Week 9

Hey All,

Here's that column that makes you glad it's Tuesday, Notes on a Pac 10 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud

Summaries

Oregon 53- USC 32: The Ducks and Trojans traded punches for almost three quarters before the depleted Trojans ran out of gas while Oregon found their passing gear and showed USC and the nation why they are number one. UO QB Darron Thomas shredded USC's sieve of a defense for 288 yards and 4 TDs through the air, while RB LaMichael James ran for 239 yards and three TDs to lead the Ducks rushing attack. USC had a 32-29 lead with 11:19 to go in the third quarter, then they faded and were outscored 24-0 down the stretch by the Ducks whose high energy, high octane offense proved to be too much for USC's weak defense to handle.

Disturbing Stat: In USC's first 668 home games they had given up 50+ points only once. It's happened twice in games 669-675.

Arizona 29- UCLA 21: UofA's fake punt trumped the bRuins flea-flicker and the Wildcats came away with a hard fought win at the Rose Bowl. UofA backup QB Matt Scott filled in as the starter again for the injured Nick Foles and lit up the UCLA secondary for 319 yards and a TD. However, the Wildcats held a slim 26-21 lead after bRuin QB Richard Brehault connected with WR Josh Smith on the flea-flicker for a 49-yard TD. With 6:23 left, the Wildcats executed a fake punt to perfection with P Jake Fischer running for 29 yards and a big first down. Then the Wildcats put the game away with an Alex Zendejas 30-yard field goal with 1:21 to play.

Telling Stat: They couldn't cash in; UofA ran up 583 yards, 32 first downs and held the ball for 37:55, but could only manage to put 29 points on the board.

Stanford 41- Washington 0: The Cardinal went into Husky Stadium and just whipped the Dawgs. The Stanford defense harassed QB Jake Locker all day. They held him to 7 of 14 passing for 64 yards and two interceptions. Then, they nailed Locker, breaking his ribs, possibly ending his season. The Huskies finished with 107 total yards of offense and a meager seven first downs. Meanwhile, QB Andrew Luck threw for 192 yards and a TD. He also ran for 92 yards and another score. RB Stepfan Taylor ran for 104 yards and 2 TDs for the boys from Palo Alto. The Cardinal are 8-1 for the first time since 1970.

Telling Stat: 36 seasons; Stanford picked up their first road shutout since beating Oregon 17-0 in 1974.

Oregon State 35- California 7: It was a road game, so Cal got blown out. This time it was at the hands of the Beavers who got 119 yards and 4 TDs from RB Jacquizz Rodgers to go with 184 yards and a TD through the air from QB Ryan Katz. The Beavers kept the Golden Bears caged, allowing only 206 total yards and 10 first downs on the afternoon. Cal's lone score game with :20 left on 45-yard TD pass from QB Brock Mansion to WR Anthony Miller.

Telling Stat: Meaningless yards; 93 of Cal's 206 total yards came on their final drive of the day after the Beavers had emptied the bench with the game well in hand.

Arizona State 42- Washington State 0: After being embarrassed by Cal last week, the Sun Devils came out and declawed the Cougars, in Tempe. Sun Devil QB Steven Threet threw for 300 yards and 3 TDs. Not bad for a kid just coming back from a concussion the week before. The Cougars got 200 yards out QB Jeff Tuel, but the ASU defense picked him off twice and held WSU's ground attack to 8 yards on the day.

Telling Stat: Long fields; Wazzu's average starting field position in this game was their own 21-yard line.

Tulsa 28- Notre Dame 27: What was a horrible week at ND got a little bit worse when the Fighting Irish threw away a win over Tulsa. The game started poorly for ND as QB Dayne Crist was lost for the year when ruptured the patella tendon in his left knee. That put true frosh QB Tommy Rees on the spot and the kid responded by completing 33 of 54 passes for 334 yards and 4 TDs. He also threw 3 interceptions. One of them was returned for a TD and his final one handed Tulsa the win. ND was on the Tulsa 19-yard line with :39 left and Rees threw into the endzone where it was intercepted by DB John Flanders. It was Tulsa's first win over a BCS school since 1998.

Telling Stat: Man, he hates Halloween; This is the second straight year that ND's Dayne Crist has suffered a season-ending injury on Halloween weekend.

Observations

...Something you don't see every day; After UTEP's Kris Adams scored on a 23-yard TD pass from Trevor Vittatoe, the Miners attempted a two-point conversion. Vittatoe's pass was intercepted and taken back 100 yards for a defensive conversion.

...My heart goes out to the family of ND undergrad Declan Sullivan. It just hurt to read of a young life cut short in a senseless accident.

...Bowling Math; There are 35 bowl games this year. That means there are 70 slots for teams out of the 120 teams in the FBS. That's a lot of teams considering there were barely enough bowl eligible teams with fewer bowls last year. This will be interesting to watch how it plays out down the stretch.

...Something you don't see every day Part II; Nebraska's Roy Helu, Jr. had a 300 yard rushing game. He actually ran for 307 yards and 3 TDs on 28 carries in the Huskers' 31-17 win over Missouri. That's a nifty 10.9 yards per carry.

...You know things have hit the skids at Notre Dame when the ND message board moderator has to post warnings to their fan base to quit calling the players and coaches names in their posts.

...Big, big, game in the Mountain West this week as TCU visits Utah. This battle of unbeatens serves as an elimination game for a BCS berth.

...Quietly making noise; Baylor is 7-2 after their 30-22 win at Texas. Wouldn't it be cool if the Baylor-Oklahoma game meant a trip to the Big XII title game was on the line for both schools?

...And then there were still two. Akron and New Mexico are the only two winless teams in the FBS. Akron is losing their MAC games by an average of 28.2 PPG. UNM gave up 720 yards and 72 points to Oregon back in week one of the season.

...As of this week, the Big East and Sun Belt conferences have no bowl eligible teams.

...Michigan is in ninth place in the Big Ten. I never, ever thought I'd write that sentence.

...So, just how bad has USC's secondary been this season? The Trojans are ranked 114th in the nation against the pass. Hell, Wazzu is ranked 107th.

...The battle for the WAC title is this week as Hawaii travels to Boise State. Heck, the halftime score could be 51-49.

...Speaking of big games, Arizona plays at Stanford this week. This one will be a smashmouth affair. No spread finesse here.

...This is Joe Paterno's 45th year as Head Coach at Penn State. That is equal to the tenure of all the head coaches in the Pac 10 combined.

...If Air Force can beat Army this week, they will take home the Commander-in-Chief Trophy. USAFA comes into the game ranked 2nd in the nation in rushing offense and 116th in passing. USMA comes ranked 7th in rushing offense and dead last, 120th in passing offense. This game could be over in under two hours.

Until next time folks, remember that the Tampa 2 defense wasn't designed with spread offenses in mind.

-The Commissioner