Oregon State at USC
Over the last three games the Beavers have rushed for well over 800 yards while averaging 6+ yards per carry. Against the Trojans this past Saturday evening they picked up 322 yards and 2 rushing TD’s to go along with Sophomore QB Chance Nolan’s 4 TD’s in the air to knock off USC in the LA Coliseum 45-27 for the first time since 1960. As pointed out in the Oregon Live game recap, the only two negative running plays in the game for Oregon State were the two kneel downs in victory formation at the end of the game.
Running more than twice as many times as they threw the ball USC Interim Head Coach Donte Williams credited Oregon State’s Offensive Coordinator Brian Lindgren saying that he was great schematically. Lindgren, in turn, saying that their mindset going in was to win the line of scrimmage gave most of the credit for their success to QB Chance Nolan and an offensive line made up of what Oregon Live described as second-tier recruits and portal transfers who allowed zero tackles for loss in the game. Although throwing up two picks, Nolan completed close to 80% of his passes and made shrewd decisions at the line of scrimmage according Lindgren who said; “We put a lot on him to make checks at the line to get us in the right run scheme.” Lindgren also credited the Stanford win over the Trojans saying that; “Formationally, it was a good film for us to watch. Their wing sets, their use of double tight ends and their heavy personnel and run schemes — we felt like we could match a lot of that.”
As noted in Jon Wilner’s write-up in Oregon Live, Lindgren and Head Coach Jonathan Smith designed a plan that used runs to the boundary side of the field that OSU hadn’t used before and the Trojans wouldn’t have thought to plan for defensively. As Wilner wrote; “They mixed the inside and outside zone runs with fly sweeps to counteract USC’s aggressive pursuit.” Lindgren’s “duo power scheme” involved using the QB and receivers more than a quarter of the time on their 51 rushing plays. As he said afterwards; “We’re constantly trying to marry the run and the pass, so they look alike to the defense. We pride ourselves on plays that can be one or the other. We have our core running plays, and we have play-action off of it. The formations, the way the line moves and the way the quarterback meshes — we want it all to look the same to the defense. That way, if they overcommit to the run, we can play-action off it and get access to different parts of the field.”
The game started off on the wrong foot for USC as their QB, Kedon Slovis, threw up a pass that was picked off by Oregon State at mid-field during their first possession. Two 10+ yard running plays later QB Chance Nolan hit WR Teagen Quitoriano with a 27 yard TD pass to put the Beavers up 7-0 just five minutes into the first quarter. On the night Nolan would toss three more of those and Baylor would rush for 158 yards of the Beavers 322 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground—both by Junior LB Jack Colletto. Although Kedon Slovis did eventually throw for a score and USC’s Senior RB Keaontay Ingram picked up two rushing TD’s himself, the Trojans couldn’t quite keep up as they contributed three interceptions and two fumbles along the way. Added to the ugliness were a combined 25 flags for about 250 yards of penalties on both side.
Oregon State had possession of the ball for about nine more minutes than USC which can account for the 100 more yards in total offense. But the starkest difference between the two teams was the ground game with the Beavers picking up almost 250 more yards on the ground than the Trojans who rushed 22 times for just 76 yards-about 3.5 yards per carry. Oregon State gets to go back home to Corvallis to meet a Washington Husky team that has struggled on the offensive side of the ball this year in an important game for the Beavers that could end up pitting the two teams from Oregon against each other in the last regular season game to determine the PAC-12 North Division Champion with even more at stake if the Ducks are still undefeated and No. 3 in the nation. After losing in the LA Coliseum USC is probably more than happy to get out of town and head to Colorado to take on the Buffaloes. After that they’ll face a brawl with Utah at home and then hit the road to take on Top-10 Notre Dame.
Arizona at Oregon
Knowing how the conference is currently looked upon I always worry that once we get a team, like Oregon, up in the polls that their performance against other PAC-12 teams is looked at as dominant enough to keep them there. I got a little nervous in this one where the 24-10 advantage that the Ducks had at the half decreased by 9 points during a third quarter in which they didn’t score anything. Fortunately, as noted by the AP in their recap for ESPN; “Third-ranked Oregon had a fast start and a big finished against Arizona,” prevailing 41-19. Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal had this to say about the lapse; “The fourth quarter was a real bright spot. But the stuff in between is the stuff that we continually have to — we have to get better, bottom line. There’s too many inconsistencies in the middle there that we should be, and can be, better at. So we’ve got to go to work.”
Senior QB Anthony Brown who was so cool and collected in their huge win over Ohio State in Week-2 connected for over 200 yards, 3 TD’s, and no picks as well as kept the chains moving by rushing 12 times for 41 yards. Junior RB’s Travis Dye and CJ Verdell rushed for the remaining of the Duck’s 187 yards on the ground with Verdell kicking in a TD of his own.
Arizona’s backup QB Jordon McCloud, in for an injured Jake Plummer, connected for almost 60% of his passes for 233 yards and 1 TD with double digit yards spread out to five different receivers. Unfortunately he also threw 5 interceptions which ultimately cancelled out the 19 points that they scored themselves. On the ground they rushed 53 times for 202 yards with Sophomore RB Drake Anderson picking up their one sole rushing TD.
Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal rotated in 26 different defensive players with 21 being credited with solo tackles and 14 picking up multiple tackles amounting to over 40% of the 96 total, including 9 for loss and 1 sack. It seems like Cristobal wanted to give some of his starters a light day against a far inferior team but needed to pour on the gas at the end to make sure that scoreboard looked just respectable enough not to hurt them in the polls. The biggest example of that was Defensive End Kayvon Thibodeaux, maybe the best defensive end in the nation and considered a top NFL draft pick, who came into the game late in the 1st Qtr but didn’t play at all in the 2nd half. The win left Oregon the sole undefeated team in the PAC-12. The Ducks hit the road to take on Stanford this coming week, a tougher opponent than Arizona, but should find little resistance from the very porous Cardinal defense.
UCLA at Stanford
I’m trying to think if UCLA Senior QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson has ever made it through a season uninjured where he was available for every game. I don’t think so but as Head Coach Chip Kelly mentioned after the game regarding DTR being taken out for a shoulder injury and coming right back in; “The one thing I don’t think gets mentioned enough with Dorian is how tough he is. He’s been tough from the get-go, It’s an underrated quality for a quarterback to be a tough guy . . . but I think he really showed that tonight.”
Just in the nick-of-time too as noted in the AP recap; “Thompson threw a tiebreaking 75-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter and came back from a banged-up shoulder to throw a clinching touchdown late that helped No. 24 UCLA spoil Stanford’s return home with a 35-24 victory over the Cardinal [in Palo Alto] on Saturday.” This victory had to be sweet on the heels of the loss to Fresno State and last year’s 48-47 double-overtime loss to Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
The Bruins got off to a really quick start thanks to the defense holding the Carinal to a three-and-out on the first possesion of the game and a punt return that took them into the Red Zone. On third-and-goal DTR ran it in himself from the 1 yard line. UCLA’s next TD came on a clock eating eight minute, 18 play, 88 yard drive with RB Zach Charbonnet collecting 5 of his 118 yards on the night on a TD run to put UCLA up 14-0 at the end of the 1st Qtr.
The teams traded scores in the 2nd with UCLA up 21-7 at the break. But Stanford got back into the game with a TD in the third to get within a possession and then tied the score at 21 a piece in the 4th. That’s when UCLA’s QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson decided that they were not going to loose this game throwing a tie-breaking 75 yard TD to Junior WR Kyle Philips and eventually the game clincher, after sitting out a play with a shoulder injury, also to Philips to put the Bruins up 35-24 late in the fourth where it stayed.
The one big difference between this game and the last one against Fresno State, who have deservidly moved up to No. 18 in the polls, is they were able to accomplish what Head Coach Chip Kelly preached all week long—finish. As UCLA Defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight said after the game; “It just took guts. Guts to want to finish a game. Last week versus Fresno we weren’t able to go in and absolutely finish the game the way we’ve been coached. This week during practice that was the main thing” They’ll need that attitude as they head home to take on maybe their toughest competition in the South in Arizona State.
Washington State at Utah
TJ Pledger, an Oklahoma portal transfer, now has as many TD’s for Utah as he did for the Sooners in all of 2018 and 2019 after rushing for 117 yards and a TD to put the Utes ahead for good, 24-17, against Washington State this past Saturday in Salt Lake City. In a career that has taken a number of years to get kick started, Pledger came in after starting RB Micah Bernard left with an injury. Introspective and grateful for the chance when interviewed he said; “After the game, I was holding my daughter and had tears in my eyes. College football is not easy, you go through ups and downs, and the ones who are able to remain steady and just keep putting their best foot forward every day, they end up being successful.”
It was a slow start for both teams who struggled to score the entire first half. The Cougars came close near the end of the first quarter in a six minute, 10 play, 64 yard drive that ended in an interception by QB Jarrett Guarantano on 1st and 10 at the Utah 19 yard line. They were finally able to break the ice in the 2nd Qtr on their next possession, an 11 play 58 yard drive, which resulted in a Dean Janikowski field goal. Utah came back quickly a couple of possessions later on a 6 play, 80 yard drive—helped along with a Cougar personal foul penalty—that took them down to the Washington State 2 yard line where RB Ja’Quindin Jackson was able to punch it in to put Utah up 7-3. With 4:14 left in the half, the Cougars put together a 13 play 71 yard drive that took them all the way down to the Utah 16 yard line. Facing a 4th and 1 with less than a minute left, Jarrett Guarantano picked up the first down on a 3 yard QB keeper. But a few plays later, sitting at 4th and 1 at the Utah 4 yard line with just a second left on the clock and having used their last timeout, Janikowski came in and kicked a 20 yard field goal get within a point at the break.
Aided by a Utah fumble at their own 21 yard line on the 1st possession of the second half, the Cougars got the ball back and were in the end zone a couple of plays later on a Jarrett Guarantano pass to De’Zhaun Stribling to put Washington State up 13-7. After a field goal on Utah’s next possession to tighten the score to 13-10 both teams stumbled and literally fumbled for about the next 15 minutes of play. It started with a Washington State interception followed by a Utah fumble, a four play possession by the Cougars that went no where, a missed field goal by Utah, a Cougar punt, another Utah fumble and a Cougar three-and-out. Finally half-way through the 4th Qtr Utah went on an 8 play, 72 yard, 4 minute drive that put them up 17-13. The Cougars tried to come back but threw up a pick six to Clark Phillips who ran it 54 yards all the way back to the house to put Utah up for good with slightly over two minutes left in the game.
Utah has a bye this next week which is probably a good thing. Betwen three defensive starters still out from last week and three safeties injured during this game AND seven fumbles this game—three lost—there’s a lot to work on and deal with. After that they’ll head to the Coliseum to face USC on Saturday, October 9th. Washington State stays on the road to take on Cal this next Saturday, October 2nd.