Hey All,
It's time once again to review what happened last Saturday with another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Jim Murray.
USC 17- Oregon State 14: Corvallis, OR- Trojan fans knew that at least one time this year their team's prolific offense would stall and the defense would have to win the game. However with the way the defense had played in the first three games, not a lot of folks were confident that could happen. The defense did come through and accomplish just that on Saturday night before a crowd of around 26 thousand in the work-in-progress remodel of Reser Stadium and the several thousand TV viewers that actually get the Pac 12 Network. While USC's offense was thrown completely off by the OSU defense, USC's defense did the same to the Beavers. USC trailed 7-3 to start the final period. The teams traded TDs in the quarter and that left SC on the wrong end of a 14-10 score with just 4:41 to play. Trojan HC Lincoln Riley gave QB Caleb Williams some words of encouragement on the bench prior to SC's final drive. Williams led the his Squad down the field on an 84-yard drive that included one incredible fourth down conversion when OL Brett Neilon and the rest of the O-line pushed Williams past the first down marker. Five plays later Williams found WR Jordan Addison down the right sideline and he sprinted the rest of the way for the game-winning 21-yard touchdown. The Beavers would have one last drive to at least get into field goal range to force overtime, but Nolan's third down pass would be tipped and intercepted to give USC the hard fought victory. Williams completed just 16 of 36 passes for 180 yards and that game-winning touchdown. RB Travis Dye just kept rolling along for SC with 133 yards rushing on 19 carries and a touchdown. For OSU, The RB combo of Jam Griffin and DeShaun Fenwick combined for 113 yards on 23 carries and both of the Beavers touchdowns while Chance Nolan completed 17 of 29 passes for 167 yards and those four huge interceptions
Telling Stat: The Defense did it; The Trojan defense picked off four passes which let their sputtering offense hang around long to make just enough plays to win the game.
Oregon 44 - Washington State 41: Pullman, WA- They Coug'd it. Oh, it was a barnburner of a game in the Palouse. It was a wild, crazy game. It had everything from a replacement of a lost down after a change of possession to radical momentum swings in a matter of seconds, but in the end Wazzu Coug'd it and lost a heartbreaker. The Cougars had outplayed the Ducks, holding a 34-22 lead with 6:42 to play. Heck they even cashed in a 95-yard pick six late in the second quarter. Quack faithful looked as pale as their team's Ice White uniforms. Then, the Cougar collapse began. UO drove 75 yards in 11 plays to cut the WSU lead to 34-29 when TE Cam McCormick got a one-yard TD pass from QB Bo Nix. On the ensuing possession, the Cougars inexplicably called pass plays on second and third down instead trying to burn the clock and force the Ducks to burn their timeouts. After the Wazzu punt, Oregon faced a 3rd and 1 at the 50-yard line. Nix hit WR Tony Franklin with a 50-yard TD pass that drained most of the energy out of Martin Stadium. Nix then ran in the two-point conversions and the Ducks held a 37-34 lead. Then, the true moment of Coug'ing it occurred on the next possession. On 2nd and 4 from their own 31, QB Cameron Ward threw a quick pass to his left and UO DE Mase Funa snatched its out of the air and rumbled 27 yards to the end zone. The Ducks now led 44-34 and Martin Stadium was silent as a morgue. Wazzu did manage to score again with with :01 left, but the Cougar collpase was complete. Despite his own pick six, Bo Nix completed 34 of 44 passes for 428 yards and three TDs for the Men of Oregon. Cam Ward completed 37 of 48 passes for 375 yards, three TDs and two interceptions in the bitter loss.
Telling Stat: 30 seconds over Pullman; That's all the time it took Wazzu to go from a 34-29 lead with victory in sight to a 44-34 deficit and another epic Cougar collapse.
California 49- Arizona 31: Berkeley, CA- Over the years these two have played some close, high scoring affairs that usually went down to the wire. It looked like we had another one of those contests brewing with UofA holding a 24-21 lead at intermission. However, Cal would own the second half thanks to their defense, the legs of freshman RB Jadyn Ott and the arm of QB Jack Plummer. While the Bears stuffed UofA on three straight drives, Plummer threw for TD passes of three and 37 yards to go with a three-yard TD jaunt by Ott. All that activity resulted in Cal taking a 42-24 lead and control of the game. The Wildcats did cut their deficit to just 42-31 with 12:36 left to play when WR Jacob Cowing hauled in a 14-yard TD pass from QB Jayden de Laura. Arizona would not get any closer. Ott sealed the game for the Golden Bears when he raced 72 yards to paydirt with 4:56 to play. Ott finished the day with the third most rushing yards in a single game in Cal history. He lugged the leather 19 times for 274 yards and three TDs Plummer completed 18 of 28 passes for 245 yards and three TDs. de Laura threw for 401 yards, two TDs and two interceptions in defeat.
Telling Stat: Setting the stage; The Cal defense forced three turnovers and two punts while allowing only one score to Arizona in the second half to pave the way to victory.
UCLA 45- Colorado 17: Boulder, CO- The Colorado offense has been epically poor and that led Buffs HC Karl Dorrell to start his third different QB of the year, freshman Owen McCown. The freshman's presence did not improve things. Once again the Buffs offense stalled while UCLA's offense moved the ball seemingly at will. bRuin RB Zack Charbonnet needed just nine carries to rack up 104 yards and three TDs. His teammate QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson shredded the CU secondary completing 19 of 23 passes for 234 yards and two scores. Up 38-10 to start the final period, UCLA sat their starters to get some extra rest for next week's tilt with Washington. McCown did pile up some yards, completing 26 of 42 passes for 258 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the lopsided loss.
Telling Stat: Could have been worse; If UCLA hadn't failed on two fourth downs deep in CU territory they would have hung at least 55 on the Buffs.
Utah 34- Arizona State 6: Tempe, AZ- The Shaun Aguano era at ASU started off pretty much like the Herm Edwards era ended. The new interim HC of the Sun Devils watched Utah hold a 14-0 lead after one quarter of play. A first quarter that also saw the Utah defense hold ASU to -20 yards. The Sun Devils did manage to put two field goals on the board in the second quarter, but the Utes had control of the game going up 24-6 at the break. Utah's defense set the tone for this game while their offense just ground out yards with a strong rushing attack and play action passing that featured their deep TE group. A couple of Utah offensive miscues kept this game from really getting ugly. QB Cam Rising completed 19 of 29 passes for 260 yards, two TDs and an interception. TE Dalton Kincaid hauled in nine of those passes for 66 yards and two TDs. Six different Utes combined to run for 205 yards on 45 carries and two scores. QB Emory Jones completed 21 of 36 passes for 261 yards, a TD and two interceptions in the lopsided loss
for ASU.
Telling Stat: Stuck in one dimension; Utah's defense held ASU to six yards rushing, making the Sun Devils an easy to defend one dimensional team.
Washington 40- Stanford 22: Seattle, WA- After a week off Stanford headed to Montlake with thoughts of upset in mind. That didn't happen as Cardinal offense self-destructed early. Two Stanford turnovers in their first four drives led to the Dawgs jumping out to a 17-0 lead midway through he second period on a three-yard run by RB Will Nixon, a 35-yard FG from PK Peyton Henry and a 34-yard run by RB Wayne Taulapapa. Stanford would cut into the Dawgs lead when QB Tanner McKee connected With WR Michael Wilson for a 23-yard scoring strike. The third quarter belonged to the Huskies. Two more Henry FGs of 47 and 32 yards were sandwiched around a 30-yard TD pass from QB Michael Penix, Jr. to WR Rome Odunze which extended UW's lead to 30-7 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Cardinal did make a bit of a comeback late, but they ended up basically trading scores with UW as the clock ran out. Penix, Jr. completed 22 of 37 passes for 309 yards and two TDs for the Huskies. McKee threw for 286 yards, three scores and an interception in the loss.
Telling Stat: They dug a hole; Stanford lost this game early when their offense failed to show up until the second quarter. SU's first four drives ended in a pair of punts and a pair of turnovers.
Observations
...65 years ago bad; Colorado has lost their first four games by 25 points or more. The last team to accomplish that dubious feat was the 1957 Indiana Hoosiers. IU went 1-8 that year with their only victory coming over Villanova, 14-7.
...Feeling for Wake; Wake Forest had Clemson beat, but fell in OT 51-45 in one of the most exciting games of the year so far.
...A potentially big year; Minnesota is off to a 4-0 start after whipping Michigan State, 34-7. The Golden Gophers have a great shot to get to the Big Ten title game. Their schedule is a friendly one. They don't face TheeeOSU or Michigan and their only tough road game is at Penn State on 10/22.
...A missed down; The refs short changed Wazzu a down during their game with Oregon. The Pac 12 crew actually went back and gave Wazzu that lost down. Here's the Pac 12's explanation of what went down with the missing down. A big miss
...A bowling ball; Michigan RB Blake Corum stands 5'8", weighs 210 lbs. and is as about as hard to tackle as giant bowling ball. His 248 yards on 30 carries v Maryland was a sight to see.
...Speaking of Maryland; Terrapin KR Tai Felton demonstrated how not to be a KR on the opening kickoff v. Michigan. DOINK!
...So worth it; Texas Tech was fined $50,000 for storming the field after they beat Texas, 37-34 in OT.
...He was feeling it; Here's USC radio play-by-play man Pete Arbogast's call of the Trojans game-clinching interception against Oregon State Game Over
...Costly win; Utah TE Brant Kuithe was lost for the season after suffering a knee injury v. ASU last Saturday. He was the Utes leading receiver.
...Identity crisis; Stanford has no idea who they are anymore. They are neither a power running team or a true RPO team. They are just a mess.
...They both stunk; Auburn only won their game v Missouri because the rules dictated that there had to be a winner. Nobody deserved to win this awful display of football. However, Mizzou really did let the game slip away. Painful to watch
...Trying to find fans; UCLA is offering cut rate tickets and special ticket packages to try and draw a decent crowd for their clash with Washington this Friday at the Rose Bowl. Seriously folks, this is a battle of undefeated teams in serious contention for the Pac 12 title. It should be a nearly full stadium.
...Still not ranked; Kansas is off to its' best start in forever at 4-0 and didn't crack the top 25 this week.
...It could happen; It would be one of the worst games of all-time, but it is now possible for an NCAA game to finish with a score of 1-0. From the third OT on teams will alternate running two-point conversion attempts until a winner is decided. That means if a game goes to the third OT in a scoreless tie, the rarely seen one-point safety could occur and a team could win, 1-0. What is the one-point safety? Please watch this video. This particular one point safety happened on a PAT kick, but the principle still applies to two-point conversion attempts. The Big 1.
...The high and the low; 3-1 Iowa has the FBS's 6th ranked total defense allowing just 236 yards per game. They are also rank 131st and dead last in total offense gaining just 232 yards per game.
...Two Ramblin' Wrecks; Georgia Tech has fired both HC Geoff Collins and his boss AD Todd Stansbury. Collins was 10-28. Collins will get 11 million to leave. Stansbury's buyout is considerably less.
...Sunday morning excitement; RedZone is the only way to watch the NFL.
...Boredom, depression; You know your team is really bad when even your fuzzy mascot has given up. Check out Chip The Buffalo play solitaire in the end zone instead of watching the Buffs get trounced by UCLA. A deck of 51
...They turned on Herm; From a report in The Athletic a few days ago, ASU staffers were feeding the details of the Sun Devils game plans to opponents in order to hasten Herm Edwards ouster in Tempe. You have to be a special kind of bad to have your own staff turn on you. Wow.
...NFL frustration; Buffalo OC Ken Dorsey was not pleased when the Bills lost to the Dolphins. Smashed it up
...The kid nails it; Leave it to Archie to sum up feelings we've all had during a football season.
CFL Update
Three downs and three byes are no problem north of the border. The CFL regular season is 16 weeks into their 21 week schedule that gives each team three byes. It doesn't matter how long the season is because the two-time defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers are still the class of the league. They are 12-2 and should clinch the West Division title pretty soon. The BC Lions and Calgary Stampeders are the Bombers only serious competition standing at 9-4 and 9-5 respectively. The Toronto Argonauts are tops in the East Division with an 8-5 mark. The Commissioner's favorite team, the Edmonton Elks are dead last in the west at 4-10.
Pac 12 Overreactions
Colorado won't score over 20 points all year.
Stanford is a 3-9 team.
Arizona is two years away from being good.
Wazzu is the most dangerous team in the league.
UCLA looks like they are just going through the motions.
Oregon could go 11-1.
ASU will be 1-5 entering their bye week.
USC is a 10-2 team.
Utah's defense is the best in the league.
Cal's rushing game will make them a bowl team.
Washington may finally have found the next Don James.
Oregon State is an 8-4 team at best.
Cool Looking Stadium of the Week
Tennessee fans achieved the checkerboard look and it made Neyland Stadium look awesome.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: Pittsford, NY- It was Alumni Weekend at St. John Fisher University and the host Cardinals gave their alumni a hard fought, 3-0 win over the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers. PK Kyle Farewell booted a 26-yard FG on the opening drive of the game and the St. John Fisher defense made that FG stand over the final 52 minutes to grab a much needed win. RPI was stymied by the Cardinals defense all game. The Engineers never got into the red zone with their best drive stalling at the Cardinals 33-yard line.
Blowout Game of Week: Nacogdoches, TX- Tiny Warner University of the NAIA ranks traveled from Lake Wales, Florida to take on FCS opponent Stephen F. Austin and were crushed, 98-0. Yes, 98-0. It could have been 100-0, but the Lumberjacks just took a knee on their final PAT of the game instead of going for the triple digit win. SFA started out with a 35-0 lead after the first quarter and the game got worse from there. Warner might want to drop football as they are now 0-4 and have been outscored 243-32 on the season.
Razorback Report: Arlington, TX- The Hogs held a 14-7 over Texas A&M and were looking to extend that lead with a 1st and Goal at the TAMU three-yard line. QB K.J. Jefferson took the snap and tried to dive over the goal line. The ball was popped out of his hands and DB Tyreek Chappell picked the ball out of the air and returned it to the 18-yard line where he handed off to fellow DB Demani Richardson who took the ball the final 82 yards for a TD. It was a TD that changed the momentum of the whole game. From then on the Hogs were in an uphill battle. Still through it all, Arknasas did have one last chance to win the game, but PK Cam Little's 41-yard FG attempt doinked off the top of the right upright and the Aggies had the win, 23-21. Things don't get easier for the Razorbacks as they host Alabama this week.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
Sometimes a mistake on the BBQ can end up tasting great.
Fall teased us here, then sent Summer back in for a week of heat and high humidity.
Replacing my doormats and garden flags as the seasons change is like the most suburban thing to do.
Until Next Time, remember that a strong defense will almost always keep you in the game.
-The Commissioner
