Week 2

Hay All! What a second week we had to the college football season. I hope the rest fo the season is as exciting as last week. Now, here's the column you've been waiting for, Notes On a Pac 10 Scorecard. (We still miss you, Alan Malamud)

Summaries

USC 18- Ohio State 15: It was a brawl in Columbus, but TB Joe McKnight's late heroics, QB Matt Barkley's poise, and OSU HC Jim Tressel's conservatve nature led to a big win for the Trojans at the horseshoe. While waiting for the USC offense to finally put a great drive together, the Trojan defense was nothing short of spectacular on the night. The Trojan defense gave up only 3 points in the second half. Also, those three points they did give up came after the Trojan offense gave up a safety and OSU had all the momentum. Then, when we got to watch Matt Barkley grow up before our eyes in that final drive. We also got to watch Joe McKnight take over a game.
Telling Stat: Shutdown. USC's defense held the Buckeyes to 79 total yards in the second half.

Oregon 38- Purdue 36: Pride was on the line for both sides in this game. Purdue was playing to salvage some Big Ten pride, while the Ducks were out to regain some pride for their program after that awful game at Boise State. Purdue QB Joey Elliott lit up the UO's secondary for 266 yards and a TD, while TB Ralph Bolden carried the ball 29 times for 123 yards and 2 TDs to keep the boys from West Lafayette in this one to the end. As for the Ducks, QB Jeremiah Masoli threw for 163 yards and ran for 84 yards and a TD of his own. This one came down to a two-point conversion. Elliott's pass was true, but TE Kyle Williams came down out of bounds. UO escaped with the narrow victory.
Telling Stat: Their running game lacked a punch. Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli rushed for more yards than any of the three tailbacks who filled in for suspended Duck TB LeGarette Blount.

Hawaii 38- Washington State 20: This one wasn't nearly as close as the score indicates. With 10:05 to go in the second quarter, Hawaii had a 35-0 lead on the Cougars. Warrior QB Greg Alexander connected on 23 of 36 passes for 453 yards and 3 TDs on the afternoon. If Hawaii hadn't fumbled four times, they could have put 60 on the Cougs. It's gonna be a long year in Pullman.
Telling Stat: This was a sloppy, sloppy game. The two teams combined to commit 19 penalties and 11 turnovers.

Arizona 34- Northern Arizona 17: TB Nic Grigsby ran for 207 yards and 2 TDs while the defense held NAU to 65 yards rushing in the Wildcats victory over the Lumberjacks. The win gave UofA four straight wins dating back to last season. They haven't done that since 2000. UofA ran for 365 yards and held the ball for almost 36 minutes in the winning effort.
Telling Stat: 94 yards and no score. UofA TB Nic Grigsby broke off a 94-yard run only to be tackled at the NAU one-yard line. Backup TB Keola Antolin finished off the drive by scoring from one yard out for the Wildcats.

Wake Forest 24- Stanford 17: Up 17-3 at the break all looked good for the Cardinal. They had dominated the day behind the hard running of TB Toby Gerhart and the arm of QB Andrew Luck. Then, the Demon Deacons woke up, mounting a furious comeback to knot the score at 17 with a little over four miuntes to play. Facing a third down, the Cardinal gave Gerhart the ball and he raced around the right side for 43 yards. It was on this play that Wake Forest got some home cookin'. The ref threw a late flag. He called Stanford for clipping. On the video replay, no foul was seen. SU couldn't convert on third and 13 and had to punt. Wake then drove down the field for the game-winning score. Wake QB Riley Skinner did lead an impressive final drive, but he never would have had the opportunity, if that bad call wasn't made.
Telling Stat: Four. Stanford only had the ball four times in the second half. They missed a field goal and punted three times on those four drives.

California 59- Eastern Washington 7: The Golden Bears overcame a sluggish first quarter, then proceeded to smash the Eagles in Berkeley. 12 different Golden Bears got touches in this one with TB Jahvid Best rushing for 144 yards on 17 carries and a TD, while QB Kevin Riley hit on 13 of 20 passes for 148 yards and a TD of his own. Next up for the Golden Bears is a trip to Minnesota.
Telling Stat: After giving up an 83 yard TD drive in the first quarter, CAL's defense didn't allow a drive longer than 38 yards for the rest of the game.

UCLA 19- Tennessee 15: The other big Pac 10 road win of the weekend was pulled off by UCLA. The bRuins used a strong defensive effort and just enough offense to escape from Knoxville. Neither team shined offensively here. UCLA finished the day with just 186 total yards and UT finished with 208. The difference in the game was the three interceptions thrown by Volunteer QB Jonathan Crompton. These were three of the worst picks ever thrown. I mean these were Jeff George quality interceptions. The victory did not come without a price for the bRuins. QB Kevin Prince had his jaw broken late in the fourth quarter by the UT defense. He'll be out at least a month. One of the key reasons the hit broke his jaw was that he didn't have his mouthpiece in on the play. Kids, always wear that mouthpiece.
Telling Stat: Truly special teams. UCLA PK Kai Forbath connected on four field goals, while P Jeff Locke averaged 47.0 per punt against the Volunteers.

Oregon State 23- UNLV 21: OSU left Las Vegas the way many of us do after trip to the town of $1.99 buffet; with little more than they showed up with. Beaver PK Justin Kahut kicked a 33-yard field goal with :07 to give the Beavers the win. After going up 20-7 at the end of the third quarter, UNLV dominated the fourth quarter. Mike Clausen, (no relation to Jimmy), came off the bench after starting QB Omar Clayton was knocked of the game with a knee injury. He threw for 2 TDs to put the Rebels up 21-20 with 4:16 to play. However, the Rebel defense couldn't hold on at the end and OSU claimed the victory. OSU's Rodgers brothers combined for 231 yards of offense and a TD.
Telling Stat: They couldn't move the chains. OSU and UNLV each had only one drive that went for longer than five minutes in the game.

Washington 42- Idaho 23: The Huskies long nightmare is over. UW snapped their 15 game losing streak with a solid win over the Vandals. Husky QB Jake Locker threw for 253 yards and 3 TDs and TB Chris Polk chipped in with 80 yds on the ground and a TD of his own in the victory. Idaho played the Huskies tough, but just didn't have the talent to last with the dogs to last for four quarters.
Telling Stat: Not much, huh? Washington only manged to rush for 121 yards on an a Vandal defense that is far from stellar.

Michigan 38- Notre Dame 34: Wow, what a difference a couple of weeks have made for UM Coach Rich Rodriguez. He went from being the target of an NCAA investigation to leading a top 25 team that just ended Notre Dame's BCS hopes. He also found a pretty good QB in the process. True freshman Tate Forcier led the Wolverines to victory with his arm and his legs. He had a TD run that faked the ND defender out of his jock, then calmly threw the game winning TD pass with :11 left on the clock. Meanwhile, Charlie Weis still thinks he's the smartest HC in college football.
Telling Stat: Michigan QB Tate Forcier accounted for 310 of the Wolverines 430 total yards in the game.

Observations

...We'd like to thank the Oklahoma State Cowboys for playing the I want to go to a BCS Bowl game. We're sorry your stay was so short, but we do have some lovely parting gifts.

...We all know it looks like it will be another miserable year up in the Palouse, but keep your eyes on Virginia folks. The Cavs could easily go 0-12.

...You usually don't hear about an O-lineman unless he's done something wrong. Connecticut OT Dan Ryan wishes nobody knew his name. He was the poor guy that got called for holding in the endzone with a little over a minute to play v. North Carolina. Holding in the endzone results in an automatic safety. That safety cost the Huskies the game, 12-10.

...The Fresno State moral victory tour is in full swing for 2009. Yes, Fresno State had another BCS school on the ropes and collapsed in the end. The Bulldogs lost in overtime at Wisconsin, 34-31. This whole Fresno State act is stale. They schedule a big school, play hard, lose, then get praised for being this little school that takes on the big boys. Hey, you want to impress me, Fresno State? Win one of those games, then win your conference. That would really impress me.

...Here's my salute to the saints for 2009. St. Francis (IND), St John's (MIN), St. Norbert, St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, St. Ambrose, St. Francis (PA), and St. John Fisher all won last week.

...Washington State could potentially be the worst Pac 10 team in history.

...The Fresno State moral victory tour is in full swing for 2009. Yes, Fresno State had another BCS school on the ropes and collapsed in the end. The Bulldogs lost in overtime at Wisconsin, 34-31. This whole Fresno State act is stale. They schedule a big school, play hard, lose, then get praised for being this little school that takes on the big boys. Hey, you wan to impress me Fresno State? Win one of those games, then win your conference. That would really impress me.

...Well, it looks like the BCS Champion wil not come from the ACC, Big East or Big Ten this year.

...USC's final drive didn't just beat the Buckeyes, it went a long way towards anyone taking a Big Ten team seriously for quite a while.

...I guess we can put all the "Jimmy Clausen for the Heisman" talk on hold for a while.

...One of the coolest stickers I saw on any helmet this weekend was worn by Army. The sticker is on the backflap of the helmet and just simply says, "The Corps." Enough said.

Until Next week folks, remember to watch out for zone blitzes and the speed rusher coming off the corner.
-The Commissioner