Week 9 Previews

It's a light slate for the Pac-10 this week, only three conference games plus an epic intrastate battle between Oregon and Portland State.

USC vs Oregon State (+11.5)

The Beavers have looked pretty good in the last two weeks, beating the Huskies and the Wildcats. Hey Coach Riley, isn't it amazing what happens when you actually run the ball? But it won't matter this week. If Yvenson Bernard is out, and this list of players from Building the Dam are way less than 100 percent, OSU has no chance. Barring the longest of longshots, like Buster Douglas long, the Trojans will take this one in Corvallis. The question becomes how well will USC play and did the bye week give them enough time to get back where everyone expects them to be. They haven't looked like the same team since beating the Razorbacks worse than Ike beat Tina. For the Pac-10's sake, let's hope they come out firing.

What the Trojans should watch out for: Another slow day on offense

What the Beavers should watch out for: Yvenson Bernard’s ankle

Brian’s Pick: USC -11.5

Mike’s Pick: USC - 11.5

Arizona State vs Washington (+1.5)

After having to deal with Oregon, USC and Cal in consecutive weeks, the Sun Devils got a break last week by playing Stanford. The Huskies meanwhile have lost three straight, and surprisingly competitive, Pac-10 games to USC, Cal and OSU. Both teams are trying to find themselves after getting off to solid starts. With only have one gimme left (Stanford for UW and Arizona for ASU), whoever wins this game shouldn’t have a problem finishing bowl-eligible (Hello, Emerald Bowl!!!). If Carl Bonnell can cut down on the INTs, UW should be in a position to win this game. But with a newfound running attack and a shockingly efficient Rudy Carpenter, ASU will make this a game. Oh and this week, the Huskies don’t need to be watching for opposing players driving the injury cart around the field.

What the Sun Devils should watch out for: Michael Houston stealing their cars

What the Huskies should watch out for: Ryan Torain & Co.

Brian’s Pick: Washington +1.5

Mike’s Pick: Washington +1.5

Portland State vs Oregon

This one shouldn’t be close. Bellotti doesn’t lose home games, especially to 1-AA teams. It’s exactly what the Ducks need, too. After losing two of their last three games, Oregon needs to right the ship this week. If they don’t, well then we know for sure that they really aren’t the team everyone expected them to be and they don’t deserve a bowl game. I think this should be an actual rule: lose to a 1-AA team and you are no longer bowl eligible. Probably wouldn’t affect too many teams, but I think it makes sense. Anyways, Dennis Dixon gets a chance to redeem himself on Saturday in front of the Autzen faithful, and for their sake, he better do it. Plus the last time they played, Oregon won 41-0. Expect something similar here.

What the Vikings should watch out for: The Ducks RB tandem of Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson

What the Ducks should watch out for: The Vikings DB tandem of Dominic Dixon and Odell Jackson

Brian’s Pick: Oregon

Mike’s Pick: Oregon

*The Pac-10 Game of the Week*

Washington State vs UCLA (-1)

This game looks a lot better now than it did a month ago. After getting whipped by Auburn and then beating Idaho, Baylor and Stanford, no one knew what to expect from the Cougars. But they played USC tough, limited Cal to 21 points and then forced the Ducks to bench their Heisman hopeful for Ryan Leaf's brother. At this point, it's probably safe to say that WSU is the third best team in the Pac-10. That's bad news for the Bruins. While they hung tough against Notre Dame and probably should have won, they have now lost two games in a row and are tied with OSU for fifth in the Pac-10. The Cougars want third place all to themselves, so they’ll give the Bruins a healthy dose of Dwight Tardy and hope that Alex Brink builds on last week’s upset of Oregon.

What the Cougars should watch out for: Whether UCLA brings their ND or UO defense

What the Bruins should watch out for: Alex Brink remembering to find Jason Hill

Brian’s Pick: Washington State +1

Mike’s Pick: UCLA -1

The Weekly Rehash

What a day for the Pac-10. UCLA/Notre Dame and Cal/Washington both went down to the wire, Arizona only had to have one pass thrown by a wide receiver and Stanford gained more than 100 yards of offense. Way to go Stanford!

Notre Dame 20, UCLA 17
I guess that Brady Quinn is pretty good. He got off to a slow start against a Bruin defense that showed it does have some teeth. They only allowed the Irish to convert 4 of 19 third downs, though they did manage to convert 4 of 5 fourth downs, only gave up 41 rushing yards and minus the last drive, played quite well. But when it really mattered, they folded under fire from Quinn. Here was the game from Notre Dame’s perspective: 55 seconds left, down by 4, 80 yards to a touchdown, No Fear (Yes, that’s a reference to 1994). And they only needed three plays. Quinn found every receiver he was looking for, including Jeff Samardzija for the 45 yard game winning TD. Give some credit to the Bruins for holding their own in South Bend and making the Irish work for a win. Patrick Cowan looks like he might be an adequate replacement for Ben Olson, but Chris Markey can’t put up another 19 carry, 32 yard performance if UCLA is going to finish near the top of the Pac-10.

MVP: Brady Quinn - 27 of 45 for 304 yards and 2 TDs

Arizona State 38, Stanford 3
Wow, did the Sun Devils have a great game or what. Only two incompletions between Rudy Carpenter and Danny Sullivan, 200 yards on the ground and they forced three turnovers. Of course, anything less would have been a huge disappointment. Stanford got outgained by 200 yards again, converted a measly 3 for 14 on third downs, and TC Ostrander had a QB rating of 42.18. This game didn’t really tell us anything other than reinforcing the fact that Stanford really sucks. Given how Duke almost beat Miami, Stanford is likely to be named as ESPN’s second worst team this week and they are really giving Temple a run for their money.

MVP: The Sun Devil running backs - 50 touches for 254 yards and 5 TDs

Cal 31, Washington 24
The Bears barely kept their BCS hopes alive in this one. Even after being gifted 5 interceptions (including another for Daymeion Hughes – Don’t throw at him!) from new Husky QB Carl Bonnell, they still had to go to overtime. After Marshawn Lynch ran in for his second TD and the first score of overtime, Bonnell threw his last interception to linebacker Desmond Bishop, ending the game. But how it got to overtime was the most interesting part of the game. With about a minute left in the game, UW got the ball back after Cal scored a TD and got the 2 point conversion, giving them the lead at 24-17. with six seconds left, UW called a timeout at the Cal 40. With no time left on the clock, Bonnell threw the ball towards the endzone, where there were about five Bears waiting for it. None of them knocked the ball down though, and it ended up in the hands of Marlon Wood for the game tying touchdown. But turnovers killed the Huskies in OT, just like they did in regulation. Why this game was so close, I don’t know. The Bears were able to run the ball and aside from Nate Longshore’s 2 for 9 start, didn’t really have any problems passing either. But UW hung around long enough to get to OT and in the process, put on an offensive show with Cal. After keeping it close with USC, it looks like UW’s rebuilding under Ty Willingham is definitely starting to see results.

MVP: Marshawn Lynch – 21 carries for 152 yards and 2 TDs

Washington State 34, Oregon 23
This was the big upset of the weekend, with the Ducks being the only ranked team in the country to lose to a non-ranked team. Alex Brink had his best conference game of the season, while Dennis Dixon had his worst. I don’t think anyone, save Cougar fan, was expecting that flip-flop to happen. But it wasn’t just Dixon with a bad game. Jonathan Stewart only managed 28 yards on 11 carries and after three quarters, the Ducks were down by 24. Brady Leaf came on to throw a couple of TDs and Oregon got lucky with a defensive TD in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to win. Despite outgaining and out-first-downing the Cougars, the Ducks didn’t look good at all. Brink and Dwight Tardy were big reasons for that. Brink was 20/23 passing and Tardy had 145 rushing yards. This game effectively ended the Ducks chances of winning the Pac-10 and making a BCS game. Aloha means goodbye!

MVP: Dwight Tardy – 20 carries for 145 yards and a TD

Oregon State 17, Arizona 10
What a barnburner. The Wildcats only managed 183 yards of offense behind Kris Heavner’s first start at quarterback. One week after Chris Henry and Chris Jennings combined for 181 rushing yards, they gained a mere 23 yards on 16 carries against the Beavers. OSU wasn’t much more exciting, but at least they moved the ball. Matt Moore threw two more interceptions, but Sammie Stroughter had another big day catching the ball and Yvenson Bernard had 134 total yards on 31 touches. Way to go Coach Riley! You ran the ball almost twice as much as you passed. You may make a bowl game yet.

MVP: Sammie Stroughter – 5 catches for 91 yards and a TD

The Pac-10 Apostle’s Disciple of the Week

This is the first time we’re giving away this prestigious award, and given the magnitude of the win, this week it goes to….

Mr. Tardy carried the Cougars on his back, all the way to the upset over the Ducks. Well done Mr. Tardy, well done.

Previews

Given how incredibly awesome and boring Mike and I have been at picking the winners of the Pac-10 games, we’ve decided to stop doing it. But nobody panic, we’ll be picking against the spread for now on. So get your bookie on the phone, here are our picks:

UCLA vs Notre Dame
The Bruins are a two touchdown underdog in South Bend this weekend and for good reason. We saw last week that a good offense beats UCLA’s defense. The Irish aren’t, disappointingly for ND fans, quite as lethal as the Ducks, but they still put up some pretty good numbers. Brady Quinn has thrown 10 TDs and only 1 pick in the three games since losing to Michigan. In that same span, Darius Walker has averaged 115 rushing yards a game, versus only 60 yards per game in the first three. Notre Dame is coming alive right when UCLA seems to be regressing. Having lost Ben Olson, seen their defense exposed by Gary Crowton’s spread offense, and general dissatisfaction over Karl Dorrell, the Bruins seem to be at a crossroads. Win this game and they build their confidence for Cal and USC. Leave South Bend without a victory and its all downhill from here.

What UCLA should watch out for: Notre Dame’s running attack
What Notre Dame should watch out for: A revitalized Bruin defense

Brian’s Pick: UCLA (+13)
Mike’s Pick: UCLA (+13)


Oregon State vs Arizona
After beating the Cardinal, Arizona doesn’t look quite so terrible. Now they have a conference win, their defense appears to be credible and they’re only a win away from being .500. But, appearances are misleading. The Wildcats have lost their top two quarterbacks and are likely using two wideouts, including leading receiver Syndric Steptoe, as their backup QBs. Arizona fan better pray that Kris Heavner doesn’t get concussed. Like their inept offense really needed another reason to suck. And everyone knows how terrible Stanford is, so even 53 yards allowed doesn’t seem all that impressive. Arizona still isn’t particularly good at anything, save their rushing defense, which like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, is either amazing or abysmal. The Beavers don’t really like to run the ball, though they tried it a little last week. I bet Riley reaches back into his bag of tricks and pulls out the playbook without the running plays. That means Matt Moore will be feasting on the Arizona secondary (did I just write that?), albeit the side Antoine Cason isn’t on. Plus, the Beavers beat UW by 10 and Arizona lost by 11, so by some algebraic law they should win by 21.

What OSU should watch out for: Heat stroke
What Arizona should watch out for: The Beavers hurting Kris Heavner

Brian’s Pick: OSU (-2.5)
Mike’s Pick: Arizona (+2.5)


*The Pac-10 Game of the Week*
Oregon vs Washington State
This game should be a shootout, if the Cougars can actually score when cross midfield. After three turnovers in the redzone last week, WSU can’t afford to fall any further behind in the Pac-10. The same can be said for Oregon. If they want to keep pace with Cal and USC, they must win this game. After visiting Pullman six times in the last seven years and winning five of them, it’s almost a home game for the Ducks. And while their offense is great, their defense is vulnerable. They got lit up by Cal and even let Stanford gain more than 300 yards. On paper, this looks like a fairly even matchup. Both teams have excellent offenses and mediocre defenses. The big difference though is points. The Ducks put up more than 30 points in every game but Cal, when they scored 24. The Cougars have only broken 30 twice and that was against Idaho and Stanford. If they really want a piece of the Ducks and a chance to play in the Sun Bowl instead of the Emerald Bowl, they better make those fourth down conversions this week.

What Oregon should watch out for: Mkristo Bruce terrorizing Dennis Dixon
What WSU should watch out for: The Duck ground attack

Brian’s Pick: Oregon (-4)
Mike’s Pick: Oregon (-4)

Stanford at ASU
The good news here is that one of these teams is going to get there first pac-ten win. The other team will be in the driver's seat for last place. ASU did not look as good as the scoreboard showed against USC last week, but they can at least move the ball and should be able to put up points against a truly pathetic stanford defense. Stanford now has to play without quarterback Trent Edwards. I'm trying to think of a silver lining for Stanford, but it's not coming. This one should be a blowout- and if it isn't, you can say goodbye to dirk Koetter.

What Stanford should watch for: Burgess and the ground game
What ASU should watch for:


Washington at California
The loss of Washington QB Isaiah Stanbeck is huge for the Huskies. Standbeck was beginning to make plays both with his legs and his arm, and turning the Husky offense into a reasonable unit. Without Stanbeck, the offense isn't much to write home about. Cal has continued to impress, and shows no signs of slowing down on offense or defense. Washington will need to find a new look offense in a hurry if it wants to stay in this game. If Cal can put up points early, look for them to run away with this one.

What Washington should watch for: Cal receiver Desean Jackson
What Cal should watch for: A new, unpredictable Husky QB

Other Notes

-Looks like there is some bulletin board material out there for the Trojans. Rudy Carpenter and Mkristo Bruce both said that Cal will beat USC on November 18th. That can't be going over well in Heritage Hall. TrojanWire points out that Cal is also starting to talk, so I am sure USC will start talking back soon. Can we just advance the calender a month and watch this game already? Also, a belated thank you to the AP, who voted Michigan ahead of USC. OSU will now win that game and USC doesn't need to worry about the curse, just Cal.

-In USC basketball news, Tim Floyd has gotten a verbal from an eighth grader. And yes, you read that correctly. Apparently Floyd is clairvoyant and he can tell that once this 14 year old is eligible for NCAA play, he'll be worthy of a scholarship. I don't even know if you're allowed to recruit players that haven't even played high school games, but Floyd did it. This is either going to be incredibly awesome if he's good or incredibly awesome if he's terrible. I can't wait to see what the national media does with this.

-Lots of suspensions went down over the Miami-FIU fight, you can get a breadth of opinions over on ESPN. The headline to me is that Brandon Meriweather didn't get suspended more than just the one game over Duke. Watch him stomping at the FIU players again (BTW, this is the first video I ever put on YouTube. And yes, I am a narcissistic attention whore)


and tell me that he doesn't deserve something harsher than a single game suspension that just happens to be against the worst team in the ACC. I think SportsPickle comes up with a much better penalty for Miami.

-Building the Dam points out that Trent Edwards' senior season (and Stanford's only hope for victory) is over. Can we relegate them to 1-AA already? They also rose to #3 on ESPN's Bottom 10 this week. I think this punk-inspired quote sums up the Cardinal pretty well:

"I Wanna Be Sedated": If the Cardinal's nine-game losing streak extends much longer, that option might sound good to Walt Harris.

The FIU-Miami fight also makes the list at #5

Around the Pac-10

-Bad news for Husky fan, as it looks like Isaiah Stanback is done for the season with a “tarsometatarsal articulation” of his right foot. Stanback was the entire Husky offense, so UW will have to completely retool if they’re going to make it into a bowl game. U-Dub Dish wonders if blue chip freshman Jake Locker should get thrown to the wolves.

-EDSBS shines some light upon Mike Riley being and the hot seat.

-Patrick Cowan evidently got hit in the throat Saturday, which limited his play calling ability, but Bruins Nation cares not what Karl Dorrell’s excuses are. They are over the Dorrell experiement. The results of their poll are telling, but as a Trojan fan, I think he’s doing quite well.

-Adding to the Trojans’ list of disappointments, Rey Maualuga decided to get into it with some guys at a frat party, prompting Pete Carroll to “discipline” him. I bet that works. Also, former USC defensive tackle Ryan Watson, now on Southern Miss, decided to get arrested this week. Makes our program look better and better every day.

-Offensive tackles Adam Koets of OSU and Andrew Carnahan of ASU have both been named as semifinalists for the Draddy Trophy, the equivalent of the academic Heisman. Congratulations boys! Only question I have is why there are 148 semifinalists. Does every team, like say....Miami, get a player on the list?

-Finally, some good news for Arizona. Mark Stoops was named defensive coordinator of the week by the Master Coaches Survey. That’s nice and all, but hasn’t everyone who has played Stanford looked like the defensive coordinator of the week?

-Mkristo Bruce, the Cougs standout defensive end, was nominated as a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award. They only nominated 12 players for this award though, not 148. And since he is leading the nation in sacks, I say he's the frontrunner for the award.

The Weekly Rehash

Oregon 30, UCLA 20
Guess that UCLA defense wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Dennis Dixon had his way with the Bruins, throwing for two touchdowns and spearheading a three-headed running attack alongside Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson. Brian Paysinger had 100 yards and a TD to upstage teammate Jaison Williams, and the Ducks jumped out to an early lead and never gave it up. Patrick Cowan had a brutal day in his first start at quarterback for the Bruins, barely completing half his passes and only averaging 3.6 yards per pass. Chris Markey was the lone bright spot, averaging almost six yards a carry and getting Khalil Bell in position to score twice. It was a big win for Oregon, who rebounded nicely from their beating in Berkeley. UCLA on the other hand, is going to be searching for answers. How such a strong defense can give up so many yards, albeit to an elite offense, is cause for concern. UCLA dropped all the way from second in the nation to ninth in total defense thanks to Dixon and friends. Thankfully the Bruins only have to face Notre Dame, Cal and the possibility of revitalized ASU and USC offenses to end the season. That must be refreshing. At least Southpaw Jesus comes back in a few weeks.
MVP: Dennis Dixon - 10/17 for 144 yards and 2 TDs, 11 carries for 69 yards

Arizona 20, Stanford 7
I didn’t think Stanford could get any worse, but I was wrong. With only 53 yards of total offense and four first downs, it seems like the Cardinal players are trying to get Walt Harris fired. Arizona finally got their offense moving behind Chris Henry and Chris Jennings, both of whom scored a touchdown and averaged over five yards a carry. The only semblance of hope Stanford seemingly had was the potential breaking-out of quarterback Trent Edwards, and he got injured before the first Stanford drive ended. I really don’t know how it’s possible, but Stanford may fare even worse next week against ASU. Even more surprising than that is the fact that almost 40,000 people showed up for this game. Way to put on a show for your homecoming crowd. They must all be really proud.
MVP: The Wildcat defense, 53 total yards, 1-8 on third downs

Cal 21, Washington State 3
Well Cal finally broke their streak, even though they didn’t look very good. After having lost every game in Pullman over the last three decades, the Bears finally pulled through. Even with Nate Longshore’s worst performance since Rocky Top, Cal dominated the Cougars on the scoreboard. The stats make this game look a lot closer. In fact, Alex Brink actually outplayed Longshore. The big difference though, was on the ground. Marshawn Lynch ran for 152 yards and two scores to lead a 177 yard charge on the ground. WSU got a 70 yard run from Derrell Hutsona, but they managed only 18 yards on their other 18 carries. That dominance on the ground allowed Cal to control the clock despite losing the turnover battle. Another reason why WSU lost? They didn’t follow my cardinal rule of playing Cal: Don’t throw at Daymeion Hughes! He had yet another interception against WSU, which gives him six on the year and puts him back in second place nationally in interceptions. So, I’ll recommend to the Huskies that they don’t throw at him if they want to win. As for the Cougs, it’s the second top ten team they have played tough at home, and their other loss was at Auburn. The game was closer than the score indicated, though you can’t turn the ball over in the red zone if you want to win. If they can somehow beat Oregon, they’re the frontrunner for third place in the Pac-10.
MVP: Marshawn Lynch – 25 carries for 152 yards and 2 TDs

Oregon State 27, Washington 17
Matt Moore’s first five games: 156 passing yards per game
Versus Washington: 308 yards passing yards
Just when I thought Matt Moore couldn’t get any worse, (Superfluous reason to listen to a “Dumb and Dumber” clip, just replace Lloyd with “Mike Riley”) he somehow goes out and has his best game since last year’s season opener. So even while Moore has been throwing incomplete passes and interceptions, he has thrown for more yards in each successive game. I guess that kinda means he has been getting better, but not really, at least not until Saturday. Moore wasn’t the only reason the Beavers won though. Riley finally let Yvenson Bernard carry the ball and he responded with 144 yards and two scores. Sammie Stroughter also had a big game, with 223 receiving yards including an 80 yard touchdown that put OSU ahead for good in the third quarter. Even with 488 yards offense, the Beavers turned the ball over three times and made the game a lot closer than it should have been. With all the gifts the Huskies had, they should have won the game. But Washington lost this game because Stanback was terrible. He only had 173 yards of total offense, his worst output since the disaster that was Oklahoma. In each of UW’s losses this year, Stanback has been horrible. That shouldn’t be a problem next week, because Stanback messed up his ankle in the fourth quarter of the game and may not play against Cal this week. Congratulations go out to both teams, who were a combined 3 for 23 on third downs. That’s why neither of them will be going to a good bowl game.
MVP: Yvenson Bernard – 29 carries for 146 yards and 2 TDs

USC 28, Arizona State 21
The Trojans got off to a fast start, but in what has become a common theme this season, they let the Sun Devils back into the game. USC scored the first 21 points of the game and it looked like they were finally going to be in control of an entire game. Not so much. The Sun Devils scored the next three touchdowns to tie the game, until USC scored the final points near the end of the fourth quarter with a Chauncey Washington touchdown run. Coming into this season, JD Booty and Rudy Carpenter were expected to each have huge years and bring their teams to glory. Carpenter hasn’t done anything in his last four games and hasn’t helped ASU do much of anything aside from slide out of the top 25. Booty started off strong, but his last two games have been nothing to write home about and this game against the Sun Devils was probably his poorest performance of the year. Misreading an option route Dwayne Jarrett ran, Booty threw a pick that Keno Walter-White returned for the game tying touchdown. Two drives earlier, Booty decided that fumbling was a good idea. Those are the kinds of plays that a team like Cal or Notre Dame will use to put the Trojans away. USC can’t keep losing the turnover battle, which they haven’t won since Nebraska came to town.
MVP: Chauncey Washington – 22 carries for 108 yards and a TD

Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

On a night that four top 20 teams get upset, college football's golden boy is injured and Colorado finally gets a win, you might think one of those is the #1 story. But, you'd be wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Miami Hurricanes!



Their brawl against Florida International was one of the worst shows of sportsmanship ever seen on a football field. It seemed like every player on each side was involved, with helmets and crutches being used along with fists. In all, 13 players were ejected and they are all likely to receive at least one game suspensions. Brandon Meriweather stomped on a downed Golden Panther at least four times, so I hope Coach Coker does the right thing and suspends him for the rest of the year. Also, I'm pretty sure Miami turned it into a brawl to get lots of FIU players ejected so they would have a better chance of winning. It worked, because the Hurricanes won 35-0.
Update: Looks like Coker suspended at least eight players, Meriweather included.

Back to what should be the #1 story, Colorado won! In fact, they absolutely throttled the Red Raiders, 30-6. The Buffs had lost 10 games in a row, worst in school history. But they've turned it all around now! And Sun Devil fan thought they wouldn't get a quality win this season.

AD broke his collarbone after running for 183 yards and two scores. He broke it when he landed on his shoulder after his second TD run, ending his chances at the Heisman. It also ends Oklahoma's shot at a decent bowl game. And why were so many people making a big deal about his dad showing up for this game? He was in federal prison for money laundering, what a shame he couldn't see a college football game in person!

Garrett Wolfe also ended his Heisman campaign, but more because he had a terrible game, not because he got hurt. Only 25 yards on 18 carries against Western Michigan?!? You don't deserve the Heisman. Besides, everyone says it's Troy Smith's award to lose anyway.

The curse of second place also continued this week. After seeing Texas, Notre Dame and Auburn all lose their undefeated status at #2, Florida continued the tradition by losing at Auburn, 27-17. For curse's sake, I hope Michigan jumps USC to take the #2 spot in the AP poll this week. And they probably will because the Trojans didn't look nearly as good as the Wolverines did on Saturday. So please AP voter, I beg of you, move Michigan to #2. The men and women of Troy will thank you.

Previews

UCLA vs Oregon

It’s the immovable object versus the irresistible force. The Duck offense ranks fourth nationally with 469 yards per game, while the Bruin defense ranks second nationally, allowing only 221 yards per game. In this battle for third place in the Pac-10, something has to give. The Ducks are lucky that their first game after getting destroyed by Cal is back in the friendly confines of Autzen Stadium. Jonathan Stewart had a disaster of a game running into Desmond Bishop and the rest of Cal’s defense. Averaging nearly 8 yards per carry coming into the game, he managed only 25 yards on 18 carries. Jaison Williams had only 66 receiving yards after averaging 140 yards in the previous three games. Dennis Dixon was sacked twice and threw three interceptions. Just about everyone on Oregon had their worst game of the season against Cal. So while this game is at Autzen, it’s against a team with a much better defense than Cal. Speakin of UCLA’s defense, it has been mighty impressive this season, though UW is the only team they have played with a top 50 offense. This will be their first real test, and they get to follow this game up with another test at Notre Dame next week. The Bruins come into Eugene with Ben Olson on the shelf for a few weeks with a torn mcl. That forces Patrick Cowan into the starting lineup after relieving Olson in Pasadena last week. He played pretty well against Arizona, though I’m sure the Bruin coaches would prefer their QB not have his debut start in the Pac-10’s toughest place to play. Actually, the Bruin coaching has been so bad this year, I don’t know that it crossed their minds. To me, that’s the difference in this game. Bellotti > Dorrell in a landslide, though the game itself should be pretty close.

What UCLA should watch out for: The Oregon offense
What Oregon should watch out for: The UCLA defense

Brian’s Pick: Oregon

Cal vs Washington State

The Cougars have beaten the Bears the last ten times they have played in Pullman. That’s 27 years since Cal last won there. This year, Cal brings a top 10 offense with them to Martin Stadium. WSU wasn’t able to stop a DJ-less USC team two weeks ago, so it seems unlikely they will be able to hold a full strength Cal team under 30 points. That means the question in this game is whether or not the Cougars will be able to translate any of their offense into points. While Cal is 8^th in total offense and 5^th in scoring, WSU is 17^th in offense but only 51^st in scoring. Neither team has a great defense, so if the Cougars can actually get the ball into the endzone, they could make it interesting. Somehow I get the feeling that Alex Brink is going to try and throw at Daymeion Hughes, and that is never a good idea. The Bears usually protect Longshore pretty well, but WSU leads the nation in sacks this year. How well Cal keeps Mkristo Bruce and company out of the backfield could be the difference in this game.

What Cal should watch out for: Brink actually throwing to Jason Hill
What WSU should watch out for: Cal’s defense forcing turnovers

Brian’s Pick: Cal

Oregon State vs Washington

The Huskies are 3-0 at home this year, and it’s doubtful a blemish will appear on their record this week. After beating UCLA and Arizona, the Huskies were 15 yards away from toppling the Trojans and their Pac-10 winning streak. The refs kinda sorta kept them from getting off another play, but they still proved that they’re a team to be reckoned with in the Pac-10. Oregon State, not so much. Matt Moore is a disaster of a quarterback, so maybe Sean Canfield will get to play once Moore throws a couple interceptions UW’s way. Isaiah Stanback has carried the Huskies this season, but he won’t need to do everything this week against the lowly Beavers. Maybe Yvenson Bernard gets 20 carries this week, Mike? For the sake of Beaver fans, let it be yes.

What OSU should watch out for: The Seattle crowd
What UW should watch out for: Yvenson Bernard

Brian’s Pick: Washington

Arizona State vs USC

Coming into the season, this looked like it was going to be a big game. ASU was supposed to not suck and USC was supposed to still be USC. That’s not the case now. The Sun Devils have given up nearly 100 points in their last two games, losses to Cal and Oregon. The Trojan offense hasn’t looked nearly as good as the Ducks or Bears this season, but they still have an arsenal of weapons waiting to be fired. One has to think the barrage of big plays is coming soon. USC has three weeks to get ready for their brutal slate to end the season, now seems as good a time as any to show the explosiveness of the offense. ASU’s offense on the other hand, has been morbid the last few weeks. Playing an athletic defense like USC’s, isn’t going to help. If you’re having trouble against Oregon’s and Cal’s defenses, USC is going to be an absolute nightmare. Dirk Koetter needs to light a fire under Rudy Carpenter and let Ryan Torain take some pressure off him if he wants a chance of winning this game. In the end though, Koetter and his Sun Devils have never won a game in the state of California and are mind-blowingly bad at beating ranked teams. USC ending their conference winning streak this week seems about as likely as Terrell Owens shutting his mouth.

What ASU should watch out for: Booty coming into his own
What USC should watch out for: Carpenter returning to form

Brian’s Pick: USC

*Pac-10 Game of the Week*
Arizona vs Stanford

Congratulations Stanford!! You’ve been named the fourth worst team in the NCAA, in front of luminaries like Eastern Michigan and Florida International. That said, this is their best chance at a W all season. Arizona hasn’t had a good year by any means, but at least they’ve won a couple games. Stanford is as dreadful as can be, and this game is about as bad a matchup as any college football fan could dream of. But maybe we’re conditioned to think these teams are bad and everyone is inflating their true ineptitude. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the tale of the tape:

Ok, bad example. This game is going to be a real stinker. Neither team can pressure the opposing quarterback nor keep their own upright. Hell, they can’t keep their own running backs from being tackled behind the line. Neither team has an offense to speak of, and while Arizona’s defense isn’t atrocious, Stanford’s barely has a heartbeat. In fact, Stanford looks like they may be a new kind of terrible. This game is so bad, I’m sure FSN will be showing it instead of any other game this Saturday.

What Arizona should watch out for: Themselves
What Stanford should watch out for: The possibility people may attend this game

Brian’s Pick: Arizona

The Fall of Troy?

My how it seems the mighty have fallen. One year after cruising to the national title game, playing close games only with highly rank teams, every game this season seems to be a little too close for Carroll and Co. Part of it can be blamed on injuries, but part of it is that the team just isn’t hitting on all cylinders yet. A week after escaping from Pullman with a W, the Trojans needed a little help from the Pac-10’s stellar officials to make sure they would prevail over the visiting Huskies. But even as disappointing as the wins over Arizona, Washington State and UW have been, the victory over Nebraska was a dominant performance by the new-look (offense plus defense) Trojans. And that Arkansas game now looks like one of the best wins of the season for any NCAA team. Not only did they go into a hostile SEC environment against a team seeking revenge and win, they completely dismantled them for all 60 minutes. That same Arkansas team went into Jordan-Hare and stomped #2 Auburn. Now barring a total collapse, the Razorbacks are probably in the SEC title game this December. Nebraska has one hurdle left to the Big 12 title game. And Notre Dame is…, well they’re Notre Dame and they’ll probably be in a BCS game if their only losses are to Michigan and USC.

So even if USC hasn’t won their last few games decisively, people need to remember that they arguably have the nation’s most difficult schedule. There aren’t any 1-AA teams here, unlike most of the SEC teams. So remember, while Ohio State plays Northern Illinois and Bowling Green, Florida plays Western Carolina and Central Florida, Michigan plays Ball State and Central Michigan, and West Virginia and Louisville play in the Big East, USC plays every one of their games against teams from BCS conferences. You want to guess how many other teams play every one of their games against BCS teams? I’ll give you a minute if you want to go look it up…………Yep, that’s right, zero. USC is the only team that plays all their games against BCS schools. So even though I and many other Trojans have been disappointed in the last couple of USC games, we all need to calm down and remember what a totally different USC team has already accomplished and still can accomplish this season. It’s a long season, and hell, we’re disappointed that we’re undefeated and ranked #3. That is no reason to panic. I guess that’s just what a couple national championships do to your expectations. So to Pete and the boys, I say 'Fight On!'

The Weekly Rehash

Hey Fox Sports, can you please put all Pac-10 games on FSN West instead of putting some on Prime Ticket? Those of us in San Diego looking to watch the USC-UW game on Saturday were instead treated to a replay of USD volleyball. Thanks for that Fox, all San Diegans are very appreciative. At least the Big 12 Coaches Corner didn’t get bumped too. UCLA fans missed a game earlier this season because of the same problem. So congratulations FSN, you’re lowering your own ratings and now, you’re on notice!

So what else happened this weekend? We learned this weekend that USC is probably not the best team in the Pac-10 this season…at least not yet, Cal put up more offensive fireworks and Oregon showed us that they don’t have a Rose Bowl caliber defense this season.

USC 26, UW 20
Speaking of USC, Husky fan has to be disappointed after that outcome. They kept it close all game, in Los Angeles, and should have gotten at least one more play, but the officials didn’t do their job so well. But that shouldn’t even have been an issue, since the USC play calling was so stupid at the end of their last drive. After running the ball seven times in a row with Moody and Washington, all the way down to the Husky nine yard line, USC called a pass. Keep in mind we’re at two minutes to play, USC is up by only three, and UW has two timeouts left. If the pass is incomplete, that’s a free timeout for the Huskies. Luckily for the Trojans, it’s complete to the four yard line and UW has to use one of their timeouts. Fine, that one worked, but you can’t seriously call a pass again with less than two minutes to play, can you? Oh wait, you just did. And guess what? This one is incomplete. That’s a free timeout for UW. Seriously Pete, what part of clock management do you not understand? Do you need to hire a clock watcher ala Herm Edwards? You ran the ball down their throats for the past seven plays and they couldn’t stop it. Why pass now? You gave the Huskies an extra 25 seconds to beat you. And everyone held their collective breath as Stanback rallied UW all the way down to the USC 15 before time ran out. Pete, you could have saved everyone a bunch of time and the refs some controversy if you had just run the ball one more time. Anyways, the score really indicated just how close this game was. For UW, it’s a sign they are on the way back up. For USC, it’s a sign that they still need to get better before the Oregon-Cal-Notre Dame-UCLA stretch to end the season. Oh yeah, it’s also a sign that you get skipped over for the #2 spot in the AP Poll.

Cal 45, Oregon 24
It’s official: Cal is back. They have scored at least 40 points in all five games since losing at Tennessee and beaten their opponents in each game by at least 21 points. Quite simply, it is the best offense in college football right now. They crossed Oregon off their Pac-10 hit list and have to be licking their chops over the USC game in November. They also beat Oregon in another department this week: ugly yellow jerseys. Holy crap, what were those? At least the Ducks have ties with Nike and were trying to do something different. I don’t know what Cal’s excuse for those monstrosities was or ever will be. But let us pray that they never make it back on a football field again. The Pac-10 didn’t need yellow the first time and they don’t need more of it now! Back to the guys wearing those jerseys, Nate Longshore didn’t have a huge day yardage-wise, but he threw three more touchdown passes, Justin Forsett filled in admirably for an injured Marshawn Lynch and DeSean Jackson returned another punt for a touchdown. The Bears are firing on all cylinders on offense, defense and special teams, dominating anyone who steps in front of them. Oregon’s offense wasn’t horrible (24 points and 350 yards), but they committed four turnovers and only averaged 2.4 yards per carry. That is not going to get it done in big time college football. Dennis Dixon had his worst game of the season and the Ducks gave up two sacks, double their season total going into the game. Oregon has to be disappointed with the way they played, but should at worst lose only one more game (at USC) this season. So Duck fan should get hungry for that game at the Coliseum, it is now Oregon’s chance for redemption this season.

UCLA 27, Arizona 7
Both UCLA and Arizona were hoping to see their quarterbacks emerge in this game. What they didn’t expect that it would be their backup QBs. Ben Olson and Willie Tuitama both got hurt in the first half, and Patrick Cowan led UCLA to victory. Adam Austin didn’t play badly for Arizona, but the Wildcats only managed to rush for -11 yards. That’s not a typo. Chris Jennings led the team with 1.5 yards per carry. Yikes. UCLA wasn’t much better, with only 67 rushing yards, but at least they moved forward when they ran the ball. For those of you that haven’t noticed yet, only LSU allows fewer yards per game than UCLA. So even while their offense is still struggling to find an identity, the defense is showing up to play every week. It really gets tested in the next two weeks though, as the Bruins have to visit both Oregon and Notre Dame.

WSU 13, OSU 6
Boy, it hurts just to look at the box score for the OSU-WSU game. Six turnovers, 19 points and 42,000 fans filled with boredom. For some reason, Mike Riley seems to think it’s a good idea for Matt Moore to keep throwing interceptions and for Yvenson Bernard to not carry the Beavers. Seriously, how can this guy only rush 17 times against Cal and WSU? And start Sean Canfield already. How badly does Matt Moore need to play for this to happen? I feel like he could kill someone (aside from the Beaver offense) and still start for OSU on Saturdays. Jason Hill had a big game for the Cougars and he’s now had a TD catch in the last four games. Is Alex Brink finally remembering that Hill is pretty good? That coupled with the Cougar pass rush (WSU now leads the NCAA in sacks) could mean an upset against either Cal or Oregon, both of whom come to Pullman in the next two weeks.

Notre Dame 31, Stanford 10
Well it looks like I was wrong about Stanford. They covered the spread against Notre Dame and “only” lost by 21. It was still an ugly game for the Cardinal though, as they went a lowly 1 for 8 on third down and were outgained by 200 yards. Darius Walker had another great game on the ground against Stanford. After getting a season high 186 rushing yards against them last season, Walker set a season high for this season with 153 yards. You can almost guarantee your running back will have his best game of the season against Stanford (unless you’re UCLA). This loss coupled with Utah State’s victory last weekend means Stanford is likely to climb even higher on ESPN’s Bottom 10 this week. Thanks for representing the Pac-10 so well! And get excited for next Saturday, as lowly Arizona comes to Palo Alto. Sadly, one team will actually have to win this game. Whoever watches the game though, will lose.

Looking Ahead

Arizona State gets a much needed break this week, after getting destroyed by Oregon and Cal in their last two games. Everyone else plays this weekend, including a game with Touchdown Jesus.

Washington vs USC

The Trojans are coming off a win over the Cougars that was a little too close for comfort. Yeah, they extended their 20 point scoring streak, but they only won by 6 and gave up more yards then they gained. That is not what USC fans are used to seeing and they are a different team than they have been the last few years. The same can be said for UW. After being a Pac-10 doormat for the last two seasons, Washington is now a team on the rise. After a surprisingly close win against San Jose State, the Huskies responded by hanging with Oklahoma, in Norman, and winning their first three conference games. This is a tough matchup for UW. Their pass defense is the worst in the Pac-10 and sooner or later, Sarkisian and Kiffin are going to take the reins off of Booty. If it is this week, it won’t be good news for the Huskies. At least there is some good news for UW: USC historically doesn’t do well against mobile quarterbacks and Isaiah Stanback is the definition of mobile. While Stanback has helped to make Husky Stadium a tough place for road teams to win, this game is in the Coliseum and the USC defense is extremely fast this season. UW doesn’t quite have the balance yet to knock off the Trojans at home.

What UW should watch out for: Booty throwing downfield
What USC should watch out for: Stanback outside the pocket

Brian’s Pick: USC
Mike’s Pick: USC

Arizona vs UCLA

This one is a battle between two disappointing teams. Arizona was looking to move up the Pac-10 food chain this season and they have done anything but. After scoring a mere 13 points in their first two Pac-10 games, Willie Tuitama really needs to mount a couple of scoring drives and he needs to do it soon. That could be a tough task this week, as the Bruins have the Pac-10’s best defense to go against the Wildcat’s and the Pac-10’s worst offense. I give them a much better chance next week in Palo Alto.

What Arizona should watch out for: Southpaw Jesus becoming a real quarterback
What UCLA should watch out for: Willie Tuitama becoming a real quarterback

Brian’s Pick: UCLA
Mike’s Pick: UCLA

Washington State vs Oregon State

Alex Brink lit up the Beaver secondary for more than 500 yards in last year’s loss in Corvallis. Cougar fan is looking for a similar performance from Brink this week. After a valiant showing against USC, WSU is looking for a reproduction of that effort to translate into victories, not losses. The Beavers were absolutely clobbered last week by Cal in Corvallis, and evidently that won’t prompt Riley to move Sean Canfield into the starting lineup. I’m still not sure what Matt Moore has done to solidify his position as the starting quarterback, but it better result in a Pac-10 victory sometime soon. He will have to watch his back all day, as Mkristo Bruce continues to be an absolute terror on the edge for the Cougars. The Beavers may still be demoralized from their loss at Cal’s hands, while WSU is still on an upswing from their inspired effort against the Trojans. OSU hasn’t proven anything to anyone yet this year, except maybe Dennis Erickson, while WSU showed it can hang with USC.

What WSU should watch out for: Yvenson Bernard having a breakout game
What OSU should watch out for: Alex Brink finding Jason Hill

Brian’s Pick: Washington State
Mike’s Pick: Washington State

Stanford vs Notre Dame

Is this even worth a preview? Notre Dame has a pretty good offense, Stanford has a terrible defense and this one is in South Bend. The only question is whether or not the Irish are going to cover the 30 point spread. I say yes.

What Stanford should watch out for: Notre Dame
What Notre Dame should watch out for: That they don’t slip on the way onto the field

Brian’s Pick: Notre Dame
Mike’s Pick: Notre Dame

*Pac-10 Game of the Week*
Oregon vs Cal

This is it. Probably the best matchup we will see all year in the Pac-10. Two powerhouse offenses, the top two in the Pac-10 and both top ten nationally, each going up against two tough scoring defenses. Both teams have weak run defenses, but Oregon has the 11th ranked pass defense in the country and Cal ranks only 93rd. I don’t know that any of that really matters this week. Nate Longshore and Dennis Dixon will both be threading passes to DeSean Jackson and Jaison Williams while Marshawn Lynch and Jonathan Stewart run wild. If anyone likes to see points go up on the board, this is the game to watch. I’ll put the over/under on punts in this game at 3.5.

What Oregon should watch out for: Daymeion Hughes’ side of the field
What Cal should watch out for: Longshore leading his receivers over the middle

Brian’s Pick: Oregon
Mike’s Pick: Cal

The Weekly Rehash

Whew, the first Saturday with a full slate of conference games. We saw a couple of offensive shows and a couple of disappointing performances.

Oregon put on one of those offensive shows. Dennis Dixon was almost perfect and the Sun Devils couldn’t stop anyone that the Ducks gave the ball to. Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson both averaged more than 11 yards per carry. Jaison Williams hauled in 10 passes including two touchdowns. All told, Oregon had 574 yards of total offense. I could keep harping on how good Oregon looked, but it really was not that surprising. What was surprising was the total lack of effort coming from Arizona State. Ryan Torain looks like the real deal, but even his second consecutive impressive performance couldn’t buoy the disaster that is Rudy Carpenter. Rudy completed a mere 6 of 19 passes for only 33 yards, one of the worst performances the Pac-10 has seen from a quarterback in recent memory. Dirk Koetter’s decision to boot Sam Keller looks worse each and every week, though I don’t think even Keller himself wished that Carpenter would be this bad as the starting QB. But it isn’t just Carpenter. The defense had all of one sack vs Oregon and Cal, along with giving up nearly 1000 yards of total offense to them. ASU has given up 11 sacks in their last two games and only Torain and Terry Richardson seem to be showing up each week. Put a fork in Koetter, this is his last season in Tempe.

Cal was the other team that showed off their offense. The Bears absolutely demolished Oregon State. They were firing on all cylinders the entire game and Nate Longshore continued his assault on opposing defenses. But their defense showed up too, holding Yvenson Bernard to 74 rushing yards and recording four sacks. Matt Moore was his usual unspectacular self, and OSU couldn’t keep up with Cal. Looks like the Oregon-Cal game this weekend is going to be one hell of a matchup.

Cougar fans were happy to see that their team didn’t get blown out of the water by the Trojans on Saturday. USC was pretty average looking and they actually got outgained (!) by Washington State. Both Brink and Booty looked pretty good, and the USC offense is slowly developing, though Chauncey Washington continues to get more carries than he deserves. Emmanuel Moody is averaging more than seven yards per carry, and yet he can’t even get ten carries in a game? What is up with that, Pete? Michael Bumpus had a great game for the Cougs and the announcers on TBS thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Steve Smith was really the star of the game. He had 186 receiving yards and pulled in two touchdowns, so all the talk of Turner and McFoy filling in for Jarrett was pointless, as it was the guy who was already starting that filled in for DJ. Hopefully for USC it means that Booty will have less tunnel vision for Jarrett and start spreading the ball around a little more. Also, Desmond Reed should stop returning punts. The guy is explosive with the ball in his hands, but he muffs punts like Stanford gives up points.

Speaking of Stanford, what happened to the Bruins? Yeah they pitched a shutout, but only two of their four touchdowns came from the offense. Remember that Stanford has one of the worst defenses planet earth has ever seen, yet UCLA couldn’t even break the 200 yard rushing mark. Guess my premonition of Chris Markey’s career day didn’t quite materialize like I thought. He didn’t break the century mark or score a touchdown. So even though Southpaw Jesus threw a pair of interceptions and hasn’t found a favorite target, at least their defense came to play. Stanford had their worst game of the season, which is saying something considering how dreadful they have been. So at least UCLA can hang their hats on that until they have to visit Oregon and Notre Dame.

Arizona continued their disappointing season by losing at home to the Huskies. Coach Stoops isn’t very happy about it either. Willie Tuitama had his first 300 yard passing game of the season, but the Wildcats were held to -7 rushing yards by the UW defense. The Huskies had 154 yards on the ground and Isaiah Stanback had his best passing game of the season as well. Washington is starting to round into form and they are much better than almost everyone expected them to be. This weekend is their big test of the season as they have to go to the Coliseum to face the Trojans. And after a disappointing game against the Cougars, USC is likely to be coming at the Huskies pretty hard.

USC, Oregon and Cal are now all in Jeff Sagarin’s top ten, and the Pac-10 is the only conference that places more than two teams. USC is the overall number one team and the Pac-10 is also ranked as the best conference. Take that SEC! Lets take a look at the Pac-10 power rankings this week:

1.	Cal	Longshore and Lynch look unstoppable
2.	Oregon	Dennis Dixon is creeping into Heisman contention
3.	USC	Escaped Pullman with a win, won't stay at #3 long if they keep playing like that
4.	Washington	Stanback continues to shoulder the load in Seattle
5.	Washington State	Gave USC everything they could handle
6.	UCLA	Beat Stanford, but their offense looks lost
7.	Oregon State	Alexis Serna is the lone bright spot on the disappointing Beavers
8.	Arizona State	The downward spiral continues, and their next game is against USC
9.	Arizona	Weren't they supposed to improve this season?
10.	Stanford	Defense was a little bit better, but their offense was downright offensive