It's time for the column that makes Tuesdays great, Notes on Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Bill Flemming.
Summaries
USC 26- Washington 13: ESPN's College Gameday came to Seattle for this game. Lee Corso picked the Dawgs to trounce the Trojans. Small bits of Cardinal and Gold were among a vast sea of purple at Husky Stadium. After all, this was Washington's coronation as a reborn national power with the Trojans as their victims for a beating on a national scale. Only problem is that nobody told USC that. USC QB Sam Darnold looked as cool as sSouthern California offshore breeze leading the Trojans offense over and around Husky defenders. Meanwhile, the USC defense harassed, hit, hurried, sacked, and rattled UW QB Jake Browning. USC also shut down the Huskies rushing attack too. When it was over, USC had walked out of Husky Stadium with a big upset win. Sam Darnold did throw two picks, but he did complete 23 of 33 passes for 287 yards and a pair of scores. RB Ronald Jones II more than quintupled UW's rushing yardage with 93 yards on 23 carries and TD. The USC defense had their best game of the year. DE Porter Gustin had a great game with two sacks, Adoree Jackson picked off two passes and the team blocked a field goal and forced a safety as well. USC held UW to 17 yards rushing. They also held UW to just 34 yards on their final five possessions.
Telling Stat: 38:51; Thats the length of time in this game that USC led the Huskies. That amount of time was longer than the total amount of time Washington had trailed in their first nine games combined.
Utah 49- Arizona State 26: The Utes came out pretty sloppy in this game and ASU looked ready to make them pay for it. ASU held a 13-0 lead after the first quarter. Would this be another one of those crazy Thursday night games? Ummm, No. Utah woke up, lit up the scoreboard on offense while the defense dominated the Sun Devils for the final three quarters and left Tempe with a big rout. The Williams and Williams combination led the Utah offensive charge. QB Troy Williams completed 21 of 37 tosses for 296 yards and four scores while RB Joe Williams ripped off 151 yards rushing and two TDs on just 15 carries. His best run was a 82-yard TD jaunt that left no doubt as to how much a lift he has brought to this Ute squad after his "retirement" a few weeks back. As for the Utah defense, DE Hunter Dimick spent most of the game in the ASU backfield. He had nine tackles, eight of those solo stops with five sacks and 6.5 tackles for a loss. Dimick became tied for being the all-time career sack leader for the Utes. He will soon stand lone for the Utes in that category. He also is now the single-game sack record holder for Utah with his five sacks. For ASU, QB Manny Wilkins threw for 309 yards, a TD and two interceptions in the loss.
Telling Stat: 3 out of 4 = rout; After falling behind 13-0, and being outgained 177 yards to 38, Utah held ASU to just 13 points and 222 yards over the final three quarters while scoring 49 points and gaining 459 yards.
Washington State 56- California 21:The Cougars came out and slapped the Golden Bears around. Cal's offense did run up a ton of yards, but the Cougar defense played great and never really let Cal get into the red zone. Meanwhile, the Cougar offense tore right through the Golden Bears. WSU QB Luke Falk completed 36 of 50 passes for 373 yards and five TDs. WR River Cracraft caught nine of those passes for 87 yards and three TDs before leaving the game with a leg injury. Falk's other target Gabe Marks hauled in seven passes for 87 yards and two scores. Marks now stands as the Pac 12's career receiving leader with 295 catches. That breaks the record of 294 held by Colorado's Nelson Spruce. Cal QB Davis Webb threw for 425 yards and two TDs in the loss.
Telling Stat: 7/36/7; The Washington State defense gave up 525 yards on 83 plays to Cal. However, they only allowed Cal to run seven of those plays in the red zone for a meager 36 yards and one TD for the evening.
Colorado 49- Arizona 24: The Wildcats long nightmare of a season continued last Saturday. Colorado took their turn to workover the Wildcats. After a bit of a slow start, CU extended a 7-0 first quarter lead into a 28-10 halftime advantage. The Buffaloes didn't look nearly as dysfunctional as they did v. UCLA last week. QB Sefo Liufau looked to be back on his game, throwing for 213 yards and two TDs. He also ran for a score. RB Phillip Lindsay had another good game. He rushed for 119 yards on 25 carries and three TDs. UofA's offense looked a lot better than it has the last couple of weeks, but the QB combo of Brandon Dawkins and Anu Solomon threw for only 155 yards and no TDs. Sammije Grant looked like he may getting the hang of playing RB for the Wildcats. The converted receiver ran for 113 yards and a pair of scores.
Telling Stat: It only looked like a blowout; Yes, this game had a garbage time element to it as Colorado pulled away from Arizona, but the this was a statistically closer game than it looked. Most of Arizona's yards came as the game was still in doubt and Colorado did not empty the benches.
UCLA 38- Oregon State 24: The bRuins got TDs from their offense, defense and special teams to hold off a pesky bunch of Beavers at the Rose Bowl. The bRuins fell behind early when Oregon State turned a fumble by RB Soso Jamabo into a 1-yard TD run by RB Artavis Pierce. UCLA then stormed back scoring 21 straight points with the last score being a blocked punt return by WR Jordan Lasley. Oregon State did pull within three points of the bRuins with 8:39 left in the third quarter when DE Manase Hungalu took a fumble by QB Mike Fafaul back 40 yards for a TD, but that would be as close as the Beavers would get. UCLA put the game away with just 2:14 to play when LB Randall Goforth took an interception back 40 yards of a TD. UCLA's much maligned rushing game accounted for all of the bRuins offensive TDs with RB Jalen Starks crossing the double stripe twice on 10 carries. In the loss for OSU it was Pierce who led all rushers with 73 yards on 18 carries and two TDs.
Telling Stat: Dammed Beavers; UCLA's defense held OSU's offense to just a field goal in the final 30 minutes to help keep the bRuins bowl hopes alive.
Stanford 52- Oregon 27: In his third game as a starter it looks like SU QB Keller Chryst has come into his own. Christ completed 19 of 26 passes for 258 yards and three TDs in the Cardinal's rout of the Quacks. RB Christian McCaffrey seems to be back in form as well. He knifed through and around the hapless Oregon defense for 135 yards on 17 carries and three TDs. Meanwhile, the Stanford defense gave up a ton of yardage to the Ducks, but forced four turnovers to turn what could have been a shoutout into a rout. RB Royce Freeman rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries and a TD in the loss for the Ducks.
Telling Stat: 6/7+2= Rout; Stanford scored on six of their seven first half possessions and forced two Oregon turnovers to race out to a 38-13 halftime lead and send the Duck faithful home early.
Observations
...A quick fall; Washington QB Jake Browning went from one of the best QBs in the nation to the second best QB in his own stadium Saturday.
...Dead Ducks; With Stanford spanking Oregon over the weekend, the Ducks are now 3-7. That guarantees them a losing record and no bowl game for 2016.
...Cougar love; There won't be a single Trojan fan this week who isn't rooting for Washington State to beat Colorado.
... The big 1; Iowa State has not had a good year as their 2-8 record states, but their 31-24 win over Kansas was a boost to the program and their first Big XII win of 2016.
...Dawgs in the headlights; The looks of shock and disbelief in the faces of the Washington's football players as they were losing to USC showed just how easily they thought they would handle the Trojans.
...86 years; Washington State is riding an eight game wining streak. Something they haven't done since 1930.
...Cardinal back in form; Stanford looked like the Stanford we've been accustomed to seeing last week.
...Georgia State no longer on his mind; Georgia State fired HC Trent Miles on Sunday. Miles' record was 9-48 with the fledgling FBS program which caused the powers that be to pull the plug on his tenure.
...Eligible they are; It's amazing how well the USC offense runs when the Tight End is actually used as an eligible receiver.
Just a rumor; There is no truth to the rumor that after their latest loss, Oregon benefactor and Dark Lord of Bad Uniforms, Phil Knight told Ducks HC Mark Helfrich that he needs to clean his house up and be ready for potential buyers to view the property this week.
...There is a playoff team in SoCal; The Redlands Bulldogs won the SCIAC with an 8-1 record and will travel to Belton, Texas to take on the 10-0 Mary-Hardin Baylor Crusaders in the first round of the D-III playoffs.
...Yeah, ok. What?; Penn State has a good chance to win the Big Ten East Division. They just have tailenders Rutgers and Michigan State on their slate. If the Lions win out and Indiana or Ohio State beats Michigan, the Nittany Lions will go to the Big Ten title game.
...Madeit is his new name; The name of the Pitt PK who nailed the 48-yard field goal to beat Clemson is Chris Blewitt. Oh irony, you jokester.
...Feeling you Broncos; Undefeated Western Michigan looks like the team that will earn that group of six New Year's Day bowl game.
...Not my job; I'm so glad that I'm not on the College Football Playoff Committee this week.
...Not feeling the corn; Jim Harbaugh has been to Iowa twice for games as a Wolverine. Once as a player and once as an HC for Michigan and lost both games on a last-second field goal.
...Flying Eagles; Eastern Michigan has been a football wasteland for many years. However, the Eagles are 6-4 this year and bowl eligible. Wow.
...Strength in the altitude; The Mountain West Conference's Mountain Division boasts a 9-1 team in Boise State and three 7-3 squads in Wyoming, New Mexico, and Air Force.
...Bragging rights; In the Pac 12 a couple of the rivalry games are on the list this week as Stanford takes on Cal in the "Big Game" and USC and UCLA renew their crosstown hostilities.
...Get that kid a chair; San Diego State's Donnel Pumphrey needs a seat on the Hesiman Trophy stage. All he's done this year is rush for 1779 yards in 10 games. He's 347 yards away from breaking Ron Dayne's all-time NCAA career rushing record.
...No need to sit; Hawaii HC Nick Rolovich got so mad at his team during their blowout loss to Boise State that he had the grounds crew remove the teams benches in the the third quarter. I guess he felt that their lackluster showing didn't entitle them to a seat.
...This just in; Oregon stinks and their uniforms do too.
...They will drink Boilermakers at the tailgates; The LSU-Florida QB matchup this week is Danny Etling v. Austin Appleby. Both are transfers form Purdue.
...Ariz0na; Arizona doesn't have a Pac 12 win this season and their game at Oregon State this week will decide who is the cellar dweller in the league.
...Back from the dead; With all the upsets this past weekend, could the Big 12 be back in the hunt for a CFP spot?
...USC and Wazzu are the Pac 12's nightmare; USC and WSU possibly meeting in the Pac 12 title game is commissioner Larry Scott's worst PR nightmare. If SC wins, it's hard to sell USC on a national stage this year after their awful loss to Alabama. If WSU wins the league, you will have a Rose Bowl team that lost to Eastern Washington.
...A great way to go out; The Idaho Vandals are dropping back down to the FCS ranks next year after finding life too difficult in the FBS, So, what have the Vandals done this year? They are bowl eligible at 6-4 and are siting in the upper echelon of the Sun Belt Conference.
Going Bowling
Currently there are 60 teams that are bowl eligible in the FBS. There are also 37 other schools that are on the bubble for being bowl eligible. Just by scheduling alone the number of bubble teams will whittle down and it looks like there won't be any sub .500 teams getting waivers for a bowl appearance this season.
Ugly Uniforms of the Week
This week we have two big winners and a third that I was told I had to include on the list.
First up are the Maryland Terrapins who did their imitation of a blood clot with these uniforms.
Upset of the Decade: Alliance, OH- With :39 left, QB Anthony Moeglin connected with WR Julian Woods on a 24-yard TD pass to lift the John Carroll College Blue Streaks to a 31-28 win over the Mount Union College Purple Raiders. Coming into this game, Mount Union had won 222 of their last 223 regular season games and were riding a 112-game regular season winning streak. The Purple Raiders are the defending D-III Champions and have won 11 national titles in the past 22 seasons. John Carroll claimed the Ohio Athletic Conference crown with the win. the Blue Streaks also get the league's automatic bid to the D-III playoffs making them the only other team to claim that bid besides the Purple Raiders in the history of the league.
Blowout Game of the Week: Bemidji, MN- Its that time of year for senior days and it was that day at Bemidji State. The Beavers of Bemidjii State grounded the Golden Eagles of Minnesota-Crookston, 76-13. QB Jordan Hein completed only 10 of 23 passes, but those completions went for 278 tyards and four TDs. 18 different Beavers handled the ball on offense. The Beavers led 35-0 at the half and scored 41 more points in the second half with PK Mike Hoffer making 10 of 11 PATs on the day. I often cite Bemidji State as an example of a nobody team. It was good to see these guys get a big win and finish their year at 8-3.
C.W. Post Press: Brookville, NY- After a couple of fumbles in the first quarter, the Pioneers found themselves down, 9-0 to the Assumption College Greyhounds. Post then woke up and scored the next 37 points en route to a 43-23 win to claim the Northeast 10 football championship. The comeback started with a 33-yard TD pass from QB Jeff Kidd to WR Kyle Ward. The Pioneers then surged to a 16--9 haltime lead behind another Kidd TD pass and a field goal by PK Joey Tolgyesi. The Green and Gold took control of the game scoring 21 straight point to start the second half. RB Malik Pierre was the star here, returning the opening kickoff of the second half back 87 yards for a TD, then scoring on two more TD runs of two yards and one yard. The win gives Post an undefeated season of 11-0. That 11-0 record earned the Pioneers the #2 seed in the Division II playoffs. They will host Winston-Salem State next week in a first round playoff game.
Georgetown Gridiron News: Washington, DC- It was senior day at GU, but the Hoyas didn't have enough to stop the Bucknell Bison and lost 21-7. RB Joey DeFloria staked the Bison to a 7-0 halftime lead when he scored on 14-yard run with :50 left in second period. Bucknell held a 14-0 lead midway through the third period thanks to a 1-yard plunge by RB Chad Freshnock. The Hoyas did cut Bucknell's lead to 14-7 when WR Joe McLaughlin caught a 23-yard TD pass form QB Clay Norris. However, that is as close as GU would get. Bucknell got a game-sealing TD run form DeFloria with 2:05 to play. The Hoyas had no answer for DeFloria who gashed the Hoyas for 150 yards on 31 carries and a pair of scores. The Hoyas offense woes continued in this game as they were held to 190 total yards and just nine first downs.
Razorback Report: The Hogs manhandled Florida last week, but had no such luck against the LSU Tigers. The Tigers rushed for 390 yards with RB Derrius Guice going off for 252 yards on 21 carries and two TDs. In the loss, Arkansas QB Austin Allen threw for 210 yard, a TD and two interceptions. Up next for Arkansas is a trip to Mississippi State.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
Bunz Burgers in San Pedro rocks.
I still love watching Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
My old LG plasma TV is still great to watch.
Until next time, remember that you have to know you can lose in order to be able to win.
-The Commissioner
