Memo to Fresno State; I hear Pat Hill is well rested and ready to run a program again.
...Point on top; There are four FBS independent teams. At 3-1, Army has the best record of the group which includes Notre Dame, Massachusetts and BYU who are all 1-3.
...A one handed Buff; Check out this catch from CU WR Bryce Bobo
...Knowledge is power; UCLA wanted to beat Stanford. Stanford knew they would beat UCLA.
...Nobody; If anybody tells you that they knew the Lousiville-Houston game on 11/17 could have college football playoff implications before the season started, they are lying.
...Special Teams coaching failure; Florida PR Antonio Callaway had one of the worst games a punt returner could ever have. He fair caught several punts inside his own 10-yard line and fumbled one of those. Once can be excused as a mental error. However, after the kid did it twice, why was he fielding any punts for the rest of the game?
...SMH or WTF, take your pick; In USC HC Clay Helton's conference call Saturday night he didn't challenge the bad spot on JuJu Smith's fourth quarter catch that gave USC a 4th and 3 instead of a 4th and 1 because "it was on the other side of the field" and he "trusted the Pac 12 officials to get it right."
...He survived the coup but not the clock; Les Miles is out as LSU HC. The Mad Hatter survived last year's coup attempt by the administration, but this season's losses, including Saturday's loss that ended with the Tigers' winning score being taken off the board on the game's final play because time had run out before the snap. Miles won't stay unemployed for long unless his buyout is really really sweet.
...She won't make the hands team; Check out this poor photographer's full facial when she missed catching this kickoff
...They chanted, he listened; ND fans were chanting for the firing of DC BrianVanGorder on Saturday. On Sunday they got their wish. ND HC Brian Kelly let him go. The Irish had given up miles of yardage and became the last FBS team to register a sack this season when they got one against Duke. Hope the fans like the replacement or BK may be chanted to again.
...O-nce more into the breach again my friends; Ed Orgeron, beloved former coach from USC who served as the interim HC at Troy when Lane Kiffin got tarmacked at LAX a few years back is now the interim HC at LSU after they fired HC Les Miles Sunday. Here's hoping Coach O does well and gets another chance to be the HC somewhere soon.
...Page-Turned at FIU; Florida Internatonal University axed HC Ron Turner Sunday. He was 10-30 in parts of four seasons with the Panthers. Another team learned that Ron Turner like his brother Norv is a great coordinator and a bad HC.
...Lost in the Les; LSU OC Cam Cameron got the axe too. Coach O did it when he took over. That should make Miami Dolphin and San Diego Charger fans happy.
...Note to Oregon DC Brady Hoke; Welcome to the Pac 12, we have real offenses here.
...An embarrassing pair; Boise State has two Pac 12 wins which will be more than at least two Pac 12 teams this season.
...Try sitting there; It was fun to see Kirk Herbstreit talk about how the Rose Bowl is his favorite stadium. Odds are that Herbie never has had to watch a game there from a seat in the stands.
...Thanks again, Larry; What might be the one of the best games of the weekend won't be seen by many folks this week as Stanford at Washington will air on Friday night at 6 PM PDT. Leisure Suit Larry strike again.
...This week's most exciting game nobody saw; The Tulane Defense made one play. They stopped Louisiana-Lafayette's two-point conversion attempt to walk away with a 41-39 win in quadruple overtime. The game went to OT tied up at 16-16 at the end of regulation.
...Seconds count; If LSU had one more second on the clock, would Les Miles still be employed?
...Not the worst; USC's 1-3 record feels like the worst start ever for a USC team. It's not, the 1957 Trojans started 0-5 and finished 1-9.
...Dont' ask 'em; Nobody in Arkansas is happy with Louisville's success right now.
...Bowled over; Bowling Green is 1-3 on the year. In their three losses they have given up an average of 65 points per game. Yes, 65.
...Frustration thy name is Helton; USC RB Justin Davis was averaging 12.6 yards per carry in the first three quarters v Utah, yet when the Trojans needed a strong back to run time of the clock while holding a lead, Davis didn't get a single carry in the fourth period. Hmmmmmmm.
...Not upsetting; With Cal's defense, the Golden Bears losing a shootout to anybody should never be though of as an upset.
One Degree of Vin Scully
I hope you all can indulge me a bit here as I talk a little baseball. This coming October 2nd will find Vin Scully calling the last game of his announcing career. With all I have read and listened to about Vin Scully there was a simple mention of how one degree of separation connects Scully with basically the entire history of Major League Baseball. That connection is Connie Mack. When Scully started broadcasting Dodger games back in 1950, Connie Mack was still managing the Philadelphia A's. I understand that Scully did meet Mr. Mack at one time. The pairing of these two covers baseball from 1886 to the present day. Mack was born in 1862 and debuted for the Washington Nationals of the National League in 1886. To put this in perspective, when Connie Mack started his MLB playing career, Pitchers were now allowed to pitch overhand and still pitched from a box, not a mound and he got to use a new piece of equipment as he played catcher. The chest protector was approved for umpires and catchers to use the previous season. The history geek that I am wonders just what it would be like to sit in a room with those two and discuss the history of the game. Together they just about saw it all.
Ugly Uniform of the Week
Oregon was in the running for their "let's look like Pudddles" uniforms, but since that's the closest the Quacks have looked to their real colors in a long tine, they get a reprieve. This week's winner is Tennessee for their Smokey Gray ensemble. The uniform takes away from the Volunteers signature orange. It's just ugly.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: With :04 left on the clock, PK John Baron kicked a 19-yard field goal to lift the Colby College Mules to a 9-7 win over the Williams College Ephs. Colby had taken the early lead in the game way back in the first period when RB John Hurdle-Price scampered into the end zone from three yards out. The Mules then failed on a two-point conversion and it looked like that failed attempt would be their down fall as Wiliams took a 7-6 lead with just 1:46 to play on a seven yard TD pass from SB Joh Dillon to WR James Durham. However, Colby shined under pressure and drove 54 yards in 10 plays to set up the winning kick.
Blowout of the Week: Columbia, KY- We go to the NAIA ranks where the Blue Raiders of Lindsey Wilson College crushed the Cincinnati Christian Eagles, 84-0. The win was the first shutout win in the history of the Blue Raiders. Lindsey Wilson College resurrected their football program in 2010 after dropping the sport back in 1935. The Blue Raider defense held the Eagles to just six first downs, 1 for 13 on third downs and 133 total yards. The Wilson offense rushed for 347 yards with RB haven Jones leading all rushers with 168 yards on 12 carries and three TDs. QB Dylan Beasley completed 13 of 20 passes for 141 yards and three TDs as well.
C.W. Post Press: Brookville, NY- It was a real barnburner on Long Island. Post PK Joey Tolgyesi nailed a 34-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Pioneers to a 27-24 win over the Bentley College Falcons. This was a back and forth game with the Post holding 24-17 lead late. However Bentley tied the game on a 50-yard TD pass from QB Drew Mahoney to WR CJ scarps with 2:16 to play. Post QB Jeff Kidd then came out and calmly led the Pioneers on an 11-plat 58 yard rive for the winning points. Kidd finished the day with 377 yards passing and three TDs, He also ran for 81 yards and a two-point conversion. Post is now 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in Atlantic 10 conference play.. Up next for Post is a trip to Assumption College.
Georgetown Gridiron News: The Hoyas remained perfect no the young season moving to 3-0 with a 17-14 win over the fighting Blue Lions of Columbia. The Hoyas jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead behind a 44-yard TD pass from QB Tim Barnes to WR Dereus Michael, a 47-yard field goal form Hank Darmstadter and 9-yard TD run from Barnes. The Hoyas offense went dormant in the second half, but after Columbia closed to within three pints early in the final period, the Georgetown defense held the lead to ensure the win. Up next for the Hoyas is the second stop on their three game Ivy Legaue swing with a trip to Harvard.
Razorback Report: Well, the Hogs looked like they were gonna take control of their game with Texas A&M. Arkansas went for a fourth-and-goal and a lead over the Aggies. The play was stopped by a stout Aggie defense and then the roof fell in on the Hogs. A 17-17 game then turned into a 45-24 Aggie rout. Hogs QB Austin Allen throw for 371 yards and two TDs in the loss. Up next for Arkansas is home date with Alcorn State from the FCS ranks.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
Friends that can do plumbing are worth their weight in gold.
I need a good flashlight.
Don't ride the Blue Line... ever.
Until next time, remember that playing not lose usually results in a loss.
-The Commissioner
