UCLA at Oregon
Unfortunately for UCLA every just-out-of-high-school QB, no matter how good they are, goes up a harsh learning curve in college. They discover right away that if you’re going to start moving around in the pocket you’d better tuck that ball away because it could be stripped from any direction and that a sack is better than an interception. I mean they’re told that by their coaches but for some reason they have to experience it before they believe it. My goodness, this game was so much fun and frustrating to watch as UCLA just refused to give up against the Ducks no matter how many mistakes they made and almost pulled it off. When I heard that the Bruins starting QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who has either thrown or run for 80% of their points through the first two games, was going to be out-along with nine additional players-I felt as though a game I thought might be really competitive after watching the Bruins last week would sadly turn into a lopsided affair.
It was anything but that and guess who showed up for the second week in a row-the UCLA run defense who held the Ducks to a mere 88 yards on the ground on 34 rushing attempts for an average of just 2.5 yards per carry. And even though Oregon Sophomore QB Tyler Shough was able to connect on 19 of 30 for 334 yards, 3 TD’s, and no picks-that’s not what beat the Bruins. Although the scoreboard read 38-35 in favor of the Ducks at the end of the game, they really didn’t win it-UCLA lost it by giving the ball up four times, three for TD’s with the biggest back breaker happening right at the end of the second quarter. With no time left on the clock before the half, Freshman QB Chase Griffin attempted a hail mary with a defender all over him that turned into a pick six. Instead of the Bruins going into the break leading 21-17, Oregon goes ahead 24-21 and gets the ball to start the 2nd half. Chip Kelly graciously blamed himself for the call, but experienced QB’s know better than to throw that pass considering the duress Griffin was under.
In his last season Griffin was the High School Player of the Year in Texas. If you have ever followed high school football you know what a big deal that is. If you haven’t, here’s a comparison. My son graduated from Long Beach Poly High School in Southern California who has put more than 60 players into the NFL-the most of any high school in the nation. Big names like Willie Brown, Earl McCullouch, Gene Washington, Tony (Thrill) Hill, Willie McGinnist, Darnell Bing, Winston Justice, DeSean Jackson, JuJu Smith-Schuster and many many more. According to ziprecruiter; “As of September 14, 2020, the average annual pay for a High School Football Coach in California is $43,884 a year . . . the majority of . . . salaries currently range between $26,543 (25th percentile) to $53,087 (75th percentile). The Long Beach Poly coach during the time my son was there was a Probation Officer full-time and received a $4,000 stipend for being the head coach. In comparison, Head Coach Hank Carter of Austin Lake Travis High School in Texas is paid $158,512.00; Head Coach Reginald Samples of Duncanville, $130,969.00 and; Terry Gambill of Allen gets paid $126,325.00 to play in Allen Eagle Stadium which has an 18,000 person capacity, only the fifth largest in the state. Yeah, high school football is a big deal in Texas.
Chase Griffin certainly had a great high school career, throwing for over 11,000 yards, 123 passing TD’s, 12 rushing TD’s, averaged 300+ yards per game, a positive 6.5 to 1.0 TD to Interception Ratio, and an unbeaten championship senior year. But all that goodness didn’t prevent him from getting the ball knocked out of his hand at mid-field in the Bruins 2nd possession of the game, or throwing that pick six right at the half, or another interception late in the 3rd that resulted in another Oregon TD and a 10 point lead. UCLA was missing 10 guys, including their starting QB, and they almost won against the No. 11 Ducks. That’s amazing! I hope Chip makes it through to his fourth season because things seems to be coming together in spite of the transfer portal, the less than enthusiastic fan support, and everything else. No matter who they play going forward they look like they’re going to be a tough out.
The team’s stats, minus the turnovers, reveal just how close the game was. There was only 40 yards difference in total offense, with UCLA having the edge at 462 yards to 422. The Bruin QB connected on 19 of 31 while the Duck’s signal caller was 19 of 30. UCLA was penalized for 60 yards, Oregon for 65 and the time of possession was within a minute of each other. The Oregon defense recorded more tackles but the Bruin defense recorded twice as many sacks and more tackles for loss. Of special note, besides the passion they showed and the stellar run defense they played, UCLA Senior RB Demetric Felton is the real deal and rushed 34 times for 167 yards and 2 TD’s behind an inspired offensive line and against what is supposed to be a stout defense. As Dylan Hernadez wrote in the Los Angeles Times; “After two seasons of looking entirely lost, the Bruins played with purpose, which is how they were in position to upset the 11th-ranked team in the country when they started their final drive with 1 minute 24 seconds remaining in the game.” As Chip Kelly said after the game; “We’re close. If they continue to play with this effort and this kind of mind-set, it’s a really, really good group to be around. They’re special.”
Oregon State at Cal
Speaking of a game with a lot of turnovers, a legit running back, and a defense that finally showed some grit-Oregon State held off Cal at home in Corvallis this past Saturday to the tune of 31-27. And now Cal, who was projected to come in 2nd in the North behind Oregon, has lost two and have had two cancelled due to Covid. In another game punctuated by interceptions it looked as though Cal, after an 11 play 69 yard drive late in the fourth down to the OSU 10 yard line, was poised to take the lead only to have QB Chase Garbers’ pass tipped into the air and picked off with just over four minutes left in the game.
Oregon State’s Junior RB Jermar Jefferson, after rushing for 1,300+ yards his freshman year and 685 yards in 2019-a year beset by injury-is on pace for his best year regarding average yards per attempt at 7.2. Of course his bookend runs in this game certainly helped with a 75 yard scamper to the house in the Beavers very first play of the game as well as his 65 yard run back in the other direction in Oregon State’s possession after the late fourth quarter tipped interception of Carbers’ pass.
With Oregon State giving up a TD and throwing an interception that Cal turned into a field goal with no time left at the break, the Golden Bears went into the locker room with a 20-14 lead. But things changed after that, as they can and often do after both technical and mental adjustments are made during the half. Cal was on pace for a total offense of over 600 yards in this game having already accumulated 315+ in the first half. But Oregon State buckled down and held them to just 122 yards and one score in the second half with a lot of that credit going to Linebackers Omar Speights and Avery Roberts both posting 10 tackles, 7 solo tackles, 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss. Overall the Oregon State defense recorded over 30 more tackles, twice as many sacks and almost twice as many tackles for loss.
Looking at just the team stats and not the score you would have thought Cal won the game. The Bears recorded 24 first downs compared to just 16 for the Beavers, 439 yards of total offense to 360, and possessed the ball for an incredible 17 minutes longer than Oregon State. QB Chase Garbers connected with three different receivers for a TD a piece and 278 yards of his total 315 in the air compared to his counterpart who threw for just over half as much, only 1 TD and 2 picks. But it’s hard to win against the Triple Lindy as Oregon State’s QB Tristan Gebbia threw a TD, ran for a TD, and caught a pass for a TD. If you don’t know the reference go watch Rodney Dangerfield’s movie, “Back to School,” and have a good laugh.
If you want to point the finger, the Mercury News had some solid arguments in the section of their review that they labeled the, “Not-So-Special Teams.” In it they point out the following or what they call the grim checklist: “Penalties wiped out an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown by [Jr WR] Nikko Remigio and a 94-yard kickoff return by Remigio that would have set Cal up at the 3-yard line. A blocked punt with 5:26 left that gave the Beavers the ball at the Cal 14 and led to quarterback Tristan Gebbia’s 1-yard sneak for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:30 remaining. Jamieson Sheahan kicked a 24-yard punt that gave OSU the ball at Cal’s 35-yard, and Gebbia threw a touchdown pass from there for a 14-6 lead late in the first quarter. Then Travon Bradford returned a Cal punt 36 yards to the Bears’ 39, setting up a touchdown that put OSU in front 24-20 early in the fourth.” Also noting a delay of game penalty and a muffed return Head Coach Justin Wilcox was quoted as saying; “Those are critical, critical errors. It’s hard to overcome one of those, let alone six or seven.”
Lord willing and the Covid don’t rise Oregon State will host Oregon this coming Friday in Corvallis in a game that starts at 4:30pm and televised by ESPN while Cal also plays host to Stanford, earlier in the day at 1:00pm on FOX.
Arizona at Washington
I know the scoreboard read 44-27 at the end of the game, but with 12:53 left in the 4th quarter Washington was ahead 37-0. Just one tick of the clock later, sitting at 3rd and 10 on the Washington 30 yard line, Arizona got their first points on the board as Grant Gunnell completed a pass to Stanley Berryhill III into the end zone. And they might not have gotten that had the Huskies not committed a defensive pass interference with Arizona facing 4th down and 8-giving the Wildcats a fresh set of downs and new life. Fitting, it seemed, Lucas Havrisik missed the PAT since the eight previous possessions and three plus quarters prior to that score the Wildcats gained a total of just 46 yards, punted five times, fumbled the ball over to the Huskies, and lost the ball on downs. Yeah, it was about as bad as it gets. After that Jimmy Lake pulled his starting defense and over their next three possessions Arizona gained 230+ yards and scored three TD’s in slightly over six minutes while Washington went three and out twice after scoring again on a 54 yard Richard Newton run to put the game ultimately out of reach at 44-6.
The game started out like it ended, with a lot of yards gained and a lot of points scored, but it was the Huskies doing all the damage at the start. Jimmy Lake brought out the Chris Peterson playbook on Washington’s very first drive of the night. Sitting at 4th and 1 on his own 31 yard line the Huskies faked the punt, collected the first down, and two plays later QB Dylan Morris connected with Puka Nacua for a 65 yard TD and a 7-0 lead after a successful PAT. After holding the Wildcats to a three-and-out on their first possession, Washington picked up 77 yards on a 10 play drive resulting in a Peyton Henry Field Goal and pushing the score out to 10-0. For Arizona it just continued to get worse after that as QB Grant Gunnell fumbled the ball while being sacked on their own 20 yard line. Two plays later RB Sean McGrew was in the end zone and Washington was up 17-0. But that wouldn’t be the last time they scored in the first half. After holding the Wildcats to just twelve yards on their next possession the Huskies went on an extended 13 play, 65 yard drive taking up 6:30+ minutes culminating with RB Richard Newton’s first rushing TD of the game and the 24-0 lead Washington took into the break.
Even with Arizona getting the ball after the break, things continued to deteriorate. Washington held the Wildcats to a three-and-out and minus 11 yards on their first possession while Arizona lost their second possession on downs. The Huskies scored after each, once on a Kamari Pleasant 21 yard run into the end zone and once on a QB Dylan Morris 20 yard TD pass to Cade Otton which extended the lead to 37-0. You know the rest. The fourth quarter really helped boost Gunnell’s stats on the day which were pretty impressive in the end as he connecting on just about 70% of his passes for 259 yards and 3 TD’s against 230 yards and 2 scores for his Washington counterpart, Freshman Dylan Morris. But the Huskies killed them on the ground, rushing for 233 yards and 4 TD’s against 72 yards and 1 score for the Wildcats.
Considering all the financial implications and losses being incurred by these programs as a result of COVID there might not be a single coach in the PAC-12 that loses their job this year. But if I had to put a Dead Pool List together of those that would get fired Kevin Sumlin is at the top. He already holds the record of being in charge of the longest losing streak in program history and is well on his way to a winless season. They head to the Rose Bowl this next Saturday where I expect they will get crushed by a surging UCLA team that seems hungry to prove a point.
Sadly for Washington the traditional in-state rivalry Apple Cup against Washington State, that has taken place continuously since 1944 on the Friday after Thanksgiving, has been cancelled. Earlier this week the Huskies were looking for a team to play and a couple of reports said that No. 8 BYU, who boasted that they would play anyone, anytime, anywhere (I thought that declaration belonged to Pat Hill at Fresno State circa 1997-2011) had declined an invitation extended to them. Instead they will host Utah, who would have been victim to their third Covid cancellation, on Saturday night at 7:30pm on ESPN.