Week 14

Hey all,

Here it is, the one, the only, Notes on a Pac 10 Scorecard. (We still miss you, Alan Malamud)

Summaries

Arizona 21- USC 17: Well, the up and down Trojans were down again this week after dropping a very winnable game to the Arizona Wildcats. The Trojan offense continued to sputter. Especially in the first half, where they held the ball for a little over nine minutes, with five of those minutes coming on their only scoring drive of the half. Things improved slightly in the second half where USC managed to tie the game at 14-14 early in the fourth quarter then go ahead 17-14 with 7:13 to play. Then the Wildcats took over the game. led by QB Nick Foles, the Wildcats marched 80 yards for the winning TD. That march was capped off by Foles hitting WR Junior Criner with a 36-yard TD pass with 3:14 left to play. USC couldn't answer that score, with the offense sputtering with four straight incompletions to snuff out the Trojans hopes of victory. Nick Foles was the hero for UofA hitting on 22 of 40 passes for 239 yards and 2 TDs.
Telling Stat: 7s win games not 3s. USC settled for a field goal late in the fourth quarter and it cost them the game.

Washington 42- California 10: This one was all Huskies. UW dominated the Golden Bears for a full 60 minutes. Husky QB Jake Locker had his best game of the year. He completed 19 of 23 passes for 248 yards and 3 TDs. He also had a good day running, racking up 77 yards on 14 carries and 2 TDs on the ground. That's a 5 TD game folks. Meanwhile the Husky defense bottled up Cal, holding the Bears to 81 rushing yards on the afternoon. Cal TB Jahvid Best sat out this game, still suffering from the effects of two concussions this year.
Telling Stat: They don't like going North. In their two trips to the Northwest this year, California's record is 0-2 and they have been outscored 84-13 in those losses.

Oregon 37- Oregon State 33: The 113th edition of the Civil War was the most important game ever played in the rivalry. It was the only time that winning meant going to the Rose Bowl for both sides. The game lived up to the hype. It was a great back and forth game with heroes and goats on both sides. The big hero though was UO QB Jeremiah Masoli. Masoli didn't have a great statistical day only throwing for 200 yards and rushing for 40, but he kept the offense moving all night long. His leadership on UO's final drive sent his squad to Pasadena. UO RB LaMichael James continued his outstanding freshman year with 166 yards and 3 TDs on the ground. Not to be forgotten in the losing effort for the Beavers is QB Sean Canfield who lit up the Duck secondary for 306 yards and 2 TDs. Now we'll see of the Ducks can get their first Rose Bowl win since 1917.
Telling Stat: 7s win games, not 3s- Part II. OSU settled for field goals on three drives in the first half of this game. If they had gotten touchdowns, we might be talking about a Beaver invasion of Pasadena.

Observations

...My simple math calculations were wrong. I had written off Army as not being bowl eligible. Not so, the Black Knights of the Hudson are on the bubble at 5-6. A win over Navy this week would put them in the Eagle Bank Bowl v. Temple. A loss by Army would give UCLA the bid. So, Go Army!!!! Beat Navy!!!!

...Gotta give love to Fresno State O-lineman, Devan Cunningham. Fresno State scored a a TD with :02 seconds left to get within a point of Illinois, 52-51. The Bulldogs then went for two. QB Ryan Colburn's pass was deflected into the hands of Cunningham who rumbled three yards into the endzone to give the Bulldogs a 53-52 win over the Illini. Gotta love it when the big men rumble.

...And then there were two. Western Kentucky dropped a 24-20 decision to Arkansas State to finish the season at 0-12. So that leaves WKU and Eastern Michigan as the only two winless teams in the FBS this season.

...All four semifinalists in the Division III football playoffs this week are undefeated. The four teams are a combined 51-0 this season, and oh yeah the Mount Union Purple Raiders are one of the final four.

...Arizona is the best tackling team I've seen this season. No too many teams get a lot of yards after the catch on the Wildcats.

...I'm just disgusted that the Big Ten got two teams into BCS bowls.

...I'm glad USC didn't end up in El Paso. The current crime statistics from the El Paso- Juarez area are scary.

... All 10 bowl eligible teams from the SEC got bowl bids. If there ever was an argument that there are too many bowls, that's it.

...Gee, I wish Mark Sanchez hadn't left early.

...Remember when Matt Barkley was a Davey O'Brien award semifinalist? That was about 10 interceptions ago.

...I know the Hawaii Bowl will be a fun game to watch with Nevada taking on SMU, but how much better of a game would it have been if Hawaii had gotten in? Hawaii-SMU would have been awesome!!!!

...I've been puting tailgate gear away for a day or so realizing the regular season is over and I feel as sad as a lot of other people do when they take down their Christmas tree. Oh well, next home game is in 2010 v. Virginia.

Until next week folks, watch out for screen passes on third and long.
-The Commissioner