Week 4

Hey All,

After a victorious trip to the Palouse, I bring you the column you love to read, Notes on a Pac 10 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Summaries

USC 50- Washington State 16: After giving up an early score, the Trojans' Stanley Havili scored on a 59-yard TD run on USC's first play from scrimmage. USC never looked back and crushed the Cougars, in Pullman. USC QB Matt Barkley threw for 290 yards and 3 TDs, while Havili was the big star, rushing for 80 yards and a TD and racking up 107 receiving yards and another score. Freshman CB Nickell Robey led the Trojan defense with 2 interceptions, the first one being a 25-yard TD return.

Telling Stat: 119-16; In their last two trips to the Palouse, USC has outscored Wazzu, 119-16.

Oregon 42- Arizona State 31: It was 101 degrees in Tempe for the 7:00 kickoff and this game was a hot and wild one to the end. ASU outplayed the Ducks, running up almost 600 yards of offense, holding the ball for 34:26, and holding the quack attack to a season low of yards. However, the Sun Devils turned the ball over 7 times, and they went down to defeat. ASU QB Steven Threet threw for 387 yards and 3 TDs, but his 4 interceptions were the difference in the game. As for the Ducks, QB Darron Thomas threw for 2 TDs and ran for another in the winning effort. Meanwhile, the Duck defense had 2 returns for touchdowns of its' own.

Telling Stat: 0; for a game that was exciting to the end, the teams played a scoreless fourth quarter.

Stanford 37- Notre Dame 14: The Cardinal went to South Bend and slapped the Fighting Irish around in front of their home fans. SU QB Andrew Luck threw for 238 yards and a TD while directing a ball control offense that wore out the Notre Dame defense. As for the Cardinal defense, they held ND to 44 yards rushing, just 4 of 13 on third down conversions, and harassed ND QB Dayne Crist all day. What really put this one in the win column for Stanford was when FB/LB Owen Marecic scored on a 1-yard TD run, then scored a second TD 13 seconds later on a 20-yard interception return.

Telling Stat: 1; Stanford punted just once against Notre Dame.

Arizona 10- California 9: Wow, an actual defensive battle in the Pac 10. Arizona came into this one after their emotional win over Iowa, while Cal came in off their brutal loss to Nevada. Cal held a 9-3 lead with 2:41 to go play and was set up for a 40-yard game clinching field goal. PK Giorgio Tavecchio missed the kick and that gave UofA one last chance. After getting a quick first down, Wildcat QB Nick Foles hooked up with WR Juron Criner on play that covered 51 yards and gave UofA a 1st and 10 at the Cal 12-yard line. Three plays later the pair hooked up again for a 3-yard TD and the Wildcats escaped with a 10-9 win.

Telling Stat: 18/167; In this sloppy defensive struggle, the two teams combined for 18 penalties totaling 167 yards.

Boise State 37- Oregon State 24: They painted their practice field blue, but it didn't help as the Beavers fell to the Broncos in this primetime matchup. They kept it close, but as usual, Mike Riley's squad lost a key non-conference game. The turning point in this game was when OSU's James Rodgers was knocked out of the game with a concussion after a helmet-to-helmet hit by BSU safety Winston Venable. The Beavers were never the same offense after that and Boise secured the win. Bronco QB Kellen Moore connected on 19 of 27 passes for 288 yards and 3 TDs while RB Doug Martin ran for 138 yards in the winning effort.

Telling Stat: 57; The win was BSU's 57 th straight home win in the regular season.

UCLA 34- Texas 12: In the shocker of the year so far, the bRuins went into Austin and embarrassed the Longhorns. UCLA ran for 264 yards on a Texas defense that was number 1 in the nation against the run. bRuin RB Johnathan Franklin had 118 of those yards and a TD on 19 carries, while QB Kevin Prince ran for 50 yards and a TD and threw for 27 yards and a score. The bRuins ran so well, that they threw only 8 passes all game. As for the Texas offense they played a game of give-away, committing 5 turnovers, and never threatened to win.

Telling Stat: 22; UCLA had Texas so beaten up front, that at one point they ran the ball 22 consecutive times.

Observations

...Washington State is just a couple of players away from being a good team... Mark Rypien and Rueben Mayes.

...It was fun watching Texas HC Mack Brown look so stupid in his team's epic loss to UCLA. I've been laughing about it for days.

...I know the SEC loads up on cupcakes every year, but now the Big Ten has really made a trip to the bakery this season. 10 of the 11 squads in the conference will play an FBS team and a Mid-America Conference team.

...Underneath the veneer of the America's Darlings image that Boise State has lies a bunch of cheap shot artists.

...I don't know what was the more impressive stat from the Arizona State-Oregon game. Was it the fact that ASU turned the ball over seven times or the fact that Oregon punted 10 times.

...And then there were six. There are six winless teams left in FBS play. They are Akron, Eastern Michigan, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Florida International, and Western Kentucky. Look for the number to drop to at least five next week as New Mexico takes on New Mexico State. The rivalry trophy between these two is a silver spade.

...Quietly making noise; yes, their schedule has been a weak one, but San Diego State is 3-1. The Aztecs came within an eyelash of upsetting Missouri and they open up Mountain West Conference play at BYU in two weeks.

...When USC wants to put a cupcake on their schedule they make a date with a Big Ten team.

...Wisconsin put up 70 points on Austin Peay last weekend. The Badger basketball team broke 70 points only few times last season.

...Why is it that in games in the desert heat in Tempe, that the Sun Devils always look more tired than their opponents. Don't they practice in this heat all the time?

...I love the different offenses in college football. Air Force leads the nation with 394.0 yards a game rushing, while Hawaii leads the nation with 405.5 yards per game passing.

...I think Iowa will smash Penn State this week.

...This week Navy takes on Air Force as one part of the battle for the Commander-In-Chief's trophy gets settled.

...Do you think UCLA's upset of Texas has taken a little shine off the OU-Texas game this week?

...Who thought that coming into this week's Georgia-Colorado game, that the Buffaloes would have the better record?

...Nevada and UNLV will hook up in their annual rivalry game this week. The winner gets possession of the Fremont Cannon. It's the largest rivalry prize in college football. It weighs 1,100 pounds and can fire live rounds.

Until next week folks, remember that in cover 2 defense the safeties split the filed and have responsibility for the deep middle.

-The Commissioner

Week 3

Hey All,

I'm back from a fun trip to Minnesota to bring you that column you all love, Notes on a Pac 10 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Summaries

USC 32- Minnesota 21: The Trojans fell behind the Golden Gophers 14-13 with 5:47 left in the third quarter. The stands were rocking and the Gophers were on fire. About 12 seconds later, the fire and the Gophers were extinguished. USC's sensational freshman, Robert Woods, took a kickoff back for a TD and USC never looked back in this one. Trojan TB Alan Bradford ran for 131 yards and a TD in the winning effort.

Telling Stat: The win was USC's 11th straight over Big Ten competition.

Arizona 34- Iowa 27: Down 27-7 at the half, things looked pretty bleak for the Hawkeyes. They had been outplayed in every phase of the game. Then as UofA was enjoying the third quarter, Iowa started a slow comeback that culminated in the fourth quarter with DE Broderick Binns intercepting a Nick Foles pass and taking it back 20 yards for a TD. Iowa then missed the go-ahead PAT. UofA QB Nick Foles picked this point to take over the game. Foles completed five of six passes including the winning TD pass to WR William Wright 3:57 to play. From there the Wildcat defense took over sacking Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi three times to end the game.

Telling Stat: They were first and last. UofA's two offensive TDs were scored on the Wildcats first and last drives of the game.

Oregon State 35- Louisville 28: Up 35-14 with 9:28 left in the third quarter, the Beaver faithful were happy in Corvalis. With a little over a minute play in the game, they were nervous. Louisville had the ball and was driving for the score that would tie the game. Then, OSU DB James Dockery picked off an Adam Froman pass and all could relax at Reser Stadium. It was the defense that saved the Beavers all day with the two most important plays coming in Louisville's first two drives. The Cardinals got stuffed by OSU on a fourth down and goal at the two and lost a fumble out the back of the endzone to stop their second drive of the game.

Telling Stat: They won the stat battle. Louisville held the edge in every stat category in this game, yet lost.

Nevada 52- California 31: Nevada's pistol offense fired shots through the Golden Bears defense all night long in Reno. Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick completed 10 of 15 passes for 181 yards and two TDs while also running for 148 yards and 3 TDs. Cal's offense ran up 502 yards on the Wolfpack, but their defense could not handle Nevada's running game. This was Nevada's second win ever against the Golden Bears. Their first came in 1906.

Telling Stat: They ran to win. Nevada ran for 316 yards and held the ball for 36:59 in their winning effort over the Golden Bears.

Oregon 69- Portland State 0: The Vikings came to Eugene, got their paycheck, took their beating, and went home. Not much to talk about in this scrimmage at Autzen Stadium. Duck QB Darron Thomas threw for 140 yards and four TDs, while LaMichael James ran for 227 yards and two TDs of his own. The Quack Attack was up 69-0 after three quarters, then emptied the benches to finish up the game.

Telling Stat: PSU was better on fourth down than third down. The Vikings converted one of three fourth downs. They were zero for 18 on third downs.

Wisconsin 20- Arizona State 19: A TD saving tackle and a blocked extra point gave the Badgers a win at Camp Randall Stadium over the Sun Devils. In the first quarter ASU's Omar Bolden returned a kickoff 97 yards for a TD, now it looked like Kyle Middlebrooks was about to equal that feat with a few seconds left in the second quarter. However, UW's Shelton Johnson never gave up on the play and tackled Middlebrooks at the one-yard line as time ran out on the half. Then, in the fourth quarter, Jay Valai blocked ASU's extra point attempt that would have tied the game with 4:09 to play. The Badgers then ended the game by going to the steady John Clay. Clay carried four times on to help the Badgers run out the clock and escape with the win. It was Clay's ninth straight game with over 100 yards rushing and a TD scored.

Telling Stat: They couldn't get six. ASU had three drives of 10 plays or more that covered at least 60 yards each. They scored a total of six points on those drives.

Stanford 68- Wake Forest 24: After getting homered out of win by ACC officials last year, the Cardinal had a score to settle with the Demon Deacons. The Cardinal came out in all black uniforms and with bad intentions. They throttled Wake Forest. SU QB Andrew Luck threw for four TDs and ran for another to account for 278 yards of his team's 535 yards of offense. Meanwhile, eight different backs carried the ball through a hapless Wake Forest defense.

Telling Stat: They all played. 20 different Cardinal players got to pass, carry, or catch the ball in this rout.

Nebraska 56- Washington 21: So much for Jake Locker's Heisman campaign. The Nebraska defense held Locker to 71 yards passing with one TD, 59 yards rushing and the third worst completion percentage of any QB since 2004. Meanwhile, Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez threw for 150 yards and a TD, and ran for 137 yards and three TDs to lead his team to a very impressive road win. The 56 points allowed by Washington ties the school record for most points ever allowed at home. The Cornhuuskers rushed for 383 yards at Washington.

Telling Stat: It was a three-headed beast. Nebraska had three backs rush for over 100 yards against the Huskies.

SMU 35- Washington State 21: Wazzu couldn't stop the passing combinaton of Kyle Padron to Aldrick Robinson and got blown out in Dallas. SMU got their first win over a BCS conference team since they beat Kansas 31-17 way back in the 2000 season. Padron and Robinson connected four times for 111 yards and three TDs. Meanwhile, the SMU defense allowed the Cougars to convert on only 4 of 14 third downs as the offense built up a 35-14 lead. Wazzu's last score came on a long TD pass with just over a minute to play.

Telling Stat: No offense at all. On their last 11 drives of the game, Wazzu punted six times, turned it over on downs twice, missed a field goal, scored one TD and ran out of time once.

UCLA 31- Houston 13: The bRuin defense smacked around the Cougars, knocking QB Case Keenum out of the game, while their offense finally showed some life as UCLA picked up their first win of the year at the Rose Bowl. After giving up an early field goal, the bRuins put up 31 straight points on the Cougars. bRuin Rb Johnathan Franklin was the offense star for UCLA by rushing for 158 yards and three TDs. As for the defense, UCLA defended Houston's spread offense well, allowing a good amount of yards, but making key plays to stop UH when they needed to.

Telling Stat: They needed the win. UCLA's win kept them from going 0-3 to start a season for the first time since 1971.

Observations

...Michigan State HC Mark Dantonio made one of the gutsiest calls I've seen a coach make in a few years when he went with that great fake field goal against Notre Dame. Get well soon, coach D.

...Northwestern is the BCS Champions!!! Well, they won the Brainy Championship Series. To start the year they beat Vanderbilt. This past weekend they beat Rice.

...And then there were 12. They are 12 winless teams left in FBS play. I think Eastern Michigan has the best shot at going winless this year. However, don't count out the loser of the New Mexico-New Mexico State game.

...Notre Dame may have lost a couple of heart breakers in the last two weeks, but this Irish squad looks light years better right now than at any time during the Charlie Weis era.

....I think the Stanford-Notre Dame game will be pretty good this week.

...Quietly making noise; don't look now, but Temple is 3-0 for the first time in forever.

...The Arizona-Iowa game was a hard-hitting, dirty game. I saw a lot of cheap shots and late hits on both sides. It was just nasty.

...It was weird being in Minnesota last weekend, coming out of a Twins-A's game and realizing that the Cal game was only in the first quarter.

...If USC's o-line could get it together, the offense could really start rolling.

...Is it basketball season yet? That's what the fans are asking in the ACC. Wow, this league is bad. Outside of Florida State whipping BYU, there's not much to talk about in this league.

...Stanford's black uniforms are awful. period.

...Cal played another WTF game last week. Can the Golden Bears rebound this week against Arizona or is Cal's annual slide beginning earlier this year?

...It's pretty clear, Cincinnati football died when Brian Kelly left.

...How come nobody talks about TCU the way they do about Boise State?

...Air Force almost got the win at Oklahoma. The Falcons ran for 361 yards on the Sooners.

...Arizona HC Mike Stoops needs to shut up on the sidelines. He whines about everything. Relax, Mike. You won last week.

Until next week folks,

Alway be ready for a fake field goal

-The Commissioner

Week 2

Hey All,

It's time for that column that makes Tuesdays in fall a little more fun, Notes on a Pac 10 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Summaries

USC 17- Virginia 14: The game started late in the evening and the Trojans never really got started at all in a game that should have been a blowout. You name it, missed assignments, penalties, dropped passes, no running game, and no tackling kept this one tight until the end. QB Matt Barkley led the way for USC by throwing for 202 yards and 2 TDs on the night. Throw in a late Joe Houston field goal and the Trojans escaped with a win over the Cavaliers.

Telling Stat: It was a flag fest. The two squads were flagged 22 times for 251 yards in a sloppy, sloppy game.

Washington State 23- Montana State 22: The Cougars turned the ball over three times in the first three quarters and were looking at a 22-7 deficit as the the third quarter ended. Then, Wazzu QB Jeff Tuel put together two drives ending in TD passes and cut MSU' s lead to 22-20 with a liitle over six minutes to play. On the ensuing possession, Wazzu's Alex Hoffman-Ellis picked off a Bobcat pass to set PK Nico Grasu's 18-yard game winning field goal. Tuel ended the day with 18 out of 29 passing for 204 yards and 2 TDs, while TB Jeff Montgomery ran for 116 yards on 20 carries and a TD to lead the Cougars' offense.

Telling Stat: It's about time: The win was Wazzu's first in regulation time since beating Portland State, 48-9 way back on 9-20-2008.

California 52- Colorado 7: The Golden Bears gave the Buffaloes a reason or two to reconsider joining the Pac 1o after whipping them in all phases of the game. QB Kevin Riley got the Bears off to their usual fast start by throwing for TD passes to RB Shane Vereen and WR Marvin Jones. As that was going on, the Cal defense was busy holding CU to negative yards in that quarter. In fact, CU didn't make a first down until the 10:00 minute mark of the second quarter. The Bears went up 31-0 by halftime and this game was over. Riley finished the day with 15 of 24 completions for 197 yards and four TDs.

Telling Stat: CU had no O. Of their 17 possessions, the Buffs scored one TD, missed a FG, turned it over 6 times, punted 7 times, and ran the clock out twice.

Arizona State 41- Northern Arizona 20: The Lumberjacks of NAU gave ASU all they could handle for three quarters last Saturday. Then, ASU pulled away in the fourth quarter for the win. Sun Devil QB Steven Threet completed 33 of 49 passes for 3 TDs in ASU's new look offense. It was in the fourth quarter that the ASU defense shined. They held the Lumberjacks to 23 yards and forced three punts while Threet was busy leading the team to two TDs to sela the win.

Telling Stat: Flags everywhere. ASU committed 13 penalties for 131 yards in the contest. ASU practically gave NAU a TD by committing 40 yards of penalties on one drive alone.

Michigan 28- Notre Dame 24: It was a classic battle in South Bend, but not matter how tough the Irish played, the story of this game is Wolverine QB Denard Robinson. He threw for 244 yards and ran for 258 yards which accounted for 502 of UM's 532 total yards in the game. He also led his team on a 12 play, 72 yard drive that ended with him scoring the winning TD with :27 left. Robinson is now the leading candidate for the Heisman.

Telling Stat: That's two in a row. For two straight years, the Wolverines have scored a TD in the final seconds to beat Notre Dame.

Arizona 52- The Citadel 6: The Wildcats showed up for a mild workout before their game with Iowa next week and smacked around a perennial FCS doormat in front of the home folks. OB Nick Foles threw for 214 yards and a TD, while TB Nic Grigsby gained 107 hyards and scored three TDs of his own. The UofA defense did well, holding The Citadel to 171 total yards, only 21 of those coming through the air.

Telling Stat: Everyone got their letter. 3 different QBs threw passes, 10 different players carried the ball, and 11 different players caught passes for the Wildcats in this rout.

Washington 41- Syracuse 20: With 4:29 left in the first quarter, the Orange held a 10-0 lead and a little panic had started to set in among the faithful at Husky Stadium. Then, the Huskies woke up and dominated the middle two quarters en route to their first victory of the season. The Huskies outscored the Orange, 27-0 in the second and third quarters. Heisman candidate Jake Locker threw for 289 yards and 4 TDs for UW. Jamaal Kearse was Locker's favorite target. He caught nine balls for 179 yards and three TDs. On the ground, Chris Polk went for 117 yards and a TD of his own. As for the Orange, QB Joe Nassib threw for 202 yards and a TD. He also ran for another TD in the losing effort.

Telling Stat: They bent, but didn't break. The Husky defense held SU to just a field goal in the second and third quarters despite allowing them to gain 152 yards in those quarters.

Stanford 35- UCLA 0: The Cardinal ended their six game losing streak at the Rose Bowl in impressive fashion, whipping the bRuins in the early season Pac 10 opener for both schools. The Cardinal defense was the story of this game as they smacked the bRuin offense around all game long. SU held UCLA to 233 total yards and forced four turnovers. One of which, was turned into a TD when LB Michael Thomas basically took the handoff from UCLA QB Kevin Prince in the backfield and raced 21 yards for a score to put the Cardinal up 28-0 late in the third quarter. Meanwhile, QB Andrew Luck threw for 151 yards and two TDs and ran for 63 yards as well to lead the Cardinal attack.

Telling Stat: The year was 1974. That was the last time the Cardinal record a shutout win on the road. That day they beat Oregon, 17-0.

Oregon 48- Tennessee 13: After going down 6-0, then having to wait out an hour long lightning delay, the Ducks came out and whipped the Volunteers, in Knoxville. The Ducks went in at the half with the game tied 13-13, then came out and blew the doors off the Vols in the second half. The Ducks put up 35 unanswered points that sent the home folks to the exits early. UO QB Darron Thomas threw for 202 yards and 2 TDs while LaMichael James ran for 134 yards and a score of his own. Oregon got the big plays in the second half. They had a 72-yard run, a 76-yard interception return, and an 80-yard punt return that all went for touchdowns.

Telling Stat: UO's 48 points were the most scored by a nonconference opponent at Tennessee since Wazzu beat the Vols, 52-24 back in 1988.

Observations

...The worst loss in Boise State history happened last week and they didn't even play. Virgnia Tech's embarrassing 21-16 loss to FCS also-ran James Madison is all the eastern sportswriters need to keep BSU out of the title game even if they go 13-0.

...And our winner for first team out of the Rose Bowl race in the Pac 10 this year is UCLA.

...Here's a feat of clay. Wisconsin TB John Clay has at least 100 yards rushing and a touchdown in eight straight games going back to 2009.

...It's time to cheer for everyone from old Nassau, to Franklin Field. The Ivy League begins play this week. I think the Harvard Crimson will take the league crown.

...What for me was most impressive about Air Force's 35-14 win over BYU wasn't the fact that the Falcons rushed for 409 yards, held the ball for almost 37 minutes, or completed a couple of passes on the day. It was the fact that after giving up 193 yards and two TDs in the first quarter, the Falcon defense shutout the Cougars the rest of the way, giving up only 116 yards over the last three quarters.

...Va Tech Part II: They were seriously talking about a National Title around Lane Stadium this year. Va Tech has been the most overrated team of the last 15 years.

...It must be something about shades of red and gold. USC and ASU are 1-2 atop the NCAA leader board in penalties. They have the same number of penalties with 24, but USC holds the yardage edge over ASU.

...And then there were 21. There are 21 winless teams left in FBS play after two full weeks of games. The Sun Belt Conference leads the way in losing as five of the league's nine teams are winless. The Big Ten, Big XII, ACC, and Big East have no winless teams.

...Wake Forest gave up 487 yards and 48 points in a 54-48 win over Duke last week. Next up for the Demon Deacons is a date at Stanford. Last year, the Deacs got some home cookin' from the refs and walked away with a win over the Cardinal. I don't think they'll get those call on The Farm this week.

...He's a one man gang. Wolverine QB Denard Robinson has rushed and passed for 885 of Michigan's 1005 total yards gained this season. Wow.

...Stanford is a big, physical, tough team. Just ask the bRuins.

...In the battle of the seas, the Coast Guard Academy beat the Merchant Marine Academy, 10-8.

...After being crushed by Oklahoma last week, do you think the fans at FSU really miss Bobby Bowden right now?

...I think it's clear after being whipped like a stray dog by Cal, that Colorado HC Dan Hawkins will only see the Buffaloes play as a full fledged Pac 10 member if he buys a ticket. Get that resume ready, Dan.

...This week the Arkansas Razorbacks host the Georgia Bulldogs. A big win by the Razorbacks would vault them near the top ten and make QB Ryan Mallett a true Heisman candidate.

...Hawaii made the longest road trip in school history last week by traveling 5,000 miles to take on Army at West Point. The Warriors came away with a 31-28 win and a very long flight home. The Warriors trip east covered seven time zones.

Until next week folks, remember to hit the hole quick and then run to daylight.

-The Commissioner

Week 1

Hey All,

Here's that column you've been waiting for since spring practice, Notes on a Pac 10 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Summaries

USC 49- Hawaii 36: Yes, it was a win in Lane Kiffin's debut as HC at Troy, but something was missing. The Trojan defense was nowhere to be found. After hearing about how USC's defense was in the hands of a great staff, they went out and promptly gave up 588 yards and 36 points to a WAC team that isn't Boise State. On the bright side for USC, the offense overwhelmed a much smaller Warrior defense. QB Matt Barkley tied a USC record with five TD passes to go along with his 257 yards through the air. TB Marc Tyler showed why he won the starting job rushing for 154 yards on just 17 carries and a TD. However, the most impressive Trojan was WR Ronald Johnson who caught only seven passes, but three of them were for scores.

Telling Stat: T.O.P. UH held the ball for 32:07. USC lost the time of possession battle to a Run-and-Shoot team. That just shouldn't happen.

TCU 30- Oregon State 21: For OSU, this was supposed to be the successful homecoming of the Rodgers brothers to Texas. However, 6th ranked TCU spoiled it by bottling up the Rodgers brothers with a strong defensive effort. TCU held Jacquizz Rodgers to 75 yards rushing and a TD, while holding James Rodgers to 75 yards receiving and a TD. That's great considering how good those two players are. Meanwhile, TCU QB Andy Dalton threw two interceptions that led to two OSU TDs, but he made up for that by running for two TDs and throwing for a third. The Beavers still had a chance in this game late, but with 4:14 left, Ryan Katz had the snap sail over his head and out of the endzone to give TCU a game clinching safety.

Telling Stat: You gotta have the ball to score. OSU had the ball for only 7:15 seconds in the second half v. the Horned Frogs.

Arizona 41- Toledo 2: It was the first time a Pac 10 school ever went on the road to play a MAC school and the Wildcats proved to be rude guests by smacking around the Rockets in front of their home crowd. UofA's offense lived up to its' preseason billing with QB Nick Foles completing 32 of 37 passes for 360 yards and a pair of TDs. Meanwhile, questions about the Wildcat defense seemed to be answered as they shutout the Toledo offense. The Rockets two points came when UofA was hit with a holding call in their own endzone.

Telling Stat: They couldn't break through the Wildcat wall. Of their 11 drives, Toledo only drove further than 25 yards once, and that one ended with UofA making a goal line stand.

Stanford 52- Sacramento State 17: The Cardinal did their bit for charity by helping the California State University system when they gave the Hornets a big check in exchange for a beatdown in a glorified scrimmage to open the season on The Farm. SU QB Andrew Luck threw four TD passes by halftime as the Cardinal opened up a 38-7 lead. After that, it was a just a scrimmage.

Telling Stat: It was over early. Stanford held a 38-7 lead at the half, holding a yardage edge of 405 to 57.

California 52- UC Davis 3: Charity part II; The Golden Bears gave a fat check to the Aggies in exchange for getting to smack them around at old Memorial Stadium. Cal QB Kevin Riley complete 14 of 20 passes for 258 yards and three TDs, while TB Shane Vereen chipped in with 67 yards rushing and 2 TDs of his own in this rout. As for Cal's defense, they held the Aggies to 4 first downs and 81 total yards for the afternoon.

Telling Stat: He's number one. With the win over the Aggies, Cal HC Jeff Tedford became the winningest coach in modern Golden Bear history with 68 wins. He passed the legendary Pappy Waldorf who went 67-32-4 from 1947-56.

BYU 23- Washington 17: A game that was supposed to be about Jake Locker beginning his Heisman campaign, ended up being about a tough Cougar defense instead.. It's always tough to play in Provo, but UW looked good going into the half with a 17-13 lead. Then, BYU shutdown the Husky offense. The Cougars shutout the Huskies in the second half, including two key fourth down stops just outside of the redzone. While their defense held firm, the BYU offense generated the game-winning points in the third quarter with a Mitch Payne 29-yard field goal and a 48-yard TD pass from QB Riley Nelson to J.J. DiLuigi.

Telling Stat: Field position matters. UW's average starting field position in the second half was their own 17-yard line.

Arizona State 54- Portland State 9: In another glorified scrimmage, the Sun Devils ran over the Vikings in Tempe. ASU unveiled their new quick strike offense with QB Steven Threet connecting on 14 of 21 passes for 239 yards and two TDs, while RB Cameron Marshall ran for 3 TDs of his own in the rout. ASU's FCS schedule will continue next week as they host Northern Arizona.

Telling Stat: Cameron Marshall's 3 TDs came in his first four carries. He scored on runs of 50, 38, and 5 yards.

Kansas State 31- UCLA 22: In front of a record crowd of 51,059 for a home opener, the Wildcats rallied to beat the bRuins in Manhattan, Kansas. The bRuins showed off their new pistol offense and went into halftime holding a 10-7 lead behind QB Kevin Prince's 11-yard run and PK Kai Forbath's 44-yard field goal. However, the second half came along and the bRuins had no answer for Wildcat RB Daniel Thomas. He ran for 234 yards on 28 carries, including the game clinching TD with 58 seconds left. The bRuins had their chances in this one, but misfired on a 2-point conversion that would have tied the game with 1:19 left in the fourth quarter. The bRuins then failed to recover the onside kick and allowed KSU's game clinching score.

Telling Stat: They ran to daylight. K-State ran for 313 yards and held the ball for 35:56 in their winning effort.

Oregon 72- New Mexico 0: Jeremiah Masoli who?, LaMichael James who? The Ducks entered their opener without QB Jeremiah Masoli,who was busy losing for Ole Miss, and TB LaMichael James who was suspended for the game and calmly went about a complete destruction of the Lobos. The Ducks ran up a school record 720 yards of offense and led 59-0 at the half. QB Darron Thomas completed 13 of 23 passes for 220 yards and 2TDs, while RB Kenjon Barner ran for 147 yards and 4 TDs on the afrternoon. The Ducks special teams got in on the act too. PR Cliff Harris returned two punts for TDs of 61 yards and 64 yards in the second quarter.

Telling Stat: Nothing like it; UO's 72 point margin of victory is the largest in school history v. an FBS school.

Oklahoma State 65- Washington State 17: Wazzu turned the ball over on their first play of the game and everything went downhill from there. Cowboy RB Kendall Hunter rushed for 257 yards on 21 carries and 4TDs in this laugher in Stillwater, OK. the other offensive star for Okie State was WR Justin Blackmon who caught 8 passes for 125 yards and 3TDs. He also returned a blocked punt for a fourth TD. The lone bright spot for the Cougars was PK Nico Grasu. He nailed a 56-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

Telling Stat: He's got the leg. Wazzu has the best punter in the Pac 10 in Reid Forrest. Heck, he's averaged 10 punts a game in his Cougar careeer.

Observations

...Whether you call it the Swingin' Gate, Lonesome Polecat, 3-4-4- Crazy, or anything else, the formation USC ran for PATs V. Hawaii was fun to watch. Also, it was fun to watch the Trojans really pay attention to special teams. After all, it is only about 20-30 percent of any given game.

...College football spelling bee. Illinois' new spread option QB goes by the name of Nathan Scheelhaase. His last name is pronounced Shell-House. That's gonna give some sports editors some problems.

...Someone has to do an intervention at Nike. They are ruining football uniforms all over the country. The Va Tech uniform was one of the ugliest things I'd ever seen. Oh, and the Boise State ensemble was just awful, and don't get me started on TCU's togs.

...Definition of Irony; Ole Miss HC Houston Nutt is being vilified right now by the Rebel faithful after his team lost 49-48 at home to FBS stalwart Jacksonville State. The JSU HC knows a little bit about how Nutt feels. The JSU coach is Jack Crowe. Crowe was almost run out of town when his Arkansas squad lost a home game to The Citadel in 1992.

...That's just not football weather. The temperature for the 7:00 PM kickoff at Sun Devil Stadium for ASU's home opener with Portland State was 106 degrees.

...Wow, it's tough to be a Cougar. On November 8, 2008 Wazzu TB Dwight Tardy scampered 18 yards to give the Cougars an early 7-0 lead over Arizona. Wazzu hasn't held a lead in regulation play since. They do have two wins since then, but they have both come in overtime after the Cougars tied those games to force those overtime.

...In that big game between the only mining schools I've ever heard of outside of UTEP, Colorado Mines beat South Dakota Mines, 52-24.

... Name Game; #84 for USC is TE Jordan Cameron. #97 for California is DT Cameron Jordan. I'm looking forward to when USC hosts California and Cameron Jordan tackles Jordan Cameron.

...By dropping games with BYU, TCU, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State over the weekend, the PAC 10 has established itself as a very weak looking conference in 2010.

...At least we didn't lose like Mississippi. That's what fans of Oklahoma, LSU, and Florida can tell themselves after surviving close scrapes over the weekend.

...UCLA PK Kai Forbath is the defending Groza Award winner and looks like he's gonna challenge for another one. He's calm, confident, and deadly accurate. He kept UCLA in their game with Kansas State.

...With the Spread/Pistol now becoming the dominant offense in college football, it was interesting to see Missouri's wrinkle on running the system. The Tigers run it out of the quad formation. They don't split their wideouts up, they line four on one side of the field. The over rotation by the defense sets up some interesting mismatches.

...I never thought I'd ever see the day when Penn State HC Joe Paterno would start a true freshman at quarterback. Then again, I didn't think I'd see Joe Paterno still coaching in 2010.

...It was really good to see USC have one dominant TB. Marc Tyler was great against the rainbows. However, I do like seeing Alan Bradford carry the rock as well.

...And the brain bowl champ is Northwestern. The Wildcats went into Vanderbilt and beat the Commodores, 23-21.

...I hope USC will start doing tackling drills again in practice.

Until next week folks, remember to keep low when you fire off the ball.

-The Commissioner