Week 13

Hey all,

I know we're still getting over the big Thanksgiving weekend. So here's the column you love to read, Notes on a Pac 10 Scorecard. (We still miss you, Alan Malamud.)

Summaries

USC 28- UCLA 7: The victory bell stays safely in Trojan hands after a game that featured 59 minutes of frustration followed a minute of pure excitement. USC took a 7-0 lead in the halftime on a 62-yard interception return by LB Malcolm Smith. The Trojans held a 14-0 lead after three quarters thanks to an Allen Bradford, 2-yard TD run. UCLA cut USC's lead to 14-7 with 5:41 left on a Chane Moline 2-yard run. Then USC went on what was considered to be a game sealing drive and a 21-7 lead on another Allen Bradofrd TD run. However, after stopping the bRuins and holding the ball in UCLA territory with :54 seocnds left, USC HC Pete Carroll had his offense kneel down to kill the clock. Defiantly, UCLA HC Rick Neuheisal called a timeout. USC then responded to the timeout with a 48-yard bomb to WR Daminan Williams that truly put a dagger into the bRuins and unleashed a torrent of emotion from the Trojan faithful and humiliation and anger amongst the bRuins. Ahhh, this is what rivalries are made of.
Telling Stat: The kid was nails down the stretch. USC QB Matt Barkley completed five of six passes for 91 yards and a TD in the Trojans final two drives of the game.

Arizona 20- Arizona State 17: UofA scored two touchdowns in a span of four seconds in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead on ASU. It looked like a rout was starting, but then the Sun Devils held the Wildcats in check and managed to tie the game at 17-17 on a 14-yard TD pass from Danny Sullivan to Kyle Wiiliams with 2:02 to play. Then, one of those mistakes that will be remembered forever in the rivalry occurred. The Sun Devils forced the Wildcats to punt with a little over a minute to play. ASU sent Kyle Williams back to return the punt. He muffed it. UofA recovered on the ASU 22-yard line. Three plays later Alex Zendejas booted the game-winning field goal from 32 yards out.
Telling Stat: 2:02. It took 2:02 for Kyle Williams to go from hero to goat for the Sun Devils.

Stanford 45- Notre Dame 38: The main story going into this game was how this was going to be Charlie Weis' last game at the helm for ND. The story coming out of this game was how good Stanford TB Toby Gerhart is and how he deserves a shot at the Heisman. All Gerhart did was run for 205 yards and 3 TDs. Oh, he also threw for a TD too. His great day overshadowed QB Jimmy Clausen's 340 yard, 5 TD performance for the Irish. This game was a back and forth battle with Stanford scoring the winning TD with :59 left. The Cardinal finish the season at 8-4.
Telling Stat: Great players shine in the fourth quarter. Toby Gerhart threw for the game tying TD and then carried the ball 7 out of the 11 plays on Stanford's final drive which included the game winning TD.

Washington 30- Washington State 0: The Apple Cup returns to Seattle after the Dawgs battered the Cougars last week. The defense set the tone for the Huskies. Three different times, the Husky defense knocked a Cougar QB from the game. Also, the longest any Cougar drive lasted was 3:46 seconds and 35 yards. On the offensive side of things, the Huskies wore down the Cougar defense with their rushing game. TB Chris Polk rushed for 130 yards and a TD and QB Jake Locker ran for 94 yards and a TD as well. As for the passing game, Locker threw for 196 yards and a TD. The Huskies now have possession of the Apple Cup.
Telling Stat: 45 years. The win was UW's first shoutout of Wazzu since 1964.

Observations

...If you need a good reason to watch the Hawaii-Wisconsin game this week, I've got one. Hawaii is the lone team left in the FBS on the bowl eligibility bubble. By virtue of their 24-17 win over Navy last week, the Warriors are now just a win away from a bowl game.

...Simple Math- Part III. 68 teams will go to a bowl this year. As of Sunday, there are 71 teams eligible to go to a bowl. So, that means that three teams won't go bowling. (That number could increase to four if Hawaii wins this week.) Here's my guess as to who won't make the cut.
1. Iowa State: They have a bad record in the weak Big XII north and don't travel well.
2. UCLA: bRuins don't travel well and Pac 10 bowl tie-ins only go six deep.
3. Minnesota: Really? You think the seventh place team in the Big Ten will get a bowl? Really?

...With Notre Dame's loss to Stanford, the Irish finished the year with two wins in four games v. Pac 10 opponents. That's as many as ASU and two more than Wazzu got this year. Funny thing is that ND got those two wins in 14 less games than ASU and Wazzu got theirs.

...Yes, Charlie Weis has been fired by Notre Dame, but as we all laugh at this fact, just remember Mr. Schematic Advantage was 2-0 v. UCLA. That's pretty cool.

...And then there were two. Eastern Michigan finished the year at 0-12. The Eagles are this year's first winless team. Western Kentucky will join them as 0 for 2009 if they lose to Arkansas State this week.

...Stanford's Toby Gerhart should get an invite to the Heisman ceremony. I know Colt McCoy is everybody's darling, but Gerhart deserves to go to New York and be recognized among the elite players in the country.

....I just can't get behind Boise State getting a BCS bid. They played one tough game all year that they had 10 months to get ready for. They played UC Davis, an FCS team, and a WAC league schedule that's medicore at best. If Boise was in a real conference, they'd lose at least five games a year.

...The Epic Fail of the weekend belongs to HC Mark Mangino of the Kansas Jayhawks. In a year in which his team has underachieved and he is being investigated by the school over allegations of abuse of his players, Mangino did not need to choke away a win over arch-rival Missouri, but he did. Up 39-36, the Jayhawks had the ball with a little over a minute to play on their own one-yard line. After two incomplete passes, Mangino called for a QB draw from his own endzone. Yes, his QB was tackled for a safety. Up 39-38 now, the Jayhwaks had to give the ball back to Mizzou with a free kick from their own 20. Mizzou got a good return on the kick, and several plays later kicked the game winning field goal as time ran out. That game will take a while for the KU faithful to get over.

...Hats off to Arkansas going 7-5 this season and becoming the team that nobody in the SEC wants play right now. A big bowl win could springboard the Hogs to a great 2010 season.

...It's a weird year in college football when Cincinatti, TCU, and Boise State are all undefeated. It's also weird because Idaho, SMU, Connecticut, Temple, and Wyoming are all bowl eligible.

...It looks like Penn State will get a BCS bid because they travel well. That stinks.

...SMU HC June Jones has led his team to a 7-5 record and received a contract extension for bringing back the Mustangs from the dead. However, he's got to wonder how the heck his team lost to Wazzu this year. SMU is the 1 in the Cougars 1-11 season.

...For the first time in four years, the Commissioner's team, the Tough Turkeys beat the Cranberry Crushers in our Thanksgiving day game. The Turkeys built up a 16-0 halftime lead and held on for the 23-16 victory.

...I'm on record as officially loving USC's last TD pass against UCLA. To me it seemed like an entire season's worth of frustration was released in that pass. Go get 'em, Big Balls Pete!!!!!

Until next week folks, remember to use your timeouts wisely!
-The Commissioner