it's time for another look around the league with another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
Utah 41- USC 28: The undisciplined, punchless Trojans were manhandled by the Utes. USC did jump ahead to an early 14-0 lead behind a miracle catch from WR Michael Pittman and a fumble recovery return for a TD by DL Jay Tufele. However, the defense then allowed 34 straight points while the offense was pushed around. Make no mistake here folks, this wasn't some all out blitz scheme that wiped out the Trojans, USC's porous offensive line was whipped most of the time by just four defenders. The Utah defensive line stopped USC's rushing game and got to the QB on many occasions, which left seven back in coverage to snuff out any hopes of a Trojan passing attack. USC's inability to tackle on defense, (which stems form USC's failure to practice tackling), made Utah QB Tyler Huntley look like Aaron Rodgers as he completed 22 of 29 passes for 341 yards and four TDs. RB Zack Moss had his way with SC as well, rushing for 136 yards on 25 carries. As for the Trojan offense, well, it was truly offensive. The Trojans chuck it deep and pray offensive strategy didn't work. USC finished with 205 total yards of offense and two injured QBs. J.T Daniels was knocked out fo the game with a concision, while his backup Matt Fink received three broken ribs.
Telling Observation; No stats needed here to explain this loss. USC was physically dominated by a well-prepared team. This is an all to common fact of life for Trojan football under HC Clay Helton's supposed leadership.
Washington State 34- Oregon 20: Pullman, Washington, the small college town that sits in the rain shadow of the majestic Cascade Mountains and lies just a scant few miles from the Idaho border finally got a visit from ESPN's College Gameday. The small town of 33.354 swelled to over 100,000. Crimson flags and fans of the Cougars were everywhere. However, it was thanks to Oregon that Gameday came to town. The Ducks had upset Washington the week before and had their sights set on whipping the Cougars and taking the inside track to the Pac 12 North title. Wazzu had been the sight of hope and hoopla before in other years, only to do what is known as "Couging It." What is known usually as choking. This day, the Cougars did not choke, they went on a Duck hunt and downed the Webfoots for the fourth straight year. Wazzu raced out to a 27-0 halftime lead behind three TD passes from QB Gardner Minshew III and a 24-yard TD scamper by RB James Williams. The cougars would hold on for the win, but not before Oregon mounted a major comeback. As Wazzu had owned the first half, UO owned the second. Two FG's by PK Adam Stack, a TD pass from QB Justin Herbert and a TD run also by Herbert cut the Cougs lead to 27-20 with 6:38 to play. The Cougs, despite their history, didn't Coug it in the face of the Ducks comeback. They just went out and won the game. Minshew led the Crimson and Gray on a scoring drive that covered 75 yards in eight plays. Minshew found WR Dezmon Patmon for a 22-yard TD pass with 3:40 left that put the game in the win column for the boys from Pullman. Minshew finished the day with 323 yard passing and four TDs, while Herbert finished with 270 yards passing and two scores in the loss.
Telling Stat: They finished strong; Wazzu got the game-wining 75-yard TD drive late in the game when they needed it. That's how good teams finish off wins.
Stanford 20- ASU 13: Stanford struggled and plodded along as they usually do. Their defense stood tough and the clock drained. Before anybody knew it, Stanford held a 20-6 lead and had lulled the Sun Devils, the nation, and put this intrepid reporter to sleep last Thursday night. Then, the game got interesting. Interesting in that ASU DC Danny Gonzalez gathered his defense about him and made things very clear as to the way this game was headed. That happened with 11:47 left after the Sun Devils had just thrown an interception and Stanford looked to in total control of the game. ASU went out and held the Cardinal to -2 yards and forced a punt. The Sun Devils then scored a TD on the ensuing drive when QB Manny Wilkins raced 10-yard for a touchdown. With 7:50 left, there was life in the dessert. Gonzalez's defense stopped the Cardinal twice more in the final minutes, but the ASU offense couldn't get the game tied. Their final drive ended as RB Eno Benjamin was tackled at the Cardinal 18-yard line when the clock ran out. Wilkins finished the game with 353 yards passing and 41 yards rushing and a TD. For the victorious Cardinal, QB K.J. Costello threw for 231 yard and a TD while RB Cameron Scarlett gained 54 yards on nine carries with a touchdown of his own.
Telling Stat: No T.O.P, No win; ASU only managed 21:43 of T.O.P and ran only 68 plays, That's been proven over and over again that's just not enough to beat Stanford.
Washington 27- Colorado 13: It was another tight contest for the Huskies who bounced back from last week's upset at the hands of Oregon. The Huskies win also extended the misery for the Buffaloes who were trying to forget their uninspiring loss to USC. The teams traded hard hits and points in the first half. CU PK Evan Price connected on a 26-yard field goal to cut the Huskies lead to 14-13 just before the teams headed off to the intermission. Colorado didn't score again. The Dawgs defense along with a couple of key holding calls kept the Buffaloes out of the end zone for the final 30 minutes. However the Huskies did find some more scoring with a pair of field goals from PK Peyton Henry and a 26-yard TD pass from QB Jake Browning to WR Aaron Fuller. The win keeps the Dawgs in the Pac 12 North race, while Colorado is still in the hunt in the Pac 12 South after SC lost to Utah later on in the day. RB Miles Gaskin didn't see the field in this game, nursing a shoulder injury from the previous week. His backfield mate RB Salvon Ahmed rushed for 73 yards and a TD to lead the Huskies rushing attack. Browning threw for 150 yard and a TD to aid the UW cause. For CU, QB Steven Montez threw for 144 yards and a TD in the loss.
Telling Stat: 0 for 30= W; The Washington defense shutdown Colorado in the second half. They held the Buffs to 91 total yards, while forcing three punts, holding for downs twice and forcing an interception on CU's six second half possessions.
California 49- Oregon State 7: It was bright sunny day in Corvallis and it looked like the Beavers might break through and grab their first FBS and Pac 12 win in forever. Cal had switched QBs yet again this week, with Chase Garbers now at the helm. It didn't look like that was great move. The sputtering Cal offense held a 7-0 lead late in the opening quarter and had just fumbled on the OSU two-yard line. Hope charged through the Beavers sideline. Cal then dashed those hopes by finding the end zone on three for their next four possessions to take a 28-0 lead a early in the third quarter. Both teams scored and Cal took a 35-7 into the final period and then put the game away for good with two more scores. Cal RB Patrick Laird had himself a great day, gashing the Beaver defense for 193 yards rushing on 22 carries and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 48 yards and another score. Meanwhile, Garbers competed 17 of 26 passes for 234 yards and three TDs. The Cal defense stuffed OSU allowing just one score and holding the Beavers rushing game to just 95 yards.
Telling Stat: They ran to daylight; Cal rushed for 305 yards on the hapless OSU defense to earn a much needed victory.
UCLA 31- Arizona 30: Last time UofA HC Kevin Sumlin visited the Rose Bowl, his Texas A&M squad got was beaten in an epic comeback by the bRuins. This time around it wasn't so memorable, but the result was another loss for Sumlin in Pasadena. UCLA held a 17-7 lead at the half despite QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson being knocked out of the game by the Wildcats defense. Wilton Speight, the grad transfer from Michigan, would play the rest of the way under center for the bRuins. Speight threw A TD pass, but otherwise struggled as UofA came back to take a 20-17 lead late in the third quarter on a 39-yard field goal by PK Josh Pollock. UCLA couple have folded here, but the young bRuins and their old QB didn't. Speight led UCLA to a go ahead TD as he marched them down the field on a six-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead again at 24-20 to end the period. The fourth quarter featured just enough defense from the bRuins and clock killing drive to give UCLA the win. The squads traded TDs to start the final stanza. The Wildcats seems to be heading on what would have been the game-wining drive but had to settle for another field goal to pull within a point within a point with 6:28 to play. The wildcats would not see the ball again. UCLA ran out the clock on a 12-play drive that covered 55 yards, That allowed the bRuins to board their busses back to Pasadena with their second win of the season. Speight threw for 204 yards and a TD while RB Joshua Kelley had another strong game for UCLA. He rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown. Rhett Rodriguez started at QB this week for the injured Khalil Tate and he completed 15 of 34 tosses for 231 yards and two touchdowns. UofA's rushing game looked good as RBs J.J. Taylor and Gary Brightwell each topped the 100 yard mark.
Telling Stat: They grew up; it was sloppy, but the UCLA defense did just enough to give their offense a chance to win the game with a good drive and they did it.
Observations
...West coast bias; Sorry easterners, the best ESPN Gameday shows this year have been from Eugene and Pullman.
...They ain't happy; WSU HC Mike Leach and ASU DC Danny Gonzales had some choice words for the higher ups in the Pac 12 about the poor state of officiating in the league.
Leach Rips Woodie
Gonzalez Gripes (only the first few seconds of this video are what you need to see.)
...Closing in on Ted; USC has now suffered 10 double digit losses during Clay Helton's tenure, that's three short of Ted Tollner's school record of 13 double digit defeats.
...Another good O; Another shoutout to Coach Ed Oregeron and his LSU Tigers for another win, a 19-3 throttling of Mississippi State.
...Note to Pat Haden; Read the above and go hang your head in shame.
...Hello, Larry; Clay Helton's lack of halftime adjustments give me night mares about third quarter when Larry Smith was USC's HC.
...Shocking; I'm shocked, shocked to see the Michigan and Michigan State hate each other.
...Meanwhile in College Park; Maryland's Board of Regents have the results of the investigation into the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, yet haven't shared the results with the university president. SMH. Really?
...Feeling Paul; USC"s undisciplined play and penchant for penalties is positively Paul Hackett-esque.
...He had an arm; Here's a great article from the Spokane Spokesman-Review on how Jack Thompson, The Throwin' Samoan, helped start the string of great passers in the Palouse.
...Memo to Clay Helton; being compared to Ted Tollner, Larry Smith and Paul Hackett is a really, really, really bad thing.
...Cavalier Attitude; Don't look now, but Virginia is 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the ACC with wins over Miami and Duke. Don't be surprised if the Wahoos game with VaTEch later this year is for a berth in the ACC title game.
...And then there were two; With Nebraska finally picking up a win this past weekend over Minnesota, that leaves just UTEP and San Jose State as the only two winless team in the FBS.
...Things just got real; Real for Northwestern, that is. The Wildcats starts the true make-or-break part of their schedule as int he next three weeks they host Wisconsin and Notre Dame, then travel to Iowa.
Wow.
...Just a rumor; There' no truth to the rumor that USC's offense doesn't have a playbook. It just looks that way.
...This just in; Minnesota stinks. The Golden Gophers are 3-4 overall, but 0-4 in Big Ten play. Looks like the kids rowing the boat haver gotten stuck on a sandbar.
...Baby, things change; Remember a few weeks back when TCU was giving TheeeOSU all they could handle? The Horned Frogs are now 3-4 overall, 1-3 in Big XII play, their QB is inured and out for the year and their top WR has just been arrested on domestic violence charges. SMH.
...It's a miracle; Rice is 1-7 and gives up on average 44 points per game. How did the Owls even win one game?
Pac 12 Overreactions
USC will win just enough games to get the dreaded Sun Bowl bid.
UCLA will go 4-8.
Stanford doesn't have enough to win the Pac 12 North.
Washington wins despite Jake Browning
Oregon has gone from incredible to irrelevant in seven days.
Utah will still lose one more game.
Colorado won't win again until they actually throw downfield.
Cal won't make a bowl.
ASU's defense is far better than their 3-4 record.
Arizona is just a mess.
Oregon State will go 1-11.
Wazzu may be Rose Bowl bound.
Cool Old Logo of the Week
It was neat to see Oregon State revive the old Bucky Beaver logo for their homecoming game v. Cal.
They Went Purple
I really like the purple LSU helmet.
Ugly Uniforms of the Week
This week's win goes to the NFL with their awful Color Rush uniforms that are beyond ugly, they are down right hideous. Here, the Rams and Jets make my point emphatically.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: Cambridge, MA- A 6-yard TD pass from QB Ugdam Goyal to WR Eddy Garcia-Montes and a two-yard TD run by RB Cole Baker were all the Engineers of MIT needed to defeat the Coast guard Academy Bears, 13-0. The win runs MIT's record to 7-0 on the season. The Engineers sit alone atop the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference standings in D-III. MIT is 7-0 for only the second time in school history.
Blowout Game of the Week: Springfield, MA- We stay in Massachusetts and in D-III, but switch to the Commonwealth Coast Conference where it was a good homecoming indeed for the Western New England Golden Bears. The Golden Bears trounced the University of New England Nor'Easters, 70-13. WNEU got off to a rough start with a punt and a turnover, then the offense got clicking. They posted 49 first half points and the rout was on. QB Alec Coleman was the offense for the Bears by throwing for 171 yards and two scores, while also rushing for 114 yards and four more TDs.
C.W. Post Press: Brookville, NY- After a sluggish first quarter, the Pioneers put 21 points on the board in the second quarter en route to a 41-6 thrashing of the Pace University Setters. The win elevated Post's record to 7-0 on the season. QB Chris Laviano complete 18 of 32 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns. The defense really stood out, holding Pace to zero, yes zero passing yards. Pace only attempted 12 passes all game. They didn't complete a pass and had four passes picked off. Up next for the Pioneers is a trip to Worcester, MA to take on the Assumption College Greyhounds.
Razorback Report: Good news! The Razorbacks finally notched another win this year. They beat Tulsa, 23-0. A pair of Connors led the hogs to the win. QB Connor Noland completed 10 of 16 passes for 124 yards and a TD while PK Conor Limpert booted three field goals in the victory. Next up for the Hogs is a home date with Vanderbilt.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
Pastrami Burgers are pretty good.
I feel like it will be a dry and warm winter.
Heartland is a fine TV show.
Until next time folks, remember that offensive lines are like a good engine. You never notice a good one and a bad one will cause you more problems than it is worth.
-The Commissioner
