Week 5

Hey All,

I'm back form a great and victorious trip to Berkeley where the Trojans won, I was on TV and shook Pete Carroll's hand before the game. Now, here's the column you've all been waiting for, Notes On a Pac 10 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Summaries

USC 30- California 3: In an elimination game in the Pac 10, USC went up to Berkeley and crushed the Golden Bears. The Trojan defense set the tone in this one, limiting Cal's star TB Jahvid Best to 55 total yards and rendering the Bears version of the wildcat offense toothless. As for the Trojan offense, the true freshman QB Matt Barkley continued to impress by connecting on 20 of 35 passes for 283 yards. His passes along with a 119 yard, 2 TD effort from TB Joe McKnight enabled USC to hold the ball for almost 37 minutes of T.O.P. Throw in an electrifying punt return for a TD by Damian Williams and it was another great road win for the Trojans.
Telling Stat: Number two had a big one. USC's Taylor Mays' big first quarter interception in the endzone deflated the Golden Bears. They never recovered.

Notre Dame 37- Washington 30 OT: Well, it was another close game in South Bend. The Huskies gave ND all they could handle and should have won this game. If the Huskies had just taken care of business on two of their trips inside ND's 5-yard line, the Huskies would have wins over both USC and the Whining Irish this year. The Huskies defense couldn't cover ND WR Golden Tate. He caught nine passes for 244 yards and a TD. His big receiving day was a part of ND QB Jimmy Clausen's 422 yard, two touchdown day. UW QB Jake Locker threw for 281 yards and one TD in a losing effort.
Telling Stat: They couldn't stop 'em when it counted. UW held ND to only 108 yards rushing and 2 of 10 on third down, yet lost.

Oregon 52- Washington State 6: Oregon dismantled the hapless Cougars up in Eugene. The Ducks raced out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter behind two LaMichael James rushing touchdowns and a 26-yard TD pass from QB Jeremiah Masoli to TE Ed Dickson. Things only got worse from there for the Cougars. When it was over, the Ducks held the Cougars to 158 totl yards, four first downs, and a give away TD late in the third quarter. offensively, 14 different Ducks handled the ball, racking up 514 yards of offense and holding the ball for over 35 minutes. Adding injury to insult for the Cougars is that QB Jeff Tuel, named starter for this week, was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with a hip pointer.
Telling Stat: That's the definition of ineptitude. WSU punted as many times, (9) as they completed passes in the game.

Oregon State 28- Arizona State 17: The Beavers went into Tempe and did something they hadn't done since September 27, 1969. The Beavers won the game. On an 88 degree afternoon in which Sun Devil Stadium was only half full, the Beavers jumped out to an early lead on two TD runs by Jacquizz Rodgers. The runs covered one yard and yards and they put OSU up 14-0 with 8:58 left in the first quarter. ASU never woke up and got into the game. The Beavers took a 21-3 halftime lead on a 25-yard pass from Sean Canfield to James Rodgers. OSU then managed to keep the listless Sun Devils at bay for the the second half.
Telling Stat: They bent, but didn't break. OSU gave up 338 passing yards to ASU, but didn't give up a passing TD until the game with :11 left and the game already won.

Stanford 24-UCLA 16: The bRuin defense couldn't really stop TB Toby Gerhart and the rest of the Cardinal offense, losing for the first time to the Cardinal since 2003. Gerhart carried the ball 29 times for 134 yards and three touchdowns while freshman QB Andrew Luck hit on 14 of 20 passes for 198 yards in the winning effort. Stanford held a 24-6 lead before giving up 10 fourth quarter points when the bRuins mounted a furious comeback that ended when Stanford stopped UCLA on fourth down with 1:07 to play.
Telling Stat: They couldn't keep it going. UCLA converted on only 2 of 10 third downs in the game.

Observations

...Arizona State looked listless against Oregon State last week. The Sun Devils seem to be using Cal's method for getting over a tough loss.

...Nevada finally won a game this year and they did it in grand style. The Wolfpack whipped the UNLV Rebels, 63-28 and took home the Fremont Cannon. The big win got them the big trophy as the cannon weighs in at 1,100 pounds and is fully functional. More impressive than the size of the cannon was the Wolfpack offense. The boys from Reno ran up 773 yards of offense. 559 of those came on the ground where three different Wolfpack backs ran for over 100 yards.

...When was the last time that both USC and Notre Dame had a bye week before they played each other? That's a weird quirk in the schedule.

...In Houston's 58-41 loss to UTEP, Cougar QB Case Keenum completed 51 of 76 passes for 536 yards and 5 TDs. Keenum had more completions, attempts, and yards passing than the combined totals of Army, Navy, Air Force, Tulane, Washington State, and New Mexico State last week.

...And then there were eight. There are eight winless teams left in Division 1-A football. My pick for a winless season, Virginia, got up off the deck and stunned North Carolina. So, that leaves New Mexico as my new pick to go 0-12. The eight winless teams are Rice, Miami OH, Eastern Michigan, Ball State, New Mexico, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, and Florida International.

...Cincinnati is the BCS's worst nightmare. The Bearcats just keep winning. An undefeated Bearcat club would be a bigger problem for the BCS than if USC, Florida, Texas, and Alabama all ended the year with one loss.

...Up to through this point of the season it's clear that in the Pac 10 Stanford's Chris Owusu is the best KR, USC's Damian Williams is the best PR, UCLA's Kai Forbath is the best PK, and WSU's Reid Forrest is the best P.

...I noticed a lot of blue and gold flags flying around the top of Cal's Memorial Stadium. They were all blank panels of either blue or gold. I guess when you haven't gone to the Rose Bowl since January of 1958 and haven't even shared a league title since 1975, I guess there just aren't that many championship banners to hang up.

...Navy took a big step towards winning the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy with their 16-13 overtime win over Air Force.

...Why is it that Matt Leinart was ridiculed for taking only one class during his final football season at USC, but when it was revealed that Tim Tebow is doing the same thing at Florida he has been praised as being a selfless player who came back to help his team. Give me a bleeping break.

...It's official, Cal's Memorial Stadium is the worst stadium in the Pac 10. I'll take remoteness of Martin Stadium in Pullman or the man-eating moths and bats at Arizona Stadium in Tucson anytime over that rundown, piece of garbage in Berkeley.

...Whoo-Hooo for Idaho!!!! The Vandals are 4-1 for the first time this century. The Vandals stopped a two-point conversion attempt with 1:49 left to get the win over Colorado State last week at the Kibbee Dome. HC Rob Akey is really making strides with this program. Hey, you thought it was hard to get kids to come to Pullman, WA.? Try getting them to come to Moscow, ID.

...Cal's Kevin Riley and Illinois' Juice Williams get my nod as two of the most overrated QBs this season. As I'm writing this, I just found that Williams has been benched for this week's game. I guess I'm right.

...The Iowa-Ohio State game could be the game in which the Big Ten Champion is crowned.

...The Florida-LSU game will not be the best game in the SEC this week. The Arkansas-Auburn game will be.

...The excessive celebration call levied on Georgia's A.J. Green was ridiculous. It was such a bad call, I thought Pac 10 officials were working the game.

Until Next week, keep your helmet pumped up and your ankles taped.
-The Commissioner