Week 12

Hey All,

It's time for the Thanksgiving edition of Note on a Pac 10 Scorecard. I hope your team hasn't been playing like turkeys this season. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Summaries

Oregon 44- Arizona 41 2OT: This was a classic duel in the desert with the Arizona Wildcats looking for their first Rose Bowl berth ever in the biggest game played in Arizona since Dick Tomey roamed the sidelines in Tucson. However, Ducks QB Jeremiah Masoli led his team on impressive drives in the fourth quarter and overtime to put the Ducks on the verge of going to Pasadena. The Ducks forced overtime when Masoli led them on a 15 play, 80-yard drive where Masoli hit TE Ed Dickson with an 8-yard TD pass with :06 left. Then in the second overtime, Masoli took it in from one yard out to secure the victory for the boys from Eugene. After his run won the game, thousands of dejected Wildcat fans were left on the sideline, never getting to storm the field after a victory that didn't happen.
Telling Stat: He carried the team. In the fourth quarter and OT , UO QB Jeremiah Masoli threw or ran the ball in 31 of the Ducks 41 plays from scrimmage.

Oregon State 42- Washington State 10: The Beavers were the team who got to scrimmage with the Cougars this week. When it was over, the Beavers had barely broken a sweat and found themselves with a chance to play for a trip to Pasadena. OSU QB Sean Canfield hit on 22 of 29 passes for 231 yards and two TDs, while Jacquizz Rodgers lugged the leather 24 times for 165 yards and two TDs of his own in this laugher. The Beaver defense held the Cougars 192 total yards on the afternoon.
Telling Stat: It could have been worse. If OSU hadn't racked up 13 penalties for 107 yards, they could have hung 60 points on Wazzu.

California 34- Stanford 28: One week after thrashing USC and becoming the darlings of college football, the Stanford Cardinal were beaten by Cal in "The Big Game." The Golden Bears held the ball for almost 40 minutes in this game, but they still couldn't stop Stanford TB Toby Gerhart who ran for 136 yards and 4 TDs. However, Cal's Shane Vereen offset his efforts by rushing for 193 yards and 3 TDs of his own. However, it was Cal LB Mike Mohamed who etched his named forever into the rivalry with his interception of Stanford QB Andrew Luck on the Golden Bears goalline with a little over a minute to play to secure Cal's seventh win in the last eight yeas over Stanford.
Telling Stat: They had no home cookin'. Stanford's loss was their only one at home this season.

UCLA 23- Arizona State 13: Defense once again ruled the day for the bRuins as their defense outscored their offense 14-9 in their win at the Rose Bowl. The bRuin defense harassed ASU QB Samson Szakacsy all day. In the first quarter CB Alterraun Verner picked off a pass and took it to the house to give his squad a 7-0 lead. Then, in the second quarter DE Akeem Ayers returned a Szakacsy fumble nine yards for a touchdown. That was followed by another bRuin fumble recovery that the bRuin offense turned into a field goal. The bRuin offense managed to move the ball enough so that their defense could get a rest and UCLA came away with the win. Meanwhile, the Sun Devils couldn't get out of their own way for most of the day by committing nine penalties to go with six turnovers on the afternoon.
Telling Stat: ASU had 12 possessions in this game, they turned the ball over in six of those possessions.

Observations

...And then there were two. New Mexico finally enjoyed the taste of victory with a 29-27 win over Colorado State. So that leaves just Western Kentucky and Eastern Michigan as the only winless teams in the FBS.

...Simple Math: Week 2. 68 teams will make it to a bowl this season. As of this week, 70 of the 120 FBS teams are bowl eligible. Of the 50 teams leftover, only 8 still have a chance to become bowl eligible. here are those eight and who they have left to play...
1. Duke: 11/28 V. Wake Forest
2. Connecticut: 11/28 V. Syracuse, 12/5 V. South Florida
3. UAB: 11/28 V. Central Florida
4. Kent State: 11/27 V. Buffalo
5. Toledo: 11/27 @ Bowling Green
6. Western Michigan: 11/24 V. Ball State
7. Wyoming: 11/27@ Colorado State
8. Hawaii: 11/28 V. Navy, 12/5 Wisconsin

...Luke Lippincott gained 162 yards on 19 carries in Nevada's 63-20 blowout win over New Mexico State. With those 162 yards, Lippincott became the third member of the Wolfpack backfield this year to rush for 1,000 yards. That makes Nevada the only team in NCAA history to have three 1,000 rushers in the same season. QB Colin Kaepernick and RB Vai Taua are the other two members of this history making backfield.

...Washington. Oregon,and Stanford all have beaten USC this season, then lost their next game. The Cardinal were the latest victim of this trend as they followed up a win over USC with a loss to California in "The Big Game." So, who did UW and UO lose to after they beat USC? They both lost to Stanford. That's just a little ironic, huh?

...I feel sorry for the people across the country who didn't get to see the Oegon-Arizona game due to ABC's regional bias. It was a tough, great game.

...Colorado HC Dan Hawkins is most likely on his way out of Boulder with a 16-32 record over the past four seasons. Hawkins has been vilified over the last couple of seasons by the Buffalo faithful for starting his son Cody at quarterback. Things have deteriorated so much this season, that Hawkins benched his son. That opened the doors even wider for fans to pile on and call for the head of both Dan and Cody. I don't think there were many guys out there that wouldn't have wanted to play for their dad on a major college team. If they had won more, it would be a feel good story meriting national attention. Now, it's just sad.

...Note to the student section of the University of Arizona. Only get ready to storm the field when you've got a game won. You all looked really pathetic standing around during the sidelines during those two overtime periods.

...I still can't believe I didn't get to see the Stanford- Cal game because DirectTv dropped the Vs. channel.

...To hear Joe Paterno lobby for a BCS bowl for Penn State is sickening. The Big Ten is maybe the fifth best conference this year. TCU could crush Penn State.

...So, Jimmy Clausen got decked by an irate Irish fan late Saturday night after ND's loss to UConn. That was a classless act by rotten fan. That behavior has no place in sports.

...I used to write off the spread option and wildcat offenses as gimmick schemes that wouldn't last very long. However, it looks like these schemes will be around for awhile. I also am enjoying seeing a different kind of player at QB in these systems. It reminds of the old days of football where your QB as well as all your backs had to be triple threat guys who could run, pass, and catch the ball. Is the dropback passer on his way out, and the triple threat back making a comeback? Only time will tell.

...With USC playing in a lower tier bowl this season, I've heard some bad matchups being proposed out there. However, nothing sickens me more than a rematch with Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl.

...Boy, if this doesn't mean Charlie Weis is out at ND, I don't know what will convince you. Weis' west coast recruiting trip following ND's game at Stanford this week has been cancelled.

...I see LSU HC Les Miles has finally taken responsibility for his poor clock management at the end of the LSU-Ole MIss game. It only took two days and several camera angles showing his blowing it to change his mind. Paul Hackett couldn't have screwed up the Tigers final drive any better.

...I knew this game was big, and that thought was confirmed by an article sent to me by our field office in Salem, OR. The December 3rd Oregon-Oregon State game will be the most important game in the 113 year history of the this rivalry which is know as "The Civil War." Never has winning this game meant going to the Rose Bowl for both sides. This year it does. That says it all, folks.

Until next week folks, remember to practice proper clock management and pace yourselves at the table on Turkey Day!!!
-The Commissioner.