UCLA
If you watched Oregon’s game against Fresno State, UCLA’s loss-although devastating-shouldn’t have come as a huge shock. But, after a fourth quarter comback that had them ahead 37-33 with less than a minute left it looked like the Bruins would survive the Bulldogs like their PAC-12 brothers up north. But with the nation’s leading QB, yes that’s right, Jake Haener orchestrating the offense and UCLA’s pass coverage giving out, as Ben Bolch put it for the LA Times put it “more cushion than a mattress store hosting a free pillow promotion,” Fresno State took only 40 seconds to move the ball 75 yards Haener to throw the go-ahead TD pass to Junior WR Jalen Cooper that put Fresno State ahead for good 40-37.
The Bulldogs recorded 32 first downs compared to 17 for the Bruins with a couple of those coming on two UCLA penalties on Fresno State 4th down punt formations that gave the Bulldogs a first down. In addition to combining for 569 total yards compared to 395 for UCLA, Haener connected on over 70% of his passes, completing 39-of-53 for 455 yards and 2 TD’s. Unlike the Oregon game that was also close and tied late into the 4th Qtr, this time it was the Bulldogs who came out on top.
For the Bruins, Dorian Thompson-Robinson had another one of those games where he appeared missing for multiple quarters but then ended in a feverish fourth with a game total 278 yards and 3 TD’s as well as rushing for another 67-accounting for most of UCLA’s yardage on the ground. One has to wonder how good the Bruins could be if DTR could put together four good quarters of play in the same game. As far as Haener was concerned Chip Kelly had this to say after the game; “I think [their] quarterback is a special player. We threw everything at him. We blitzed him, played cover zero, rushed three and dropped everyone else back into coverage. I think we threw the entire kitchen sink at him and he handled everything.”
Fresno State’s Senior RB Ronnie Rivers rushed 21 times for 136 yards and two of their three rushing TD’s against UCLA’s Junior RB Zach Charbonnet’s 2 TD’s on the ground. I think what puzzled most Bruin fans watching was the fact that UCLA seemed to abandon their outstanding running game in this contest and the consistently poor play of their secondary overall—giving up well over 300 yards per game and currently just four spots out of last place in the nation. But had DTR been present during most of the game one has to think that UCLA could have taken great advantage over Fresno State when they loaded up the box to prevent the run. Can Chip fix the missed tackles and blown coverages this week in practice? Will he pull the trigger on DTR and bring in the back-up for the beginning of PAC-12 play? I don’t know, but as Bill Plaschke put it for the LA Times; “Less than a month after racing to unrecognizable speeds on the fuel of two impressive victories, the UCLA football bandwagon has careened into a ditch, run off the road by some raging dudes from Fresno.”
Arizona State
It’s really frustrating when you out-pass and out-rush your opponent, currently lead the conference in total defense, but still end up loosing a game as the result of four turn-overs, two leading to TD’s, and 16 penalties for 121 yards. But that’s what the Sun Devils did against BYU this past weekend in a 27-17 loss on the road in Provo. The last time they were in Utah, just two games ago, they were flagged 13 times for 135 yards and as pointed out by All Sun Devils FanNation it was; “the highest amount of penalty yardage for the Sun Devils since 2006.” They won that game easily anyway, but that was Southern Utah and this past Saturday it was BYU and there has been no improvement in that regard. Arizona State Head Coach Herm Edwards had this to say after the game; “We have the makings of a good football team, but when you do this it’s not good football at all. It’s hard to watch when you’re going backward, and you just defeat yourself.”
Arizona State Junior QB Jayden Daniels had a rough day connecting on over 70% of his passes but never for a score, instead throwing up two interceptions, one leading to a score. BYU Sophomore QB also threw up two picks but also connected for 2 TD’s with another by Sophomore QB Baylor Romney. On the ground the Sun Devils rushed for 161 yards and 2 TD’s on 33 attempts while BYU picked up a score of their own while rushing 39 times for 144 yards. In addition to those two picks Arizona State fumbled 3 times, loosing 2, with one leading to another score. This was a game that the Sun Devils lost as opposed to BYU winning and if they don’t clean up their act are going to lose more. They come back home to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe to face a South Division opponent in Colorado—a team looking to get their feet back on the ground after a 30-0 pounding by Minnesota.
Colorado
If you happened to watch Minnesota take on Ohio State in Week 1 you knew Colorado’s chances this past Satuday were going to be slim-to-none and they had more than their hands full in an ugly 30-0 loss to the Gophers. Both teams struggled to get going with four of the first five possessions in the game resulting in three-and-outs with the fifth a missed 24 yard field goal by Minnesota. But after that the Gophers scored TD’s on back-to-back possessions even though they continued to have kicking problems with two missed PAT’s and went into the half only up 13-0.
After the break things eventually picked up for Minnesota although it started out looking like the first half with another missed field goal by the Gophers. But after Colorado’s fumble on their second possesion of the half it took Minnesota just seven plays and four minutes to get into the end zone, finally kick a good PAT, and go up 20-0. Two possessions later it was 23-0 on a 33 yard field goal by Gopher PK Matthew Trickett. Then, after holding the Buffaloes to a three-and-out, they got the ball back and were in the end zone just three minutes later on a 14 yard run by Freshman RB Ky Thomas to go up 30-0 for the final score of the game with two-thirds of the 4th quarter gone.
Judging by the stats it didn’t look like Colorado belonged on the same field as Mnnesota. Gopher Senior QB Tanner Morgan connected on 11-of-17 for 164 yard while Colorado Freshman QB’s Brendon Lewis and Drew Carter combined for less than 100 yards on just 12 completions. On the ground things were much worse for the Buffaloes where they rushed 21 times for minus 19 yards while Minnesota gained 277 yards and 4 TD’s in 53 carries with Sophomore RB Treyson Potts accounting for 3 of those TD’s and almost half of the yards.
According to the AP write-up for ESPN; “This marked the first time Colorado has been shut out at Folsom Field since Nov. 3, 2012, against Stanford. The last nonconference team to shut out Colorado in Boulder was LSU on Sept. 15, 1979. In addition, it was the first shutout of a Power Five team on the road by Minnesota since Nov. 12, 1977, at Illinois.” On the other side this was Minnesota’s 21st straight non-conference win—longest streak in the nation. As Colorado Head Coach Karl Dorrell said after the game; “That was a complete, I would say, beatdown in every way.” Colorado hits the road to take on Arizona State this next Saturday and unless they get a lot of help from the Sun Devils are going to have a really hard time scoring enough points to keep close, no less win.
Utah
This was a football game with symmetry and THREE overtimes. Utah scored seven in the first quarter and three in the second. San Diego State scored three in the first quarter and seven in the second. Score tied 10-10 at the half. The Aztecs outscored Utah 14-0 in the third with the Utes just able to match that accomplishment in the fourth after replacing their starting QB Charlie Brewer with backup Cameron Rising on a 74 yard two-minute drive ending with a TD pass to Theo Howard and two-point conversion pass to Connor O’Toole with just 14 seconds left in the 4th. Score tied 24-24 at the end of regulation.
According to Sports Illustrated; “The new college football overtime rules stipulate that in the second overtime, teams have to run a two-point conversion after a touchdown. If the game goes to a third overtime period, then teams will alternate two-point conversions from the 3 yard line.” Both teams scored TD’s and PAT’s in the 1st OT to tie the score at 31-31 and go into the 2nd OT where both missed field goals. After San Diego State successfully completed a two point conversion from the three yard line to make the score 33-31 Utah lined up. It looked like there was going to be a 4th OT after the Ute’s Cam Rising completed a pass to Connor O’Toole. But a video replay review overturned the call and the Aztecs came away with the victory.
The game should have never made it to overtime but Utah kept helping San Diego State along with a collapse on Special Teams in the first half giving up a punt return for touchdown and then starting QB Charlie Brewer’s interception into double coverage from their own 39 in the second half that was turned into a 7 yard TD run by the Aztecs one play later–leading to his benching.
In spite of not entering the game until the 3rd Qtr Utah Sophomore QB Cameron Rising was able to complete 19-of-32 for 153 of Utah’s 257 yards in the air and 3 TD’s. But it was in the trenches, on both sides of the ball, where they struggled rushing 31 times for just 70 yards while unable to stop the Aztecs who gained 204 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground. Look for stiffer offensive line play and Rising to start in their home opener against Washington State this next Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake.
Arizona
It’s only game three but Jedd Fisch former QB coach for the New England Patriot’s and now Head Coach of Arizona might already be scratching his head and asking, “why did I want to come here again?” With four interceptions, six fumbles, and two Arizona defensive backs ejected for targeting, this game was about as ugly as it gets. But ugly or not Northern Arizona was elated to have beaten a Power 5 Conference team with a group of players that were offered no scholarships from teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. As Lumberjack Head Coach Chris Ball said after the game; “This is one of those games that’s an opportunity to make a name for our program. It just shows our team, our staff, what we’re capable of doing.” The 21-19 loss, one of the worst in program history according to the AP, keeps Arizona’s streak alive, losing streak that is, now at a school record 15 games. It just gets worse from here with Oregon up next, on the road.