Hey All,
It's time once again for the column that makes you wish it was Saturday, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Jim Murray.
Summaries
USC 34- Arizona 30: Tucson, AZ.- For the second straight week the Trojans pulled a game out in the final minute for another win that felt like a loss in the Clay Helton era. The Helton era at SC has been defined by underachieving teams that lack discipline and toughness. Those qualities were on full display v. the Wildcats. The Trojans OL had trouble keeping what was a three-man and sometimes four man rush from forcing QB Kedon Slovis to scramble to find room to throw the ball. They also had a trouble opening up holes in the run game, (especially in short yardage), against an Arizona squad that was picked to finish dead last in the Pac 12 South. The defense was no better either, letting UofA QB Graham Gunnell have the time to complete 24 of 36 passes for 286 yards and three TDs. Still, after a late Wildcat TD to take the lead at 30-27, the Trojans found a way to comeback. The Trojans got the ball back with 1:35 left on the clock. They then drove 75 yards in 1:10 and then scored the game-wining TD when RB Vavae Malepeai sliced into the end zone from eight yards out. Slovis finished the game with 325 yards and a TD while RBs Malepeai, Markese Stepp and Stephen Carr combined for 170 yards rushing and three TDs.
Telling Stat: When they needed it; QB Kedon Slovis completed all five passes he attempted for 67 of the 75 yards the Trojans gained on the game-winning drive.
Washington 27- Oregon State 21: Seattle, WA- This game started out like it would be a shootout with the Huskies holding a 24-21 half-time edge despite very iffy play in their kicking game due to some airmailed deep snaps. Both teams decide they were gonna run the ball in the steady Seattle rain and they did it. The Dawgs crossed the double stripe three times on the ground with a 21-yard and 15-yard TD runs by RB's Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant and a 2-yard TD dive by QB Dylan Morris. OSU's Three first half TDs came via a blocked punt, and a pair of short TD runs by RBs BJ Baylor and Jermar Jefferson. Then, the second half started and the teams battled to a stalemate. The defenses adjusted and yards became hard to come by. Oregon State's best chance to win the game was to be taken away by a pair of bad spots by the refs in the start of the fourth quarter. On two straight plunges into the line on third and fourth and short from the UW 5-yard line, Jefferson appeared to make the first down only to have the ball spotted significantly short of where he gained. We all know that spotting the football is an inexact science. However, the fact that the Pac 12 had to issue a statement defending the bad spots speaks volumes. Out Damn Bad Spots! The Beavers would never get that close to scoring again. The teams traded possessions the rest of the game. UW was handed another gift by the Pac 12 refs when they were awarded a very iffy targeting call on the Beavers deep in OSU territory. The first and goal the Huskies picked allowed them run another 1:30 or so off the clock. That left OSU with very little time and no timeouts to try and mount one final drive. For the victorious Huskies, McGrew and Pleasant led a rushing attack that racked up 267 yards on the Beavers and three TDs. As for OSU, Jefferson had himself a good game, carrying the ball 23 times for 133 yards and a touchdown.
Telling Stat: Refs 3-0= 0-2; The Pac 12 officials three suspect calls seemed to tip the game to the Huskies in this tight contest which leaves the Beavers at 0-2.
Colorado 35- Stanford 32: Palo Alto, CA- Cardinal QB Davis Mills returned to the field following his false positive COVID test the held him out of SU's opening loss at Oregon. Mills looked very rusty in the first half. Couple that with Stanford's inability to run the ball and that led to Colorado holding a 28-9 lead with 8:55 left in the third quarter. Oh, and Colorado QB Sam Noyer having a great game for the Buffs had a little to do with that too. Noyer made all the key plays to lead the Buffs attack. He only completed 15 of 24 passes on the day for 255 yards, but he hit all the passes he needed in order to frustrate the Cardinal defense. CU frosh sensation RB Jarek Broussard had a great game too. He didn't find the end zone, but he toted the rock 27 times for 121 yards which is 51 more yards than Stanford ran for as a team. Stanford had to air the ball out after falling behind 19 points and they did it well. Mills threw for one TD and ran for another while RB Austin Jones chipped in with a two-yard TD run of his own to cut CU's lead to 35-32 with 2:34 to play. However, SU's last chance to win fell by the wayside when Colorado burned all but the last 10 seconds off the clock on their ensuing possession. After his slow start Mills ended up completing 35 of 56 passes for 327 yards and a TD through the air and one on the ground.
Telling Stat: No legs= L; Stanford can't run the ball anymore. They amassed just 70 yards on 21 carries v. Colorado. In two games this year, they've amassed just 267 rushing yards and have been out rushed by their opponents in both games.
Oregon 43- Washington State 29: Pullman, WA- HC Nick Rolovich's Cougars came out and dominated most of the first half against the Ducks. The Cougs built up a 16-7 lead over the Quacks with a quick-hitting passing attack. However, with just :24 left in the first half, the Ducks climbed back into the game. A 39-yard kickoff return, a 57-yard pass form QB Tyler Shough and 3-yard TD run by RB C.J. Verdell cut the Cougars lead to 19-14 at the half. Oregon's defense asserted itself in the second half because they remembered that they are Oregon and that Wazzu is well, Wazzu. The Ducks racked up four more TDs in the second half to run away from the Cougars, 43-29. Shough had a great game for the Webfoots, completing 21 of 30 passes for 312 yard and four touchdowns. He also ran for 81 yards on nine carries. Verdell paced all rushers with 118 yards on 18 carries and a score. Freshman QB Jayden de Laura completed 25 of 39 passes for 321 yard and two TDs in the loss for the Cougs.
Telling Stat: The defense came through; After allowing several long drives in the first half, the Oregon defense allowed only two long drives, forced two punts and held for downs once to allow their offense there time to take control fo the game.
UCLA 34- California 10: Pasadena, CA- The Golden Bears and the bRuins got together for a Sunday meeting after scrambling to find a game after their scheduled games v. ASU and Utah were canceled due to COVID. The game for UCLA started in the same nightmare fashion that their opener at Colorado did last week. Cal blocked a bRuins punt and turned that into a 3-0 lead. UCLA QB Dorian Thompson Robinson then was intercepted on the next UCLA possession and bRuins fans could be heard screaming at their TVs, "Not again!" However, the UCLA defense forced a Cal punt. After that, it became clear who was the team that had played in the same offense for several years and who was the team that was running a new offense that was installed mostly by Zoom meetings and individual workouts. Thompson-Robinson simply could not be stopped by the Cal defense. He ran for one TD, then threw for three others in a first half that saw Thompson-Robinson expose every weakness in the Cal defense. The bRuins took a 27-10 lead into the intermission. The second half bogged down as the Golden Bears managed to slow down the bRuins offensive attack, but it didn't do much good as their offense couldn't muster a single score. UCLA put the exclamation point on their victory when RB Brittain Brown scampered 31 yards through the worn down Cal defense for a final touchdown. Thompson-Robinson completed 14 of 26 passes for 196 yards and three TDs while rushing for 71 yards on 12 carries and another score in the victory. RB Demetric Felton cracked the century mark for UCLA carrying the ball 25 times for 107 yards. As for the Golden Bears, QB Chase Garbers produced his team's only real measurable offense by throwing for 122 yard and rushing for six yards and a TD.
Telling Stat: One and done; Take away Cal's lone TD drive of in the first quarter and UCLA held the Golden Bears to just 13 yards on 20 plays for the rest of the half which gave their offense the opportunity to take control of the game.
Observations
...Two gone; South Carolina parted ways with HC Will Muschamp on Sunday. That makes him the second FBS coach to get the ax this season. The first was last week when Utah State parted ways with Gary Andersen.
...De facto Semi Finals; The Big XII sees Kansas State travel to Iowa State and Oklahoma State travel to Oklahoma this week. The winners of these games would have the inside track to the Big XII Championship game.
...Recap-less; ESPNs layoff of hundreds of employees can be seen in a lots of little ways. For instance, along with the box score and other statistical data on every FBS game there used to be an accompanying story on each game. Not anymore and that's a bad thing.
...Fun Fact; Michigan's 28-0 halftime deficit to Wisconsin was the largest halftime deficit a Wolverine team faced at home since Michigan Stadium opened way back in 1927.
...Do you know the way to 4-0?; San Jose State is 4-0 and tied with Nevada atop the Mountain West Conference standings.
...Ugly stories in the Bayou; Reports are circling around that LSU ignored multiple sexual complaints against football players. Here's ESPN's story... No place for this
...2 tarmacs to 1; After Ole Miss beat South Carolina, 59-42 last Saturday, Gamecocks HC Will Muschamp was fired. That gives Lane Kiffin an edge in coaching firings after a game. Lane was famously tarmac'd after SC was embarrassed by ASU in 2013, but Kiffin's 2011 SC squad had already gotten UCLA HC Rick Neuheisal fired after a 50-0 beatdown of the bRuins.
...No buzz; Funny how with Oklahoma and Texas just about out of the race for the Big XII title, the league hasn't generated any playoff buzz at all lately. Hmmmmmmmmm.
...Delay of Playoff; With the SEC now suffering a rash of postponements and cancellations due to COIVD, look for the College Football Playoff to be moved back. If it was any other league than the SEC, the CFP wouldn't care.
...It's gets cold in Iowa; While his Hawkeyes were on their way to a 35-7 win at Minnesota and retaining possession for the sixth straight year of the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy, Hawkeyes HC Kirk Ferentz called all three of his timeouts in response to Gopher HC PJ Fleck calling a timeout with :19 left. When questioned why he did that postgame, Ferentz threw some shade at Fleck, "Figured we'd take Floyd with us and leave the timeouts here."
...D-III finale; With not many lower division game being played at all this year, the battle for the Secretaries Cup marked the last D-III game to played this season. The Merchant Marine Academy downed the Coast Guard Academy, 24-14 to retain possession of the cup.
...It's good to be a roommate; UCLA TE Greg Dulcich's roommate is QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson. He already has seven catches for 206 yards and TD in two games.
...Scary trivia; The plane crash that killed 75 members of the Marshall football team and staff happened 50 years ago this week. The plane involved in the crash was also scheduled that day to make a charter run to fly the Mississippi State football team home from a game at LSU.
...Crappy Valley; Penn State is 0-4 after losing to lowly Nebraska. If the Fightin' Nittanys are gonna get a win this year, any one of their final four opponents could supply it. Iowa may be playing well the last two weeks, but Michigan, Rutgers and Michigan State provide ample opportunities for a win.
...The man knows his priorities; 5-0 Coastal Carolina HC Jamey Chadwell was contacted about the South Carolina job opening up on Sunday by a local reporter. His response was priceless. "Right now my wife's van has a brake light out. I'm focused on trying to fix it without getting her upset. I've got bigger issues to worry about. :)"
...A Top Ten Tilt; With a boost in the latest poll, #9 Indiana will face off at #3 Ohio State this Saturday. A win by the Hoosiers would give them a real shot at their first outright Big Ten title since 1945.
...Memo to USC OC Graham Harrell; Please quit calling the exact same running play on every third down or fourth down and short. Everyone knows it is coming. It gets stuffed every time. It's slow developing, unimaginative and embarrassing to watch.
...Pain for a parent; Indiana HC Tom Allen watched his son, Thomas get carted off the field after a season ending injury v. Michigan State. Sigh. A hug from Dad
...This just in; USC's offensive line stinks;
...When the one win guys don't want you back, it's bad; While reading the Michigan message boards over the weekend it's clear that even the fans of the 1-3 Wolverines don't want former OL Coach Tim Drevno back. Drevno is currently USC's OL coach. Sigh.
...Intellectual without the brutality; Stanford has lost their identity. They can't run the ball anymore. Seeing that they threw the ball 56 times last Saturday is bad sign for The Farm.
Pac 12 Overreactions
- Stanford will go 2-4.
- UCLA can beat USC this year.
- Colorado can win the Pac 12 South.
- Wazzu will be this year's almost team.
- Oregon will win the Pac 12 and won't get a sniff of the playoff.
- Washington will go 3-3.
- Utah might play a game this season.
- USC's OL will get Kedon Slovis hurt.
- Cal won't play a home game the year.
- ASU won't play a game for the rest of the month.
- Oregon State will get all the bad calls this year.
- Arizona now thinks they are better than really are.
Ugly Uniform of the Week
This week's winner is Boise State. Their blue field is bad enough, but this all-orange uniform is pretty ugly.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: Madison, SD- Valley City State University QB Jalen Pfeifer threw an eight-yard TD pass in the first quarter and a seven-yard TD pass in the second quarter to give the Vikings a 14-0 lead over the Dakota State Trojans. The Vikings defense would make those scores hold up for a 14-6 victory. This North Star Athletic Conference game was a defensive struggle with the teams combining for just 18 first downs and 369 total yards. In fact, the Vikings came within one play of a shutout as the Trojans scored on the final play of the game. No PAT was attempted as both teams decided to forgo the try for point. That may have had to do with the fact it was 35 degrees, snowing and windy at the time.
Blowout Game of the Week: Hastings, NE- Arguably the most notable alum of Hastings University is former Nebraska HC legend Tom Osborne. Osborne is not proud of his alma after after they were trounced, 65-0 by Dordt University. The Dordt Defenders did very well defending their end zone v. the Broncos. They allowed just eight eight first downs and 199 total yards on the afternoon. Meanwhile the Dordt offense found the end zone nine times with QB Noah Clayberg throwing for two TDs and rushing for a third. Dordt rushed for 420 yards as team and 14 different players handled the ball for the Defenders in this laugher.
Razorback Report: The week didn't start out well for Arkansas as their HC Sam Pittman was announced to have tested positive for COVID and it got worse when he Hogs took the field at Florida. The Gators passed and ran all over Arkansas in a 63-35 Gators rout. Up next for the Razorbacks is a home game with suddenly beatable LSU.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
Of course after the beautiful fall weather last week, the Santa Ana Winds returned this week.
Pandemic hobby; I've gotten into tracking my packages that come through FedEx to see what route the drivers have taken across the country.
You just can't beat homemade biscuits and gravy.
Until next time folks, remember that if you can't run the ball in short yardage, you really can't win a title.
-The Commissioner
