Hey All
It's time for one more edition of the column that helps the weekend last longer, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summary
Pac 12 Conference Championship Game
USC 31- Stanford 28: The Trojans and Cardinal met for a rematch to decide the Pac 12 title. In the first game at the Coliseum, the Trojans outmuscled the Cardinal and earned a decisive victory. This time, the game was a lot closer, but the Trojans came up strong again to claim the crown. This was a back and forth contest with the teams trading strong drives and tough defensive efforts. USC held a 24-21 lead as the final period started. Over most of this decade, these kind of games have always swung in favor of the Cardinal thanks to their running game and physical play. The game looked like it would follow this pattern after USC Punter Reid Budrovich shanked a 30-yard punt from the SC three-yard line which set up the Cardinal at the Trojans 33-yard line with 13:55 to play. A few runs, a few passes and of course a few penalties later, Stanford had a 1st and goal at the USC five-yard line. There Cardinal rushes later forced a 4th and goal from the one-yard line. SU HC David Shaw kept his jumbo package in and went for the TD. However, the USC defense would not be beaten. Not tonight. Not now. Not here. DE Uchenna Nwosou charged into the Stanford backfield and tripped up RB Cameron Scarlett short of the end zone. USC had held for a goal line stand. Now, all the Trojans faced was the task of going 99 yards to try and put the game away. On second down, USC QB Sam Darnold cooly stepped stepped up in his own end zone and hit WR Michael Pittman, Jr. in stride for a 54-yard gain that flipped the field position. On the next play he hit Pittman, Jr. again for a 12-yard gain to the Cardinal 32-yard line. SC then turned the offense over to RB Ronald Jones II who toted the rock four straight times. His last carry went for eight yards and a TD that put SC up, 31-21. Stanford came back from the dead after the ensuing kickoff and drove 90 yards in eight plays for a TD to cut the lead to 31-28. The TD came on a just a perfect throw from QB K.J. Costello to TE Kaden Smith. An onside kick ensued and fell harmlessly out of bounds. SC dodged that bullet, but still had to get a first down to run the clock out as Stanford had a timeout remaining with a little over two-minutes to play. USC ran the ball three times to bring up a 4th and 2 at the Stanford 32-yard line. Darnold rolled to his right and hit TE Josh Falo who gained 15 yards for the game-winning first down. Darnold was named the game's MVP for completing 17 of 24 passes for 325 yard a pair of TDs. HIs favorite target, Pittman, Jr. racked up 146 yards receiving on just seven catches to set the Pac 12 Championship Game record. RB Ronald Jones quietly had another big game, rushing for 140 yards on 30 carries with two TDs. For Stanford, oft-injured RB Bryce Love ran for 125 yards on 22 carries and a TD, while Costello threw for 192 yards and a pair fo TDs.
Telling Stat; 0/1+1/1 = W; USC held Stanford on fourth and goal to keep the lead, then converted on their own fourth down to seal the game and bring USC its' first conference title since the Pete Carrol era.
Pac 12 Bowl Impressions
Las Vegas Bowl
Boise State v. Oregon- Whether Willie Taggart is on the sidelines or not, a healthy Duck squad wallops the Broncos in sin city.
Heart of Dallas Bowl
Utah v. West Virginia- The matchup talked about in this game is the Ute defense v. the Mountaineer offense. The real matchup to watch is Utah's offense v. the WVU defense. If Utah runs the ball well and gets a decent game from their QBs, they win.
Cactus Bowl
Kansas State v. UCLA- Does Josh Rosen even play in this game? K-State is happy to be here. UCLA is just waiting for the Chip Kelly era to begin in earnest.
Foster Farms Bowl
Arizona v. Purdue- Welcome back to the postseason Boilermakers! Now, go play a shootout with the Wildcats. I think this will be a 45-42 kind of game.
Alamo Bowl
Stanford v. TCU- The Horned Frogs are good, but will they fall into the Stanford trap? Stanford's offense is plodding, it's slow and it drains clock. If TCU isn't ready, they could be down 20-0 in the fourth quarter and wondering what happened.
Holiday Bowl
Washington State v. Michigan State- When you say a game could go either way, this is the one. This contest hinges on the Spartans defense. This could be a 51-24 Wazzu win or a 27-3 MSU win. Just don't see a close one here.
Sun Bowl
North Carolina State v. Arizona State- Well, the Sun Devils were handed the dreaded Sun Bowl bid. The most ridiculed bowl in the Pac 12. For that alone, I say ASU blows it. Also, I cannot wait to see outgoing ASU HC Todd Graham in the Bowl's signature sombrero. Will he rock it as well as Lane Kiffin did?
Cotton Bowl
USC v. Ohio State- This is a Rose Bowl matchup being played in a different yard. Both these teams have been brilliant and frustrating to their fan base and the nation all year long. They are both very talented too. I think it's a true barn-burner at the Death Star.
Fiesta Bowl
Washington v. Penn State- Both of these squads have had a long time to stew over not making their respective conference title games. Both teams have also choked in big games lately too. Whoever doesn't choke will win and I have no idea who that will be.
Observations
...A Rose colored tie; USC and Ohio State will face each other in a bowl game for the eighth time in their history. That ties the record for most post season meetings between two schools. So who are the other pair of teams that have faced each other that many times in a bowl? USC and Michigan.
...Simple advice; If you get a chance to coach in Knoxville, take it from me, pass it by.
...Hubris thy name is Aggie; Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp's quote on Jimbo Fisher being the only name in their search for a new HC, "We don't plan B at Texas A&M It's the best or forget about it."
...A run-oriented bowl; It will be fun to watch SDSU's power rushing attack take on Army's triple option in the Armed Forces Bowl.
...The non-search coaching search; We know Nebraska had Scott Frost in the bag from the day they decided to fire Mike Riley, but Arizona State had Herman Edwards basically signed before they even announced Todd Graham's firing. (Side note: Keeping Todd Graham on to coach the Sun Devils in the Sun Bowl is just plain weird.) Folks at ASU aren't thrilled with Edwards and the way it all came down. Check this article out from SUNDEVILSOURCE. Why Him?
...Low class move; As UCF was deep in the fourth quarter of their epic battle with Memphis Saturday. The UCF fans were cheering for their boys to go undefeated and hoping they could hold on to Scott Frost as their HC. At that time, ESPN ran with the headline on their crawl that Frost was leaving UCF for Nebraska. Then, after they won the 2 OT thriller, ESPN grilled him on his leaving for Nebraska rather than choosing to let him celebrate with his current team. SMH.
...57 years and the drought is gone; New Mexico State became one of the feel good stories of the year when they came from behind to beat South Alabama, 22-17 and qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 1960. Way to go, Aggies.
...One last game; The last regular season game is upon us as it is Army-Navy week. This is one of my favorite games of the year. It is played for all the right reasons. Nobody in this contest will most likely ever see a down in the Sunday league or make millions in the game. They play for pride and the love of the game and that's a pretty neat thing.
...E-SEC-SPN; Ohio State hadn't even collected the Big Ten Championship trophy before ESPN went into high gear to pull for Alabama to be picked over USC and Ohio State for the playoff. They even had Alabama HC Nick Saban on the phone to lobby for the Crimson Tide. That was pretty sickening.
...No reason to play the title games; The college football playoff selection committee had told us once again that conference championships don't matter.
...3 and in; ESPN would push for a 9-3 non-champion Alabama team to make the playoff over four 13-0 Champions from the other the Power Five conferences.
...This just in; Booger is a stupid name for an adult.
...57 years and the drought is gone- Part II; New Mexico State's bowl drought is over and ironically they will have a rematch for their bowl game. Back in 1960, NMSU defeated Utah State, 20-13 in the Sun Bowl. The two squads will face each other again this year in the Arizona Bowl.
...Shafted; The lack of respect for USC by the playoff committee is pretty hard to miss. Not only is SC ranked eighth behind a three loss Auburn team, the Trojans were sent to the Cotton Bowl instead of the Fiesta Bowl because poor Ohio State just couldn't handle a third straight trip to Phoenix. If it was a third straight trip to Pasadena nobody at Theee OSU would raise an eyebrow. SMH.
...Hard truth; It will always be difficult for a Pac 12 team to make the playoff as long as the league continues to shoot itself in the foot with nine conference games, epically poor officiating and playing Thursday and Friday games. If the Pac 12 doesn't respect itself, why should anyone else?
...Fayetteville in his rearview mirror; Auburn HC Gus Malzahn will stay at Auburn after using the Hogs to help him grab a 49 million dollar contract extension.
...Not even a dumpster fire; At least the Tennessee coaching search is a dumpster fire of epic proportions while Arkansas' failure to find a new HC is just boring with large doses of irrelevance and desperation.
...He has been identified; If you want to know who the "Turf Guy" is form the The Big Ten title game, WTHR TV 13 in Indianapolis has the info. He majored in Turf
...Strange times; You know how awful the officiating in the Pac 12 has become when you miss this guy.
Pac 12 Overreactions
USC should have a giant chip on their shoulder when they face Theee Ohio State.
Stanford is worried that USC is really the more physical team.
Cool Uniforms for this Week
Army and Navy have broken out some slick threads for this year's clash.
Very Cool Uniforms
Departments
Craziest Championship Game Ever- UCF and Memphis hooked up in the AAC title game and it was a stat keepers nightmare. The Golden Knights won 62-55 in 2 OT. The teams combined for 1,479 yards of offense, 64 first downs (32 each) and six turnovers. Oh, and there were a total of five punts in the game too. UCF QB McKenzie Milton completed 28 of 40 passes for 494 yards, five TDs and three interceptions while his counterpart Riley Ferguson completed 30 of 42 passes for 471 yards and one huge interception. Ferguson's interception ended the game as it came in the second OT. The 1,479 total yards was the most combined yards in a game this year.
FCS Playoff Update- The FCS has moved into the quarterfinal round with powerhouse North Dakota State hosting Wofford, while Weber State makes a trip to James Madison, New Hampshire travels to South Dakota State and Kennesaw State heads to Sam Houston State.
Division II- It is semifinal time in D-II. Indiana (PA) hosts West Florida in one half of the bracket while Texas A&M Commerce hosts Harding College in the other half.
Division III- Their semifinal round features mighty Mount Union traveling to Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Brockport State taking the long trip form NY to Texas to face Mary Hardin-Baylor.
NAIA- The NAIA final is set. Reinhardt College (GA) will play Saint Francis (IN) for the NAIA crown.
This Week's Final Note of the Year
This column has reached its' end for the year. Once again I have seen that no matter how the games go, it's the people around me that make this game all the much better. I give thanks to my family, my extended tailgate family and the friends that give me the insight, laughs and inspiration that make this column what it is. Here's to a happy bowl season for us all and a happy 2018. Next time we get together will be for a ride in the coaching carousel. Heck, Tennessee may even have a coach by then.
Until next year folks, remember it's great to have a life that let's you spend time loving this game with the funny bouncing ball.
-The Commissioner
