It's time for the last installment this year of the column that makes your Tuesdays better, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summary
Pac 12 Championship Game
Oregon 37- Utah 15: Santa Clara, CA- In front of a smattering of fans, the Pac 12 took itself out of the playoff picture yet again when the Ducks worked over the Utes in the cold and rain at Levi's Stadium. The Ducks game plan was to be the more the physical team and they were against the always physically strong Utes. In the first half the Webfoots defense pushed around the Utes offense, pitching a first half shutout. Oregon allowed the Utes yards, but snuffed out any scoring threats thanks to the way they keyed on RB Zack Moss and a little help from a stubborn Utah HC Kyle Whittingham. Twice the Ducks held for downs to gain much needed momentum when a long field goal or well placed punt would have kept the Utes in the game early on. Down 20-0 at the half, the Utes did mount a comeback in the third quarter. Their defense held the Ducks to three points while they put up 15 of their own on a 24-yard tD pass from QB Tyler Huntley to Moss and a 25-yard pass from Huntley to TE Samson Nacua. Then with 7:09 left to play in the game, the Ducks extended their slim lead with a 70-yard TD run By RB C.J. Verdell. Then after picking off a desperation heave by Huntley, the Quacks put the game away with a 31-yard scamper by Verdell. While QB Justin Herbert threw for 193 yards and a TD, the real star for the Ducks was Verdell. He gashed the Utes for 208 yards on 18 carries and three TDs. In the painful loss for the conference and the Utes, Huntley threw for 193 yards two TDs and two interceptions while Moss ran for 113 yards on 19 carries.
Telling Stat: The 0 for the O; Oregon's defense bent, allowing 183 first half yards, but kept the Utes off the scoreboard in the first half which put the Utes in a hole they couldn't dig out of.
Observations
...It wasn't Auburn, Phil; Folks from Eugene and in the media need to quit saying that Oregon was "punished" because they scheduled Auburn. That's just flat wrong, the Ducks got knocked down in the playoff poll because they lost at ASU. End of story.
...Friday night is not alright for fighting; Utah's two losses each took place on a Friday night.
...They will feel pain; Whoever makes the CFP Championship Game will get the painful experience of having a Pac 12 crew call the game.
...Feeling the O; There no way that Coach O could have put together a team at SC the way he has at LSU because the idiots in Heritage Hall wouldn't have cleared the hurdles for him to do so. However, it still very cool to dream about of what might have been.
...They held on; That giant exhale everyone heard Saturday around 12:30 or so PST last Saturday was every Sooner fan into world breaking a sigh of relief after holding on for the Big XII tile win against Baylor's third string QB.
...Dude is nails; Alabama/Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts has had an incredible college career and will be the first QB to start for two different schools in the CFP. Wow.
...Purple Facepalm; When two of your program's great ambassadors are on the sidelines supporting another school, you may have a problem. No words
...Six of Eight ain't great; Utah has been in the last two Pac 12 title games and has been shutout in six of the eight quarters played.
...The SeC; Now that Lane Kiffin has taken the Ole Miss job after having a really good three years at FAU, I can't wait until the Rebels take on LSU next year.
....Honey, we have to move again; What a crazy two years for Eliah Drinkwitz. The man is named Appalachian State HC about this time last year and after leading App State to an 11-1 record is now off to be the HC at Missouri.
...30k; If SC loses the Holiday Bowl to Iowa then gets blown out by Alabama to start the 2020 season, a crowd of 30,000 is a real possibility for the the Trojans home opener v. New Mexico the following week. SMH
...A first half of worry and anxiety; I'm sure the CFP Committee had some very anxious moments when TheeOSU trailed Wisconsin at the half last week.
...California is out; The last hope for a championship for a California team in the NCAA playoffs died when Sacramento State was beaten 42-28 by Austin Peay in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
...People like to drink; LSU's Tiger Stadium began selling alcohol this season and made 2.259 million dollars net revenue off potent potables.
...Big Sky tough; Both Montana and Montana State kept the Big Sky alive in the FCS playoffs with impressive wins over Albany and SE Louisiana.
...No tailgate at all; According to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal Daily, the Pac 12 will have some 9am kickoffs in 2021. Several unnamed schools have already jumped on the idea and Fox is really interested in doing it. I'd link the article, but it is behind a paywall.
...Patting myself on the back; A couple of weeks back, this intrepid reporter predicted which bowl that each of the Pac 12's seven bowl eligible teams would play in and got all seven right. First time that's ever happened. Woo hoo!
The Retention of Clay Helton
Last week, (was it only a week ago?) USC did the worst thing possible and didn't fire Clay Helton. Many rumors/stories flew around about how this came about and all of them boil down to new USC President Carol Folt making the call on this one while the money for Helton's buyout and for his replacement was already secured. The great disturbance in the force that was nearly every SC fan everywhere crying out in anger over the decision only got worse when new USC AD Mike Bohn tried to polish this turd of a decision through softball interviews on several media platforms. It's quite easy to see that the majority of the fan base which includes myself are flat out sick of the last decade of mediocrity at SC and were hoping that a new university president and AD would come in and provide the leadership to build Trojan football back into a national power. With this decision, USC seems to have chosen mediocrity instead where being competitive in the Pac 12 South and accepting Holiday Bowls is the new normal. Sigh.
Good Looking Uniform Combos of the Week
Credit to LSU-Georgia and Ohio State-Wisconsin for wearing their classic uniforms in their respective championship games
Departments
Best Game Nobody Saw Last Week: Slippery Rock, PA- Slippery Rock advanced to the D-II semifinals with a scoreboard busting 65-59 win over the Notre Dame (OH) Falcons. The teams piled up 1,134 yards of total offense, 45 first downs and only one turnover. The Rock QB Roland Rivers accounted for eight touchdowns. He threw for six and ran for two more. Rivers top receiver, Henry Litwin hauled in 12 receptions for 203 yards and three TDs. In the loss, Notre Dame QB Chris Brimm threw for 360 yards and five TDs while RB Jaleel McLaughlin rushed for 137 yards on 20 carries with two TDs. McLaughlin finished the season with 2,136 yards rushing. Oh and the two teams combined for 452 total yards in the first quarter alone. Wow.
Low Score Game of the Week: Brookings, SD- Northern Iowa PK Matthew Cook sent an 18-yard chip shot field goal through the uprights to lead the Purple Panthers to a 13-10 win over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. The win send the UNI to the next round of the FCS playoffs. The Purple Panthers trailed 10-0 after the first period, but then shutout the Jackrabbits the rest of the way for the win.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
Dark chocolate raspberry soft centers from Sees are the best.
I love the feeling you get when you hang out with friends you haven't seen in awhile and you pick up right where you left off without missing a beat.
It's time to start wrapping presents soon.
Until next year, I wish everyone a great holiday season and a big thank you for reading this blog. Once again, I have been shown that family and friends who are just like family make the football season great. See you all here again next summer when we take another ride on the ol' coaching carousel.
-The Commissioner
