Hey All,
It's time for the Column that makes your Tuesdays better, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Mel Durslag.
Summaries
Utah and the Refs 43- USC 42: Salt Lake City, UT- An awful game from the SC defense coupled with a huge assist from the officials led to the Trojans first loss of the 2022 campaign. The Trojans jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and had just picked off Utah QB Cam Rising to end a drive. It looked like SC would have the ball back and a chance to go up 21-0. However, the Pac 12 refs denied to change the game with a bad roughing the passer call. Utah gets a TD on the next play and is back in the game at 14-7. Still, USC did mange to build a 28-14 lead late in the second quarter, but the SC defense would give up a pair of TDs to end the first half and start the second half. The game now stood tied 28-28 and would be a big battle to the finish. The Trojans would grab a 35-28 lead only to watch the officials change the course of the game again with another bad roughing the passer call. That and three other penalties on SC handed the Utes a 35-35 tie. Over the final minutes, the SC offense forged ahead again 42-35 only to see the their defense collapse and give up the game-winning score. Trojan DC Alex Grinch's bend but don't break soft zone was exposed by the Utes. The Trojans allowed TE Dalton Kincaid to catch 16 passes for 234 yards and a TD. Rising, with the help officials, completed 30 of 44 passes for 415 yards and two TDs. He also ran for 60 yards and three more scores. SC QB Caleb Williams completed 26 of 42 passes for 381 yards and five TDs in the bitter, official enabled defeat.
Telling Stat: 2+14 = L; With as bad as the Trojans defense played, the two awful roughing the passer flags altered the course of the game handing Utah 14 points and the win.
Oregon State 24- Washington State 10: The Beavers needed a miracle comeback for a win at Stanford last week. This week all they needed was strong efforts from their running game and their defense to beat the Cougars. Those strong efforts protected QB Ben Gulbranson who was making his second start in place of the injured Chance Nolan. The Beavers jumped out early thanks to a 60-yard return of the opening kickoff that put them in business on the Wazzu 40-yard line. Eight plays later, QB/FB/LB/Adjunct Professor Jack Colletto slammed into the end zone form a yard out for a 7-0 lead. The two squads traded field goals a couple of series later and the score stood 10-7 OSU at the break. Following a Cougar punt to start the second half, the Beavers took a 17-3 lead when Gulbranson threw a 17-yard TD pass to WR Anthony Gould. The Cougars answered immediately with a TD pass that covered nine yards from QB Cam Ward to WR Jaylen Jenkins. Coletto then got his second rushing touchdown from two yards away to extend the Beavers lead to 24-10. It looked like a shoot out might be breaking out in the second half. Ummmm, no. Both offenses turned inept over the final quarter and OSU walked away with the victory. OSU RB Damien Martinez gained 111 yards on 16 carries and a TD to lead the Beavers offense while Ward completed 25 of 54 passes for the Cougars.
Telling Stat; Dull gets a W; Oregon State took the air out of the ball in this game. They rushed the ball 47 times to kill clock to hold on for the win.
Washington 49- Arizona 39: Seattle, WA- The Huskies had a just little bit more defense than Arizona and that proved to be the difference in this battle of big arms. UW QB Michael Penix torched the Wildcats and set a school record in the process. He completed 36 of 44 passes for 516 yards and four TDs. The 516 yards shattered the school record of 455 yards set by Cody Pickett v. Arizona back in 2001. Meanwhile, UofA QB Jayden de Laura had his way with the Dawgs defense. He completed 25 of 34 passes for 400 yards and four TDs. This game was an aerial shootout. Arizona just came upon short with the UW defense making key stops early to tilt the game in the Huskies favor. And I do mean early. There were only four punts in the game and none in the second half. Every drive in the second half ended with either a touchdown or a missed field goal. The top receivers in this game were UW's Rome Odunze and UofA's Tetairoa McMillan. Odunze caught nine passes for 169 yards and two TDs, while McMillan caught seven balls for 132 yards and two scores.
Telling Stat: Early stops get the win; Washington forced three Arizona punts and held for downs once in the first half. Those stops were the difference in the game.
Stanford 16- Notre Dame 14: South Bend, IN- The Cardinal went into Notre Dame stadium with an 11-game losing streak to FBS opponents and came out with a W that had ND fans contemplating taking a leap off the Golden Dome. On their first drive of the game. the Cardinal moved the ball 64 yards in eight plays. The drive ended with SU taking a 7-0 lead when RB Casey Wilkins found the end zone from two yards out. The rest of the half degenerated into a festival of offensive ineptitude. The two squads combined for six punts and had two drives stopped on downs. Then just before the half, Fighting Irish QB Drew Pyne was sacked and fumbled. The Cardinal got the ball back at midfield with :49 left. Six plays later, PK Josh Karty split the uprights from 45 yards out to give SU a 10-0 halftime lead. Midway through the third quarter Stanford extend their lead to 13-0 when Karty kicked a 43-yard field goal. ND got up off the deck on the next possession, capping off a 75-yard drive with a TD run of 10 yards from RB Audric Estime. Momentum had now swung to the guys in the dark blue jerseys. After holding the Cardinal for downs on their own 41-yard line, the Irish took the lead for their first and only time in the game when Pyne hit WR Tobias Merriweather with a 41-yard scoring strike. However, the kids from Palo Alto had a reserve tank of desire on hand. Four minutes after ND had taken the lead, Stanford took it right back when Karty made his second 43-yard FG of the game. After that the Stanford defense did something they hadn't done all year. They rose to the occasion. They shutdown the Irish's final two drives to end the game. QB Tanner McKee was efficient if not flashy, completing 26 off 38 passes for 288 yards while backfield mate Filkins gained 91 yards on 32 carries with a TD. In the loss, Pyne completed 13 of 27 passes for 151 yards and a TD.
Telling Stat: Classic Shaw with a twist; Stanford threw the ball instead of running the ball to slowly throttle Notre Dame, but the stats feel similar. The Cardinal held the ball for 36:07, ran 81 plays to ND's 61 and held the Irish just 3 of 12 on 3rd down conversions.
Colorado 20- California 13 OT: Boulder, CO- To say that something was off with Golden Bears from the opening kickoff in this game is not an understatement. An interception on their first posession, two missed field goals and numerous drops and missed blocks led to Cal being on the wrong end of a 3-0 score with 8:53 left in then third quarter. Buffs fans were ecstatic and could not believe they were in the game. It was at this point that Cal finally put together a drive and took a 7-3 lead when QB Jack Plummer connected with WR J.Michael Sturdivant for a 14-yard score. The final quarter would see Colorado sandwich a one-yard TD dive by RB Anthony Hankerson and a 24-yard FG from PK Cole Becker around a 27-yard FG from Cal PK Dario Longhetto. That left the Bears looking at a 13-10 deficit with 4:30 to play. Plummer proceeded to march his squad down the field where Longhetto kicked 34-yard FG as time ran out to send the game to OT. CU had the ball first in the overtime period. QB J.T. Shrout threw 22-yard TD pass to WR Montana Lemonious-Craig to take a 20-13 lead. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but it was reviewed for several minutes and the call on the field was overturned. Cal now had their chance to match that TD and they couldn't. Plummer's fourth down throw from the 15-yard line fell incomplete and the Buffs got their first win of 2022. Shrout finished the game for injured starter Owen McCown and completed 13 of 21 passes for 104 yards and the game-wining TD. Plummer completed just 29 of 52 aerials for 262 yards, a TD and an interception in the bitter defeat.
Telling Stat: The Big One; Colorado now has one win. A win they celebrated well at Folsom Field.
Observations
...Football Axiom #1; A game featuring two great teams that goes down to the wire is a lot less stressful to watch when your team isn't involved.
...Football Axiom #2; When your team is involved and wins the game it is indeed a great game. When your team loses, it just ain't.
...Candles lit; You know UCLA is praying that they don't get the referee crew that worked the USC-Utah game in Eugene for their game with the Ducks this Saturday.
...A delay of a different color; SMU's pony mascot, Peruna, was responsible for a 15 minute delay in Friday night's Navy-SMU game after the Shetland Pony defecated on the field during a celebration following an SMU third quarter touchdown. Craziest thing about the delay is that the crew that takes care of the pony didn't have a shovel on hand. Facepalm. That's not a football
...This just in; Wisconsin and Michigan State both stink. That had to be the most boring game to ever go to OT.
...Chasing down the legends; The Patriots win over the Browns last Sunday gave HC Bill Belichick his 324th NFL win. The win ties Belichick with Papa Bear George Halas for second place on the all-time NFL victory list. Another win for Belichick means only Don Shula and his 347 wins stand in the way of him being number one.
...A huge souvenir; The Volunteers faithful decided that they wanted the goal posts form their team's upset of Alabama and they got em. I hear the goal posts ended up in the Tennessee River. Serious Teamwork
...The first to 1K; Illinois RB Chase Brown is the first RB to gain over 1,000 yards this year. His 180 yards on 41 carries were key to there Illini's 26-14 win over Minnesota last week. He now has gained 1,059 yards this season.
...Low rent move; Tennessee setting up a GoFundMe to pay for new goalposts and the fine levied by the SEC for rushing the field after upsetting Alabama is bush league. UT needs to handle this like everyone else does with higher ticket prices for next year.
...Lincoln Jinx; Head Coaches Lance Leipold of Kansas, Dave Aranda of Baylor and Matt Campbell of Iowa State are a combined 0-8 since being mentioned as being in the running for the vacant Nebraska job.
...On LSU's dime; First Brian Kelly drops ND like a hot rock, then Coach O shows up for Stanford's upset of the Fighting Irish last Saturday. Ol' Eddie O does know a thing or two about beating ND in South Bend. The Travels of Coach O
...Big Ten eyes; Suddenly, Stanford looks a whole better to the Big Ten than they did just a few days ago.
...An assist to GP; If the TCU fans don't know they need to thank Gary Patterson for handing over a very good team to Sonny Dykes, they should be ashamed of themselves.
...An embarrassing feat; By losing 38-33 to Maryland, Indiana became the first D-I program to lose 700 games.
...Bye bye Byers; The NCAA overall rushing leader for all levels of football is Jada Byers of D-II Virginia Union. Byers has rushed for 1,373 yards in seven games. Whoa.
...The Green Wave is rolling; Tulane is 6-1 and sits atop the standings in the American Athletic Conference.
...New York NFL state of mind; The Bills, Jets and Giants are a combined 14-3 this year. Nobody saw that coming.
...Owing the Gophers; Bret Bielema owns Minnesota. The current Illinois HC and former Wisconsin headman is 9-0 against the Golden Gophers.
...Orange carnage; Undefeated Syracuse travels to undefeated Clemson this week for a huge ACC showdown.
...Holes as big as Happy Valley; Michigan put on a clinic on how to run the ball with the 418 yards rushing they put up in their 41-17 rout of Penn State. Wolverine RBs Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum rushed for 173 and 166 yards each and scored a pair of TDs each. Wow.
...A cutting score; Evidently, an unidentified Fresno State assistant coach wasn't happy when San Jose State scored on the Bulldogs late in the second quarter. He punched out the press box window in Fresno and sent glass shards into the stands. A mother and child were among those injured in the temper tantrum. The coach has been placed on administrative leave.
...SC-aided; Just sayin', when a pair of USC transfers had a major hand in Tennessee's upset over Alabama, it just reinforces how bad a HC Clay Helton really was.
...Just a rumor; There's no truth to the rumor that bookies will now offer the chance to bet the over/under on the number of penalties called in every Pac 12 game.
Pac 12 Overreactions
Stanford may have had their happiest flight home in years.
Colorado, ok ok, so now they are a 1-11 team.
Arizona is better than anyone thinks right now.
ASU is just happy to not be in the news this week.
Utah still has two more losses coming.
Washington won't win a road game this year.
Oregon State will beat Oregon this year.
Cal's embarrassment is worth two more losses.
Wazzu has regressed to being regular old Wazzu again.
USC's anger will make them an 11-1 team.
Oregon wants to know if Mark Duddy's crew is available this week.
UCLA knows they are playing the Ducks and the officials this week.
CFL Update
Two weeks are left in the regular season of the Canadian Football League and the playoff picture is coming into focus. Winnipeg has clinched the West Division crown while British Columbia and Calgary have also clinched playoff berths and are fighting it out as to what seed they will be. In the East Toronto and Montreal have earned playoff spots and are going down to the wire for the division crown. The sixth and final playoff spot will either go to Saskatchewan or Hamilton. The Commissioner's favoerite team, the Edmonton Elks are out of the playoff picture at 4-13 overall and 0-8 at home. Ouch.
Ugly Uniform of the Week
This week's winner is Pac 12 referee Mark Duddy. He and his incompetent crew made this outfit and the USC-Utah game a very ugly affair.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: Williamstown, MA- The Hamilton College Continentals held off the Williams Colleges Ephs, 15-13 in a New England Small College Athletic Conference clash on the D-III level. The teams stood tied at 6-6 with 1:30 left in the third quarter when Ephs RB Joel Nicholas was tackled for a safety by Hamiton LB Alex Street. That safety would be the difference in the game. The teams traded fourth period TDs, but the Continentals defense stay strong downs the stretch to secure the win. QB Matt Banbury accounted for both of Hamilton's TDs. He knifed in from the one for the score and threw a 15-yard pass to WR Lucas Perez-Segnini for the second one.
Blowout Game of the Week: Hamburg, NY- The Lincoln University Lions started its' football program a couple of years ago and is an independent school playing anyone they can schedule from the FCS level down to NAIA schools. The Lions easily dispatched their opponent from this week from the D-III ranks, the Hilbert College Hawks, 70-0. The Lions built up a 49-0 halftime lead and then emptied their bench for the final thirty minutes. RBs Elijah Holmes and Otis Weah combined for 187 yards rushing on 24 carries and five TDs. The Lions defense held the Hawks to just 97 total yards for the afternoon.
Razorback Report: Provo, UT- The Hogs made a rare road trip out west and whipped BYU, 52-35. The Cougars had no answer for the one-two punch of QB K.J. Jefferson and RB Raheim Sanders. Jefferson threw for 367 yards and five TDs, while Sanders gained 175 yards with two TDs on just 15 carries. The Razorbacks have a bye this week before taking a trip to Auburn on 10/29.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
Dutch Brothers Coffee became a multiple trip stop during the family vacation in Indio last week.
Old school silly comics like Beetle Bailey, Archie and Marmaduke still crack me up.
The shadows that clouds make over a mountain range as they pass by are beautiful things.
Until next time folks, remember that it's hard to beat your opponent and the officials.
-The Commissioner
