Week 14 Previews

Well this is it. The final weekend of college football before the bowls start. And even without a championship game, the Pac-10 still has important games left.

Oregon State vs Hawaii (-8)
Since the Pac-10 season is over and both teams have accepted bowl bids, this one is just for pride. Warriors QB Colt Brennan needs four TD passes to set the all-time single season record. In case you haven’t seen his stats this year, they are insane: 4589 passing yards, a 71.9% completion rate, 51 TD passes and only 9 INTs. Add it all up and his QB rating is a staggering 186.68. Basically Hawaii loves to throw the ball and they do it better than anyone else. They are number one in total offense, passing offense and scoring. But it isn’t a one man show. They have six players with more than 600 receiving yards! June Jones has perfected the run and shoot with Mr. Brennan and the Beavers better be on the lookout. They have a decent pass defense, but they haven’t seen anything like this. Luckily for OSU, Hawaii has a pretty bad defense. So even though they score a ton, they give up a lot of points. If the Beavs want to win, they need to keep the Warriors offense on the sidelines. That means a heavy dose of Yvenson Bernard. Hopefully Riley doesn’t get all caught up with what Hawaii is doing and try to get in a shootout. If they win, they may even take Hawaii’s place in the top 25.

Brian's Pick: Hawaii (-8)
Mike's Pick: Oregon State (+8)

The Big Game
Stanford vs Cal (-29.5)
This game is big in name only. Stanford’s season has been nothing short of dreadful. At least this gives the Bears a chance to win a game before they play Texas A&M. There isn’t much to preview since Cal is going to win this, but it should be fun to see how many points the Bears will score. But their success in the Holiday Bowl will basically come down to how well Longshore plays. When he throws more picks than touchdowns, Cal is 1-3. If he gets back on track against the Cardinal, hopefully Cal will have some momentum heading into the Holiday Bowl.

Brian's Pick: Cal (-29.5)
Mike's Pick: Cal (-29.5)

The Victory Bell
USC vs UCLA (+13)
This is the game that will decide who goes to Glendale. If USC wins, they are in. If UCLA wins, the Trojans have to settle on a return trip to Pasadena. The Trojans are on a roll, but lots of the other top ranked teams have seen trouble in their rivalry games (See: Texas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech) this year. But this matchup goes beyond just one game. USC has beaten UCLA seven times in a row, following an eight year winning streak by UCLA, which is the longest in the rivalry’s history. It also could decide the fate of Karl Dorell, who is under fire from almost every Bruin fan. Never beating USC isn’t good for your resume. These are the Pac-10’s two best defenses, which in theory means a low scoring game. But USC’s offense has come alive lately, with most of the damage coming through the air. The run D is UCLA’s strength (their 14^th nationally) while their passing defense is in the bottom half of the NCAA (75^th). USC likely isn’t threatened much by the UCLA secondary, but Justin Hickman and Bruce Davis rank 2^nd and 3^rd nationally in sacks, which means Sam Baker and Kyle Williams will have their hands full. If the Bruins can get to Booty, it could mean trouble for the Trojan offense.

Brian's Pick: USC (-13)
Mike's Pick: USC (-13)