The Pac-10 Apostle

An Ugly Weekend in LA

2007-10-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

Man, I don't think it's possible to have two worse losses on the same day in the same city. First USC blows its season to the lowly Cardinal, then the Bruins go and give the Irish their first win, thanks in no small part to seven(!) turnovers. To make matters worse, both starting quarterbacks got hurt. Ben Olson tore a knee ligament and John David Booty broke the middle finger on his throwing hand. The backup situation is much brighter at USC however, where wunderkind Mark Sanchez lies in wait. The Bruins have McLeod (no, not Connor) Bethel-Thompson, who just like you, no one else has ever heard of either. At least they hadn't heard of him until he gifted a two-touchdown win to a pathetic 0-5 team that only racked up 140 yards of total offense. UCLA gets a week off to prepare Bethel-Thompson for the Cal game on the 20th, but the Trojans already have Sanchez practicing with the first team for Saturday's game.

At least Arizona State still has some life in them. They're now 6-0 after escaping the Palouse with a last minute 23-20 victory, despite Alex Brink's best efforts. Rudy Carpenter is playing a lot closer to his 2005 form than 2006 and Ryan Torain continues to be a weapon out of the backfield. Oh yeah, that Dennis Erickson fellow probably has something to do with it too.

Things are a little less rosy down south, where Willie Tuitama is putting up big numbers, but not getting results. Willie is second in the conference in passing yards and TDs, but the Wildcats are dead last in rushing yards and 109th in the country. In their 31-16 loss to Oregon State, Arizona averaged .3 yards per carry. .3! Everyone is still waiting for Mike Stoops to turn this team around. Things don't get any easier, as they have to travel to LA and face an angry USC team.

Did that just happen?

2007-10-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

Really?? It did? USC just lost to this guy?

Guess I picked a bad day to debut the new look. Just in case you haven't heard, the last two weeks of the college football season have pretty much been the craziest ever. From the week four AP poll, #1 USC, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Florida, #5 West Virginia, #7 Texas, #9 Wisconsin and #10 Rutgers have all seen their bids for undefeated seasons come to an end. Week six was supposed to be "Gut Check Saturday," and USC, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Florida evidently all need to visit their gastroenterologist. Kudos to you, College Football, for another great Saturday. We'll be back later with a recap of the Pac-10's weekend. Also, leave your comments on the new design.

We're coming back soon

2007-08-13T08:40:00.001-07:00

I promise...

And Stanford Weasels Their Way In

2007-03-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

Boy, are the Cardinal lucky. Syracuse, Drexel and Air Force all missed making the cut, but Stanford's 18 wins were enough to get them in. Granted, it's only an 11 seed and they have to play Louisville in Kentucky (How did that happen?), but they still have a chance. Bruins have to be bummed they are only a 2 seed, but if you lose two in a row to end the season, you can't be too upset you missed that #1 seed. Oregon and WSU are both 3 seeds, while Arizona somehow managed to fanagle an 8 seed out of the selection committee. The Wildcats are talented, but only went 8-9 down the stretch and were only winning close games. Thought they would get lower, now if they make it past Purdue, they have to play Florida. Good luck. The biggest shocker to me though, was USC getting a 5 seed, despite getting destroyed by Oregon in the Pac-10 Tourney finale. Thought they were going to be a 7 or 8, so the 5 is a nice surprise. Until you realize that 12s beat 5s all the time, and that is the seed USC got. Yay. But, as long as they can beat Arkansas, they have a shot at playing Texas and getting revenge on the Longhorns for having Vince Young a year ago.

Pac-10 Tourney

2007-03-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

We're a little late to the party on covering this, though we have been watching the tournament. Still can't believe UCLA lost to Cal(!) on Thursday, but evidently they needed a wakeup call. Ayinde Ubaka led the charge at the end of the fourth quarter and in overtime with 29 points for the Bears. UCLA could have avoided the loss if they had made their free throws. They had 29 attempts, but only made 15, which is a terrible performance for anyone, let alone a national championship contender. The loss also means they probably lost their shot at a 1 seed, since Ohio State, Kansas, Wisconsin, Memphis and Florida are all still alive in their conference tournaments. Being a 2 seed is a nice consolation prize though.

As for some of the other games, Arizona probably shouldn't have lost by 19 to the Ducks, but they allowed Oregon to make 11 threes and couldn't make their own shots. I will be shocked if the Wildcats are higher than a 10 seed and wouldn't be surprised to see them bow out in the first round.

Oregon though, has been a pleasant surprise lately. After losing five of their first six games in February, they rebounded to beat the Cougars roll off another four straight wins. They manhandled Arizona and Cal, and have a chance to win the Pac-10 for the first time since riding the Lukes to the 2003 championship.

Speaking of 2003, the 2007 championship will be a rematch of the 2003 final, as Oregon will again play USC. The Trojans, who upset the Cougars last night, appear to have regained their early season form, at least for the time being. After going to OT against Stanford to start the tournament, USC had a much more impressive game against WSU. Gabe Pruitt was unstoppable for the Trojans, as he scored 26 points and made six of his seven three-point attempts. The defense was also there, as they held WSU to 36% from the floor.

This afternoon's game will be exciting. Oregon and USC both need wins to move up their seeding in the tournament. USC will either become the first team to lose the Pac-10 Tournament three times, or the sixth team in as many years to win it. A win could also move USC up to a 5 seed, which means they would probably lose to some lowly 12 in the first round. So for their sake, let's hope they only get a 6 and watch someone else flame out in the tournament's traditional upset spot. Oregon could also get a bump in seed if they win decisively.

So my seeding predictions if Oregon wins:

2 - UCLA
3 - Oregon
4 - WSU
8 - USC
11 - Arizona

And when USC actually does win:

2 - UCLA
4 - WSU
4 - Oregon
6 - USC
11 - Arizona

Enjoy the finale!

Trojans Down, Wildcats Up

2007-03-06T01:33:00.000-08:00

Not a good week for the Trojans. With a chance to move up to a 4 or 5 seed, USC tanked both its games in the Apple State. The Huskies downed them easily on Thursday in Seattle, thanks to the long range bombing of Ryan Appleby. They kept it close in Pullman on Saturday, going to a pair of overtimes before losing by two points to the Cougars. If USC had managed to keep Aron Baynes from making a shot just once, they could have won. But, he made all 10 of his shots and USC drops from the rankings yet again this season.

Washington had a great week. They destroyed USC and followed that surprise with an even bigger upset of #2 UCLA. And they looked good doing it. The Bruins shot only 31% from the field and the Huskies outrebounded them by 14. That was enough of a showing to even get a vote or two in the AP poll this week.

Even with the loss to UW, UCLA more or less locked up a #1 seed this weekend with the win over WSU. As long as they don't get embarrassed in the Pac-10 tourney, the Bruins will have themselves a favorable draw in the NCAA tourney.

Arizona probably locked up a spot in the tourney with their two victories this weekend, and much like UCLA, need to keep up the pace in the conference tourney to get the seed they want.

Oregon's Not Done Yet

2007-02-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was surprised to see them win after allowing the Cougs to shoot a mere 53% from the field while getting outrebounded. But, when you force twice as many turnovers as you commit and hit twice as many threes, its not as surprising. Aaron Brooks wasn't very sharp, but Tajuan Porter came up big yet again with 21 points and four three-pointers. Oregon needed the win to show their season wasn't over yet, while WSU needed it to show the selection committee they are a 2 seed. And now we know WSU isn't a 2 seed. In less important but still interesting games, Wazzu eventually beat the Beavers and Oregon outlasted the Huskies. Both SoCal teams swept the NorCal teams and the Wildcats barely topped the Sun Devils.

WSU gets a chance to redeem themselves this week with games against USC and UCLA, easily the best games of the week in the Pac-10.

2007-02-21T23:31:00.000-08:00

Big games in Eugene and Los Angeles tonight. The Trojans and Cardinal fight for third place in the Pac-10, while the Cougs come to McArthur to see if the Ducks can shake out of their slump. You know, now that I think about it, Oregon's basketball struggles this season seem eerily parallel to their football problems too. Win a few games early (one of which is a close game against one of the best teams in the country), get ranked pretty high and look like a great team, then watch it all crumble as their supposed "leaders" (Dixon and Brooks) play terribly and lose lots of conference games down the stretch. What is in Eugene's water???

Ohio St and Florida both won yesterday, which means the Bruins probably won't get a chance to break into the top 3 this week.

Sad But True

2007-02-19T08:48:00.000-08:00

Still smarting over the USC loss to Arizona State. I only caught the last few minutes of the game, but wow what an embarrassing loss for the Trojans. ASU had lost 15 in a row and were 0-14 in conference play and USC was coming off a big win in Tucson. Then USC goes and loses to a team that barely breaks the top-200 in the Sagarin Ratings. Bravo, USC. Bravo. But, since Florida lost on Saturday and Wisconsin followed that up with a loss on Tuesday, it almost doesn't hurt as much. Then again, the Gators and Badgers didn't lose to one of the worst teams in the country. So it looks like USC still has something to prove in the conference tourney.

In other Pac-10 news, the Cougs went cradle robbing and got a verbal commitment from a 14 year old. Now they only have to wait four or five years for that investment to pay off. You would think a top-ten team would be able to at least recruit upperclassmen.

Weekly Recap

2007-02-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

Rough week for Arizona, losing to both USC and UCLA at home, after already losing both games they played in LA in January. Hell, it has been a rough 2007 for the Wildcats, who are only 6-8 since the calendar turned. This is a team that was as high as #7 before they began their tumble in the standings. But since beating then #20 Washington to start the new year, Arizona has gone 1-6 against ranked teams with their other two losses coming against the now ranked Cougar and Trojan squads. They have three games left and a chance to hit 20 regular season wins, but they'll have to knock off the suddenly impressive Cardinal on the road in their season finale to do it.

Speaking of Stanford, they are now fourth in the conference, ahead of both Oregon and Arizona, after a nice win against the Ducks. Brook Lopez had another nice game for the Cardinal with 26 points and 9 boards as Oregon continued their collapse. Aaron Brooks finally returned to form with 25 points on 10 of 19 shooting, after making less than 30% of his shots in the last five games. But he didn't get much help as Tajuan Porter was the only other Duck in double figures and the bench didn't contribute a single point. Just like Arizona, Oregon got as high as #7 in the polls, only to go 2-6 in their last eight games and may even fall out of the top 25 in this week's polls.

And finally, congratulations to Vandy for knocking off Florida. Gotta love it when an unranked team takes out the #1 team in all the land, especially when it's an SEC team. Congrats also to the Washington Huskies, who managed to lose to two top-ten teams by exactly the same score this week, 65-61. I am impressed by that consistency, but I would be more impressed if you actually ended this disappointing season with 20 wins. Of course, that means running the table and beating Oregon, USC and UCLA in the next two weeks. Impress me, I dare you.

Looks Like USC Is In A Little Trouble...

2007-02-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

So not only is the Reggie Bush house donation saga still continuing, now he may be improperly talking to potential recruits, specifically one Joe McKnight. Thanks, Reggie. Even if the NCAA does hand down a punishment upon USC, it evidently won't be very severe. Add to that the fact that basketball recruit OJ Mayo just got suspended three games for bumping a ref, and USC's recruiting is not looking too good this week. Fight on?

...............And We're Back

2007-02-08T23:36:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the lack of updates, life has been busy lately. Anyways, football came back into the fold for one day, and it was once again important for USC. They signed ESPN's #1, #2 and #3 players in RB Joe McKnight, LB Chris Galippo and RB Marc Tyler and came away with yet another "recruiting title" from ESPN. Plus USC pulled it out without the services of recruiting czar Lane Kiffin, who is keeping himself busy trying to gain Randy Moss' respect, easily my favorite subplot of the offseason. The fine folks over at Rivals nearly agreed, as USC gets second place in their rankings behind the National Champion Florida Gators. Other Pac-10 teams didn't fare so well. The only other team in ESPN's Top 25 was Oregon at #23. Rivals put Oregon at #11 and Cal at #22. The SEC wins the conference recruiting title, as USC, Notre Dame and Texas are the only teams to make Rivals top 10 that are not from the SEC. ESPN only puts five SEC schools in their top 10. Either way you slice it, the SEC puts on a show when it comes to signing day.

Nice to see no 5-star players going to any Pac-10 school besides USC. And while I love seeing USC get great players, I just don't see how all of them figure they are going to play. I mean the Trojans had one of the great RB hauls in recent memory last year with Emmanuel Moody, Stafon Johnson, and CJ Gable and now they add the two best running backs in the country to the mix? I am guessing that means at least two backs have to transfer before the season starts and I'll put my money on Johnson transferring to UNLV, following in the footsteps of Eric Wright and Rocky Hinds. Seriously though, USC now has McKnight, Tyler, Moody, Johnson, Gable, Michael Coleman, Desmond Reed, Chauncey Washington and a few more guys you've never heard of. Plus, there are two other high schoolers (Malcolm Smith and Broderick Green) who accepted scholarships to be running backs this year. Does the rest of the conference combined even have this much RB talent? Which begs another question: how stupid are all the running backs at USC if they all think they're going to start? Good luck with that, Pete.

And It All Comes To An End...

2007-01-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Well, with the Gators finally winning the long awaited national championship game, the football season comes to a close. USC ends the season #4, Cal at #14, and Oregon State at #21. Oregon and ASU were huge disappointments, OSU was a big surprise and USC and Cal finished just a little lower than expected. Now it's prepare for the draft season for all the graduating players, as well as underclassmen Marshawn Lynch, Dwayne Jarrett, Zach Miller and Chris Henry, who have all declared their intent to play in the NFL next season.

In addition to losing Jarrett, USC could potentially lose Pete Carroll as well. While on vacation in Costa Rica, Carroll met with Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga. He didn't take the job, which says something because Huizenga is willing to "do anything" to make the Dolphins win. He says he's not leaving now, but we have already heard that from Bobby Petrino and Nick Saban in the last couple of weeks. Huizenga is one of the few owners who would give Carroll total control over the team, but what has Carroll done to deserve that? He proved before that he's a mediocre NFL head coach and now he's suddenly qualified to draft players and work within the salary cap? Don't go pro yet Pete. You can still win a couple more national titles and go back to the NFL later to prove you weren't that bad. Besides, all the teams with head coaching vacancies aren't as close to a title as your Trojans.

In other news, Dirk Koetter has moved on. Now he's planning on continuing his run of mediocrity with a mediocre NFL team, as the offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Koetter takes over for former USC coach, Carl Smith. Koetter could have filled the same position at the University of Miami, but evidently the lure of the NFL is too strong, even for an unremarkable coach like Dirk.

R.I.P. Mario Danelo

2007-01-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

I was going to write something about the UCLA-Oregon game (How do they beat the #1 Bruins at home and lose to unranked USC at home?), but this story about Mario Danelo is more important. In the wake of the Denver Broncos losing Darrent Williams, tragedy now comes to the USC family. Danelo apparently fell from a rocky cliff and died earlier Saturday. Our condolences go out to the Danelo family.

Bowl Day in Review

2007-01-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

What a great day for college football, probably for Boise State more than anyone else. I still can’t believe they how they won the Fiesta Bowl. The hook and ladder to tie the game was one thing, but the Statue of Liberty to beat Oklahoma was simply amazing. I rewound the game about five times looking at how they pulled that off. Congratulations to the Broncos for pulling that win off. Their undefeated season will likely add more fuel to the fire over getting a playoff system in the “Bowl Subdivision,” though I can't imagine a mid-major would ever be good enough to win a playoff.

The Gator Bowl between Georgia Tech and West Virginia was another great game. Calvin Johnson really put on a show in the first half with 100-some receiving yards and a pair of TD catches to help give GT a 28-17 lead at the break. Of course, GT blew it all later when they allowed WVU to score 21 unanswered points in the third after opening the quarter with a TD drive. The Mountaineers scored their first TD on a a trick play where none of their offensive linemen moved after the snap. Of course, every GT defender was confused and Pat White found a wide open receiver for a 50 yard score. And naturally, after scoring more than 70 points in the first three quarters, no one scored in the fourth and WVU won.

So the Gator Bowl was exciting, through the first three quarters, and the Fiesta Bowl ended up being incredible, but the Rose Bowl was the game that most people were looking forward to watching. If you were a USC fan or Michigan hater, the Rose Bowl sure didn’t disappoint.

USC 32, Michigan 18
Just a dreadful start to this game. Neither team could score or move the ball in the first half and it was only 3-3 going into the third quarter. That was when the light went on for USC. Given how good the Michigan run defense had been, they abandoned the run and went balls to the wall with passes. Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith took over from that point and embarrassed the Wolverine secondary. Leon Hall was one of the better corners in college football this year and Jarrett made him look like a little girl with 205 receiving yards and a pair of TD catches. When Jarrett is healthy, he's the best receiver in the country not named Calvin Johnson. After watching Johnson have a monster game earlier in the day, it was nice to see Jarrett follow suit with the biggest game of his of his career. Now it looks like Jarrett can leave USC and compete with Johnson to be the first receiver taken, though Johnson will likely win that competition easily. (Note to Matt Millen and Detroit: Don't draft another receiver, even if it is someone as good as Johnson or Jarrett.) Smith also went over 100 yards with a TD and John David Booty ended up with almost 400 yards and four TDs. Of course, these kind of numbers are only possible if your O-line gives the quarterback time to throw. Sam Baker and Kyle Williams looked nothing like the tackles they were against UCLA, choosing this week to keep LaMarr Woodley and Co. at bay, which was the key to winning this game.

Aside from giving the Michigan defense a real pounding, USC's defense also made Mike Hart look ordinary. For the first time all year, he was held below 90 rushing yards and never had an impact on the game. He finished with only 47 yards and didn't make it to the end zone. But, the Wolverines did get some offense from Chad Henne, who threw for more than 300 yards for the first time all season and almost made the game interesting in the fourth quarter. But he and Steve Breaston proved to be too little, too late and Michigan couldn't come back from a 21 point deficit. The Trojan defense harassed Henne all day, with Brian Cushing leading the charge with a couple sacks and a forced fumble.

The Rose Bowl also wrapped up the bowl season for the Pac-10, which finished with a 3-3 record. Thankfully, our three best teams this season all won their games. Even though it was weak to watch Oregon, ASU and UCLA all lose by at least 17 points, Cal and USC were dominant in their games, while the Beavers won one of the more exciting bowl games with the gutsy 2 point conversion call. Not a horrible showing for the Pac-10, but it should have been better.

All in all, a very nice rebound from the December disappointment at the Rose Bowl. It also kept alive USC's streak of not losing back-to-back games for the last five years. A great season for the Trojans; we lost two Heisman Trophy winners and nine others to the NFL, watched our fullbacks get stricken with Ken Griffey/Fred Taylor disease, played the toughest schedule in the country and throttled a team in the Rose Bowl that many thought had earned a spot in the national championship game. Now, it's likely that USC will be ranked #1 to start next season. Fight on!

Happy New Year!!!

2007-01-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

Everyone have a great start to '07. Enjoy all the bowl games, the Rose Bowl in particular. Best stat I think I have heard all year: USC hasn't allowed a TD play of more than 10 yards this season. Let's hope that continues today. Fight On!!!

The Granddaddy of Them All Preview

2006-12-31T10:50:00.000-08:00

Michigan vs USC (+1)
This is it. The last bowl game for the Pac-10, and a disappointment for both teams to be playing in it. The Trojans had pipe dreams of playing Ohio State in the national championship game, until they remembered they had to score on the Bruins if they wanted to make it there. The Wolverines were hoping to play the Buckeyes a second time, to see if Ohio State truly is the better team on a neutral field. Instead, Florida hopped into #2 and Michigan has to play USC in Pasadena as a consolation. Really, it’s the best consolation in college football, but neither team can win the national title this year which truly is anticlimactic. But for the rest of us, at least it’s the Pac-10 vs Big Ten in the Rose Bowl instead of seeing LSU or Notre Dame playing out here.

The Michigan Wolverines have a dangerous offense. Chad Henne doesn’t turn the ball over and isn’t afraid to spread it around either, with Mario Manningham and Steve Breaston being his favorite targets. But Mike Hart is the focal point of the Michigan offense. His 1500 rushing yards this season place him eighth in country, though he does have the lowest yards per carry of any back in the top 10. That said, he still averaged 5 ypc and he should get some holes to run through courtesy of Jake Long and the Wolverine O-line. That’ll give him the chance to meet Rey Maualuga and company at the second level. If Hart can get past them and into the Trojan secondary, USC will struggle to win this game. While Henne and Manningham can be a dangerous QB-WR duo, Michigan relies on their rushing attack much more. As long as USC can keep Hart from moving the chains too frequently, they can contain the Wolverine offense.

Michigan’s LaMarr Woodley and Alan Branch probably make up the best DE-DT tandem in the country. That’s the bad news for the Trojans and their offensive line. After seeing what UCLA’s DEs were capable of in USC’s final regular season game, Woodley must be chomping at the bit to go against Kyle Williams. But if USC can keep Booty from getting pressured too much, he shouldn’t have trouble finding Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett open down the field. The good news for USC is that Michigan’s defense can be scored upon if you have a good offense. All you have to do is look at the OSU game to see that. So even seeing how dominating Michigan’s run D was most of the season, a good offensive line can still open up holes and give the running backs room to break off some long runs. Sam Baker and Ryan Kalil will have to create space for Moody, Gable and Washington if they want to keep the Wolverine defense off balance.

As far as special teams go, Michigan doesn’t have the greatest special teams, but neither do the Trojans so we’ll consider this one a wash, though Troy Van Blarcom and his mad kickoff skillz will be missed.

So the greatest disappointment bowl of all time is about to happen. Michigan wants to prove it was cheated out of a spot in the title game and USC wants to prove it isn’t as bad as UCLA made them look. The Trojans also haven’t lost back to back games since the 2001 season. So come on Pete. Show us your stones and don’t let this streak end this season as well.

The Pick: USC (+1)

And yes, I am a homer, but I think USC should win.

Sun Bowl Recap (Mike Riley's Enormous Balls Edition)

2006-12-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

Oregon State 39, Missouri 38
Man, did that decision by Riley take some serious stugats. Going for two with less than a minute left. Make it and you win, miss it and you lose. Kudos to Riley for taking that chance and actually calling a play that made it to the endzone. A great end to a great comeback. It was a pretty incredible game to watch. More than 1,000 yards of offense, lots of points and plenty of big plays.

Tony Temple was the star of the game. With 194 rushing yards and 2 TDs, it was the best game of his career and he kept the Tiger offense going when Chase Daniel wasn't lighting up the Beaver secondary. Daniel had a nice game with 330 yards and a pair of TDs, plus the Tigers got another score on a double pass from TE Chase Coffman to put them up by 14 in the fourth quarter. The Beaver's coverage continually broke down and allowed plays like Coffman's pass, Danario Alexander's 74-yard TD catch and big runs from Tony Temple.

Thankfully for the Beavs, Matt Moore and Yvenson Bernard were up to scoring some points as well. Moore had 356 yards passing and four TDs plus a TD run and Bernard had 166 total yards and a score to lead the Beavers to victory. Once the Tigers took their 14 point lead and given how OSU had played up to that point, I figured the game was over. But Moore and Bernard proved me wrong. The Beavers feed Bernard the ball down the stretch, as he was the target on 9 of OSU's final 14 plays and also carried the ball into the endzone to get the two point conversion. The last two drives were pretty incredible. Only one third down, which wasn't converted and turned into a fourth down that was, and a great job by the receivers of getting open. When Joe Newton caught the touchdown pass to bring the Beavers within one, I assumed Riley would kick the extra point and go to overtime. Instead, Missou took a timeout and Riley decided to go for two and the win. I couldn't believe Riley would make such a ballsy call, but it worked when Bernard plowed over the goal line.

I also can't believe that Riley admitted to Sam Ryan after the game that Yvenson Bernard convinced him to go for two. What!? Like Jake over at Building the Dam, I wonder just what Bernard said to Riley that made him take that chance. I assume it was something about the pictures of Riley that Bernard has in his possession. A solid end to a solid season for the Beavers. Ended the Trojan's Pac-10 streak, won the Civil War and topped it off with a big bowl win. So congratulations Beavers! Your coach has some serious huevos and now the Pac-10 is one Rose Bowl away from a .500 bowl season. Now Pete Carroll needs to show us that he too has some rocks.

Sun Bowl Preview

2006-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

Missouri vs Oregon State (-3.5)
Let’s make it two in a row for the Pac-10! After seeing Cal destroy a Big 12 team yesterday, it’d only be right for OSU to drop another today. The Beavers have been on a pretty good streak, having won seven of their last eight games. The Tigers have done pretty much the opposite, losing four of their last six games.

Missouri has a very good offense, led by sophomore quarterback Chase Daniel. They finished 12^th in the country in total offense, though only 25^th in scoring. OSU is of course led by the enigmatic Matt Moore and finished 50^th and 42nd in those categories respectively. Tony Temple is a solid running back, as he average about 5 yards per carry. But Yvenson Bernard is more of a workhorse, as he had 100 more carries and twice as many touchdowns. Sammie Stroughter will provide the big plays for the Beavers receiving corps, as William Franklin fills the same role for the Tigers, albeit not as frequently as Stroughter.

Missouri has an above average D that can get to the quarterback and cause trouble in the backfield. OSU is even better, as they were fourth in the country in sacks and eighth in tackles for loss.

The Beavers have a huge edge on special teams, where Sammie Stroughter and Gerard Lawson are among the best in the country at returning kicks. That field position and/or TDs could be the difference against a solid Tiger defense.

In all four of their losses, the Tigers scored 20 or fewer points. Of course, the same can be said for OSU, who didn’t score more than 14 points in any of their losses. If the Beavs can contain Daniel with their pass rush and keep the touchdowns off the board, which has been commonplace for Missouri lately, they can win this game. I say Daniel gets hit more today than he has all season.

The Pick: OSU (-3.5)

Holiday Bowl Recap

2006-12-29T09:52:00.000-08:00

Cal 45, Texas A&M 10
Finally, a damn win for the Pac-10. After three sad showings from the Ducks, Sun Devils and Bruins, the Bears actually won a big game and showed the Big 12 what Pac-10 football is really about. Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett both ran for over 100 yards, Nate Longshore barely let a pass hit the ground and Desmond Bishop and Co. punished Stephen McGee and the rest of the Aggie offense.

I really thought that 275 pound Jorvorskie Lane was going to get more than seven carries for A&M, but evidently Dennis Franchione didn’t feel the same way. Cal is used to seeing quick tailbacks like Mike Goodson in the Pac-10, not Rosie O’Donnell-type beasts like Lane. So why did Goodson get twice as many carries? I don’t know. Lane never went down on the first hit and usually was dragging a couple Bears behind him before hitting the ground. But they leaned on Goodson and never tired the Cal defense enough to break off any big plays. Goodson ended up with 62 yards and Lane had 36, which wasn’t enough to set up much of a passing game. Cal’s defense didn’t dominate the Aggies’ offense, as they gave up 349 yards, but they limited the big plays and stopped A&M three times on fourth down. They also laid out some big hits, particularly on Stephen McGee, with Daymeion Hughes and Desmond Bishop doing the most damage. McGee popped right back up, but never could get the Aggies back into the endzone after scoring on their opening drive.

The big story was the Bear ground game, which totaled 241 yards and accounted for five of Cal’s six touchdowns. Lynch ended up with 20 carries for 111 yards and 2 TDs while Forsett had 124 yards and a score on only 8 attempts. Basically, the Bears offensive line ripped open huge holes in the Aggie “Wrecking Crew” and gave Longshore time to pick apart their secondary. He averaged almost 10 yards per pass and completed passes to eight different receivers in route to leading Cal to almost 500 yards of total offense. It was a quintessential beating, with 31 straight points to end the game. This is what Cal should have done against Tennessee. At least they saved some face for themselves and the Pac-10 with this game.

Holiday Bowl Preview

2006-12-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

Texas A&M vs Cal (-3)
I don't know how to say it more clearly, Cal must win this game! For the sake of the Pac-10, we cannot see the conference get shut out of the bowls. I realize that Tedford has come up short in almost every recent big game, but this is for more than just the Bear faithful, it's for the entire Pac-10. So please Coach, don't prolong the embarrassment.

As for the real preview, this should definitely be an interesting game. Cal's big play offense goes up against A&M's dominant running attack. Going by the numbers, the big difference between the teams is on defense. Where Cal's has good athletes but sub-par performance, the Aggies actually had a good defense. Of course, TAMU didn't play a very tough schedule and Cal did, so that probably distorts the numbers a little. Either way, the fact that the spread is only three points points to how close this game should be. So hopefully Lynch gets running lanes, Longshore doesn't get pressured, A&M throws at Daymeion Hughes and punts at DeSean Jackson. That'd pretty much guarantee a win for the Bears and the Pac-10.

The Pick: Cal (-3)

Emerald Bowl Recap

2006-12-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

Florida Stage 44, UCLA 27
Thanks, UCLA. Another day, another Pac-10 loser. We now stand at a tremendous 0-3 in the postseason, with three bad losses to three teams we should have beaten. Even though Chris Markey ran through the Seminole defense like Charlie Weis goes through a box of donuts, the well-hyped DeWayne Walker and the Bruin defense couldn't stop the offensive machine that is commanded by lame duck coordinator Jeff Bowden. FSU had the 73rd ranked offense in the NCAA this year and evidently, that was more than enough to continually burn UCLA's 32nd ranked defense. The player responsible for most of that burning was tailback Lorenzo Booker, one of the few Seminoles that had actually been to California before this week. Booker is from Ventura County and needed 130 tickets for the game, and he surely didn't disappoint his friends and family. He accounted for half of FSU's offensive yards and a pair of TDs to lead the offensive charge. Drew Weatherford also had a solid game for the Seminoles. He hit the 300 yard passing mark for only the third time all season and after missing Greg Carr the first seven or so times he threw in his direction, finally began completing passes to him in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Of course, the blocked punt FSU returned 25 yards for a score as well as Cowan's terrible redzone pick-six didn't make it any easier for the Bruins to win. Chris Markey led UCLA with 144 rushing yards and reached the 1000 yard milestone for the season as the Bruins put an exclamation mark on another disappointing season. Now the Pac-10's hopes to get a bowl win this week rest on the shoulders of the conference's other ursine team.

Emerald Bowl Preview

2006-12-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

Florida State vs UCLA (-4)
Can the Pac-10 finally win a freaking bowl game? I don't want to see the conference start out 0-3, but UCLA is just maddeningly average enough to leave San Francisco a loser. The Bruins are coming off quite a high note, but does that mean they can finish the season with a win? At least this game pits two disappointing teams against one another instead of a non-BCS school with something to prove. In fact, UCLA and FSU are surprisingly close matched. Both score somewhere around 20 points a game, are 79th and 80th in total offense, have pretty solid defenses and have below average quarterbacks, running backs and receivers. Seems like it should be quite an exciting game. Plus, its such an exclusive bowl that both teams will be sharing the sidelines! Maybe the Seminoles can bring a little of the UM-FIU fire with them to the Bay and bring some thrills to the poor souls who have to watch this game.

The Pick: UCLA (-4)

Hawaii Bowl Recap

2006-12-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a good Christmas, because Dirk Koetter sure didn't.

Hawaii 41, Arizona State 24
Guess Dirk Koetter didn't want to have anything to lord over Lisa Love. And any time your defense gives up almost 700(!) yards, you don't get bragging rights. Colt Brennan went berserk, throwing for 559 yards and 5 TDs to set the records for passer rating(185.96) and TDs(58) in a single season. He also has the second most passing yards and is only the third player to ever top the 5000 yard mark. Besides those marks, Warriors receiver Jason Rivers had 14 catches for 308 yards and 2 TDs and Ryan Grice-Mullen also topped 100 yards with a pair of TD receptions.

In short, it was a dismal showing for ASU. If Koetter wasn't a lame duck heading into this game, the Sun Devil faithful would be calling for his head now. Even though ASU had the lead at halftime, they let Hawaii score the next 24 points and put the game out of reach. Even with 200 rushing yards and a 70 yard advantage in penalty yardage, ASU couldn't stop Hawaii's run and shoot. Every time Brennan threw the ball, it went for a first down. Just a sad day for another outmatched Pac-10 defense as Koetter finishes his ASU career with another loss in a big game.

Hawaii Bowl Preview

2006-12-23T07:37:00.000-08:00

Arizona State vs Hawaii (-7)
This is Dirk Koetter's final game as the head coach at Arizona State. After an up and down season, the Sun Devils are hoping to give Koetter two big wins to end his ASU career. After surprisingly beating Arizona in Tucson, Koetter now has a chance to win his third straight bowl game with ASU. The Sun Devil offense was pretty disappointing this season, though Koetter did finally find some magic with a running attack in the second half of the year. That's what got Koetter fired though: not being able to meet expectations. Of course, switching starting quarterbacks at the last second doesn't exactly set you up for success. But none of that matters now, it's all about this Christmas Eve game. Rudy Carpenter and Ryan Torain both had big days against the Wildcats and should be able to continue that success against the Warriors.

Hawaii ended the season on a sour note. After winning nine games in a row, the Warriors were stopped in Honolulu by Oregon State. It was the first time in ten games that they were held under 40 points. Of course, ASU also got to play the Beavers this year and were absolutely pasted by them. I'd be remiss to not mention the staggering numbers that Hawaii QB Colt Brennan has put up this season. 4990 yards, 72.1% completion rate, 53 TDs to only 11 INTs and a quarterback rating of 182.8. Just unreal. I mean he passed for 400 yards and 2 TDs against OSU and it was a bad game for him. June Jones just does crazy stuff out there in the Pacific. With another big game, Brennan can set the single season TD and passer rating records and come close to BJ Symons' passing yards record.

So who has the advantage? Well, Hawaii has the amazingly effective gimmicky offense (#1 in scoring and total yards) and ASU gives up a lot of points. Meanwhile, Hawaii has a terrible defense but ASU only has a slightly above-average offense. I think ASU keeps it close. I don't know if they have enough to keep pace with the Warriors (ASU only scored 40 twice this year) if Carpenter can't get the ball to his receivers. But, if Torain and the Sun Devil ground attack have a big game, they can keep Hawaii's offense off the field and keep the score down. Besides, Dirk Koetter has to want to stick in Lisa Love's face just a little, doesn't he?

The Pick: Arizona State (+7)

Merry Christmas!!

Las Vegas Bowl Recap

2006-12-21T22:34:00.000-08:00

BYU 38, Oregon 8
Wow, Oregon. Just wow. 8 points? Thats all? Did you forget you had a game today? I realize its Vegas and there's lots to do, but you didn't do anything on the field. So lets forget about the 48 different uniform combinations, the hideous new domes you were sporting earlier and the metal cross-hatching on your shoulders. You look ridiculous when you can't back up your outlandish outfits with your play. Go back to the basics and concentrate on football instead of what you are going to design at the Nike campus. So today at least, what happens in Vegas, will not stay in Vegas. Everyone who wants to say the Pac-10 is overrated will point to the Cal-Tennessee game and even more so to your disaster that was the Las Vegas Bowl. You got outgained by almost 300 yards tonight. It was such a blowout, Musberger spent half the time talking to Jerry Tarkanian about Bob Knight and the other half talking with Bob Davie and Craig James about how bad Oregon looks when they are running Gary Crowton's spread offense without the spread. Note to Oregon: Don't use a statue for a QB if you want to run the spread. It only worked intermittently all season and it sure as hell didn't work tonight. Just stop. Please.

We'll recap the game like this. John Beck looked solid for the Cougars and Brady Leaf looked like his cousin Ryan - totally lost. (Sidenote: Some guy is making a movie about Ryan Leaf and how much he sucked for the Chargers. Could be an instant classic. I can't wait.) Jaison Williams had a big game for the Ducks, with all of ZERO catches. You tear up Pac-10 defenses all season, then decide to lay a goose egg here? Way to go. Brian Paysinger led the team with 47 receiving yards on one reception, a TD catch from Dennis Dixon that didn't look like it was even intended for him. Classic Dixon. Over on the BYU side of the ball, Jonny Harline had a monster game against the Oregon secondary. And I realize that Harline is a really good tight end, but how do you sleep at night when you're part of a defense that gave up 181 receiving yards to a tight end? Just a pathetic showing all around for the Ducks. Maybe next year they'll be ready to show up for the second half of the season. Bravo, Bellotti. Bravo.

Las Vegas Bowl

2006-12-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

Totally spaced on this game until halftime. Just doesn't feel like bowl season yet. Anyways, Oregon is down by 17 and judging by the announcers, they haven't used Stewart and Johnson well at all. More updates after the game.

Finally....An Update

2006-12-19T20:17:00.000-08:00

Been real busy lately, so pardon the lack updates. But nothing has really happened, at least football-wise, until now. And what happened? Stanford went and got itself a new football coach. They came down to my neighborhood and snatched up Jim Harbaugh from the University of San Diego. USD is a 1-AA team, but they could probably beat up on their neighboring 1-A brother, San Diego State. Not sure if that says Harbaugh is a really good coach or if SDSU is just a really bad football team. Either way, Harbaugh gets a chance to prove himself at a higher level. Is it a good hire for the Cardinal? Well, he can at least coach pretty well, but recruiting is the name of the game. And at an educational institution like Stanford, it's going to be a tougher go. Just to avoid embarrassment for the Pac-10, lets hope he gets the team turned around quick. And at this point, there is nowhere for Stanford to go but up.

In other Pac-10 news, Idaho lost their head football coach to a Pac-10 team, then replaced him with another Pac-10 coach. Robb Akey, WSU's defensive coordinator, is taking over the reins from Dennis Erickson. Don't know much about Akey, but the WSU defense was average at best last season. We shall see how that translates to the WAC. At least Erickson left the Vandals in good shape for Akey.......

This just in....UCLA has a really good basketball team. And they're recognized as the #1 team in the country. Arizona has looked pretty solid too, and they're #9. But where is the love for the Ducks at? They're undefeated at 10-0 and only #21 in the AP poll. There are six(!) teams with two losses ranked ahead of Oregon. I realize they haven't played the greatest schedule, but neither have any of the other schools aside from Butler. Did I mention the Ducks are undefeated? There are only four other schools who have yet to record a loss. #21 AP? Really? I call shenanigans.

It's Official

2006-12-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

Dennis Erickson is the new head coach at Arizona State. Sun Devil fans should be looking forward to seeing some victories soon, then a new head coach in a few years when Erickson runs off to ruin another NFL franchise. Idaho is none too happy that Erickson decided to cut and run after only one year back with the Vandals and I can't blame them. The House of Heat is looking forward to an aggressive new team and a whole lot of personal foul and excessive celebration penalties. Oh, and maybe a victory in the state of California.

Erickson to ASU?

2006-12-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

ESPN is reporting that Dennis Erickson has accepted the head coaching position at Arizona State per the Idaho AD. Interesting that there is no official announcement from either ASU or Erickson himself. Erickson loves to coach, no matter where, as evidenced by the roughly 71 head coaching positions he has held around the country. Is this a good move for the Sun Devils? Well he won two national titles at Miami and turned around the decrepit Oregon State program. How much easier is it to convince recruits to come to Tempe instead of Corvallis? Pretty damn easy I would think. Given the success the man has already had in the Pac-10, look for the Sun Devils to move up to the top of the conference very soon.

Heisman to Troy Smith

2006-12-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

Surprise, surprise. Troy Smith won the Heisman on Saturday. The bigger surprise was that Brady Quinn only finished in third place. The second place finisher and 2007 Heisman frontrunner was Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden. Always glad to see the Irish get less credit. Kinda disappointing to see ND in the BCS, but at least they'll get killed by LSU. And I hate pulling for SEC teams, but I suppose it's the lesser of two evils in the Sugar Bowl.

Basketball

2006-12-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

So we have been a football blog all year, but with the football season winding down and basketball starting to pick up, its time to start talking about it. First thing, congrats to UCLA for being #1 in the polls and taking out Cal State Fullerton last night. Their first big test comes Saturday against Texas A&M. And how did the Bruins get no road games this month? I don't think I've ever seen a team have a ten game homestand in college basketball before. Arizona is also doing pretty well and they beat Louisville last night. Chase Budinger has been everything Wildcat fans were looking for and more. But the biggest congrats have to go to the Cougars for beating up on #18 Gonzaga last night. They are playing some good ball right now, albeit against mostly lousy teams. Hopefully everyone keeps up their pace and we see seven or eight teams in the dance.

Walt Harris is Out

2006-12-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

After a miserable 1-11 season in a brand new stadium, Walt Harris was fired as Stanford's coach. While it's not that surprising to see a guy fired after such a dismal year, it's a little surprising they only gave him two years at the helm. They lost their three best offensive players early in the season and couldn't recover. He probably should have gotten at least another year, but I guess a one win season isn't enough to keep a head coaching position in the Pac-10. Bummer to all the Pac-10 teams that were looking forward to an easy W next year.

Wolverines to the Rose Bowl

2006-12-04T06:56:00.000-08:00

Once again, the BCS screws someone out of a spot in the national championship. I personally didn't want to see a rematch, but I don't know how you can tell Michigan they aren't the second best team in the country. At least this gives the Rose Bowl the conference matchup they wanted. Michigan fans have a right to be upset, as does every college football fan, because there is no playoff. At least get the plus one format going, so we only argue about who the fourth best team in the country is. Including the top four and having a playoff will mean the champ is actually decided on the field, instead of in the minds of the voters. Way to go BCS, another year year with a controversial national championship. Last year the matchup was real easy, not so much this time around. We may not even get a consensus champ from this game. If Michigan kills USC and Florida squeaks by OSU in a low scoring game, I wouldn't be surprised to see some AP voters put the Wolverines on top of their ballots.

So with that out of the way, lets take a look at the bowl picture for the Pac-10:

Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 21 – Oregon vs. Brigham Young

Hawaii Bowl, Dec. 24 – Arizona State vs. Hawaii

Emerald Bowl, Dec. 27 – UCLA vs. Florida State

Holiday Bowl, Dec. 28 – Cal vs. Texas A&M

Sun Bowl, Dec. 29 – Oregon State vs. Missouri

Rose Bowl, Jan. 1 – USC vs. Michigan

Aside from the Emerald Bowl, all these games look like pretty good matchups and we should see lots of points. The Pac-10 probably won't be favored in most of these games (I'm guessing we'll be favored in the Holiday, Emerald and possibly Sun), but there's nothing wrong with being the underdog. Let the month long, 32 game, playoff-less postseason begin!

Returning to Pasadena

2006-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

Bravo USC. Bravo. On a national stage, you go ahead and tank one for yourselves and the Pac-10. Nicely done. You also made my previous post completely irrelevant. Thanks for that. And not to take anything away from UCLA, who played good D, but nine points!? Really? Thats it? You couldn't take advantage of the mismatch in the secondary on a single drive? You could have secured a spot in the title game against Ohio State, instead you will just be playing in Pasadena again. But that's what happens when you lose twice. Hopefully Florida moves up to #2 so Michigan can restore the Pac-10 and Big Ten tradition at the Rose Bowl. Not that USC would win that game anyways.

Why USC Should Be #2 & Michigan Should Not

2006-12-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

I bleed cardinal and gold and know that I wouldn’t miss a minute of sleep over seeing the Wolverines in the title game. Granted, I would much rather see the Trojans in Glendale (if they beat UCLA) against Ohio State, but if all the components of the BCS put Michigan at #2, so be it. With all this controversy over who really is the second best team in the country, the voters and computers have already decided. While you can have an issue with one poll and who the voters are, you can’t take issue with all of them. The Trojans are #2 in the AP poll, #2 in the USA Today poll, #2 in the Harris poll, #2 in the Master Coaches poll, #2 in the BCS computers and #2 in the BCS. That’s just about everyone who is relevant to NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision rankings agreeing with me and my fellow alumni that USC is the rightful #2.

Ok, I admit Michigan has two things they can lord over USC. Number one, the Wolverines have a “better” loss. Michigan just happened to lose to the #1 BCS team by three points, while USC decided to lose to the #24 BCS team by two points. Can’t deny that Michigan’s loss is “better,” but do you really want to say you deserve the #2 spot because you lost better than another team? I wouldn’t. Number two, you can point out the Notre Dame games and that the Wolverines’ win was more impressive. USC was pretty even with ND in terms of turnovers, total yards and time of possession, at the Coliseum. Michigan had a significant advantage over the Irish in all those categories, and did it in South Bend with a six point larger margin of victory.

But that UM-ND game was two months ago. College football, and the postseason in all sports, is always about what have you done for me lately. Lately, USC has beaten Notre Dame, Cal and Oregon. Meanwhile, up in the Wolverine State, Michigan has beaten Ball State, Indiana and LOST a game. Beating Wisconsin is Michigan’s only other quality win besides Notre Dame. But it’s not as impressive as a Top 10 win should be when you factor in that the Badgers didn’t play OSU and scheduled Bowling Green, Western Illinois, San Diego State and Buffalo.

So what can USC lord over the Wolverines? Let’s take a look at who USC scheduled aside from Notre Dame. When the NCAA added the twelfth game, the Pac-10 mandated that each team play each other. In other words, USC couldn’t add a MAC or 1-AA team to their schedule, they had to play a Pac-10 team. And for those of you that are unaware, not a single team in any of the six BCS conferences played all of their games against teams from BCS conferences...except...wait for it…the University of Southern California.

So while Michigan may want to argue the quality of the loss, it’s equally important to look at the quality of the wins. USC beat four Top 25 BCS teams to Michigan’s two.

Look at where USC’s out of conference opponents are in the BCS: #9, #10 and #20. Each of them still has a chance at making a BCS game. Three of Michigan’s OOC opponents (Vanderbilt, Central Michigan and Ball State) do not.

Have you heard enough yet Michigan fan?

Three of the BCS computers rank the Pac-10 as the best conference in the NCAA. Only one ranks the Big-10 as the best. Also, your team didn’t even win its own conference. How can you attempt to lay claim to a title shot when you don’t even automatically qualify for the Rose Bowl? (Pssst, the Trojans and Buckeyes did) Remember what happened to the other teams in the BCS title game that didn’t win their conference? Nebraska lost by 23 in ’02 and Oklahoma lost to LSU in ’04. If you don’t win your conference you don’t belong in the title game. Also, considering Michigan’s highly vaunted defense and USC’s loss of two Heisman winners on offense, it is interesting to note that the Trojans had a better point differential than the Wolverines this season.

But don’t cry for Michigan. At worst they have to play in the Rose Bowl, which is a pretty nice fallback. And if they had just beaten Ohio State, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. So enjoy Pasadena and if USC loses on Saturday, forget you ever read this.

Week 14 Previews

2006-12-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

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)

The Weekly Rehash (The Jeweled Shillelagh Edition)

2006-11-29T10:26:00.000-08:00

And down go the Irish! After dispatching its earlier Pac-10 opponents, the Cardinal and Bruins, Notre Dame had to visit the Coliseum.

USC 44, Notre Dame 24
Perhaps not surprisingly, Notre Dame got destroyed by the conference’s best team. After struggling at home against UCLA, the Irish let the Trojans jump out to an early lead and never look back. John David Booty was solid, CJ Gable had another excellent game and Dwayne Jarrett embarrassed the Irish secondary. Brady Quinn didn’t look very Heisman-like until his 60 yard scamper (which was aided by some bizarre USC half field coverage) in the second quarter and ended up with 3 TDs against a good USC defense. The Irish won the turnover battle, the time of possession battle and equaled USC’s offensive yardage output, but scored 20 less points. So why did Notre Dame lose? Fourth down conversions. The Irish were thwarted on four(!) fourth down attempts, which must be some kind of 21^st century record. Add to the fact that this game was for the Jeweled Shillelagh and likely decided the national championship aspirations for both teams and you can see how huge this game ended up being for the Trojans. Since this win was enough to move USC into 2^nd in the BCS, this weekend’s showdown in Pasadena will cement the Trojans’ status for Glendale.

MVP: Dwayne Jarrett – 7 catches for 132 yards and 3 TDs

Arizona State 28, Arizona 14
Just when it looked like the Wildcats couldn’t lose, they go and blow one at home for the Territorial Cup. After taking a 21 point lead in the first quarter, the Sun Devils added insult to injury by giving Arizona QB Willie Tuitama yet another concussion and knocking him out of the game in the second quarter. Adam Austin added a TD pass in relief, but the Arizona offense was totally inept, gaining only 177 yards. ASU on the other hand, had 432 yards of offense and dominated the game from the first snap. Ryan Torain had 138 rushing yards and Rudy Carpenter spread the ball around for 3 touchdowns in an attempt to keep Dirk Koetter around. But even the rivalry win wasn’t enough to save Koetter’s job. Now that he’s been fired, the new coach watch should at least be more interesting than the Sun Devil’s season.

MVP: Rudy Carpenter – 17 of 25 for 218 yards and 3 TDs

Oregon State 30, Oregon 28
What a great game. It looked like victory was well in the Beavers’ hands in the third quarter, when an Yvenson Bernard touchdown run opened up a 13 point OSU lead. But the Ducks showed some resiliency and scored twice in the final frame to take a one point lead with only a couple minutes left in the game. Alexis Serna countered with a huge field goal to give the Beavers back the lead, only to see the Ducks get into field goal range in the final minute. Thanks to Ben Siegert though, the score stayed the same as he blocked the field goal to win the Civil War for the North. That also secured a spot in the Sun Bowl for the Beavs. Coming into this game, OSU had only won one of the five games that Bernard had rushed for less than 100 yards in. He only had 68 yards on the ground on Saturday, but Matt Moore had another solid day at quarterback and Sammie Stroughter was the biggest benefactor with 114 receiving yards. For the Ducks, it means they tie for fourth place with four other teams, as long as UCLA loses to USC next week. I don’t know how they’ll work the tiebreaker out, but it has to be a disappointment for Oregon. After finishing 10-1 last season and only losing a couple of starters, expectations were high. But Dennis Dixon tanked down the stretch and the Ducks offense and defense were both terrible in their last three games. Even though it looks like they’ll end up in Vegas, it’s not the bowl that Duck fan was hoping for.

MVPs: Alexis Serna – 3 field goals from 40+ yards, including the game winner and Ben Siegert for blocking Matt Evensen’s potential game winner

Week 13 Previews

2006-11-23T06:27:00.000-08:00

Even with a dearth of games, this is a big weekend for the Pac-10. USC takes on Notre Dame on Saturday and watches their other two out of conference opponents, Nebraska and Arkansas, play tomorrow. In Corvallis we have the Civil War and in Tucson, it's a battle for the territorial cup. I don't have a lot of time, so this will be quick.

The Civil War
Oregon vs Oregon State (-3)
The Ducks have been brutal lately, so I'm surprised to see them only being dogged by 3, on the road no less. I guess the oddsmakers think Oregon will show up for their rivalry game. I think they've got too many issues at quarterback and Oregon State wants this game a lot more.

Brian's Pick: OSU (-3)

The Territorial Cup
Arizona State vs Arizona (-3)
This is more or less the same situation as the Civil War. ASU was the more highly regarded team to start the season, who have since fallen on their faces, while Arizona has been much improved to end the year. The Sun Devils can't really salvage their season, but they could possibly save coach Dirk Koetter's job with a rivalry win. I think Arizona has a little more to play for, as in a bowl bid, plus they get to play at home.

Brian's Pick: Arizona (-3)

The Jeweled Shillelagh
Notre Dame vs USC (-7)
No team has ever beaten Notre Dame football five times in a row. As it currently stands, USC has taken the last four from the Fighting Irish. There are big implications surrounding this game. Pride for both schools, a #2 BCS ranking, and of course the prettiest of all the rivalry trophies. Nationally, this is probably the second biggest game of the season, behind last weeks OSU-UM classic. A win for the Tojans and they head to Glendale. A blowout for the Irish and they may hop Michigan and get a shot at OSU. Notre Dame is a lot like Cal. Excellent offense with playmakers at all the skill positions and good special teams. The defense is athletic, but isn't quite as good as it should be given their individual players. USC's offense is comparable, but the defense is what makes the biggest differnce. They covered last week and I thought it would be close. Given what this game means to Pete Carroll and the boys, I won't pick against them again.

Brian's Pick: USC (-7)

The Weekly Rehash

2006-11-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

Boy howdy, was that ever a game between Ohio State and Michigan. Regardless of whether or not USC wins out, it’s tough to argue that the Wolverines are not the #2 team in the country. But if the Trojans do take down Notre Dame and UCLA, they’ll have played the toughest schedule in the country and only lost one game on the road, by two points, to what has become a surprisingly good team, and was practically a perfect storm of mistakes for them to lose. Onto the recap…..

Oregon State 30, Stanford 7
Looks like there will be no winning streak in Palo Alto this year. The Beavers dispatched the Cardinal easily, leaving them in the dust by halftime. Yvenson Bernard had a big day on the ground with 166 yards and for the fourth game in a row, Matt Moore didn’t throw an interception. Add that to Stanford’s total ineptitude and you have an effortless victory for Oregon State. With the Civil War and a game in Hawaii left, the Beavs still have a chance to get 9 wins and end their season in El Paso. The Cardinal on the other hand, well their season was over about three months ago.

MVP: Matt Moore – 15 of 24 passing for 176 yards and 2 TDs with no INTs

Arizona 37, Oregon 10
I thought the Wildcats were being dogged a little too hard with that 15 point spread. Then they went out and covered by 42!! Just an absolute beating delivered to the Ducks, at Autzen no less, by Arizona. Willie Tuitama probably had the game of his life with 2 TDs on 8 of 9 passing that resulted in an astounding 274 QB rating for the day. Arizona has officially become the “David” of the conference as they have slayed three “Goliaths” of the Pac-10 in the last three weeks. Chris Henry had another big day on the ground for Arizona and has 342 yards and 6 TDs over the last three games. Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart were both shut down for the second week in a row, and not coincidentally, Oregon lost both those games. One has to wonder what happened to Dixon. Once upon a time the Ducks were 5-1 and it appeared that Dixon was having a breakout season. Since then they have lost 3 of 5 games and Dixon continues to cede playing time to Ryan Leaf’s brother.

MVP: Chris Henry – 29 carries for 191 yards and 2 TDs, plus a 21 yard TD reception

Washington 35, Washington State 32
Oh the excitement that is the Apple Cup! The Pac-10’s first rivalry game of the season, and possibly the greatest rivalry in the history of sport, ended with an upset and a Husky victory. Both team’s tailbacks eclipsed 100 yards on less than 20 carries, which was indicative of the big plays that decided this game. Wazzu probably should have won this game. They had 12 more first downs and won the turnover battle, but gave up huge play after huge play to UW. With scoring plays of 64, 69, and 77 yards, the Huskies didn’t need to control the ball. Add an 87 yard kick return and a blocked punt (that was returned for a TD) to the mix, and you have a recipe for a Cougar loss. Carl Bonnell also had his best game of the season for the Huskies, though his completion percentage was still terrible. Brandon Gibson had a big day filling in for Jason Hill, catching 8 passes for 115 yards and a TD. Even with those six straight losses prior to this game, an Apple Cup likely means no hot seat for Ty Willingham. It also means that WSU needs to get pretty lucky to get a bowl invite from somebody. 6-6 may mean the team is bowl eligible, doesn’t make you bowl desirable.

MVP: Louis Rankin – 17 carries for 119 yards and 2 TDs

UCLA 24, Arizona State 12
Did the good UCLA defense show up for this game or what? After racking up 568 yards of total offense against WSU, the Bruins held the Sun Devils to less than half of that in Tempe. No TDs, only four field goals and another terrible game from Rudy Carpenter. Seriously, what’d Dirk Koetter teach this kid in the offseason? Last year he only threw two interceptions, this year he has 12. Last year he led the NCAA in quarterback rating, this year he is 46^th. Last season he led the NCAA in yards per attempt, this year he’s 38^th. Yeah, he’s been sacked a little more and the O-line has been hurt, but it can’t make that big of a difference, can it? The biggest difference this year there is likely that there is no Derek Hagan to throw to and every receiver sans Zach Miller has been hurt this year. Miller is the only player who even has 20 receptions on the team this year. So maybe Koetter can blame his disappointing season on injuries, but I don’t think the ASU brass is going to care. If he falls this week to rival Arizona, he is going to be cashing unemployment checks soon. Or at least he would if he worked a normal job and hadn’t been paid millions of dollars for six years of mediocrity. Patrick Cowan actually had his best game since beating Arizona last month. Most of that success though, can be attributed to Brandon Breazell and his big plays. Now that the Bruins are bowl eligible, it’s now a matter of whether or not a bowl wants a team that, if they lose to USC, will finish no better than sixth in the Pac-10.

MVP: Brandon Breazell – 2 big receptions for 91 yards and 2 TDs

USC 23, Cal 9
This was the big game of the week for left coast fans, and unless they were rooting for the Bears, they didn’t walk away disappointed. Having attended this game and sitting in the visitors section for the first time, I can honestly say those are the worst seats in the history of sports. I feel sorry for all the visiting fans that come to see their team play in the Coliseum. When you’re in the SE section, all the way in the corner, you can’t see the jumbotron or the scoreboard, you sit on 80 year old benches with no back support and you can’t hear the referees or PA announcer. Add to that the fact you can barely see whats happening on the field and you’re a USC fan and you get one hell of a great game experience. So at least the Trojans won, and my only solace was really that one Cal fan brought a portable TV so we could at least see the replays from our seats. And end rant. The victor of this game was going to be the Pac-10 champ, so big implications here. Both teams came out of the gate pretty flat, with USC giving up a safety and a TD in the first half, while Cal gave up two short Mario Danelo field goals. USC’s defense really shined in the second half, as they held Cal scoreless and the Trojan offense scored the game’s final 17 points. The Bears only had 275 yards of offense, as Nate Longshore, Marshawn Lych and DeSean Jackson all had sub-par games. Freshman CJ Gable played well, replacing an ineffective Chauncey Washington in the backfield, with 159 all-purpose yards for the Trojans. This marks the fifth straight Pac-10 title for USC and they really look like a championship contender now. The defense is finally forcing turnovers, Booty has been sharp the last few weeks and the running game has been effective despite all the injuries. So this one decided the Rose Bowl at least, which means that USC will be in either Pasadena or Glendale come January. They just need a little help from the computers, which should come if they beat Notre Dame and UCLA, to meet Ohio State in the championship game. Cal will have to beat Stanford and finish in the top 14 of the BCS plus have USC end up in the national championship game and then hope the Rose Bowl committee picks them to play Michigan, otherwise it’s off to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl.

MVP: John David Booty – 18 of 31 for 238 yards and 2 TDs, including a great read on fourth and one against Daymeion Hughes that put the game out of reach

The Pac-10 Apostle’s Disciple of the Week
Arizona once again pulled off the biggest upset of the week, this time by beating Oregon, and running back Chris Henry led the way. When you rack up more than 200 yards of offense and 3 TDs, you earn yourself a little recognition. So congratulations Mr. Henry, you’re the Disciple of the Week.

Week 12 Previews

2006-11-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are lame and are getting these up late, but better late than never!

Oregon State vs Stanford (+15)
Somehow the Tree managed to win a game last week. Not sure what Ty Willingham was doing in preparation for this game, but somehow the Huskies couldn’t run the ball or pass the ball or stop the pass. Does that mean Stanford is actually good now? No. For the Beavers, after losing to UCLA, they cannot afford to have a losing streak going into the Civil War. Their season is still alive, unlike UW’s. Look for the Beavs to rely heavily on Yvenson Bernard as they take the Cardinal to the woodshed.

Brian’s Pick: Oregon State (-15)
Mike's Pick: Oregon State (-15)
Graham's Pick: Oregon State (-15)

Arizona vs Oregon (-15)
The Wildcats just upset the Bears, right after upsetting the Cougars. Is a trifecta in the works? The biggest advantage they had over Cal was that it was in Tucson, not in Berkeley. This week, they have to play in Eugene, in Autzen and likely against some heinous uniforms. Oregon is coming off a rough loss against the Trojans. Despite losing by 25, the Ducks moved the ball pretty well between the 20s, just never into the end zone. Arizona doesn’t have the same defense as USC, so Oregon should put up around 30 points again. But given Arizona’s recent year-end success, don’t count the Wildcats out. I don’t think they’ll pull off another upset, but 15 points isn’t enough respect for the Pac-10’s giant killers

Brian’s Pick: Arizona (+15)
Mike's Pick: Arizona (+15)
Graham's Pick: Arizona (+15)

Washington vs Washington State (-8.5)
Bonnell! Brink! It’s the Apple Cup!! Who’s not excited for this one? If the Huskies didn’t lose to Stanford last week, you might get a lot more people interested in the game. Sadly for Husky fan, they were destroyed by the Cardinal. Bonnell and Durocher had an unimaginably brutal game between the two of them, especially since it was against Stanford. Just a terrible loss on every level, made all the worse because it’s now six losses in a row for the Huskies. The Cougs didn’t look much better against ASU, but the big difference is that the Sun Devils aren’t the worst team this side of Duke and Temple. I mean Alex Brink didn’t have a negative QB rating, so something went right. The Huskies are hurting after that loss, and Ty Willingham may not make it to next year after the promise his team showed to start this season. WSU still has a shot at a bowl, so expect Alex Brink to throw it early and often. If Jason Hill and Michael Bumpus play, expect the Huskies to have trouble covering them and to give up lots of points.

Brian’s Pick: WSU (-8.5)
Mike's Pick: WSU (-8.5)
Graham's Pick: UW (+8.5) (WSU wins)

UCLA vs Arizona State (-6)
Just when we thought UCLA’s season was over, they go and knock off the Beavers. Even if it was in Pasadena, it was still an impressive performance by the Bruins. Patrick Cowan finally out-quarterbacked his counterpart across the sidelines, and voila, UCLA won a game. Though the numbers weren’t pretty, especially the 154 penalty yards, UCLA dominated the turnover battle and kept the Beavers out of the end zone. The Sun Devils also showed up last week, with Rudy Carpenter having a great game despite not having any receivers. With Jamaal Lewis and Terry Richardson coming back today, the ASU offense could be even better than the 500+ yard, point scoring machine they had against the Cougars. But the UCLA defense is not the WSU defense, which should keep ASU from scoring every time they touch the ball. The loser of this game will finish with a losing record in conference play, so it’s a big one for a bowl game. On top of the game itself, the Bruins have to deal with the emotional ramifications of losing a former teammate and I don’t know that the Bruins will have enough left to stop the Sun Devils in Tempe. Condolences to Marcus Cassel’s family.

Brian’s Pick: ASU (-6)
Mike's Pick: ASU(-6)
Graham's Pick: ASU (-6)

*Pac-10 Game of the Week*
Cal vs USC (-6.5)
I’m pretty sure that each game of the week is going to involve USC the rest of the season. That said, this one is huge for Cal too. Whoever wins this goes to the Rose Bowl and if USC wins, they have a shot at the national championship game. Cal’s offense is a little better than USC’s, but the Trojan defense is much better than the Golden Bear’s D. The USC running game is hurting this week, with Chauncey Washington questionable to go and Emmanuel Moody out until the Trojans’ bowl game. The biggest difference is special teams, where DeSean Jackson will kill the Trojans if given the chance to return kicks. Pete, pay attention, here are your two rules when facing Cal: Don’t punt to DeSean Jackson and don’t throw at Daymeion Hughes! If Pete follows my rules, USC gets the edge, especially with home field, though don’t be surprised if this game goes down to the wire.

Brian’s Pick: Cal (+6.5)
Mike's Pick: Cal (+6.5)
Graham's Pick: Cal (+6.5)

The Weekly Rehash (Reversal of the Reversal Edition)

2006-11-13T08:38:00.000-08:00

What an insane weekend for college football. First Louisville loses on Thursday to freaking Rutgers, then four more top 15 teams lost on Saturday. Somehow Texas lost to Kansas State, Auburn lost to Georgia and Cal lost to Arizona of all teams. Tennessee also lost, but it was to Arkansas so it can’t be considered it an upset. Florida would have lost if they didn’t block three(!) kicks against the other USC, but they squeaked out the victory and let USC catch up to them in the polls. I did clear up the BCS picture a little bit and likely gave USC the inside track to the title game against the OSU-UM winner.

Arizona 24, Cal 20

Well now it looks like the Cats may go bowling. After a disappointing start, Arizona has really turned it around in the last two weeks. As our esteemed Commander in Chief would say “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me, you cant get fooled again” Or something like that. Anywho, it looked like last week was an aberration, but it turned into a trend. Nate Longshore had a terrible game after lighting up UCLA last week, but DeSean Jackson kept the Bears in the game with two first half touchdowns. After watching Nick Folk line a punt right to Jackson, I had a feeling he would return it for a TD, and after he made a final move on Folk, it was a TD. He now has four punt returns for TDs this season and five in his career, both of which are Pac-10 records. But the real story was Longshore and his turnovers. With three picks, Longshore gave the game to Arizona, including one that was returned for a score by Antoine Cason. That gave the Wildcats their first lead and after Longshore’s third and final pick with 1:32 left, Arizona claimed victory. The Arizona offense was pretty blah, getting outgained by about 100 yards and averaging less than 4 yards a play. But they didn’t turn the ball over once, so the +3 differential was what decided the game. The Bears just kissed their national championship status goodbye.

MVP: DeSean Jackson – 6 receptions for 131 yards and a TD, 3 punt returns for 128 yards and a TD

Stanford 20, Washington 3

That whole picking the favorite in every game thing really didn’t work for me this week. In fairness, I don’t think anyone picked the Cardinal to win this game. Unfortunately, this probably moves Stanford out of ESPN’s bottom ten this week, or least way down the list from their #2 perch. But we must give the Husky QBs credit for one of the worst performances ever bestowed upon the Pac-10. Carl Bonnell threw up an amazing line of 10/35 for 118 yards and one INT, for a magnificent rating of 51.17. Ty finally decided that enough was enough and brought in Johnny DuRocher to test his hand. Somehow, he was even worse than Bonnell. DuRocher ended the night 1/9 for 4 yards and 2 INTs, which is a rating of -29.6. I didn’t even know it was possible to have a negative passer rating, but DuRocher let us all know that it is. TC Ostrander actually had a decent game for Stanford, his best of the season with 206 yards and his first TD pass of the season. But it was the Cardinal D that won the game (I think that’s an oxymoron), limiting the Huskies to 161 yards of offense and forcing three turnovers. Stanford gets OSU this week, will a winning streak be in order for Walt Harris? Wtf is going on at the bottom of the Pac-10?

MVP (for Stanford): UW’s Johnny DuRocher – 1/9 for 4 yards and 2 INTs

UCLA 25, Oregon State 7

Patrick Cowan may have saved his starting job on Saturday. With a pair of TD passes in the second half, Cowan led the Bruins to victory over the Beavers in the Rose Bowl. Matt Moore’s second homecoming was again not what he was hoping for, as he didn’t throw a TD pass and the Beaver’s only generated 259 yards of offense. The Bruin D also forced four fumbles and limited Yvenson Bernard and Sammie Stroughter to their worst combined game of the season. UCLA made sure to capitalize on the OSU turnovers and they moved themselves back into the bowl game mix.

MVP: Marcus Everett – 3 receptions for 64 yards and both UCLA TDs

Arizona State 47, Washington State 14

Put a fork in the Cougars. After whipping the Ducks and Bruins into shape a few weeks ago, WSU didn’t stand a chance against either Arizona school. With 568 yards of offense, the Sun Devils came out running on all cylinders and never let the Cougs get into this game. Rudy Carpenter had his best game since demolishing Nevada in the season’s second week, with 3 TDs and 327 yards passing. ASU also had an astounding 50 carries in this game on their way to 29 first downs. Meanwhile, Alex Brink led WSU to an awe-inspiring 190 yards of total offense, albeit without his top two receivers. Dwight Tardy can be blamed for some of that as he managed only 29 yards on his 11 carries. Of course when you’re down 30-7 at halftime, chances are you won’t be running much the rest of the game. Also, put ASU freshman CB/WR Grant Crunkleton on your All-Name team. I’m not sure how he has time to play football. Shouldn’t he be touring with Lil Jon?

MVP: Rudy Carpenter – 14 of 23 for 327 yards and 3 TDs

USC 35, Oregon 10

Ok, its time for the Pac-10 to fire all their referees. The UO/OU calls were terrible, UW lost their chance at beating USC because of you, and now you have made a complete mockery of refereeing and instant replay with your incredible call in the third quarter when you re-reversed a TD call that you had just reversed. Oregon actually challenged your reversal after replay, and you actually went back and changed your call. Incredible!! If

that TD had actually mattered, I don’t know what people would be saying today. But here’s what I say: Sitting in the stands watching you waste about 20 minutes of my life trying to figure out if your own reversal, which you deemed correct mere nanoseconds ago, was in fact correct was one of the stupidest moments I have ever witnessed, let alone experienced myself, in Pac-10 history. You Pac-10 refs are just plain bad, and now

you’re on notice!

It was homecoming for USC on Saturday, and they dispatched the Ducks in style. The box score doesn’t show it, as Oregon gained more yards and won the turnover battle, but the Ducks were never in this one. The Duck running game never got off the ground and while Dennis Dixon and Brady Leaf put up more yards than JD Booty, they only led the Ducks to two scoring drives. Lawrence Jackson finally decided to show up, in the box scores at least, as he garnered his first three sacks of the season on Saturday night. But the big story for

USC was the breakout of Chauncey Washington. After watching Emmanuel Moody go down with an injury early, Washington took the game into his hands. With 119 yards and 3 TDs on his 15 carries, Chauncey literally carried the Trojans to victory. The USC defense has to be happy with its performance, letting the Ducks march from 20 to 20 is irrelevant when you never let them put points on the board. This win, coupled with all those incredible losses, pushed the Trojans all the way back to #3 in the BCS, meaning that unless OSU and UM play a really tight game, the voters will likely put the Trojans at #2 if they win the rest of their games. Add to that the fact that they play two very good teams in Cal and Notre Dame, plus a solid UCLA team, the computers will still like the Trojans. Next week decides the Ro

se Bowl and it could decide the national championship game as well.

MVP: The Referees – I’m pretty sure that if the game wasn’t televised, no one would believe that the reversal of an instant replay reversal actually happened.

The Pac-10 Apostle’s Disciple of the Week

Arizona pulled off the biggest upset of the week by beating Cal, and Antoine Cason’s pick-six is what sealed the deal for the Wildcats.

Congratulations Mr. Cason, you’re the Disciple of the Week.

Week 11 Previews

2006-11-11T08:35:00.001-08:00

Let’s see if I can be shorter and sweeter than Graham.

Stanford @ Washington (-19.5)
The Cardinal are coming off a 42-0 loss at home against USC. If they don’t get fired up for the chance at beating UW, they may not be a very good football team. Or it could be the fact that they have been outscored by 185 points in their six Pac-10 games that makes them a bad football team. I am really not sure. This game should be Carl Bonnell’s first victory as the Husky quarterback. If its not his first win, look for Johnny Durocher to get his shot at QB.

Brian’s Pick: Washington (-19.5)
Mike's Pick: Washington (-19.5)

Cal @ Arizona (+14)
The Wildcats finally pulled out a real win last week against the Cougars. This week, I can’t imagine that they pull off another W. Cal is playing for a shot at the national title, while Arizona is just trying to become bowl eligible. Add to that the fact that Arizona hasn’t even scored the last two years against the Bears. I say it’s more of the same this week.

Brian’s Pick: Cal (-14)
Mike’s Pick: Cal (-14)

Oregon State @ UCLA (+2)
The Beaver pass rush is going to be too much for the Bruins. Plus Matt Moore lost by 23 in his return to the Rose Bowl last season and I think he wants revenge. With injuries to Yvenson Bernard and Clinton Polk, it is up to Moore to win the game for the Beavers (Unless Sammie Stroughter returns like 3 punts for TDs). Ben Olson will suit up for the Bruins, though Patrick Cowan will still start. Look for the Bruin fans to boo if Cowan plays poorly again and UCLA heads towards their fifth straight loss, then beg for Southpaw Jesus to return behind center.

Brian’s Pick: OSU (-2)
Mike's Pick: UCLA (+2)

Washington State @ Arizona State (+1)
I don’t know how to pick a game where every skill position player seems to be injured. ASU’s top FIVE receivers are likely to miss this game. Plus, starting tailback Ryan Torain has a sprained ankle. Zach Miller has been Rudy Carpenter’s favorite target all season, but he better get him the ball more than five times if the Sun Devils plan on winning this game. For the Cougs, no Jason Hill or Michael Bumpus at receiver. As a consolation, two of their top three running backs are hurt too. It’s like the Pac-10 caught whatever disease Fred Taylor’s groin and Ken Griffey Jr’s hamstring have. Seriously, how are you supposed to pick this? I guess that’s why it’s only one point. WSU has fewer injured players, and I think that may be enough to win this game by a final score of 2-0.

Brian’s Pick: WSU (-1)
Mike's Pick: ASU (+1)

*Pac-10 Game of the Week*
Oregon @ USC (-8)
It’s homecoming this Saturday for USC. If the Trojans lose this game, they are destined to visit El Paso to go bowling. I don’t think Pete Carroll and the boys want that. Look for an aerial assault coming from the Trojan offense this week. On the other side of the field, Dennis Dixon hasn’t been throwing the ball well as of late. He does however, run better than any QB in the Pac-10. Add Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson to the mix and you probably have the best trio of runners in the nation. Should make for an interesting game, but I think the Duck pass defense is more overmatched than the Trojan run D. (Just a side note, USC and UO haven't played each other at the Coliseum in six years. Thank god every team plays one another from now on.)

Brian’s Pick: USC (-8)
Mike's Pick: USC (-8)

Wow, I took all the favorites to cover. Somehow I don’t think that bodes well for me….

Graham's Lines & Predictions for 11/11

2006-11-09T01:03:00.000-08:00

This week's picks are going to be short and hopefully sweet. At least sweeter than last week. I started off rocky, going 2-3. The Cal loss was close, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Apparently Oregon State wanted to make a statement and ASU wasn't going to try and stop them. Well, here we go again:

PAC-10 Picks:

Stanford @ Washington (-19.5)
Stanford is horrible. Obviously, everyone knows that by now. The thing that scares me is the way this line has jumped up 2 points this week. Washington has had QB troubles and the real question is if they can score enough points to cover. Stanford will only score 13, so do you think Washington will score 33? I don't.

Pick: Stanford (+19.5)
Prediction: UDumb 31 - Trees 13

Cal @ Arizona (+14)
Is this right? I know AZ just beat a pretty decent WSU team, but only 14? Cal seems to be for real and my pick to take the PAC-10. I really liked this before it hit that 14 point barrier that could end in a tie. Oh well, take the Bears to beat up on the school with the hottest coeds this side of the Mississip!

Pick: Cal (-14)
Prediction: Cal 42 - Arizona 20

Oregon St. @ UCLA (+2)
This is Matt Moore's chance to send off the coach that didn't believe enough in him with a nice kick to the groin. As much as I'm not a big OSU fan, I think they have their Beaver swagger and the Moore factor will come into play. Beavers pull out a close one and keep their 3rd place hopes alive.

Pick: Beavs (-2)
Prediction: OSU 31 - UCLA 27

WSU @ ASU (off)(pick)
The unknown status of Jason Hill and Michael Bumpus have this game off the line. ASU seems to have lost it (see last week vs. OSU). Koetter is definately on the hot seat and I think he will be looking for a job in the next month. UCLA assistant? Anyway, I think team from Washington scores more than the team from Arizona. There's no science involved in this one, just pure guesstimation.

Pick: WSU (cause they can drink more)
Prediction: WSU 35 - ASU 24 (ASU's coeds are hotter)

Game of the week:
Oregon @ USC (-8)
East coast college football fans, meet the next big running back of the PAC-10; Jonathon Stewart. The Toejams looked good against Stanford last week, but so does a Ford Focus when it races a Yugo. I think the Oregon athleticism makes it a tough day for USC. Look for the USC running game to struggle while Oregon runs, runs, runs, runs, play action. Turnover margin will decide this one.

Pick: Oregon (+8)
Prediction: Oregon 31 - USC 27

Other Picks:

Louisville (-7.5) @ Rutgers:
Louisville won lat years game by 40+ points. Is it really going to be THAT much closer? The jokes on me if it is.
Pick: Louisville (-7.5)

NC State @ Clemson (-17)
The paper tigers were favored by 13 last week against Maryland and disappointed. They are a much different team at home. How much different? NC State is up and down this year. My bet: NC State keeps it close... REAL close.
Pick: NC State (+17)

Temple (+36) @ Penn State
Will Joe Pa even be able to see the field from the booth? Those Coke bottles will be tested this week. So will the Nittany Lions. Ok, not really. Penn St. has averaged 16 points on offense the last 5 weeks. While their defense might rock, their offense is embarassing and 36 points is a lot.
Pick: Temple (+36) (holy crap, I'm actually picking TEMPLE!?)

Boise St. (-14.5) @ San Jose State
While SJSU has actually looked respectable this year, Boise State is goooood. Unless this game is played at like 8:00am like it was a couple years ago, I don't see anything odd happening. Look for Boise to continue to dominate. They'll be whining in a couple weeks after they are overlooked by the BCS even though they are undefeated.
Pick: Boise State (-14.5)

Good luck this week!

Graham

The Belated Weekly Rehash

2006-11-09T00:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. I realize both of our readers are disappointed, but you're still getting your recap of last week and some previews. Also, be on the lookout soon for our basketball preview. Basketball sure crept up on us fast. Anyways, back to last week:

Oregon 34, Washington 14
This was a big win for the Ducks. Now sitting at 4-2 in the Pac-10, tied with the Beavers for third place and a game behind the Trojans, Oregon controls their own destiny for the Holiday Bowl. If they can run the table, at worst they’ll be in San Diego and have knocked USC down to a Sun Bowl berth. The Duck offense got off to a slow start in this game, but once Jonathan Stewart made it into the end zone in the second quarter to retake the lead, the floodgates opened. When the third quarter was over, the Ducks were up by 17 and the game was over. The Huskies pretty much forgot to show up for this game, as Oregon rushed for more than 300 yards and won by more than 20 points despite losing the turnover battle, 3 to 1. Carl Bonnell finally threw for more touchdowns than interceptions, but only completed 15 of his 34 passes for a mere 125 yards. Add to that a running game that averaged less than a yard a carry and it’s pretty easy to see why UW lost this game. What has to be disconcerting for the Ducks is the state of their offense. Despite their rushing success, Dennis Dixon had another poor day at quarterback. He averaged less than five yards a pass and threw two picks and no touchdowns. It was just a few weeks ago that people were starting to whisper about Dixon entering the Heisman race, now he gets relieved by Brady Leaf every week. If Oregon still wants to chase after San Diego or Tempe, they better right the QB ship against the Trojans on Saturday.

MVP: Jonathan Stewart – 25 carries for 159 yards and 2 TDs

Oregon State 44, Arizona State 10
Wow, talk about impressive. I figured the USC game was an aberration because the Trojans had bad turnovers and still racked up yards on offense, but I guess I was wrong. The Beavers came out firing and held a 17-0 lead by the end of the quarter. That was all they would need to win, but they racked up another 27 points and dominated the Sun Devils. For once, Matt Moore even had a better game than Sean Canfield, who was 0-6 when he relieved Moore in the fourth. Yvenson Bernard scored a pair of touchdowns for the Beavs, but only managed 60 yards on 22 carries, while Sammie Stroughter broke the century mark in receiving yards again. Meanwhile, the ASU offense was terribly ineffective. Rudy Carpenter had his worst game in more than a month and the Sun Devils didn’t even average three yards a carry. That lack of production coupled with their inability to stop OSU on third down (they converted 9 of 16), meant they didn’t have a chance.

MVP: Rudy Carpenter (for OSU) – 9 of 27 passing for 124 yards and 2 INTs

Arizona 27, Washington State 17
This was the game that no one saw coming. After getting hammered at home by USC, UW and OSU, the Wildcats somehow pulled out a 10 point win in Pullman. Washington State should have still been on a high after climbing into the top 25, but their running game never got started (27 carries for 45 yards) and the Cougars only converted 2 of 13 third downs. Evidently they got complacent with that #25 rating. Willie Tuitama played the entire game at quarterback for Arizona, and Chris Henry only managed 94 yards on his 35 carries, but scored a pair of touchdowns. Alex Brink had another solid game for WSU, but forgot about Jason Hill, who only had 2 catches for 21 yards. He’s one of the best receivers in the country, Alex! Like Keyshawn says, “Give him the damn ball!” The Cougars may have better luck next time if you do.

MVP: Willie Tuitama – 10 of 17 for 159 yards and a TD

USC 42, Stanford 0
So at least the Trojans aren’t dead. A week after losing in Corvallis, USC got a nice rebound game by getting to play in Palo Alto. Surprisingly, this was only the second time all season that the Cardinal were shut out. They had another miserable day on the ground, netting only 30 yards on 30 carries. TC Ostrander actually played relatively well, setting a season high for passing yards with 178, but he still threw a pair of interceptions and didn’t lead Stanford to a single scoring drive. Over on the USC side of the ball, things went much better. JD Booty had 3 touchdown passes and didn’t cause a single turnover. In fact, not one Trojan had a turnover in this game. Chauncey Washington chipped in with 74 yards and a TD on 12 carries, while blue chip freshman Stafon Johnson saw his first action of the year with 3 carries for 17 yards. Cause for concern for the Trojans: only gaining 108 rushing yards on a terrible Stanford defense, the best performance by the Cardinal this season. Didn’t matter though, USC called off the dogs in the third quarter and probably could have put up bigger numbers. Maybe next time Stanford.

MVP: Dwayne Jarrett – 5 catches for 118 yards and a TD

Cal 38, UCLA 24
Another day, another win for the Bears. Nate Longshore had his way with the Bruin secondary and completely outplayed Patrick Cowan. At least Chris Markey had a nice game for the Bruins, with 199 total yards from scrimmage and a TD. Marshawn Lynch was solid, but unspectacular, only 81 yards and a TD on 20 carries. DeSean Jackson returned his third punt for a TD this season, which cinched the game for the Bears in the third quarter. The Bear defense did give up more than 500 yards, but UCLA couldn’t capitalize on enough of their possessions in large part due to Cowan’s timely interceptions. I can’t believe that I have to say this again, but note to ALL PAC-10 COACHES AND QBS: DO NOT throw the ball near Daymeion Hughes. He’s the best corner in the country and he will make you pay if you do not respect him. When Cowan threw the ball near Hughes on Saturday, what happened? Hughes had another interception. Please stop tempting fate and leave that side of the field alone if you want a chance at winning the game. If you want Cal to beat you, by all means, throw at Mr. Hughes at all times. And Cal, could you please drop the heinous yellow jerseys? No one outside of Eugene wants to have their retinas burned when watching a football game. So for the sake of everyone who is watching you play, please retire those outfits already.

MVP: Nate Longshore – 20 of 24 for 266 yards and 3 TDs

The Pac-10 Apostle’s Disciple of the Week

No fancy graphic this week, but we're giving the award to Willie Tuitama. In his valiant return from multiple concussions, Willie led the Wildcats to victory over the heavily favored Cougars from Washington State. Congratulations Willie, you're the disciple of the week!

PAC-10 LINES/PREDICTIONS - NOV 4

2006-11-03T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hello PAC-10 football fans! This is Graham, the newest blogger for the PAC-10 Apostle. My blogs are going to be devoted to the sports fans and bettors out there looking for some help with their weekly picks. Every week I will pick every PAC-10 game straight-up and against the spread. I will also through in some picks that I think look good across the nation as well as my upset pick of the week. I’ll post my weekly and overall record so you can either bow down to my greatness or laugh at my idiocy. Let’s have some fun and feel free to post feedback on my picks and posts. Even though it’s midseason, here is my week one:

PAC-10 Games:

4:00 P.M.

USC (-28)
@
Stanford

Look for this game to be over by halftime. Stanford is easily one of the worst teams in the nation (think SDSU). Injuries have demolished the Cardinal in 2006 and 6 true freshman will see significant playing time against the Trojans. As if they weren’t bad enough already! Additionally, the loss of Trent Edwards, arguably the most talented quarterback in the PAC-10, has left them with TC Ostrander. Ostrander has struggled so far this year and has a completion percentage of less than 50%. All while playing against competitors with weak defenses (Arizona and Arizona State). Oh wait… there’s more! The leading receiver is a former-walk-on (Kelton Lynn). The new stadium has yet to be filled to even 75% of capacity, and the Cardinal can still look forward to being beat down by their now dominant rival Cal.

Look for USC to go back to the drawing board this week and pull out some exciting plays. Carroll realizes he needs to get the players believing in themselves again and nothing can do that like a 40 point victory. I wouldn’t be surprised to see USC running a lot of man coverage in order to give them practice for upcoming games with big time receivers (think Cal’s DeShean Jackson). I would be surprised to see Stanford score more than 10 and USC should dominate all around. Take the favorite even with the massive spread.

Pick: USC (-28)
Prediction: USC 48 – Stanford 10

12:30 P.M.

Washington
@
Oregon (-16)

The line on this game has moved up more than 2 points since Tuesday. While I loved it at 13.5, I think 16 points is questionable. Carl Bonnell has had his ups and downs and who knows how many mistakes he’ll make this week. The Oregon defense is just as sporadic, giving up over 40 to both Cal and WSU this year. Oregon is 2-0 vs. the spread against UW the last 3 years. Oregon is averaging over 450 yards of total offense per game and UW is giving up 383 yards per game. . I don’t expect UW to throw for many yards against the Oregon defense as they are only giving up 144 passing yards per game. After all that, who really cares? I like the ducks at Autzen, but not by too much. If you can get the points around 13, I say take it. If you’re stuck at 16 or 17 I would take caution.

Pick: Oregon (-13.5)/ UW (+16.5)
Prediction: Oregon 35 – UW 21

3:30 P.M.

Arizona
@
Washington State (-16)

The Cougs! Their three losses were all to top-10 teams, but three of their first wins were against cupcakes. Their performance against UCLA, especially on defense, was impressive. They seem to have their swagger even with their third string d-tackles playing often. WSU is banged up and is lucky to have Arizona coming to town instead of a more difficult game. The weather in Pullman should be frigid and wet, not beneficial for the Wildcats who are coming from the warm weather of Tucson. Willie Tuitama is questionable, but I believe he will play (which is dumb). Both teams are tough against the run, allowing less than 110 yards per game each. However, the problem is that Arizona can’t run the ball themselves. If Tuitama plays, it may cause fits for the WSU defense and add a couple of points they otherwise wouldn’t get. I still don’t see Arizona winning. Arizona will be in the game until the late third quarter when a Jason Hill touchdown will open up the score. Cougs roll.

Match-up of the week: Jason Hill vs. Antoine Cason

Pick: WSU ( -16)
Prediction: WSU 35 – Arizona 16

4:30 P.M.

UCLA
@
California (-17)

Everyone say goodbye to Karl Dorrell. This game will be the final straw for an already disgruntled Athletic Director. The pass defense of UCLA is terrible and Cal should be the benefactor this weekend. Look for Nate Longshore and DeShean Jackson to hook up for over 150 yards in this game. If there was fantasy college football, I would definitely be starting DeShean Jackson this week! Patrick Cowan will be having nightmares about the Cal defense for weeks and the UCLA Frat Bro’s in powder blue rugby shirts will be getting their nails done by halftime. UCLA will score late to add some points.

Pick: Cal (-17)
Prediction: Cal 51 – UCLA 24

1:00 P.M.

Arizona State
@
Oregon State (-2)

The Beavers have been drunk all week after the biggest victory in the history of Corvallis. Mike Riley isn’t known as a disciplinarian, and I could see problems with handling the high’s of last week. Come back to earth OSU! You’re not THAT good! This is the same team that got slaughtered by Boise State and Cal in addition to barely scoring against WSU. ASU is not great, but they do have offense. I think they protect Rudy Carpenter long enough for him to pick apart an overconfident OSU defense. ASU is 2-0 against OSU over the last 3 years and I think they have it again.

Pick: Arizona State (+2)
Prediction: Arizona State 24 – OSU 23
Money line for ASU: +111

Picks from across the nation:

Georgia Tech (-4.5)
@
N.C. State

I just don’t see NC State putting up enough points to cover such a small spread. Calvin Johnson is a definite game changer and will score enough to cover this spread.

Pick: Georgia Tech

Kent (-16)
@
Buffalo

K, Stanford isn’t the worst team in the nation. That honor goes to Buffalo. Even in a damn typhoon they couldn’t stop BC, who is not known for blowouts, from beating them senseless. Kent has talent and they will dominate Buffalo who I don’t even think would win the New York High School Football Championship.

Pick: Kent State

TCU (-20)
@
UNLV

UNLV is bad. TCU is good. It’s essentially that simple. TCU turned the ball over 5 times earlier this year and STILL won the game. They will not turn it over 5 times against UNLV and will score at will against a horrible defense. Don’t feel bad for the UNLV players though, they are all bouncers at clubs on the strip and will make $1,000 later that night in tips. What a life…

Pick: TCU

Upset Pick of the Week:

Virginia
@
Florida State

The Seminoles can no longer walk on the field and intimidate their way to a win. They have been decimated by injuries this year and their offense is horrible. Virginia does not have offense either, but BOY DO THEY HAVE A HELL OF A DEFENSE! Drew Weatherford is questionable for this game and we’ll finally see what Xavier Lee can do. It may be a tough first start for the athletic youngster. I look for Virginia to at least cover in this defensive match-up, but if you take the money line you can get some juice on your cash.

Pick: Virginia
(Money Line is +420 for those believers!)

Previews

2006-11-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a game last night between West Virginia and Louisville. Hopefully the Cal-USC game in two weeks is just as exciting. On to the previews for tomorrow:

Washington vs Oregon (-16.5)
Two teams moving in opposite directions. The Huskies are aiming to not lose their fifth game in a row, while the Ducks are trying to build up their confidence before their showdown at USC next week. UW has been competitive in their losses, as evidenced by their back-to-back overtime games, but they are still losses. Since Isaiah Stanback’s injury, Carl Bonnell has been the worst QB not named TC Ostrander in the Pac-10. Not a good sign for Washington’s biggest rivalry game outside of the Apple Cup and Oregon’s biggest outside of the Civil War. Luckily for UW, Kenny James should be back in action, giving them two runners to support Bonnell. Neither James nor Lewis Rankin have been all that impressive, but something is better than nothing when your quarterback’s rating is in the 90s. On the Oregon injury front, Jonathan Stewart should be healthy enough to play, despite getting only getting two carries before leaving the Portland State game last week. Jeremiah Johnson had a big day and plays backup again this week, but Oregon is also without their #3 and #4 backs this week. That means Andre Crenshaw is likely to lose his redshirt and get a chance to play in this game when Stewart gets hurt again. Stewart is fast becoming the Fred Taylor of college football, and he’s not even through his sophomore season yet. Even if Stewart does leave this game early, Dennis Dixon should have a field day playing against the 2^nd worst defense in the Pac-10. That said, UW hasn’t been out of a game since visiting Oklahoma and despite Bonnell’s penchant for throwing interceptions, he has kept the Huskies hanging around in both of his starts. At the very least, it should make for an interesting game.

What UW should watch out for: The Duck aerial attack
What UO should watch out for: What UW is capable of without Bonnell interceptions

Brian’s Pick: Oregon (-16.5)
Mike’s Pick: Washington (+16.5)

Arizona vs Washington State (-16.5)
The Cougars are on a pretty good roll. Even though they have three losses, they have all been to Top 10 teams. In the last two weeks, they’ve dominated the Ducks at home and the Bruins in the Rose Bowl. Alex Brink threw for 400 yards against a decent UCLA defense last week, and Arizona is no UCLA. Expect more fireworks from the Cougar offense this week. Given that the Wildcats haven’t beaten a 1-A team since slipping past BYU in their season opener (Stanford doesn’t count), it seems unlikely they will get a W tomorrow. They do get a little good news because both Willie Tuitama and Adam Austin are healthy enough to play this week. Could there be a quarterback controversy brewing in Arizona? Would anyone outside of Tucson care? It probably won’t matter who starts at QB anyways. Arizona has generated a grand total of 9 yards rushing in their last two real Pac-10 games. Sounds like the Cougar defense should have a pretty fun day.

What UA should watch out for: The Cougar’s point total increasing faster than the national debt
What WSU should watch out for: The Arizona run D

Brian’s Pick: Washington State (-16.5)
Mike’s Pick: Washington State (-16.5)

USC vs Stanford (+28)
This game wouldn’t even have warranted a preview if USC had won last week in Corvallis. That said, it barely warrants one now. The USC offense picked up after the bye week, even if it did produce four turnovers. 492 yards is nothing to laugh at in a road game. In fact, it was the best output for the USC offense all season. The special teams though, not so good. But even as bad as the USC special teams have been, Stanford’s are worse. They are just a special kind of bad. Stanford’s season only seems to get bleaker with every passing week. And if the Trojan players are upset and really come out firing, we may see an incredibly bleak showing by Stanford on Saturday.

What USC should watch out for: Depression after finally losing a Pac-10 game
What Stanford should watch out for: Every facet of the Trojan attack

Brian’s Pick: USC (-28)
Mike’s Pick: USC (-28)

UCLA vs Cal (-17)
Nate Longshore has cooled off over the last few games and he hasn’t thrown a TD since beating Oregon. Thankfully Marshawn Lynch is still a Bear. He has had his two best games of the season the last two weeks and has carried Cal on his back both times. Meanwhile, UCLA has played three games against three pretty good teams under the leadership of Patrick Cowan. And unsurprisingly, they have lost all three while the offense has sputtered under Cowan. And while the Bruins have now lost three in a row, Cal has won their last seven games. UCLA has, statistically, the second best defense in the conference. They’ll need it against a Cal offense that ranks ninth nationally in scoring and seventh in total yards. Unfortunately, they have struggled against the three best offenses they have faced, which uncoincidentally happened to be in the aforementioned three games. Something needs to turn around if the Bruins are going to end this season with a winning record.

What UCLA should watch out for: Longshore returning to form
What Cal should watch out for: Cowan finally breathing life into the Bruin offense

Brian’s Pick: UCLA (+17)
Mike’s Pick: Cal (-17)

*Pac-10 Game of the Week*
Arizona State vs Oregon State (-2.5)
Normally if ASU lost a receiver, their offense would suffer. But given how Dirk Koetter loves to run the ball now, not having Terry Richardson available is not as much of a problem. In fact, both teams have seen their fortunes turn since shifting their offenses to be less reliant on the pass. Both Matt Moore and Rudy Carpenter have looked infinitely better since they have been asked to do less for their teams. Ryan Torain and Keegan Herring have kept defenses off balance enough for Carpenter to rediscover his touch from last season. Meanwhile, Yvenson Bernard and Clinton Polk have done the same for Mr. Moore. Beyond the offensive styles, the Sun Devils and Beavers are extremely similar teams. One of the few differences between them is that Oregon State has the better run defense, while Arizona State has the better pass defense. The other difference is that the Beavers have the devastating Sammie Stroughter as their punt returner. Other than that, they practically mirror each other in all other aspects. The Beavers get Yvenson Bernard back for this game, and considering that they beat USC without him, the Sun Devils better be ready for a fight.

What ASU should watch out for: Bernard and Polk
What OSU should watch out for: Torain and Herring

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

The Weekly Rehash

2006-11-01T07:07:00.000-08:00

Oregon State 33, USC 31
Well, a USC loss had to happen sooner or later. But most people were expecting Cal or Oregon to put one over the Trojans, not Oregon State. Despite three bad first half turnovers, USC was only down by six going into the third quarter. But the third quarter was when things started clicking for the Beavers. They scored 17 points in a row off a solid touchdown drive, a punt return and a field goal after another USC turnover. By then, the Beavers had a 23 point lead and it looked like USC was down for the count. But the Trojans bounced back and despite turning the ball over on downs inside the red zone, JD Booty and Steve Smith still managed to score the game’s next 21 points and come within two points of tying the game. Jeff Van Orsow saved the game for the Beavers, as he tipped Booty’s two-point conversion pass at the line of scrimmage and kept USC from tying the game. After the onside kick was recovered by OSU, the Trojan win streak was over and Cal moved into the driver’s seat for the Rose Bowl.

The Trojan pass rush showed up for the first time since playing Arizona, outsacking Oregon State’s conference leading pass rush, 6 to 2 (Also, it would be nice for USC fans if Lawrence Jackson would show up this season. After recording 10 sacks last year, he still hasn’t gotten to the quarterback once this year). In the end though, it didn’t matter how well the USC defense played, the offensive mistakes consistently gave the Beavers a short field to work with and they took advantage of it. Matt Moore had a solid game, Clinton Polk was a more than adequate replacement for Yvenson Bernard, and Sammie Stroughter could barely be touched by the Trojans.

Going into this game, you would never have predicted that Booty would turn the ball over more than Matt Moore, Clinton Polk would outgain the entire Trojan backfield in his first collegiate start, and that USC would leave Corvallis with a negative turnover margin on the year. After finishing in the top 5 nationally in turnover margin the last five seasons, USC now ranks 71^st in turnover margin.

So what we’ve seen from USC so far this year is that they have a more consistent defense than last season, but the secondary is young and they don’t create turnovers. The offense has been steady, yet unspectacular without the big plays of Reggie Bush. Those two issues go hand in hand. When the offense was crazy good and teams were always playing catch up, USC was forcing teams to make more dangerous throws and they were getting 40 turnovers a year. This year, the Trojans haven’t gotten out to a big lead against anyone since taking a 23 point lead into the fourth quarter against the Razorbacks. That means teams don’t have to be overly aggressive on offense to stay in the game and USC hasn’t done anything to convince teams otherwise. Now the question is whether or not the Trojans will even cover the 29 point spread against Stanford next week. On the bright side, USC scored 20 points in their 59^th straight game. How pointless is that streak. They also get a chance to rebound against Stanford before beginning the brutal final four games of their schedule.

MVP: Steve Smith – 11 receptions for 258 yards and 2 TDs

Washington State 37, UCLA 15
Washington State looks better and better every week, don’t they? At least the Bruins kept it close in the first half, going into the break with a 15-14 lead. Once the third quarter started though, this game was all Cougars. All told, WSU dominated UCLA in every phase of the game. They outgained the Bruins 515 to 326, converted 3 of their 4 fourth down conversions and had the ball for 14 more minutes than UCLA. Alex Brink had another monster day with 405 passing yards and three touchdowns, and now leads the Pac-10 in passing yards. He also remembered that Jason Hill is a pretty capable receiver and actually got him the ball enough for his second 100-yard game this season.

For UCLA, it looks like it’s still impossible to tell which defense is going to show up: Notre Dame at home gets their offense pretty much shut down, WSU’s offense on the road goes berserk. One thing the Bruins can count on: kicker Justin Medlock. He took over the conference lead in scoring with nine more points against the Cougars. He has been absolute money for the Bruins this year, hitting on 90% of his attempts. Given how poor UCLA has been at scoring touchdowns, it’s not a good sign for the Bruins that Medlock has already tied his career high in field goal attempts. Hey, at least the Lou Groza Award may be in his future.

MVP: Alex Brink – 28 of 38 for 405 yards and 3 TDs

Arizona State 26, Washington 23
The Huskies did it again. A week after taking Cal to overtime, they took Arizona State into an extra session as well. And just like Cal, the Sun Devils scored on their second play of overtime to tame the Huskies. Rudy Carpenter had another very efficient game passing the ball, though he let Ryan Torain and Keegan Herring carry the bulk of the offense. The defense played well too, forcing Carl Bonnell to throw two interceptions before getting hurt and limiting the Huskies to only 274 yards.

So why was this game so close? A trick play touchdown on a pass from UW receiver Sonny Shackleford and ASU’s 16 penalties for 127 yards. Good god, Dirk. Have you instilled no discipline in your team? 127 penalty yards? I didn’t know Husky Stadium was that much of a home field advantage. But that advantage isn’t working, as Washington continues to fall. After busting out of the gate with a 4-1 record, they now sit at 4-5 and without Isaiah Stanback, probably won’t make a bowl game this year. Next year Ty and Co. should have something to show the Pac-10.

MVP: Keegan Herring – 6 carries for 98 yards and 2 TDs, 3 receptions for 43 yards

Oregon 55, Portland State 12
Even with a dominating victory, it’s hard to tell what the state of your team is when you play 1-AA schools. Oregon looked fairly solid, though the run D could have been a little better. The Ducks continue to score a lot of points and posted another 400 yard day on offense, but they had a dozen penalties and Dennis Dixon only completed 56% of his passes, his lowest mark of the season. Jeremiah Johnson and Jaison Williams each had big games, and Oregon got contributions in this game from pretty much everyone on the roster. The Ducks have to feel better after rebounding from their loss to the Cougars, but they still have a tough UW team to play, a visit to USC and the Civil War. It's going to be a rough November for the Ducks.

MVP: Jeremiah Johnson – 17 carries for 86 yards and 3 TDs, 2 receptions for 23 yards.

The Pac-10 Apostle’s Disciple of the Week

Once again, this goes to player who had the biggest effect on the biggest victory in the Pac-10 this week, so obviously it must be going to a Beaver.

Stroughter had a punt return for a TD and caught 8 passes for 123 yards en route to the Beavers 33-31 upset of USC. He was pretty much invincible against the Trojan secondary and wasn't even touched on his punt return. Congratulations Sammie, you're the Disciple of the Week.

Week 9 Previews

2006-10-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

-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

2006-10-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

-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

2006-10-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-10-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

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

Week 5 Previews

2006-09-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

USC vs Washington State

This has the makings of a trap game for USC. Fact is the USC offense hasn’t had a complete game yet this season. There were some big plays against Arkansas, but the offense this year is a step slower. USC fans will want to see a more efficient offense on Saturday. While WSU doesn’t have the athletes on defense to match the Trojans, the SC offense has shown that its worst enemy is often itself. Fortunately for SC, the Trojan defense has been dominating. Alex Brink has been inconsistent, and this may be the saving grace for USC if the Trojans struggle to score. Jason Hill will be a factor, and if he can make a few big plays, this game may be close. Then again, if the SC offense finds itself, it won’t be close at all.

Mike’s Pick: USC
Brian’s Pick: USC

Washington Vs Arizona

The Wildcats are coming off an impressive defensive showing against USC, and it’s clear the defense is one of the conference’s better ones. But the offense hasn’t flourished like it was supposed to, as quarterback Willie Tuitama has struggled at times. Washington has finally shown signs of life after three awful seasons. Isaiah Stanback is turning into a playmaker at quarterback, and the Huskies have been able to put points on the board. The home field may make the difference in this one. If Arizona has another solid defensive effort, it will be up to the Wildcat offense to finally show up.

Mike’s Pick: Arizona
Brian’s Pick: Washington

Cal vs Oregon State

Cal looks to continue their tour of redemption, this time with a show in Corvallis. This is also a revenge game for the Bears, who were embarrassed at home by Oregon State last season. Cal is playing some great football right now and the Beavers are coming off the high of beating Dennis Erickson last week. Both teams are feeling good about themselves, so this one could end up being a real slobberknocker. Longshore and company have turned into the Pac-10’s best offense, but there defense still has a way to go. Cal's run defense has struggled this season and Yvenson Bernard is one of the best running backs in the conference. Expect the Beavers to lean heavily on Bernard and if they have done any scouting, they won't let Matt Moore throw the ball anywhere near Daymeion Hughes. The Bears and Beavers both rank in the top 15 in scoring this year, so this game should be a shootout. Only problem is that most of the Beaver's points came against Idaho and Eastern Washington and they got steamrolled by Boise State, while Cal has actually beaten 1-A opponents this season. So expect the Beavers to try and save some face in this game and expect the Bears to keep forcing turnovers and scoring points.

Brian's Pick: Cal
Mike's Pick: Cal

Stanford vs UCLA

Hahahahahahahaha. Chris Markey should have a career day and that's about all you need to know.

Brian's Pick: UCLA
Mike's Pick: UCLA

*Pac-10 Game of the Week*
Oregon vs Arizona State

Check out our preview over on Every Game Counts, the official blog of the NCAA. Its a little ways down there now, so here are the individual links to each part of our preview.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Brian's Pick: ASU
Mike's Pick: Oregon

Jarrett Will Not Play?

2006-09-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

It appears that DJ will not be playing this weekend against the Cougars. Evidently he wants to, Carroll isn't so sure he wants him too. If I were USC, I'd make sure to not clear Jarrett for this game. They are loaded at receiver and WSU's strength is not their secondary. Jarrett needs to be as healthy as possible for the Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame stretch at the end of the season. At least that is what USC fans should be saying. The rest of the Pac-10 would love to see DJ at less than 100 percent for the rest of the season.

Every Game Counts

2006-09-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

Just an FYI for our readers (both of you), Mike and I are currently featured on the official NCAA football blog, Every Game Counts. They picked the ASU-Oregon game as a game of the week type deal and we did a little dueling blogger thing over there. So go check it out and let us know what you think!

Jarrett Will Play?

2006-09-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, it sounds like Dwayne Jarrett is going to try and play this weekend against Washington State. Pete Carroll doesn't need Jarrett this weekend, given the depth the Trojans have at wide receiver, but his presence is sure to keep Cougar DBs on edge. Hopefully he doesn't make it any worse.

The Weekly Rehash

2006-09-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

On a serious note, just want to say congratulations to New Orleans for getting back on their feet. Now onto some football.

What a great weekend. The Pac-10 season started. Colorado almost took down Georgia. Stanford gave up another 800 rushing yards. Michigan State almost killed Touchdown Jesus. Surprisingly, only what happened in the Colorado game was unexpected. The Pac-10 only had one out of conference game on Saturday and boy was it exciting.

It was the much heralded return of Dennis Erickson to Corvallis with his Idaho Vandals. They put up almost 200 yards of offense on one of the Pac-10s poorer defenses and lost 38-0. Mr. Erickson has a lot of work to do if he expects Idaho to be competitive in the next few years. Matt Moore didn't do anything to assuage Beaver fan's quarterback fears, as he barely completed 50% of his passes. Sean Canfield came in and completed all of his passes and ran for a touchdown. A quarterback controversy is brewing, and you probably would have heard about it if anyone outside of Benton County cared about the Beavers.

Speaking of a game people did care about, Cal annihilated Arizona State. Nate Longshore found open receivers all day and Marshawn Lynch ran through the Sun Devil defense like Rosie O'Donnell through a pack of Ho-Hos. While Ryan Torain had an even better day than Lynch, Rudy Carpenter looked terrible. He threw four picks and only completed 45% of his passes. I don't know why I have to keep saying this, but if you play Cal, do not throw at Daymeion Hughes!! He had two more interceptions on Saturday and returned one for a touchdown. He is the best cornerback in the Pac-10 and absolutely shuts down his side of the field. Every Pac-10 QB take notice: if you don't want to turn the ball over, his side of the field should be off limits! In other good news for Cal, Nate Longshore has been on fire ever since leaving Knoxville and it looks like the Bears have completely put that game out of their minds. They look like the team everyone was expecting them to be and Longshore, Lynch and Jackson have become the best "Big Three" in the Pac-10.

Man, how is Stanford so terrible? Last year they were only one win away from making a bowl game and this year they'll be lucky if they get one win. They haven't even held a lead in three of their four losses. They started off the WSU game by giving up a safety and it all went downhill from there. They gave up 238 rushing yards to the Cougars and made Alex Brink look as good as Halle Berry. The Cardinal have let every one of their opponents score at least 35 points this season. It is going to be a long season in Palo Alto. WSU has now won three in a row and gets a chance to prove themselves in the Pac-10 this week as an average looking USC team visits Pullman.

Speaking of USC, they took care of Arizona. While it wasn't pretty, their defense was dominant and looks like one of the best units the Pac-10 has seen in years. Dwayne Jarrett tied the Pac-10 record for career TD catches, even though he may have pushed off a little from Antoine Cason. The Trojans kept their 20 point streak intact, but just barely. They just looked sluggish all night. Maybe if they could stop getting hurt all the time, they may look a little better. This Is Spinal Tap is my favorite movie, so seeing an article correlating the fate of Spinal Tap drummers to USC fullbacks is one of the most original and enjoyable articles I have seen in quite a while. Since that article was written, Stanley Havili went down with a fractured leg. If you're keeping score at home, that's three fullbacks USC has lost to serious leg injuries. Luckily, Havili is expected to miss only 6-8 weeks, not the season like Hancock and Powdrell. But USC keeps getting hammered by injuries. Not only the fullbacks, Sedrick Ellis and Josh Pinkard, but we also learned that Jarrett sprained his shoulder and will miss a couple of games. Given the way the Cougars have been playing, it makes the visit to WSU a little more interesting.

And finally, as I predicted, Isaiah Stanback's performance was the reason UW beat UCLA. The Huskies had 254 yards of total offense and Stanback accounted for 248 of them. The guy is a monster to matchup with and he has proven to be the most dynamic QB in the Pac-10 this season. Southpaw Jesus on the other hand, had his worst game of the season. He averaged four yards per pass and threw a pair of interceptions. The Bruins are in total disarry and Bruins Nation is looking for a new coach. On the bright side, they get Cardinal at home on Saturday. Watch out for some Bruin fireworks if Harris and Company miraculously pull out a victory.

And finally, the Pac-10 power rankings after four weeks:

Rank	Team	Blurb
1.	Cal	Back on their feet with a deadly offense
2.	USC	Offense is sloppy, defense is amazing
3.	Oregon	Bye
4.	Washington	Only managed 52 rushing yards vs UCLA
5.	Washington State	Held stanford to .8 yards per rush
6.	Oregon State	Trounced Erickson and the Vandals
7.	Arizona State	Looks like both the O and the D need help
8.	UCLA	Forced four turnovers and still lost by 10
9.	Arizona	Another loss, but the D held USC to 20
10.	Stanford	Looked about as good as Courtney Love

Looking Ahead

2006-09-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

Alright, the Pac-10 season finally starts today (The UO-Stanford debacle doesn’t count) and there are some pretty intriguing match ups. And who knew Booty was such a hard name to pronounce? Lee Corso just referred to him as “Broty” four times in about ten seconds. And no one corrected him either. Oh well, onto the previews:

USC vs Arizona

The last four times USC has played Arizona, they have scored at least 40 points. I don’t know that the Trojan offense has gelled enough yet to rack up 40 points without some help from their defense, but they’ll definitely hit 20 again. The question is whether the Wildcats can get 20 and make it a game. It should at least be interesting, given that Pete Carroll’s kryptonite is conference openers on the road. Arizona has been disappointing thus far, but they played better last week even if it was against Stephen F. Austin. Arizona may cover the 23 point spread, but they just don’t have the athletes to beat USC.

Brian’s Pick: USC
Mike’s Pick: USC

UCLA vs Washington

Once again, the outcome of this game rests purely on the shoulders of Isaiah Stanback. Ben Olson has something to prove in his first conference game, but Washington is trying to prove that they are the only team that can win at Husky Stadium. Given that UW and UCLA are first and third in the Pac-10 in rushing, there is going to be a whole lot less passing in this game than most Pac-10 fans are used to. As a Trojan I would like to see the Huskies beat the Bruins, but I don’t know that they have enough of a home field advantage to keep UCLA out of it early.

Brian’s Pick: UCLA
Mike’s Pick: UCLA

Oregon State vs Idaho

To steal a line from the Rock, “Finally, Dennis Erickson has come back to Corvallis!” Ehh, doesn’t really work. Oh well, this is the game that all college football fans have all been waiting for, rivaling Steve Spurrier playing Florida and Chuck Amato or Mark Richt playing FSU. That didn’t work either. Hmmm. Guess this game doesn’t really matter. The Vandals are terrible and Beaver nation isn’t exactly thrilled with Mike Riley. So if OSU wins, no big deal. But if they lose, they’ll be calling for Riley’s head.

Brian’s Pick: Oregon State
Mike’s Pick: Oregon State

Washington State vs Stanford

Washington State at Stanford
Stanford: Nice new stadium, second year coach, same bad team. Really, things have looked awful for the Cardinal this year. Washington State struggled against Baylor last week, but should have enough offense to score on Stanford- okay, I can’t think of a team that doesn’t have enough offense to score on Stanford. Trent Edwards will put some points on the board for the Cardinal, but the defense will have to play significantly better than it has so far to win.

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

*Pac-10 Game of the Week*
Arizona State vs California

The Bears have seemingly recovered from an awful start against Tennessee. Of course, it’s easy to recover against teams like Minnesota and Portland State. Still, the Cal offense has performed like we expected them to at the beginning of the season. ASU will be a stiffer test, particularly for the defense. Rudy Carpenter has been extremely efficient so far. Last time Cal faced an efficient quarterback, they couldn’t tackle to save their lives. Still, in a game with two potent offenses, it’s the better defense that generally wins. Cal has experience and talent on the defensive side of the ball, much more so than ASU. A final statistic: Under coach Dirk Koetter, ASU is 0-10 on the road against California schools. Ouch.

Brian’s Pick: Cal
Mike’s Pick: Cal

Finishing Week Three

2006-09-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, 2am on a Friday and I finally have some time to post. Just to finish the recap of last week before starting on this week, I’ll talk about this quick. ASU easily beat Colorado, holding them to a mere 219 yards. Rudy did throw 2 interceptions though, and he wasn’t nearly as sharp as has been the last few weeks. But, it was on the road against a Big 12 school, so keeping them scoreless after an opening drive field goal is pretty impressive. The Sun Devils continue to lead the NCAA in sacks after taking Bernard Jackson down four times in Boulder. Looks like ASU might have a little defense to go with that offense.

Arizona barely had to try to beat Stephen F. Austin. Willie Tuitama only threw nine passes for 61 yards, but it was easily his best performance of the season. Chris Jennings also had his best game, rushing for over 200 yards. The Wildcats didn’t come out of the gate with their best game, but they didn’t need anything near that to take down the Lumberjacks. They will need that if they want to compete with USC though.

Speaking of USC, the Trojans looked dominant in taking down the Cornhuskers. John David Booty is the real deal, though having Dwayne Jarrett to throw to sure makes his job look easy. Jarrett is just a force when he is healthy. He broke Mike Williams’ career TD record in the game, and he will likely break the Pac-10 record against Arizona. Losing Ryan Powdrell for the season will really hurt. After losing Brandon Hancock to a knee injury, the last thing USC needed was to see Powdrell dislocate his ankle like that. Major props to Brent Musberger and ABC for slowing down the replay of the injury so everyone could see Powdrell’s ankle snap. Really didn’t need to see that replayed after the commercial break. Twice. Thanks ESPN on ABC. Just for that, you're injury replays are on notice!

Next time leave the injury replays to youtube. As good as the Trojan offense has looked, the defense is what has been really impressive. They are leading the Pac-10 in scoring defense and have held Nebraska and Arkansas to a 3^rd down conversion rate of less than 30 percent. Looks like playing Louisiana Tech and Nicholls State isn’t the best way to warm-up for one of the top teams in the country.

The Weekend That Was

2006-09-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well, lets start with the all the drama. It has become quite obvious through the replays and all the youtube videos that Oregon not only touched the onside kick before Oklahoma, but that they did not even recover the kick. It was pretty obvious at the time that the replay officials had no idea what they were doing, because Stevie Wonder would have overturned the call just based on the first contact. The Pac-10 suspended the officials, and rightfully so. How they awarded possession to the Ducks without even finding the football absolutely baffles me. All that being said, Oklahoma still had a lot of opportunities to win that game. They could have stopped Oregon at any point after the kick and should have made that field goal after Oregon blew their kick coverage. The pass interference call was bad too, but Oklahoma should have won that game regardless of the outcome of either of the replays. Sooner fan only has Oklahoma to blame for that loss. So please, stop threatening to kill the replay official. Stop trying to get the game voided. Everyone catches a break once and a while and the Sooners still should have won after the botched calls. What gets lost in all this is that Oregon and Oklahoma played one hell of a game. The Ducks came back from 13 down to win with only three minutes to play. Then they gave up a 55 yard kick return to set up a potential game winning field goal. Momentum was back and forth all game. The Ducks rolled up 500 yards of offense on one of the Big-12's better defenses, despite committing four turnovers. Adrian Peterson and Jonathan Stewart also had one of the best running back duels we will see all season. Just an incredible game all the way around. So hats off to Oregon and Oklahoma. For those of us who watched the whole thing, it is not a game we will forget any time soon.

Getting back to the Pac-10, this was a great weekend for the conference. Not only did Oregon beat Oklahoma, but we swept the Big-12 on Saturday. Bruce Feldman finally moved the Pac-10 up to third on his power rankings. I say it's still not high enough!!!

The Cougars took care of Baylor, but just barely. They had to kick a last second field goal just to win at home. For those of you who may not rememeber, the Bears have not even played in a bowl game since 1994. Cougar fans are not happy with the performance of one Alex Brink and rightfully so. He was a disaster against Auburn and despite their depth at wide receiver, Brink has been unable to get Jason Hill and company the ball.

UW took down Fresno State, who must be disappointed after almost beating Oregon. Of course, if they would have made that extra point, they might have had a shot at winning. Isaiah Stanback proved that his play decides the level of competitiveness for the Huskies. When he can create with his feet and find his receivers, UW is going to be a threat. Coach Willingham, you have reason to celebrate, as the Pac-10 Apostle no longer has you on notice!

Cal handled Portland State easily at Memorial Stadium. We didn't really learn anything from this game. Marshawn Lynch only needed six carries to break 100 yards and Cal overmatched the Vikings from kickoff. Lost in all of Lynch's hype is that DeSean Jackson is fast becoming one of the best receivers in the country. After 114 yards and three TDs last week, he had another 100 yard game against PSU. Daymeion Hughes returned a pick for a touchdown as well. Lesson to all Cal opponents, beware the risks when you throw the ball near Daymeion Hughes!

Walt Harris, good god, what are you doing? You let Navy get 30 first downs and they only completed nine passes!!! Everyone knows they are going to run the ball down their opponents throat, but you couldn't stop them at all. UMass and Eastern Carolina both put up better fights then you. Next week, try showing up.

I'll post more when my hectic schedule is over.

USC's Powdrell Hurt

2006-09-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, that was a brutal tackle. Nebraska's defender landed right on the back of Powdrell's leg as Powdrell was twisting down. It looked like a broken leg, but ESPN on ABC on COX on TV said it may be a dislocated ankle. Thats two fullbacks out for USC's season now. The Pac-10 Apostle wishes you good luck on your rehab Ryan.

Oregon Wins a Thriller!!

2006-09-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

What a great game. A win like this should mean the Pac-10 gets a little national respect. Unfortunately, the refs screwed up two calls that went to instant replay. When Dan Fouts is arguing against Oregon, you know the call is pretty obvious. So I am sure we will see people complaining that the Ducks shouldn't have won. Oregon probably shouldn't have gotten the chance to win, but they put Oklahoma in a position where they could win the game, and the Sooners choked. The Ducks played a perfect offensive game in the last couple minutes, then screwed up on special teams to almost cancel out the victory. If Oklahoma didn't get a chance at a makeable field goal after Oregon took the lead, I'd say the victory was a little tainted. But they did have that chance to win and the Ducks stepped up to preserve the victory. Long live Mike Bellotti!!!!

What a Day

2006-09-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

Seriously, could the NCAA have tried to schedule Separation Saturday a little earlier in the season? No TiVo = sucks to be me. The Pac-10 has a lot to prove against the Big-12 today. Kirk Herbstreit agrees. Baylor, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Colorado are going down!!

-Here is a bigger piece on how important the OU-UO game is to the Pac-10. Oregon can't lose to the Sooners three times in a row, can they?

-Pat Forde favors both USC and Oregon today. He has a good reason for picking USC - they have not lost at the Coliseum since Pete Carroll's third game as coach. Bruce Feldman feels exactly the same way.

-You know, people often say that kickers aren't real football players. I admit, their position is a little different and they are the only players who put their actual foot on the ball. But how many players get stabbed by their teammates and are ready to play after one week?

-Conquest Chronicles has some great takes on the whole Reggie Bus h marketing saga. Bruins Nation has some if you hate USC. I say we wait for the NCAA to do something logical. If athletes can go pro in one sport and still retain eligibility in another, the NCAA will always have problems differentiating between amateurs and professionals. In my opinion, I think the NCAA needs to contribute a lot more to the student-athlete dichotomy than they currently do, otherwise players will always feel like they are being exploited and deserve some kind of payment.

Pac-10 Game of the Week

2006-09-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

USC vs Nebraska

This is it, the USC home opener!! I hate bye weeks early in the season because it kills momentum. People were questioning USC after losing two Heisman winners and nine other players to the NFL. USC rolled into Arkansas and summarily dispatched the Razorbacks with nary a whimper. Then they had to sit around for two weeks and wait for someone to come to the Coliseum. How much you want to bet that the Trojans are just waiting for someone to come into their house and then unleash that extra week of aggression on them? That someone is Nebraska. Surprisingly, the Huskers dont run the option anymore. Who knew? I didn't, but that is probably because Nebraska has been hiding under a rock and most of us haven't heard anything about them in a couple of years. That kinda sucks for USC. The secondary has the most questions of any unit on the team and they are again being decimated by injury, this time by Josh Pinkard. That is the good news for Zac Taylor. The bad news is that USC still has a pretty good front seven. He will be under pressure. A lot. And he will be sacked. A lot. For USC, this is a chance to put themselves and the Pac-10 in the limelight. Even though it seems like every important game is happening this week, USC still has something to show to voters. Yes, they beat an SEC team, but it was Arkansas. How will they do against an actual defense? I say the USC offense is too strong for the Blackshirts. They have a very athletic front seven, but Adam Carriker won't get to Booty much if he has to get past Sam Baker. Two of the best in the country going mano-a-mano and it should be the individual matchup to watch all game. If Baker does give Booty time to throw, he will find Jarrett and Co. and keep the Huskers from stopping the Trojan offense. It should be a very good matchup, but Nebraska just doesn't have the offensive balance to score another 50 points Saturday. USC is not Nicholls State.

Brian's Pick: USC
Mike's Pick: USC

Week Three Preview: Part Two

2006-09-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

Arizona State vs Colorado

Colorado lost to 1-AA Montana State and has scored 20 points in two games this season. The Sun Devils are 8^th nationally in scoring, the Buffs are 109^th. I could keep rattling off stats, and talking matchups, but there’s no reason.

Brian’s Pick: ASU
Mike’s Pick: ASU

Arizona vs Stephen F. Austin

This week, Willie Tuitama and Arizona should get back on track. That is usually what happens when you play a 1-AA team (unless you’re Colorado). Arizona has been unimpressive in both of their games this season. They escaped with a win against BYU and got hammered by LSU last week. Coming into this season, most people were expecting them to be competitive in the Pac-10. The way they have started, it doesn’t look like they’ll be getting more than two wins in conference play again. This game should say a lot about whether Arizona is going to come to play for the rest of the season.

Brian’s Pick: Arizona
Mike’s Pick: Arizona

Washington State vs Baylor

The Bears best player is a punter.

Brian’s Pick: WSU
Mike’s Pick: WSU

Washington vs Fresno State

The Huskies and the Bulldogs both put up good fights last week. Fresno State’s was expected, Washington’s wasn’t. Dwayne Wright ripped apart Oregon’s run defense last week, and I don’t think that Washington’s is going to be able to stop him this Saturday. So, UW will have to go after Tim Brandstater. Washington kept it close with Oklahoma because they forced turnovers. If they can get Brandstater to make some mistakes, Rankin and James will get the chance to really wear down Fresno's defense. But like all UW games this year, this one depends on Stanback. Is he going to play like a predator or play like prey?

Brian's Pick: Washington
Mike's Pick: Fresno State

Week Three Preview: Part One

2006-09-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

Oregon vs Oklahoma
This is a game the Pac Ten really needs. An Oregon win would validate the Pac-Ten to some degree, but if Oregon loses it is unlikely the conference will have any chance at having two BCS teams. Oregon’s offense can play with anyone- Two solid quarterbacks, four or five effective receivers, and one of the best running backs in the nation. Defensively, Oregon hasn’t demonstrated that it can hang with the big boys yet, but this could be the Ducks’ chance. Remember, this is also a revenge game for the Ducks after tanking in the Holiday Bowl in January. Oklahoma has tremendous talent on defense, but the offense is still working out the kinks with new (and yet, old) quarterback Paul Thompson. Oklahoma looked mediocre at best against Washington and even worse in a win against UAB. The fact that the game is being played in Eugene should help the Ducks significantly. If Oregon can focus on slowing Peterson and make Thompson throw the ball, the Ducks should win this game. But if Peterson is able to make significant yards after contact, this will be yet another game that has Pac-Ten fans throwing up their hands.

Mike’s Pick: Oregon
Brian’s Pick: Oregon

Stanford vs Navy
The question I have to ask myself for this game: Is Navy better than San Jose State? Unquestionably the answer is yes. Moreover, this is a Stanford team that gave up nearly 350 rushing yards to San Jose State. Since Navy has thrown the ball about 3 times this century, that doesn’t bode well for the Cardinal. Making things worse is the fact that Stanford receiver Marc Bradford has a torn ACL and is done for the season. There’s no question Trent Edwards can be a great quarterback, but can he single-handedly carry the Cardinal past the Midshipmen?

Mike’s Pick: Navy
Brian’s Pick: Navy

Cal vs Portland State
Cal followed up an abysmal performance at Tennessee with a blowout win against Minnesota, demonstrating that the team does still have a pulse. There’s not much to say about this game, and since I hate it when teams play 1-AA schools, I’d rather pretend this game isn’t happening than tell you something about the efficiency of Portland State’s quarterback, or some other meaningless drivel.

Mike’s Pick: Cal
Brian’s Pick: Cal

Week Two Recap

2006-09-12T01:22:00.000-07:00

Hmm, don’t really know what to say about this week. Overall, it was a pretty disappointing weekend for the Pac-10. Stanford AND Oregon State lost to WAC teams, Arizona was outgained by 300 yards by an SEC team, and both UCLA and Oregon had much closer games than they wanted. On the bright side, WSU rebounded nicely with 56 points, Cal did the same against Minnesota and the Sun Devils dropped almost 500 yards on Nevada.

So let’s take a look at what we learned this weekend:

-This just in: Adrian Peterson is good. The Huskies actually showed up for the Peterson led Sooners and played them tough for 3 quarters. Unfortunately, the other quarter saw Peterson and Oklahoma score 17 points. Isaiah Stanback had a pretty rough game, so UW was lucky to get good performances on the ground from Rankin and James. Evidently, getting beat up by Rufus Alexander resulted in Stanback designing a hideous myspace page.

-Cougar fan has to be glad that Alex Brink rebounded from his miserable performance at Auburn. Even without starting tailback DeMaundray Woolridge, WSU still ran for almost 350 yards. As I wrote earlier, can’t wait to see more Dennis Erickson. Only two more weeks!

-As a Trojan fan, the thing that scares me the most in the Pac-10 right now is Oregon’s defense. Their safeties fly all over the field and they hit the Bulldog’s hard all night long. Jeremiah Johnson was a more than suitable substitute for Jonathan Stewart(who did score a TD), so the Ducks should have a nice two-headed monster for the rest of the season. Oregon did give up way too many yards on the ground though.

-Hey OSU, what happened? Things were looking good when you scored the first 14 points of the game, but then you gave up 42 in a row. 42! You also can’t give up 300 yards on the ground to a WAC team. Matt Moore has to be on the hot seat after another lazy effort. Looks like readers over at Building The Dam are hopeful that Canfield starts against Idaho.

-We found out that Cal isn’t dead, which is good news for them. But Coach Tedford, where was this gameplan against Tennessee?? Nate Longshore actually looked like a quarterback and Marshawn Lynch also restarted his Heisman campaign with 139 yards and two touchdowns. Like I predicted, Minnesota rushed for less than 200 yards and lost. Look for Cal to do more of the same against Portland State.

-Stanford, holy crap. What the hell happened? I was singing your praises at halftime, and then you went and laid an egg in the second half. How do you not score during an entire half of football versus San Jose State? Unbelieveable. Walt Harris, you have now taken over Ty Willingham’s position as Pac-10 coach who should immediately be fired. Pat yourself on the back Walt, you're on notice!

-USC didn’t play this weekend, but Reggie Bush did. I watched the game and wasn’t alone in thinking that he looked pretty impressive.

-UCLA pulled off a victory against Rice, though Ben Olson didn’t look quite as sharp as the week before. Markey and Bell both had amazing games though. Bruins Nation isn’t very happy with Mr. Dorrell.

-Arizona didn’t really have much of a chance against LSU, but they should have put up more than a field goal with a minute left. 54 yards in the first three quarters? Good god. Thanks for helping make the Pac-10 look respectable. Willie Tuitama left the game with a concussion, but Adam Austin didn’t play much better. So far this year, Willie has a completion percentage under 50 and is averaging 4.2 yards per pass. Maybe he’s had a concussion all season....

-Dirk Koetter’s decision to start Rudy Carpenter is looking pre-tay, pre-tay good. His quarterback rating through two games: 205.99. Too bad its been against Northern Arizona and Nevada. Next week: Colorado, who lost to a 1-AA team. I say Carpenter has another great game.

So after all that, what do my Pac-10 rankings look like this week?

1.	USC	Didn't play
2.	Oregon	Beat a good Bulldog team
3.	Arizona State	Carpenter lit up the skies again
4.	UCLA	Only beat Rice by 10
5.	Cal	Came back to life with 531 total yards
6.	Washington State	46 point win, but it was against Idaho
7.	Arizona	Eaten alive by the Bayou Bengals
8.	Oregon State	Gave up 42 points in a row
9.	Washington	Couldn't keep pace with the Sooners
10.	Stanford	Speechless

Feel free to post your thoughts!

Non Pac-10 Thoughts

2006-09-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

-Iowa played terribly yesterday, beating lowly Syracuse 20-13 in double overtime. But watching them hold off Syracuse was incredible. Syracuse had eight consecutive plays inside the five yard line in the second overtime. Yes, eight! And yet they still couldn't get across the goal line. Simply the best goal line defensive stand I have ever seen, even if they did commit two pass interference penalties.

-Akron and NC State had a great ending to their game as well, even though the first 58 minutes were terrible. Akron scored the game winning touchdown with no time left to drop the Wolfpack. Coach Amato, you are now at the top of the coaching hotseat.

-Northwestern lost to 1-AA New Hampshire, 34-17. How a BCS team gives up 34 to a 1-AA opponenent, neither I nor Dan Hawkins know.

-Air Force, how do you go for a two point conversion with almost no time left, on the road, versus the #11 team in the country? Kick the extra point and give yourself a chance to win later.

-Ohio State took it to Texas, holding them to 154 yards. One of the few times in my life I will ever pull for the Buckeyes to win.

-Notre Dame and Auburn both leapfrogged USC in the AP poll, thanks to impressive wins on Saturday. In week three, USC gets Nebraska, Notre Dame gets Michigan and Auburn gets LSU. Should make for an interesting weekend.

UW Made it Interesting

2006-09-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

-This is the same team that almost lost to San Jose State? I don't believe it. Trent Edwards is picking them apart right now.

-Thankfully the Cougars destroyed Idaho. 650 yards from WSU? The Dennis Erickson era looks like it will be tremendous.

-LSU is bringing the pain to Arizona. The Wildcats have 30 yards(!!) and we're almost at halftime.

ESPN Does Some Things Right

2006-09-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

My friends and I always get a kick out of listening to Mike Gottfried announce games on ESPN because he always sounds like he had a few before the game. He slurs his words, adds bizarre voice inflections, tacks an extra ‘s’ on to the end of words, interjects obscure analogies and pauses for a few seconds between syllables. He’s like the Rick Sutcliffe of college football. In short, right now I am enjoying this Rutgers and Illinois game a lot more than I should.

Week Two Preview: Volume Two

2006-09-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Oregon vs. Fresno State – The Pac-10 Apostle Game of the Week

Ok Oregon, it’s up to you to save the conference this week. Like OSU, you’re playing a tough WAC team on the road. The big difference is that you’re a better team than the Beavers. But after hyping you up last week, you gotta come through. A loss here will mean that no one outside of the Pac-10 will believe in this conference. Tom Brandstater won’t be mistaken for Paul Pinegar this week, but Dwayne Wright tore through the Nevada defense last week and looks like he has recovered from his knee injury. Stanford ran the ball hard against Oregon last week, but only for 2.9 yards a carry. Fresno State will have much better success, even with the inexperience of Brandstater. Oregon really enjoyed playing a suspect Cardinal defense, and the Bulldog’s isn’t likely to fare much better against Crowton’s spread this week. Jonathan Stewart may be limited after spraining his ankle, but there shouldn’t be much of a drop-off as Jeremiah Johnson looked almost as good as Stewart did last week. Oregon has a tough road matchup this weekend, but they have the talent to overcome a raucous Bulldog crowd. As long as Oregon keeps the turnovers down, they should leave Fresno with a W.

Brian’s Pick: Oregon
Mike’s Pick: Oregon

UCLA vs. Rice

Rice had great 2005, finishing 1-10 in a tough Conference USA. Sorry, I was trying to make this game sound competitive. Rice hung tough with Houston in their season opener, but they don’t have much talent on offense or defense. UCLA won by 40 points last year, and you can expect more of the same again this week. Ben Olson gets another chance to sharpen up before conference play begins for UCLA next weekend. The thing to watch in this game is whether Bell, Markey or Moline takes over as the heir apparent of Maurice Drew.

Brian’s Pick: UCLA
Mike’s Pick: UCLA

California vs. Minnesota

Cal needs to get back on the horse today. After a devastating loss to Tennessee, they’ll need this one to keep Bear fan from calling for Jeff Tedford’s head. Minnesota isn’t much of a passing team; they love to run the ball. That’s good news for Cal, as they showed that no Tim Mixon means they cannot stop the pass. Marshawn Lynch and whoever gets to play quarterback need to get on track early, as Minnesota is going to run for a lot of yards. They had more than 300 against lowly Kent State last Saturday, but it’s their strength and they’re going to go to it all day. If Cal can keep them under 200 yards on the ground, they shouldn’t have a problem in this one.

Brian’s Pick: Cal
Mike’s Pick: Cal

Arizona State vs. Nevada

After skipping past 1-AA Northern Arizona, the Sun Devils need to prove they can beat real football teams. Jeff Rowe is a pretty good quarterback, but he doesn’t have the weapons around him to be that effective. ASU should be able to score at will, as Nevada gave up 38 points per game last year, including 55 to Washington State. Rudy Carpenter will have passing lanes free all night long, so don’t expect anything but a high scoring affair.

Brian’s Pick: Arizona State
Mike’s Pick: Arizona State

ESPN Has Gone Too Far

2006-09-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure my brain just imploded. College GameDay just started off a segment that showed how great of an athlete Bo Jackson was. No problem there, but what does Bo Jackson have to do with anything this weekend? Obviously, it was to compare him to Jeff Samardzija. What!? You're comparing the greatest athlete (running back, center fielder, decathlete) of modern times (who also happend to be a Heisman Trophy winner, remember that ESPN researcher?) to a wide receiver/pitcher? Please. I don't know if I have ever seen a more asinine comparison on national television. Samardzija is a good player, but he couldn't be Bo's bathroom attendant. Can you imagine how upset I would be if Bo actually went to a Pac-10 school? Just ridiculous. Doesn't ESPN have quality control? How could this happen? I just don't get it. So to you ESPN, in the immortal words of one Vin Scully, Bo Jackson says "hello?!"

Week Two Preview: Volume One

2006-09-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

Washington vs. Oklahoma

The Huskies shut down the San Jose State running game last week, any chance they duplicate the feat this week? I doubt it. Adrian Peterson had more than 200 yards last week against UAB and he’s likely to run all over Washington again on Saturday. Paul Thompson isn’t Rhett Bomar, but he doesn’t have to be with Peterson behind him. Whatever Stanback and Shackelford can do against a tough Oklahoma defense, it likely won’t be enough to keep up with Peterson, let alone the rest of the Sooner offense..

Brian’s Pick: Oklahoma
Mike’s Pick: Oklahoma

Washington State vs. Idaho

Dennis Erickson and Idaho gave up 400 yards of total offense to Michigan State in their season opener. In 2005, the Spartans averaged 500 yards per game. Holding a team 100 yards under their average is a nice showing for a little WAC team. Given how the Cougars didn’t exactly set the world on fire against Auburn, this game is probably going to be pretty close. Because OSU already lost to a WAC team this week, we can’t have it happen again. Woolridge probably needs a big game if the Cougars are going to pull this one off.

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

Stanford vs. San Jose State

We all saw last week that the Spartans were pretty competitive against the Huskies. We also saw the Cardinal cower in shame at the offensive force that is the Oregon Ducks. This is probably going to be a close game, even though it shouldn’t be. Stanford could barely manage to put points on the board last week, but Edwards should be able to get the scoreboard numbers rolling in Stanford’s favor. Walt Harris, I will tell you the same thing I told Coach Willingham: Do not let this game be close! You’re representing an entire conference here. I will put you on notice if you do not win this handily.

Brian’s Pick: Stanford
Mike’s Pick: Stanford

Arizona vs. LSU

The Tigers haven’t lost to a Pac-10 team since 1979. Pretty sure that’s still going to be true tomorrow night. The Wildcats struggled to put away BYU, I doubt they’ll even be that competitive in tomorrow nights game. Willie better pull off something special, because LSU is better at virtually every aspect of the game. LSU hammered Lousiana-Lafayette by 42 last weekend, so every Tiger is ready and waiting for the feast that is Arizona. Good luck Stoops! I am hoping you can somehow pull the major upset off, but I think it is still a year too early.

Brian's Pick: LSU
Mike's Pick: LSU

Thank You Beavers

2006-09-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

Another out of conference loss. The Pac-10 is really impressing all of its doubters. Cal goes down in flames on national TV. Washington State couldn't even get its best player the ball against Auburn. Now OSU loses on primetime to a WAC team. Faaaantastic. Arizona and Washington are probably going to lose tomorrow to LSU and Oklahoma too. I ask you Pac-10, where is your pride? Somebody aside from USC do something to assuage my fears.

Oregon State vs. Boise State

2006-09-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

There should be some fireworks in Idaho tonight. OSU gets a chance to help prove that the Pac-10 isn't soft, but theyll have to beat a decent Bronco team on the road. Yvenson Bernard is likely to be the focal point of the OSU attack, but it should be interesting to see how much time Matt Moore spends on the bench. Sean Canfield played much better than Moore a week ago and likely has earned some playing time tonight. Jared Zabransky's job is safe at Boise State and he leads a talented offense against an unproven Beaver secondary. They were awful last year, and one game versus Eastern Washington didn't truly show if they have improved. Since both teams are likely to light it up if given time to throw, this one is probably going to be won in the trenches. The Beavers have a little more to prove than Boise State, who have shown they're one of the top non-BCS programs in the country. If the Beavers offensive line can keep holes open for Bernard, hopefully the Beavers can take this one.

Brian's Pick: OSU
Mike's Pick: OSU

How good is Oregon?

2006-09-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

After the Cal debacle, it seems clear that Oregon is at least the second best team in the conference. But how good is Oregon? It's tough to tell from the Stanford game, but the offense looks potent to say the least. Oregon is legitimately 4 or 5 deep at WR, and Jonathan Stewart looked like the conference's best RB. Dixon's mobility is a great fit for the spread offense.

The uniforms managed to get worse though. I don't know who thought those metallic looking marks on the shoulders would be a good idea. I can't wait until someone brings the wrong color combination on a road trip- with 4 different jerseys, 4 different pants, and several helmets, it's bound to happen at some point.

Oregon will be tested a bit more defensively against Fresno State and Oklahoma. If Oregon wins both games handily, they will likely be the Pac Ten's hope for a second BCS team- assuming USC is the other. Who knows, maybe the Nov. 11 showdown at the Coliseum will be closer than we think. It's unlikely the Trojans will lose at home in November, but Oregon has a chance to be a bright spot for the conference this year regardless of what happens in that game. And I mean bright in the literal sense, especially when they wear the yellow jerseys.

AP Poll

2006-09-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

The new AP Poll is out, and it's good news for USC as they made a big leap from #6 up to #3. The bad news for USC is that safety Josh Pinkard is out for the season. USC isn't the only top 25 team to lose a key player. Other players out for the season after just one week include RB Michael Bush of Lousiville and LB Anthony Waters of Clemson. USC has to either replace Pinkard with freshmen or move Dallas Sartz from linebacker to safety. If Sartz moves to safety, it clears up a bit of a logjam at linebacker and would let Cushing, Lua, Maualuga and Rivers all play in the 3-4. Considering that Pete Carroll loves playing freshmen and two of USC's top recruits last year were safeties, USC shouldn't have a problem filling the spot with them or Sartz. Inexperience at the position could be a problem though. USC does get a week off before they play Nebraska, so whoever fills in for Pinkard should get enough reps in practice to be effective against the Cornhuskers.

Cal took the biggest hit of any team in the poll, dropping from #9 to #22. Along with Miami, they are the only teams in the top 25 that took a loss. I know some people think Cal's season is over, but conference play hasn't started yet and they could still go 11-1. It isn't that likely to happen, but it could with improved play from Ayoob or Longshore or whoever lines up under center. That running game is going to be scary for each and every Pac-10 defense that has to face it, not to mention Minnesota this weekend.

Evidently, Oregon only moved up because Cal lost, despite their dismantling of the Cardinal. They may get some much deserved respect if they can tame Fresno State's offense and put on another show in Fresno this weekend.

Arizona State fell down to #25 after their victory over Northern Arizona. They better get their heads on straight against Nevada and Colorado, because they have a tough stretch playing Cal, Oregon and USC in consecutive weeks.

The Pac-10 announced its players of the week: UCLA's Ben Olson on offense, USC's Keith Rivers on defense and Arizona's Nick Folk on special teams

Week One Recap

2006-09-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well, Wazzou didn't pull the upset, and the Pac-10 teams hold their united heads in shame after losing two of three to the SEC. The good news is we swept the Mountain West and won the rest of our games, so at least we don't look as bad as Colorado and the Big 12. Cal was utterly disappointing in their visit to Tennessee, but at least USC dominated Arkansas to save some conference face.

So what did we learn this weekend?

-The Huskies won. However, I think Willingham has to be on the hot seat after escaping, at home, with a six point win over lowly SJSU. I'm not alone in my disappointment, as U-Dub Dish points to some unhappy fans. It was also the smallest crowd at a UW home game since 1981.

-David Irons is really good. He held All-American Jason Hill to a mere four catches for 18 yards. The good news for WSU is that DeMaundray Woolridge looks like he has a little Jerome Harrison in him.

-Oregon clearly became the primary challenger to USC for the Rose Bowl seat. Jonathan Stewart is much man, and he showed it against a hapless Stanford defense. Cause for concern: 120 penalty yards.

-Sean Canfield looked better than Matt Moore, though every Beaver looked pretty good against Eastern Washington. We'll learn more next week against Boise State.

-Stanford has a pretty good quarterback in Trent Edwards. They do not however, have a good defense.

-Cal is probably not a national title contender. They can still salvage the season though, but they have managed to discredit the whole Pac-10. And as bad as Cal's loss was, I still don't think it was as bad as UW's win over San Jose State.

-USC is still the class of the conference. A dominant win over a vengeful SEC team on the road. Booty looks like the real deal, and so do the 17 freshman running backs on USC's roster. Also, USC may actually have a defense this year, though the Josh Pinkard injury is not good.

-UCLA won't suffer much of a falloff this year. Ben Olson filled Drew's shoes admirably and Logan Paulsen did the same for Marcedes Lewis' footwear. Kahlil Bell however, is no Maurice Drew.

-ASU needed a scare before finally showing up against Northern Arizona. The only thing you can really see from a 1-AA opponent is that the Sun Devil secondary looks pretty vulnerable after letting Jason Murietta and Alex Watson connect 11 times for 206 yards and a pair of scores.

-Arizona did not play that well. Luckily for them, BYU didn't play very well either. Arizona was actually outgained by BYU despite holding them to 24 rushing yards. Willie Tuitama will have to actually complete some passes if the Wildcats are going to keep it close against LSU.

This is how I would rank the Pac-10 teams in terms of last week's performance:

1.	USC
2.	Oregon
3.	UCLA
4.	Oregon State
5.	Arizona State
6.	Arizona
7.	Washington State
8.	Stanford
9.	Cal
10.	Washington

In other news:

-Trojan Football News has an article from the LA Times concerning the emergence of one John David Booty.

-Bruins Nation was very excited to see "Southpaw Jesus" succeed versus Utah.

-Bruce Feldman writes about his foolishness in jumping on the Cal bandwagon.

-ASU WR Jamaal Lewis was suspended from the NAU game because he was charged with criminal speedi ng after getting caught going 115 mph after a visit to a Scottsdale nightclub.

-Both Chase Lyman and Mike Hass were cut from the Saints roster, as they moved down to the 53 man threshold. Building the Dam points out that Hass already signed with da Bears.

-Not football related, but the "Crocodile Hunter," Steve Irwin, was killed by a stingray off the coast of Australia.

Thanks For The Memories

2006-09-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Looks like you Bears won't be competing for the national title this year. I was looking forward to the battle with USC for Pac-10 supremacy, but it sure looks like you won't be giving the Trojans a run for the conference title this year. After Oregon's dominating game against Stanford, they look ready to assume your position at the top of the Pac-10. Now USC needs to reaffirm their dominance with a win over Arkansas tonight. Otherwise, the conference looks no better than the Big Sky in most pollster's minds. So Congratulations go out to you Cal. You've managed to undermine our week of effort to get the Pac-10 some credit. Now we have to pray for a Cougar victory to win our battle with the SEC today. They're only two touchdown underdogs, so they have that going for them, which is nice.

Week One Preview: Volume Four

2006-09-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

Alright, it's really Saturday now, so I will make the last two previews short and sweet.

Stanford vs. Oregon

Trent Edwards looks more like an NFL quarterback with each game he plays, but this is still a team that lost to UC Davis last year!! I still don’t believe that really happened. Stanford somehow managed to win five other games, but they don’t have the running game or the defense to keep this one close.

Jonathan Stewart is the obvious star of Oregon’s spread attack. Their most heralded recruit a year ago, he adapted slowly to the college game last season. This season, he is expected to be ready to go and be type of player Mike Bellotti had envisioned last season. Demetrius Williams and Tim Day won’t be targets this season for either Brady Leaf or Dennis Dixon, whoever wins the most playing time at quarterback. That means Cameron Colvin needs to become the deep threat that Williams was last year. On defense, the Ducks lost Haloti Ngata, which is a huge blow to their run defense. The good news is that Williams and Ngata were reunited when Baltimore drafted them both last April. Other than that, Oregon is just looking to improve and hope that the 4-2-5 defense will be effective. In the end, they should still have enough offense to beat the Cardinal at Autzen.

Brian’s Pick: Oregon
Mike’s Pick: Oregon

Cal vs. Tennessee - The Pac-10 Game of the Week

At least Cal finally named a starting quarterback. This will be a tough game for Cal, but the combination of Marshawn Lynch and Justin Fosset are too much for some NFL defenses. Tennessee quarterback (and native Oregonian) Erik Ainge will lose half the field due to the presence of cornerback Daymeion Hughes and Brandon Mebane should provide good pressure for the Bears up the middle. The linebackers for Cal are tremendous and nationally underrated because they play in the Pac-10 (Damn you, east coast bias! Damn you!) and should be active enough to disrupt the Vols offensive gameplan. A healthy Cal team should be able to pull out a close one at Tennessee.

Brian’s Pick: Cal
Mike’s Pick: Cal, then Tennessee, then back to Cal again

-For some other predictions, you can check out Bruce Feldman at ESPN and Stewart Mandel at SI.com

Week One Preview: Volume Three

2006-09-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

Washington State vs. Auburn

Auburn comes into this season off of a stellar 2005, which was really only marred by their loss at the end of the season to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl. Running back Kenny Irons looks to improve on his 1300 yard 2005 campaign and leads an offense that lost most of its talent at wide receiver, but finds itself with a veteran quarterback and offensive line. The other Irons brother on Auburn, defensive back David, will find himself matched up against WR Jason Hill all day with hopes of shutting him down. Aside from losing Marcus McNeil at tackle and most of their wideouts, the other big change for Auburn is shifting Will Herring from safety to linebacker. After being a dominant figure in the Tigers secondary for the past three seasons, they are now trying to get Herring more involved in the action by moving him into the box. Like traditional SEC teams, Auburn should sport a pretty solid defense to go with a great running game. If they are going to stay near the top of the polls all season, Brandon Cox will really have to find open targets downfield, and that means Courtney Taylor improving upon his disappointing 2005 season.

If WSU is going to win this game, they will have to stop the run. Fortunately for the Cougars, their strength is in the front seven. Mkristo Bruce leads a defensive line that knows how to put pressure on the quarterback. WSU’s secondary has not been impressive over the last few seasons, though Cougar fans are hoping the experience of this year’s group means a vast improvement in that area. The big question for Washington State is how to replace Jerome Harrison’s surprising production at running back. DeMaundray Woolridge was effective as Harrison’s backup last season, but is still just a sophomore. QB Alex Brink gets to work with one of the best receiving corps in the conference, if not the country. Jason Hill will obviously be the top target, but the Cougars will really need solid play from Michael Bumpus if they are going to keep Hill from being double covered on a consistent basis. Will Herring’s move from safety to linebacker may leave just enough inexperience at the third level for Jason Hill to make a couple of big plays. That may be the advantage that WSU needs since Auburn figures to be more reliant on the run than the pass, and the Cougars stand a much better chance at stopping the run.

Brian’s Pick: Washington State (Yes, it’s a total homer pick, but I think there’s a possibility they could really scare Auburn)
Mike’s Pick: Auburn

USC vs. Arkansas

A great passing attack would be the easiest way for the Razorbacks to attack the Trojans’ defense. Unfortunately for Arkansas, they have a relatively unspectacular passing game and pedestrian receivers. Tailback Darren McFadden is the apple of Houston Nutt’s eye, but he it appears he won’t be healthy enough to contribute to the Arkansas ground game. With McFadden doubtful due to lingering effects from toe surgery, Arkansas is relying heavily upon Felix Jones to replicate his performance from last year. He is a great kick returner with blazing speed, who also happens to catch the ball well from the backfield. If his performance is going to affect the outcome of the game, Arkansas’ defense better stop the Trojans on more than one occasion. Led by linebacker Sam Olajabutu, the Razorback’s defense is fast and a noble opponent for a new USC offense.

Yes, they lost Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Matt Leinart and eight others to the NFL during the off-season. Despite that, they have the best wide receivers in the country, two top quarterback recruits and more talent than any other football team. That’s what happens when you consistently have the best recruiting classes in the NCAA. John David Booty takes over for Leinart and a stable of running backs, headed by Emmanuel Moody, take the baton from Reggie and LenDale. The offensive line lost three starters, but once again the recruiting of Pete Carroll has left USC with an extremely talented but inexperienced line. USC’s weakness last year (aside from Vince Young) was on the defensive side of the ball. This year’s defense will be more experienced and figures to be much healthier and in turn, a much better unit. Led by one of the best linebacker factions in the country, USC defenders should be swarming on opposing ballcarriers on almost every play. The secondary figures to be the weakest link, but enough pressure on the quarterback from Lawrence Jackson and company should give the Trojans enough breathing room on gameday. Even with Arkansas seeking revenge for 2005’s dismantling, USC knows it cannot afford to lose this game and stay in the picture for the national title.

Brian’s Pick: USC
Mike’s Pick: USC

Week One Preview: Volume Two

2006-09-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

San Jose State vs. Washington

The Answer: 1990. The Question: When was the last time San Jose State played in a bowl game? It has been a long road for San Jose State. After a lowly 3-8 record last year, Dick Tomey is still trying to resurrect the Spartan’s football program. Even as poorly as UW played last year, they were still light years ahead of San Jose State. Don’t expect this Saturday to be any different. Isaiah Stanback should have no trouble throwing on San Jose State's secondary or running past their linebackers. This one should be a laugher, but ASU’s game last night should have been a laugher too. If UW struggles in this one, and I mean really struggles, fire Ty. Seriously, if this game isn't dominated by UW, Ty didn't do his job.

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

BYU vs. Arizona

Bronco Mendenhall started the turnaround at BYU last year, and they should be better in 2006. John Beck won’t have any problems throwing touchdown passes in the Cougar’s wide open attack this season, but he won’t be able to throw enough at Arizona to bring down the Wildcats. Antoine Cason will shut down half the field for Arizona on defense and Beck will have to focus most of his passes on TE Jonny Harline if BYU is going to make this one competitive. Arizona fans are hoping Willie Tuitama gets started on his 2006 Heisman campaign, but they will probably have to wait until next year for anyone else to join them. With a little bit of help on the ground from Chris Henry and company, Tuitama and Arizona shouldn’t have a problem beating the Cougars at home.

Brian’s Pick: Arizona
Mike’s Pick: Arizona

Utah vs. UCLA

Urban Meyer has left his imprint on the Utah program. After going undefeated with Alex Smith at quarterback in 2004, Utah was still able to put up 30 points a game last year. Senior Brett Ratliff takes over for Brian Johnson and his torn ACL as the starting QB this season. Ratliff led the Utes to an Emerald Bowl win against Georgia Tech to put a stamp on last years somewhat disappointing season. Last year’s star running back, Quinton Ganther, will be missed by head coach Kyle Whittingham, but he still has stud safety Eric Weddle on defense. In case you missed it, Weddle held GT’s All-American WR Calvin Johnson to 19 yards in the Emerald Bowl.

UCLA is looking to continue their success despite the departure of most of their offense from last year: QB Drew Olson, RB Maurice Drew and TE Marcedes Lewis. Highly regarded Ben Olson, AKA “Southpaw Jesus,” looks to step in where Drew Olson left off. It may be difficult though, without all the proven weapons that Drew had last season. Junior Taylor or Joe Cowan will have to really step up for UCLA to win more games than it loses. Unfortunately, UCLA also has to replace all of their linebackers as well as safety Jarrad Page on defense. That makes defense the real question mark for the Bruins this year. This game could be a test for UCLA, but the Bruins should have enough weapons to take down Utah.

Brian’s Pick: UCLA
Mike’s Pick: UCLA

The Season is Underway..

2006-09-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

And the Pac-10 is 2-0 baby! Good start to OSU's season, as they clobbered Eastern Washington and ASU blew out Northern Arizona after getting on track in the fourth quarter. Shockingly, Mike and I both picked those games correctly. But, tomorrow is when the fun really starts, as we get to play three SEC teams while Stanford and Oregon kick off conference play.

Some other notes:

-Chris Fowler talks about the SEC vs Pac-10 games this weekend an how the Pac-10 was the only conference brave enough to use the 12th game to play good teams. He also said that the other conferences would find a 12th game against a D1 opponent to be "too tough." Couldn't have said it better myself.

-SI.com has their power rankings of the top 25 teams up. The Pac-10 got four teams in: USC at #4, Cal at #8, Oregon at #18 and ASU at #23. Still waiting for someone other than the lone AP voter who put Arizona at 25 on his ballot to put another Pac-10 team in the top 25.

-The Tucson Citizen picks USC to win the Pac-10.

-In Pac-10 related news, Brynn Cameron's baby daddy sprained his shoulder last night.

-In Saints camp, Reggie Bush is a lock to make the 53 man roster, but two other Pac-10 alums are fighting to be the team's fifth wide receiver.

Around the Pac-10

2006-08-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

-Inside USC with Scott Wolf has a link up to Jeff Sagarin's preseason rankings. USC is a surprising #1, but no other Pac-10 teams are listed until Cal, UCLA, Oregon and ASU show up between 20 and 26.

-Bruin fans are excited about "Southpaw Jesus". He's the one Jesus that failed to get mentioned in Talladega Nights.

-U-Dub Dish predicts a close Washington victory over Arizona. I say Willie and the 'Cats take it.

-Sportsline has four Pac-10 players on both their first and second team All-American lists. Unfortunately, no love for Jason Hill, Lawrence Jackson or Mkristo Bruce. Cougar fans revolt! Actually, are there enough Cougar fans to start a revolt?

-Great post on Sports Illustrated's oxymoronicness (sp?) over at Sturdy Golden Blog. Evidently USC vs Cal is not a "Can't miss" Pac-10 game, but it is a "Must watch" game nationally. Thanks for clearing that up SI.

More game previews coming in the next couple of days!

Leinart to be a Dad...

2006-08-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to follow the personal lives of hollywood stars...err, NFL quarterbacks like Matt Leinart, but apparently he is going to be a father. The mother is former girlfriend and USC standout women's basketball player Brynn Cameron. Cameron will redshirt and miss next season. According to the report, both individuals have the support of their families.

I can think of three people who probably aren't happy right now:

1) How pissed is Paris Hilton? I mean, she thought she had Matt all locked up, and aparently he was more interested in some college basketball player. Can't be good for her ego. Maybe Brynn will replace Nicole Richie on Paris' hit list. Stay tuned for the next E! reality show.

2) How pissed is USC women's basketball coach Mark Trahk? I can't imagine that conversation went over well. The guy is trying to build a program and now has to do it without one of his best players. This certainly brings to light a challenge unique to women's sports. Imagine if JJ Reddick couldn't have played last year because of some personal issue- you think Coach K would be happy? Of course, there's really nothing Trahk can do about it, which only makes him more upset.

3) How pissed is Leinart? Just signed his contract, finally making millions and able to live the NFL lifestyle, and this happens. Hey, maybe I'm not giving him enough credit. Maybe he really wanted this and maybe he will marry Brynn and settle down. And if that's the case, then great. But for some reason I doubt it.

Pac-10 Roundup

2006-08-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

-Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has an article up about five teams who will be better and worse than you think. The Pac-10 gets some mention as Cal and ASU are both listed as being better, and sadly, USC is mentioned as being worse than you think.

-Todd McShay has a column on ESPN regarding the X-factors for the top 16 teams. No surprise that Booty and Longshore are the X-factors for USC and Cal.

-Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union Tribune, has his Pac-10 predictions posted, along with an article calling the Pac-10, minus USC, "soft as Kleenex." Upon you, Mr. Schrotenboer, I call shenanigans. You can't rely on national polls to rank conferences. The voters are historically biased. Plus, there is no context for your statements. We should see every other conference's record without their best team as well, then you can compare the Pac-10 and see where it ranks. On the other hand, the points about the bowl games and out of conference records are much more convincing. An interesting read, but incomplete. This kind of analysis wouldn't pass muster in my MBA classes. To steal a quote from this article and Mike Bellotti:

“For the Pac-10, there's no question these early preseason games and the bowl games are the opportunity to prove to the nation we're the best conference in the nation.”

Right on, Coach. Now just prove it on the field when Oklahoma comes to Autzen.