It's time for another edition of the column that makes you wish Saturday was already here, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Tom Kelly.
Summaries
Colorado 28- Arizona State 21: It was the Laviska Shenault, Jr. show as the WR scored all four of CU's TDs in their win over the Sun Devils. He hauled in a pair scores from QB Steven Montez and ran for two more on a pair of short runs. The two squads matched each other score for score with ASU leading the way behind the arm of QB Manny Wilkins. After CU fought back to tie the game at 21-21, they shutdown the Sun Devils the rest of the way for the win. CU's game-wining score came just before the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter saw CU hold ASU on 4th and Goal from the three-yard line. ASU wouldn't threaten again. On their next drive Wilkins was injured and ASU punted to Colorado with 7:10 to play. The Sun Devils would never see the ball again. The Buffs picked up four first downs and ran out the clock to claim the win. Montez finished the game with 328 yards passing and two TDs, while RB Travon McMillan chewed up the turf, gaining 136 yards on 30 carries. Shenault hauled in 13 receptions for 127 yards and rushed for 13 yards to go with his four scores. For ASU, Wilkins threw for 222 yards and a TD to go with RB Eno Benjamin's 120 yards and two scores in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: 12:34 to Boulder; Colorado played keep away with ASU in the fourth quarter running 24 offensive plays to ASU's three and holding the ball for 12:34 of the game's final 13:25 to claim victory.
Washington 31- UCLA 24: The Huskies showed up for this game as they have showed up for most games this year. The offense looks sluggish, the defense slowly throttles their opponent and UW grinds it's way to a boring, yet crushing victory. That same script looked like it was playing out again with the Huskies slogging heir way to a 24-7 halftime lead over a decidedly overmatched bRuins squad. However, with this being the land of film and television, UCLA commissioned a second half rewrite of the script and almost pulled off the upset over a stunned bunch of Huskies. Chip's charges took the ball to start the second half and drove for a field goal, then faced a UW punt and drove 90 yards for a TD to cut UW's lead to just 24-17 as the third quarter ended. In the span of a quarter, UCLA had turned this yawner into a game and the several hundred bRuin fans that attended the game came alive. After the teams exchanged punts UW got the breathing room they needed on a 12 play, 81-yard drive that ended in a 2-yard jaunt for a TD by RB Myles Gaskin. That drive took 6:45 off the clock and left UCLA down two scores with just 3:42 to play. The Dawgs then went into their prevent defense that didn't prevent much and UCLA raced down the field and cut the deficit to just seven points again with 1:38 to play. Following the score, UCLA's onside kick was recovered by the Dawgs and they then could rest easy with a much closer than expected victory. For UW, QB Jake Browning threw for 265 yards and a TD while running for 49 yards an another score on the evening. UCLA RB Joshua Kelley led all rushers with 125 yards on 20 carries and a TD, while QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 272 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
Telling Stat: Not enough time; Chip Kelly led squads don't care about Time of Possession, but it killed them here. UCLA only held the ball for eight minutes in the first half and time consuming drives by both the Huskies and bRuins in the second half kept their upset chances just out of reach.
Washington State 56- Oregon State 37: The Cougars and Beavers had a shootout in Corvallis. Only problem for the Beavers is that they ran out bullets in the third quarter. The game stood 30-28 Beavers midway through the third thanks to the arm of Wazzu's Gardner Minshew II and the legs of OSU's Jermar Jefferson. Minshew had thrown for two TDs, while Jefferson had run for all four Beavers TDs. However, the Beavers were done and Wazzu was just warming up. Minshew led the Cougars on a 28-0 run where he threw for three of the four scores that put the game firmly in the win column for the boys from Pullman. OSU got a cosmetic score late to make the game look closer than it was. Minshew finished the game completing 30 of 40 tosses for 430 yards and five TDs. For OSU, Jefferson gained 138 yards on 25 carries with four TDs in the loss.
Telling Stat: They kicked it up a notch; Both the Wazzu offense and defense found an extra gear late in the third quarter and pulled away form Oregon State with a 28-0 run where the offense outgained OSU 289 yards to 118 and the defense forced three punts and a fumble.
Arizona 24- California 17: The Golden Bears finally chose a starting QB this week. Brandon McIlwain then went out and rewarded Cal HC Justin Wilcox's decision by turning the ball over four times.. The Wildcats returned two errant McIlwain aerials for touchdowns to walk away with a stunning win in the desert. McIlwain did throw three interceptions and fumble once, but he did throw for 315 yards and run for 107 yards with two TDs. Meanwhile, Khalil Tate is still a one-legged QB. He threw for 141 yards and a touchdown in the unexpected win.
Telling Stat: They didn't break; The Arizona defense forced three Cal turnovers, held for downs once and outscored Cal 14-3 in the second half to get the win.
Utah 40- Stanford 17: Folks might want to blame this beatdown of the Cardinal on the fact that Bryce Love did not take the field v. Utah. Plain truth is that Utah did what Notre Dame did to Stanford last week. The Utes physically dominated the line of scrimmage, hit Stanford's receivers hard and forced turnovers to win the game. Utah also got some much needed production from their offense too. Utah raced out to a 21-0 second quarter lead on a pair of TD runs by RB Zack Moss and a 100-yard pick six by CB Jaylon Johnson. Utah extended their lead to 27-7 in the third quarter before Stanford came alive and scored two TDs to close out the quarter trailing by six at 27-21. Would this be another Oregon style comeback for the Cardinal? Ummmm, No. Utah owned the fourth quarter with their defense causing two turnovers and forcing a punt while the offense put 13 more points on the board to finish the rout. Moss finished the game with Love-like numbers rushing for 160 yards on 20 carries with two TDs. The real surprise was that QB Tyler Huntley played like a real QB. He completed 17 of 21 passes for 199 yards and a TD. He also ran for 23 yards. For Stanford, QB K.J. Costello threw for 381 yards, a TD and two costly interceptions in the loss.
Telling Stat: Another rough fourth; Stanford has been shutout in the fourth quarter of their last two games. The Cardinal have turned the ball over three times and been outgained 129 yards to 62 during that timespan.
Observations
...Paging Paul Reubens; Seriously, the way Minnesota HC P.J. Fleck dresses on the sideline makes him look like what Pee Wee Herman would dress like as a football coach.
...Tough truth; The best FBS team in California right now just might be San Diego State. SMH.
...One for The Pirate; Leading up to the Oklahoma-Texas game last week, ESPN ran a great story on how when Mike Leach was an assistant at OU he carried out a "lost script" caper that's still talked about today. Snookered
...Jeffersonian football; The Pac 12 Freshman of the Year is Oregon State RB Jermar Jefferson. The kid is flat out good.
...9-26-2015; That's the last time Cal won a road game in the Pac 12. The Golden Bears beat Washington that day, 30-24.
...Pretty awesome; Regardless of how you may feel towards the teams, the Oklahoma-Texas game was just plain fun the watch.
...Tough guys; The only team that plays truly physical football in the Pac 12 this year is Utah.
...Aztec Reign; SDSU's upset at Boise State sent shockwaves throughout the Mountain West Conference.
...No way; There's no way you'd believe me if I told you that Texas A&M would need to go to overtime to defeat a Kentucky team whose offense never crossed the 50-yard line in regulation play.
...They can't wrestle them doggies; OU's defense can't tackle, no wonder they fired DC Mike Stoops on Sunday.
...Tough .500; Arizona State may be the best 3-3 team in the nation. Their three losses were by a TD each on the road to teams whose combined overall record is 13-2.
...Silence in the forest; Just checked, Oregon fans are still not upset over Wille Taggart leaving the Quacks for Florida State.
...Just a rumor; there's no truth to the rumor that Oklahoma's cornerbacks were named to the All- Keebler Elf team.
...And that's the way it is; USF RB Jordan Cronkite rushed for 302 yards on 23 carries and three TDs to lead South Florida to a 58-42 win over Umass. That's a nifty 13.1 yards per carry. Wow.
...An eight pack in the Big Sky; Idaho State QB Tanner Gueller threw eight TD passes in the Bengals 62-28 win over Idaho. One of them was to his brother Mitch, who used to be a farmhand with the Phillies.
...Maybe fading away; Being kept alive by a scant few,the classic Triple Option fading away from football. Here's a great article by Sports Illustrated about this form of offense. Where have you gone, Emory Bellard?
In honor of yesterday being Canadian Thanksgiving, here's a CFL Update:
Only a month to go in the CFL regular season and the playoff picture is coming into focus. The two top teams are the Calgary Stampeders with a 12-2 record followed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders with a 10-5 mark. The final three teams in the West, Edmonton, B.C. and Winnipeg are fighting for two spots. In the East, Ottawa and Hamilton are fighting for the top spot with 8-6 and 7-7 records respectively. One thing for sure is that both teams will make the playoffs. That means HC June Jones has led Hamilton back to respectability. Oh, and Johnny Manziel did finally throw his first CFL regular season TD pass two weeks ago for the hapless Montreal Allouettes. For all kinds of great CFL information, you can got to the 3 Down Nation site or just text me. lol Football, eh!?
Pac 12 Overreactions
Washington has to stop sleepwalking through games.
UCLA is getting better each week.
Colorado's confidence is better than their talent.
ASU's moral victory tour is killing Herm Edwards.
Stanford will go 8-4.
Utah's offense will lose them two more games.
USC managed to look bad on a bye week.
Wazzu could win 10 games.
Oregon State will go 2-9
Cal still doesn't have a QB.
Arizona's win over Cal may be their last one this year.
Oregon is thrilled with Willie Taggart's departure.
Ugly Uniform the Week
Last week, West Virginia won for just an ugly yellow helmet. This week, they had a "hold my beer" moment and came out in all-obnoxious yellow to win for the second straight week.
A History Lesson in Honor of Hockey Season's Return
One Man, Two Sports, and The Changing of Play on a Continent
American Football traces it's roots back to 1869, where Princeton and Rutgers are deemed to have played the first official football game. However, that game and those after it for a few years more resembled a form of Association Football (soccer), than they resembled the game we know today. In October of 1873, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and Rutgers representatives met to codify these football rules. Harvard refused to meet because their brand of the fledgling game that they called the "Boston Game" allowed carrying the ball and hitting of players who carried the ball. Harvard's refusal to change these rules caused them to have to search for teams to play and that's how the Crimson ended up playing McGill. McGill has issued a challenge to Harvard and the Crimson accepted. That brings us to May of 1874. The first game on May 14th was played with the "Boston Rules." It was used playing a round ball like a soccer ball and Harvard won the game 3-0. The schools regrouped and agreed to play another game on the 15th using a set of rugby style rules with a rugby ball and the scoring play known as the "try." The teams battled to a scoreless tie that day. However, the Harvard boys were thrilled with the rules they had played under and were intrigued by the "try." A year later, Harvard had tweaked the rules and faced off against Tufts University in what is now known as the first football game using a set of rules that would evolve into the game of American Football that we play today. James Creighton, came away inspired by the experience and decided to take some of these rules and apply them to his favorite sport of hockey. Creighton, for his efforts, was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015, some 85 years after his death.
Until 1875, hockey was an outdoor game, played on a frozen pond with as many people as could fit on the ice and very little in the way of rules. Creighton borrowed from rugby rules and field hockey rules and applied them to hockey. He also did one other very important thing. He moved the game indoors. On March 3, 1875, Creighton got his buddies from the rugby club to play his new version of the game at the Victoria Skating rink in Montreal. The game featured nine men on a side, goaltenders could not drop to the ice to stop a shot, and the teams played two 30 minutes halves without substitutions. Oh, and as in rugby rules the ball (puck) could not be passed forward. Creighton's experiment had revolutionized the game. He brought the game indoors and it caught on like wildfire with the university set and then later on it would capture the heart of all of Canada. It's not hard to see how Creighton helped change the course of sport in North America.
Creighton did pretty well outside of sports too. He did get his law degree and became the law clerk to the Canadian Senate. He'd hold that post for 48 years. One final note, the "try" that the Harvard guys were so excited about evolved into what we know today as a touchdown.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: Searcy, AR: The Ouachita Baptist Tigers were outgained 308 yards to 176, made only nine first downs and possessed the ball for only 19:39, but they made a fourth quarter 19-yard TD run by RB Shun'Cee Thomas hold up for a 7-3 win over the Harding University Bison. OBU's defense made a goal line stand in the final minute to preserve the win. OBU is 6-0 and ranked 6th in the nation in Division-II.
Blowout Game of the Week: Richmond, VA: This week saw yet another squad hit the 90 point plateau. Virginia Union wiped out the Lincoln University Lions, 90-0. RB Tabyus Taylor led all rushers with 235 yards on 23 carries and three TDs. VUU racked up almost 500 yards rushing on the day, while their defense pitched a shutout allowing only a couple of Lincoln's drives to cross midfield and holding the lions to 0 for 15 on third down.
C.W. Post Report: Shippensburg, PA: It is not often you get a game that features five lead changes in the final quarter, a game-winning field goal and play that makes ESPN's SportsCenter. Well, Post got a of those and a 41-39 win over Shippensburg University to stay undefeated on the season. The teams played a scoreless first period, before they lit up the scoreboard the rest of the way. Shippensburg held a 27-18 lead heading into the final period. Each team scored on every possession of the fourth quarter with Post having the last laugh when PK Joey Tolgyesi nailed a 34-yard field goal as time ran out for the win. QB Chris Laviano complete 39 of 61 passes for four TDs and two interceptions to lead the Post offense, while Shippensburg QB Brycen Mussina commuted 25 of 34 passes for 393 yards with four TDs and two interceptions in the loss. As for the play that ended up on ESPN, here's the link. What a grab! Up next for Post is Homecoming v. Saint Anselm.
Razorback Report: The Hogs found themselves down 21-0 to Alabama before they could blink and were destroyed by the Crimson Tide, 65-31. You know how bad the season has gone for the Hogs when Bama HC Nick Saban is disappointed that his defense gave up 31 points to the Razorbacks. Up next for Arkansas is a home date with Ole Miss.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
This weekend it actually felt like fall here in SoCal.
Lately it seems like lane lines are just a suggestion to drivers here.
Rib tips and curly fries is a pretty good combination.
Until Next Time Folks, remember that blocking and tackling will never go out of style.
-The Commissioner
