Hey All,
Welcome to the why do they even play the conference championship games edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
Pac 12 Championship Game : Oregon 31- USC 24: Los Angeles, CA-The Trojans had lived on the edge all year. coming back to defeat lesser teams in the final minute or two of games. The Trojans dug another hole in this one, falling behind 14-0 early thanks to two interceptions thrown by QB Kedon Slovis. This time though, there would be no comeback magic against an inferior foe. USC squandered many comeback opportunities which included forced turnovers and a beautiful onside kick. USC's Air Raid offense was once again proven to be anything but what it is; a one dimensional offense that is easily game planned for by their opponents. The Trojan defense did its' best to contain the Ducks. The Trojans held the Quacks to just 243 yards, but the Trojans offensive struggles negated this good effort. For the victorious Ducks, QB Tyler Shough completed eight of 15 passes for 91 yards, two TDs and an interception. For the Trojans, Slovis completed 28 of 52 passes for 320 yards, two TDs and three interceptions.
Telling Stat: No help from the coaches; USC's OL struggled with Oregon's edge rushers all night long. However, knowing this, USC HC Clay Helton and OC Graham Harrell never adjusted the offense to help the beleaguered OL and that spelled doom for the Trojans.
Utah 45- Washington State 28: Salt Lake City, UT- With 1:21 left in the second quarter everything had gone Wazzu's way. The Cougars held a 21 point lead. the Cougars achieved a 28-7 lead on the back of three Utah turnovers and the arm and legs of QB Jayden de Laura. de Laura threw for two TDs and ran for another while RB Max Borghi scored Wazzu's other TD. The Cougars wouldn't sniff the end zone again. The game turned when Utah QB Jake Bentley was benched for Drew Lisk. Lisk had spent his whole college career on the bench at Utah. He finally got a chance to play and he ran with it. Lisk would only complete 15 of 26 passes for 152 yards, but he steadied the off-kilter Utes offense and allowed them to make a comeback. RB Ty Jordan was the chief benefactor of Lisk's calm. He torched the Wazzu defense for three second half TD runs of 5, 33, and 13 yards. Thrown in nine yard a TD run from WR Bryan Thompson and 44-yard FG from PK Jason Redding and the Utes held a 38-28 lead with 2:37 to play. Utah's defense then made the comeback complete when CB Clark Phillips III picked off de Laura and took it back 36 yards for the game-clinching score. Jordan led all rushers with 154 yards on 22 carries and three TDs. WR Receiver Britain Covey led all receivers with 134 yards on six catches to also aid Utah's cause. For the hapless Cougars, de Laura completed 17 of 28 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.
Telling Stat: Second half shutdown; The Utah defense rendered the Wazzu offense in the second half. They held Wazzu to just 108 yards and forced four turnovers. 74 of the 108 yards allowed came on Wazzu;s final drive went the game had already been decided.
Stanford 48- UCLA 47 2OT: Pasadena. CA- This game was drama in three acts. The first act was entitled: A Familiar Scene. For 11 of the last 12 years Stanford had beaten UCLA with a steady diet of rushing yards and timely passes to large TEs from a gifted QB. The first half of the game followed this script as the Cardinal built up a 20-3 lead. Three short TD runs. two by RB Austin Jones, were the end result of what has become classic Stanford football. All seemed lost for Chip's charges as UCLA was down big and would be without QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson who was injured in the second quarter. Then came the surprise second act entitled: A Backup's Uprising. UCLA started the second half with a definitely different attitude and rallied around their backup QB Chase Griffin. Over the next 24+ minutes of game time, the bRuins blitzed the Cardinal with a 31-0 run. Griffin led the bRuins on TD drives of 67, 60, and 84 yards. Griffin threw for two of those TDs. UCLA also got a 31-yard FG from PK Nicholas Barra-Mia to take a 27-20 lead. The bRuins then seemed put the game away at the 5:39 mark in the fourth quarter. CB Jay Shaw picked off SU QB Davis Mills and retuned it 39-yards for a touchdown. It was UCLA's third interception of the half and resulted in a 34-20 lead for the sons of Westwood. Then came the third act entitled: Redemption in Cardinal. Stanford then got off the deck and fought to force overtime with two TDs down the stretch. Mills hit his huge TE Simi Fehoko for both scores. The final TD tied the game with :18 left. After A UCLA kneel down, the game went to overtime. After trading scores, a second overtime loomed. Once again Mills found Fehoko for a TD to take a 48-41 lead. Then Griffin found WR Kyle Phillips in the end zone form 21 yards out for what should have been the score to send the game to a third overtime. Ahhh, but no, that wouldn't happen. UCLA HC Chip Kelly decided to end the game one way or another and went for two. The two-point conversion failed and Stanford escaped with a win. It would be the last game of the year for both UCLA and Stanford and the last game to be played at the Rose Bowl until next September. Mills finished the game with 428 yards through the air and three TDs while Griffin completed only nine of 11 passes, but four of those went for TDs. RB Britain Brown was an absolute stud for UCLA, rushing for 219 yards on 29 carries.
Telling Stat: A Fehoko finish; Stanford scored four TDs in their last four possessions and Simi Fehoko caught three of those scores. Eight of his sixteen catches in the game came on those final four drives.
Arizona State 46- Oregon State 33: Corvalis, OR- It was a miserable night in Corvalis. Pouring rain and chilling temperatures were the setting for the last Pac 12 regular season game of the year. However, the conditions really didn't slow down the two offenses. There was plenty of sloppy play, but yards were gained in bunches as the teams combined for almost 1,100 yards of total offense. OSU would have the edge in yards but ASU made the plays to win the game. ASU did most of their damage behind their three headed rushing monster that consisted of QB Jayden Daniels and RBs Rachaad White and Deamonte Trayanum. The trio combined for 31 carries for 298 yards and five TDs. The Beavers tried to answer with their offensive combo of QB Chance Nolan and RB Jermar Jefferson, but whenever the Beavers fought to get back into game, their defense would fail and ASU would take advantage of it to keep the lead. OSU brought almost everything they had off the bench in this one, but it wasn't enough to overcome ASU's talent edge.
Telling Stat: Second is prime for ASU; The Sun Devils dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Beavers 19-8 to take a lead in this game that they would never give up.
Observations
...A question for the Playoff Committee; Why were the conference championship games even played if you had already decided on who the four playoff teams were gonna be to begin with?
...A military SNAFU; how bad is it that 9-2 Army had to fight to get a bowl bid while 2-8 South Carolina was handed one for being bad in the SEC?
...No Irish; Notre Dame doesn't belong in the playoff and it's pretty clear. Their big regular season win was over a Clemson Tiger squad without nine starters. Funny, when they were all back for the rematch, it wasn't even close.
...It's a Spartan world; The best team in California is San Jose State. It was fun to see a well coached bunch of Spartans knock off Boise State to go 7-0 and claim the Mountain West title. Oh, and expect their HC, Bret Brennan to be the next HC at Arizona.
...No shame; The SEC has no problem sending teams with two and three wins to bowl games. I think some sense of pride would keep those teams from accepting the bids.
...G5 need not apply: It’s easy to see that no Group of Five team will ever get a chance at the playoff. To hear Playoff Committee Chairman Gary Barta spew inane drivel to defend the committee’s decisions was an insult to our collective intelligence.
...Lumps of Clay; Looks like after another disappointing season, USC fans will be stuck with another year of Clay Helton on the sidelines.
...Requiem for a test; imagine how Stanford might have been undefeated had QB Davis Mills not gotten sidelined by a false positive COVID test. Hmmmmmmm
...A dubious Irish double; Notre Dame became the first team to ever lose a conference championship game and make the playoff. Oh and HC Brian Kelly was named ACC Coach of the Year because of it.
...Sudden silence in Lincoln; 3-5 Nebraska has declined any bowl game this year. Funny, weren’t you the team who threw the big hissy fit to play this year? SMH
...Crumbling Stone; The CFP said their semifinal and final game dates were set in stone and wouldn’t be changed for anyone this year. Oh wait, TheeeOSU needs time to get a few players back, so now the dates are flexible. Must be nice to be a Buckeye and have your conference and the playoff change rules just for you. Hell, if it was a Pac 12 school that needed time they would just make the team forfeit. Sigh.
...Over hill, over dale; Army defeated both Navy and Air Force at home to claim the Commander-In-Chief’s trophy. To the Cadets, those might be the two biggest victories at West Point since the American Revolution.
...The thorn in the Roses; For the first time since 1915 there will be no Rose Bowl. The semifinal game that was supposed to be there was moved to Dallas. That means for the first time since 1985 I will not either be in attendance of or working the Rose Bowl game. That’s 36 games folks. I’ve been lucky enough to see some of the best to ever play the game from one of the best seats in the house. So if I look a little lost come January 1, you will know why.
No Roses, a bad USC and the Elimination of the West in College Football
That's a big title for a big subject that This reporter can't begin to get to the bottom of, but the writing is on the wall for the west. Without a dominant USC, heck even a relevant USC, the west is being eliminated from the college football landscape by ESPN, the Playoff Committee and the ACC, Big Ten, Big XII, and the SEC. The massive COVID spike gave great cover for those in charge of the playoff to take the Rose Bowl out of the picture. Just wait until the idea to make Dallas a permanent semifinal site instead of the Rose Bowl to start getting air play. It will happen. Also, the decline of USC has made this possible. Without USC as the western power that strikes fear in the hearts of the east, it all becomes that much easier. No Pac 12 team has USC's historic significance. Oregon will never have USC's pull despite all of Uncle Phil's money. So, with USC down and almost out and the Rose Bowl eliminated, it becomes very easy for the powers mentioned above to keep and entrench the playoff as an southeastern invitational event.
Pac 12 Overreactions
- Wazzu will go 3-9 next year.
- ASU is just happy to have left Corvallis.
- USC dreams of relevancy.
- Stanford will now be known as the Nomads.
- Colorado will beat Texas in the Alamo Bowl.
- Oregon State needs new uniforms.
- UCLA will win more than four games next year.
- Utah is a QB away from a great 2021.
- Arizona’s prefect for HC is Brett Brennan.
- Cal just hopes to have spring practice at home.
- Oregon is in good place in a bad conference.
- Washington wishes they were Oregon.
Department
Low Score Game of the Week: West Point, NY- The Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy is safely in the hands of Army after a come from behind, 10-7 win over Air Force. The Cadets found themselves down, 7-3 with 8:24 to play. Then, Army did what Army does, they went on a march. The cadets traveled 80 yards in 16 plays for the game-winning score. FB Jakobi Buchanan powered his way into paydirt from the one on 4th and Goal. On, brave old Army team indeed.
This Week’s Three Notes About Nothing...
It’s funny how little plastic ninjas have become a new Christmas tradition in my house.
The onion rings from Happy Diner are pretty good.
Have to give the package delivery folks credit this year. With all the stuff I’ve ordered this year, it’s all come on time and in great shape.
Until next year, I’d like the give thanks to all who read this blog and contribute to it from every facet of my life. This blog has taught me that while we are not seeing each other in person, we are connected in spirit. So now, I’d like to wish each of you a happy holiday season. Soon enough, the dog days of summer 2021 will roll around and it will be tine to take a another ride in the OL’ coaching carousel.
-The Commissioner
