It's time for the final edition for 2018 of the column that makes Tuesday feel like Saturdays, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
Pac 12 Championship Game: Washington 10- Utah 3: An announced crowd of 35,000 filled some parts of Levi's Stadium for one of the most boring Pac 12 Games of the season. This defensive snoozer was marked by a first half where Washington took a 3-0 lead into the break on a 29-yard field goal by PK Peyton Henry. The second half started with Utah's offense waking up and crossing the 50-yard line for the first time in the game. That drive ended with PK Matt Gay kicking a 53- yard field goal that just nudged over the crossbar to tie the game at 3-3. The Dawgs responded with a drive of their own, only to be stopped on fourth down at the Utah 28-yard line. Utah had seized the momentum and drove once again into Huskies territory. UW's defense then made the play of the game. Utah QB Jason Shelley thew a pass to WR Siaosi Mariner. The pass ricocheted off his leg and CB Byron Murphy grabbed the deflection and returned it 66 yards for the game's only touchdown. The Utes did mount several comeback attempts only to watch their drives end on two more interceptions and then be held for down at the UW 42-yard line on their final drive. The Huskies escaped with he win, but did control the tempo for most of the game. RBs Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed combined to grind out 99 yards rushing on 31 carries. QB Jake Browning completed 21 of 33 passes for 187 yard for the Dawgs while Shelly completed 17 of 27 tosses for 137 yards and three interceptions in the loss.
Telling Stat: Clock Killer; With :06 left in the third quarter, the Huskies went on a 17-play, 73-yard drive that ended in a missed field goal. However the drive took 10:03 off the clock and gave the Utes little time to mount a true comeback.
Stanford 23- California 13: One main storyline surrounded this game that was played on 12/1 because the wildfires in northern California forced a rescheduling due to poor air quality. That story was would this be the year that the resurgent Golden Bears finally take The Axe back from a Stanford team that has struggled at times this season? The answer is no. Stanford still struggled in this game, but Cal's inept offense let their strong defense down. Stanford came out and put 10 quick points on the board thanks to a 26-yard field goal by PK Jet Toner and a 46-yard TD pass from QB K.J. Costello to RB Cameron Scarlett where the diminutive back threaded his way through the Cal secondary. Cal did mount some offense, but were held to field goals. The Cardinal took a 13-6 lead into the half thanks to another field goal by Toner. The third quarter saw both offenses stall and the fourth quarter started with a pair of turnovers. The second one was a fumble by the cardinal on their own 23-yard line. Once again though, the Bears stumbled on offense and blew their opportunity to tie the game. The Bears then missed a field goal and handed Stanford the momentum. The Cardinal then drove 77 yards and tacked another Jet Toner field goal to take a 16-6 lead. The Cardinal defense then ended Cal's chances at victory when they intercepted QB Chase Garbers pass and returned it to the Bears 3-yard line. One play later, Scarlett had his second TD of the day and Stanford held a 23-6 lead. Cal did get a cosmetic score late, but the game was already over. Scarlett finished the game with his team's only two TDs. Costello threw for 237 yard and a TD, while Garbers threw for 197 yards, a TD and two huge interceptions in the loss. Cal RB Patrick Laird led all rushers with 116 yards on 19 carries.
Telling Stat: -2 + 2x3+ a miss= L; In a game where the Cal led the Stanford in almost every statistical category, being -2 in turnover margin plus settling for a pair of field goals in the Cardinal red zone and missing another kick cost Cal the Big Game.
Observations
...H20 Rocks; The USC Men's water polo team beat Stanford to win the national tile and scored more points 14, than both football teams combined (13) in the Pac 12 title game. Hmmmmmm.
...Oh where have you gone Jay Stricherz?; With the atrocious miss of the PI call on Utah's last play in the Pac 12 title game, I miss Glasses Ref more and more.
...What isn't seen; The same folks who flew the banner over the Coliseum as couple of weeks ago that advocated the firing of USC HC Clay Helton also planned to run an ad in the LA Times advocating the same thing. However, at the last minute, the Times refused to run the ad with no explanation. Word is SC high ups got wind of the ad and got it killed. Hmmmm.
...Dilemma; I don't know who will suck more at their new job between Mack Brown at North Carolina and Les Miles at Kansas.
...Mensa not calling; Not only did USC go 5-7, they failed to place a single player on either the first or second team All-Pac 12 Academic team. To paraphrase Dean Wormer, Losing and stupid is no way to go through life.
...No argument; Georgia needs to quit whining. You lost, You're out. End of story. Talking about almost beating Alabama makes you playoff worthy is pathetic.
...Happy Quacks; Oregon fans still, don't want Willie Taggart back.
...Little Apple Legend; Kansas State HC Bill Snyder is returning from his second stint with the Wildcats. The man made folks pay attention to Manhattan, Kansas.
...Yes and No; Wazzu AD Pat Chun believes the Cougars we're ranked low because of the overall perception of the Pac 12. I can agree somewhat with Chun, but seriously you're Wazzu. Pac 12 Failure
...Awful; Watching CFP Selection Committee Chairman Rob Mullens explain the committee's decisions is worse than watching a politician trying to explain how he was caught with a call girl and cocaine in a motel room.
...He's gone; It's official, Theee Ohio State HC Urban Meyer is retiring from football after his Buckeyes take on the Huskies in the Rose Bowl. Which really means, he'll take a year off then coach somewhere else.
...Oh, those midwestern values; It wasn't a case of hazing, but of stupidity that got 10 Byron High School (IL) football players suspended for taking place in a race where they ran 100 yards with an Oreo stuffed between their butt cheeks. SMH with laughter. Here's the report form Deadspin. Regular or Double Stuff?
...What isn't seen; The same folks who flew the banner over the Coliseum as couple of weeks ago that advocated the firing of USC HC Clay Helton also planned to run an ad in the LA Times advocating the same thing. However, at the last minute, the Times refused to run the ad with no explanation. Word is SC high ups got wind of the ad and got it killed. Hmmmm.
...Dilemma; I don't know who will suck more at their new job between Mack Brown at North Carolina and Les Miles at Kansas.
...Mensa not calling; Not only did USC go 5-7, they failed to place a single player on either the first or second team All-Pac 12 Academic team. To paraphrase Dean Wormer, Losing and stupid is no way to go through life.
...No argument; Georgia needs to quit whining. You lost, You're out. End of story. Talking about almost beating Alabama makes you playoff worthy is pathetic.
...Happy Quacks; Oregon fans still, don't want Willie Taggart back.
...Little Apple Legend; Kansas State HC Bill Snyder is returning from his second stint with the Wildcats. The man made folks pay attention to Manhattan, Kansas.
...Yes and No; Wazzu AD Pat Chun believes the Cougars we're ranked low because of the overall perception of the Pac 12. I can agree somewhat with Chun, but seriously you're Wazzu. Pac 12 Failure
...Awful; Watching CFP Selection Committee Chairman Rob Mullens explain the committee's decisions is worse than watching a politician trying to explain how he was caught with a call girl and cocaine in a motel room.
...He's gone; It's official, Theee Ohio State HC Urban Meyer is retiring from football after his Buckeyes take on the Huskies in the Rose Bowl. Which really means, he'll take a year off then coach somewhere else.
...He's familiar with the place; LSU will take on UCF in the Fiesta Bowl and that means a trip west for Coach O. He knows just a little about playing games in the Phoenix area.
...Feeling Cheesy; Cal will take on TCU in the Cheez-It Bowl in Phoenix. I hope both teams get lots of free Cheez-Its.
...It's a Bulldog world; Fresno State's 19-16 OT win in the snow at Boise was impressive. The new Mountain West Conference champs should give ASU without WR N'Keal Harry all they can handle in the Las Vegas Bowl. Harry has announced he is skipping the bowl game and will prepare for the NFL draft.
...Hello, El Paso; The dreaded Sun Bowl bid has gone to Stanford. I'm looking forward to seeing David Shaw in a big sombrero. However, he will never rock it like Lane Kiffin.
...He's in; USC will officially name former Texas Tech HC Kliff Kingsbury as their new OC today. Soon to be Interim HC should be his real job title.
...Been awhile; Ohio State will make their first Rose Bowl appearance since January of 2010 where they beat Oregon, 26-17.
...Been awhile; Ohio State will make their first Rose Bowl appearance since January of 2010 where they beat Oregon, 26-17.
...Slouching towards Death Valley; All the hype of the CFP has been about Alabama, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, so I'll take Clemson to win it all.
...Not father of the year; A lot of folks, including this reporter, were creeped out when Alabama QB Toa Tagovailoa said he was beaten after bad games by his father. Here's a link about the story and fan reaction. Beaten for Picks
...Not father of the year; A lot of folks, including this reporter, were creeped out when Alabama QB Toa Tagovailoa said he was beaten after bad games by his father. Here's a link about the story and fan reaction. Beaten for Picks
...Again, why?; Michigan And Florida will meet in yet another bowl game as they meet in the Peach Bowl. I'd love to see Wazzu take on the Wolverines instead.
...No hate here; No matter how you feel about Alabama, to watch Jalen Hurts come off the bench and lead the Crimson Tide to an epic comeback win over Georgia is one great story.
...Academy strong; One of the reasons that I love watching the Army-Navy game is that football is the easiest thing these kids do all week.
...No shame there; The Utah defense has nothing to be ashamed of, they held Washington to three points. It was a great job in a tough loss.
...Brees-y Memories; Washington will make their first appearance in the Rose Bowl since January 2001, when the Dawgs beat The Drew Breees led Purdue Boilermakers, 34-24.
...Look west in the FCS; Five of the eight FCS Quarterfinal teams hail from the west with North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Weber State, Eastern Washington and UC Davis all advancing Saturday. The big matchup this week is UC Davis at Eastern Washington. This is rematch of a Big Sky conference game which saw EWU whip Davis, 59-20.
...Their red may top the blue; We have all seen Boise State's blue turf, but have you seen Eastern Washington's red turf? Here's a look.
Cool Uniform of the Week
Shout out to Army here for their salute to 1st Infantry Division, known as the Big Red One with these uniforms for this week's Army-Navy game. 100 Years
Shout out to Army here for their salute to 1st Infantry Division, known as the Big Red One with these uniforms for this week's Army-Navy game. 100 Years
Here's a top ten list for Pac 12 Commissioner Larry Scott
You know your conference is joke when...
1. Your football title game tickets can be had for $11.50 on StubHub.
2. Your title game attendance is an announced 35,000.
3. You get booed loudly at the title game because well, you are there.
4. You let guys who aren't qualified interfere with replay officials.
5. Your NFL-style Parity model has left you out of the College Football Playoff for a few years.
6. You can't get more than one team into a New Year's Six bowl game.
7. Your TV network actually has a 0.0 rating for most events.
8. Nobody realizes you have a TV network until they can't see your games.
9. You get paid more than any other Power 5 commissioner with far worse job performance.
10. You make an announcement video to tell your low-paid employees that you got a raise.
Departments
Blowout Game of the Week: Brookings, SD- The Jackrabbits of South Dakota State smashed the Duquesne Dukes, 51-6 in t he second round of the FCS playoffs. SDSU ran for 388 yards on the Dukes with RBs Mikey Daniel and Pierre Strong combining for 194 yards rushing on 22 carries and three TDs. The Jackrabbits built up a 44-6 lead after three quarters and emptied the benches the rest of the way.
Low Score Game of the Week: Mankato, MN- The snow was coming and everyone knew it, The visiting Tarleton State Texans built-up a 10-0 halftime lead over the Mankato State Mavericks. That lead would be swept away in a second half filled with howling winds and whiteout conditions. The Mavericks scored 13 second half points to pull out a 13-10 win and advance to the FCS Quarterfinals. MSU's comeback included an epic 27-play, 97-yard drive that took a full 12:09 off the clock. That drive ended in a five-yard TD pass from QB Ryan Schlicte to WR Shane Zylstra. The Texans couldn't handle the conditions and ran only 26 offensive plays total in the second half. Here's a couple of photos from this snow bowl.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
Mom's pot roast still rocks.
Went to the batting cages twice last week. Now I have a sore shoulder and warning track power.
I wore long pants to work twice last week, winter must be coming.
It's time now to sign off for 2018. It was an awful year on the field for my team, but there are certain things that never fail in any season. A great tailgate group of family and friends make it all worth while. I also want to thank the extended tailgate group that stretches form Southern California all the way to Italy. You guys always make the season great. I wish for you all to have a happy holiday season and a far better 2019. See y'all next year when it's time to take a another ride on the Coaching Carousel. Peace.
-The Commissioner
