Pac-10 Week Six Review
October 13, 2009 by Jeff Spiegel
Slowly but surely the truth is coming out about the Pac-10 this season. Oregon is for real, and Washington State is not. Everyone else is in the middle. USC hasn’t really played anyone outside of Ohio State, and how good they are is up for debate. UCLA and Cal got off to hot starts, but have each lost two in a row, leaving many to wonder whether their hot start was merely a fluke. Washington, Arizona, and Stanford all have shown flashes of greatness, but followed those flashes up with major disappointments, while Arizona State and Oregon State are just downright confusing. That being said, here is a full conference recap from last weekend.
Oregon 24 UCLA 10
At the beginning of the season, if you had asked me to name the five best players on Oregon’s roster, only one of those five (Masoli, Blount, Dickson, Ward, and Thurmond) played this weekend. Not a problem. While the Ducks started out slow, trailing 3-0 at halftime behind a slow start from Nate Costa, they came out firing in the second half. Kenjon Barner returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and on UCLA’s ensuing drive, Talmadge Jackson returned an interception for a touchdown. Just twenty-six seconds into the half, the Ducks were celebrating a 14-3 lead before the folks at the Rose Bowl had even taken their seats. The story in this game, however, was all about the Duck defense, a defense that has given up just nine points in conference play (the Bruins scored a touchdown on an interception in the endzone). The offensive woes continued to haunt the Bruins, who couldn’t even decide which quarterback to play down the stretch, gaining only 211 yards while turning the ball over three times. The defense was solid as expected, allowing just one offensive touchdown from the Ducks, however they did yield 153 yards on the ground to phenom LaMichael James on just 20 carries. It will be interesting to see where these Bruins go for the rest of the year, because despite their lack of offense, their defense still seems capable of leading them to bowl eligibility.
Arizona State 27 Washington State 14
Meet the definition of an ugly football game. 10 turnovers. Six by Arizona State and they won! Washington State’s 29 yards of total offense in the first half definitely helped the Sun Devils’ case, as the Cougars came as close as they have come to a conference win all season. The two teams were a combined 5/29 on third down conversions, but the cherry on top of all these statistics goes to Washington State’s total rushing yards: -54. Add on a blocked and missed extra point by Arizona State and you have a game that is as far from stereotypical as you will see in the conference all season. It got so bad that the Sun Devils just gave up on extra points on their fourth score, going for the two point conversion. While the Cougars seem destined for another 0-fer on the conference slate, the Sun Devils are just two games removed from nearly taking down Georgia in Athens. The Sun Devils also boast the best defense in the conference thus far, however their schedule thus far suggests that stat is extremely misleading.
Oregon State 38 Stanford 28
Talk about a huge game in the conference standings. Both of these teams were battling for some separation from the middle of the pack, and the Beavers made a strong move in their case to do so. Jaquizz Rodgers ran 33 times for 189 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Beavers to their second straight impressive win after back-to-back losses against Cincinnati and Arizona. So what does this mean? Well Stanford beat Washington and UCLA, while Oregon State lost to Arizona but beat Arizona State if that clears up the middle of the conference at all for you. Lost in the fray of this game, Toby Gerhart had two more rushing touchdowns, but poor play from Andrew Luck (just 12/30) prevented Stanford from ever really competing in this game. Luck will definitely be the X Factor for the Cardinal down the stretch, as his play will ultimately determine their fate.
Washington 36 Arizona 33
This was definitely the most exciting game of the week, with as many ramifications as the game above, but also contained excitement and controversy that wasn’t found elsewhere. The play that has been talked about at the water cooler all week is one in which Arizona’s Delashaun Dean dropped a pass, which then deflected off his foot into the air and was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Mason Foster. The problem was the ball clearly hit the ground. The touchdown was part of 15 points the Huskies scored in the last three minutes to win by just a field goal, so the Wildcat woes extended further than the referees. Nick Foles played well in his second consecutive start since taking over for Matt Scott, throwing for 384 yards in the losing effort. The key for the Huskies was holding Nic Grigsby to just 13 yards on five carries before he left the game in the second half. Ultimately this was just another tale of collapse for the Wildcats, who just couldn’t seal the deal down the stretch to put this game out of reach (bad call or not).
Looking back on this statement week throughout the conference, I think Oregon and USC are clearly on top of the conference, followed by Oregon State, Washington, Arizona, and Stanford. Where California fits into this equation is to be determined in seeing how they rebound from the thrashing they have been dealt in their last two conference games. Arizona State and Washington State are holding down the bottom of the conference, with no real hope of challenging the middle of the pack. The best part? This could all change at any time, which speaks volume to the depth of the conference this season.
[...] Pac-10 Week Six Review Slowly but surely the truth is coming out about the Pac-10 this season. Oregon is for real, and Washington State is not. Everyone else is in the middle. USC hasn’t really played anyone outside of Ohio State, and how good they are is up for debate. UCLA and Cal got off to hot starts, but [...] [...]
[...] Pac-10 Week Six Review Slowly but surely the truth is coming out about the Pac-10 this season. Oregon is for real, and Washington State is not. Everyone else is in the middle. USC hasn’t really played anyone outside of Ohio State, and how good they are is up for debate. UCLA and Cal got off to hot starts, but [...] AKPC_IDS += "263,";Popularity: unranked [?] [...]
[...] Pac-10 Week Six Review Slowly but surely the truth is coming out about the Pac-10 this season. Oregon is for real, and Washington State is not. Everyone else is in the middle. USC hasn’t really played anyone outside of Ohio State, and how good they are is up for debate. UCLA and Cal got off to hot starts, but [...] AKPC_IDS += "264,";Popularity: unranked [?] [...]
[...] Pac-10 Week Six Review Slowly but surely the truth is coming out about the Pac-10 this season. Oregon is for real, and Washington State is not. Everyone else is in the middle. USC hasn’t really played anyone outside of Ohio State, and how good they are is up for debate. UCLA and Cal got off to hot starts, but [...] [...]
[...] Pac-10 Week Six Review Slowly but surely the truth is coming out about the Pac-10 this season. Oregon is for real, and Washington State is not. Everyone else is in the middle. USC hasn’t really played anyone outside of Ohio State, and how good they are is up for debate. UCLA and Cal got off to hot starts, but [...] AKPC_IDS += "286,";Popularity: unranked [?] [...]
[...] Pac-10 Week Six Review Slowly but surely the truth is coming out about the Pac-10 this season. Oregon is for real, and Washington State is not. Everyone else is in the middle. USC hasn’t really played anyone outside of Ohio State, and how good they are is up for debate. UCLA and Cal got off to hot starts, but [...] AKPC_IDS += "294,";Popularity: unranked [?] [...]
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