Week 6

Hey All,

After enjoying a great bye week, here's the column you just can't wait to read, Notes On a Pac 10 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Summaries

Washington 36- Arizona 33: Every year in the Pac 10 one team plays in more than it's share of heart-stoppers. This year that team is Washington. With 2:37 to play and trailing 33-28, The Huskies' Mason Foster intercepted a pass that deflected off the foot of Arizona WR Delashaun Dean and returned it 37-yards for the game winning touchdown. The Wildcats took control of this game in the third quarter. They built up a 27-14 lead behind the strong arm of QB Nick Foles and the strong leg of Alex Zendejas. Foles threw for 384 yards and a TD, while Zendejas kicked 4 field goals. However , the Huskies managed to hang around. They got 232 yards running and passing along with 3 TDs from QB Jake Locker, while their defense slowed the Wildcats down just enough to get the win.
Telling Stat: Not enough TDs. UofA settled for field goals four times in the red zone, when one more TD would have given the Wildcats the win.

Oregon 24- UCLA 10: After a boring, mundane, utterly lackluster first half preformance, UCLA led, 3-0. Then came 26 seconds of pure excitement from the Ducks. First, UO's Kenjon Barner took the second half kickoff back 100 yards for a TD. Then, two plays later, UCLA's Kevin Prince threw a pass that was intercepted by Talmadge Jackson III who took it back 32-yards for another Duck TD. UO was up 14-3 and UCLA was on the ropes. The Bruins did show some signs of life when DE Akeem Ayers made one of the most athletic plays of the season when he intercepted a Nick Costa pass in the endzone for a TD. However, UCLA couldn't muster much offense after that and the Ducks got the win at the Rose Bowl.
Telling Stat: No need for playbooks. The two teams combined to score one offensive touchdown in the game.

Oregon State 38- Stanford 28: On the first play from scrimmage, Stanford QB Andrew Luck executed a great play action fake and threw a perfect strike 50 yards down field to wide open WR Chris Owusu. Owusu, with paydirt in site, dropped the ball. That opening dropped pass signaled the beginning of a nightmare of a first half for the Cardinal as they watched Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers lead the Beavers to a 31-7 halftime lead. The Cardinal managed to make a game of it in the second half, but they just couldn't overcome the first half deficit. Rodgers ran the ball 33 times for 189 yards and 4 TDs for Beavers. Meanwhile the Beaver defense kept SU's offense in check for most of the game. Stanford's last score with :25 made the game look closer than it really was.
Telling Stat: They limited his impact. OSU's defense held Stanford star TB Toby Gerhart to under 100 yards rushing with his two TD runs coming well after the game had been decided.

Arizona State 27- Washington State 14: This was one of the ugliest games played in the Pac 10 in a very long time. The two schools combined to commit 16 penalties, turn the ball over 10 times, and converted on only 5 of 29 third downs. The ASU offense did manage to get out of its' own way to build up a 19-0 lead in the third quarter behind two Danny Sullivan TD passes and a Dimitri Nance 9-yard TD run. The Sun Devils did manage to miss two of the PAT attempts that followed those scores. Wazzu's best play of the game happened when QB Jeff Tuel hit WR Johnny Forzani with pass that he took to the house for a 99-yard touchdown. The play was the longest scoring pass in Cougar history.
Telling Stat: They got most of it in one play. Wazzu's 99-yard TD pass accounted for a little over half the Cougars 181 yards of total offense.

Observations

...As I was reading over the AP Poll for this week, I stumbled upon an unfamiliar name among "others receiving votes." Idaho got a single vote to be in the top 25. The Vandals are now 5-1 after a thrilling 29-25 win over the San Jose State Spartans. Idaho is one win away from being bowl eligible for the first time this century. Who thought Idaho would have a better chance for a bowl this year than Wazzu?

...UCLA's Kevin Prince looked worse against Oregon than USC's Aaron Corp did against Washington.

...Wow, I'm sure glad that DirecTv dropped the Vs. Channel. I guess I really don't want to see the other teams in the Pac 10 play. It makes it feel like the 1970s. Maybe I can watch a rerun of the John McKay Show for the full effect.

...Not to say I told you so, but the Arkansas-Auburn game was the best game in the SEC last week.

...Florida State is suffering with the pain of living with a legend in his twilight. Bobby Bowden deserves to leave FSU on his own terms, but it won't happen.

...And then there were seven. There are seven winless teams left in the FBS. Miami (OH), Eastern Michigan, Ball State, New Mexico, Rice, Florida Atlantic, and Western Kentucky are all still searching for their first win of the year.

...What do Iowa and Alabama have in common? Well, they're both undefeated and they're the only two teams that are bowl eligible with identical 6-0 records.

...With the way the Illinois is playing right now, the Illini's appearnace in the Rose Bowl just may be viewed in the same light as Indiana's miracle appearance in the 1968 Rose Bowl.

...With their dismal effort against Alabama, Ole Miss has officially blown its' chance to be a factor in the SEC for at least a decade.

...Okay, Notre Dame will play four Pac 10 schools this year. I think the Irish will have a better Pac 10 record than Wazzu.

...I think Arkansas Razorback fans can get used to their team scoring over 40 points a game. They just need a defense. Where's Billy Ray Smith when you need him?

...Keeping track of tackles is one of the most worthless stats in football. Often the wrong person is creditied with getting one. Heck, after watching the Illinois-Michigan State game I saw they'd given me credit for two of 'em.

...I know the Cincinnati-South Florida game is a big game in the Big East, but I couldn't care less. To quote my old college roommate, "I'd rather watch instant replays of chess moves."

...Is it more amazing that Idaho got a vote to be in the top 25 or that the vote didn't come from Idaho Statesman college football beat writer, Mike Prater?

Until Next week folks, remember you have inside help from the safety in cover two.
-The Commissioner.