Minnesota at No. 8 Oregon
In the five years prior to this season the Ducks had only lost one game at home in Autzen Stadium and that was in 2022, probably the best year ever of the PAC-12 regarding football with six teams in the final Top-25. This year they lost another one to currently No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers. So no one expected Minnesota to fly all the way to Eugene and have anything more than a miserable experience in Autzen—and that’s pretty much what happened in a 42-13 beat down of the Golden Gophers. In the process the Ducks Sophomore QB Dante Moore connected on 27 of his 30 passing attempts to set an all-time Oregon single game completion record of 90%. While he was doing that the nation’s 3rd ranked over all defense was keeping the Minnesota running game in check with less than 100 yards rushing and never finding the end zone.
If not for a fumble on their first drive of the second quarter Oregon would have probably had 35 points on the board by the break. But as it was they scored back-to-back TD’s on either side of that possession to be up 28-6 with their fumble leading to Minnesota’s first points of the game on a 46 yard field goal to be down 14-3 early in the period. After getting the ball back and going up 21-3 on Noah Whittington’s 40 yard TD run the Golden Gophers’ Senior Place Kicker Brady Denaburg would pick up another three points—this time on a 26 yard field goal to make it 21-6. Just eight plays and less than two minutes later Oregon would be back in the end zone—this time on a three yard pass from Moore to Junior TE Kenyon Sadiq to make it 28-6 where it stayed after forcing Minnesota to punt on their final possession of the half.
Minnesota came out in the second half seeming to be less shell shocked and more buttoned up with a well executed 10 play 80 yard drive taking up more than six minutes and ending with a 10 yard TD pass out of the shotgun from their Freshman QB Drake Lindsey to Junior RB Darius Tracy to cut into the lead by seven, 28-13. The Ducks would follow with an equally deliberate 11 play 75 yard drive of their own to take those seven points right back on a 13 yard TD pass from Moore to Freshman WR Jeremiah McClellan to make it 35-13. As the result of an intentional grounding penalty by the Minnesota QB followed by an Oregon sack the Golden Gophers had to punt the ball away on their first possession of the fourth quarter. Seven plays and 70 yards later the Ducks were back in the end zone on a 12 yard TD run by Junior RB Jay Harris to make it 42-13. Four punts in a row after that the game was in its last 13 seconds with Minnesota sitting at their own 20 yard line.
For Oregon, Sophomore QB Dante Moore threw for 306 yards, 2 TD’s and no interceptions. Senior RB Noah Whittington and Freshman Jordon Davison led the ground game rushing 15 times for 129 of the team’s 179 yard total and three of the four rushing TD’s with Harris picking up that last one. For Minnesota, Freshman QB Drake Lindsey was 19-of-32 for 1 TD to Junior WR Javon Tracy and no interceptions. Tracy also led the way on the ground for the Golden Gophers rushing 10 times for 57 yards of their 62 yard total. Oregon had 14 more first downs, were successful 66% of the time on their 3rd down conversions, had 310 more total yards of offense but only had possession of the ball just one minute longer. Up next, the biggest game of the year for both Oregon and USC—the Trojans at home in Autzen Stadium this coming Saturday.
UCLA at No.1 Ohio State
If you count Utah, that wasn’t ranked when UCLA played them but is now 13th in the CFP Rankings, this was the Bruins fourth matchup against a Top-25 team this year—three of those in the Top-10—and they’ve got one more to go after this. So in spite of what seemed like a miracle upset at the time out in Happy Valley in the Penn State White out game, UCLA’s season has turned out to be about what most folks expected. With Ohio State averaging 155 yards on the ground this year, the 222 yard 4 TD performance in this game against UCLA probably had a number of fans raising their shoes in celebration. It’s a tradition that dates back to legendary football coach Woody Hayes, head coach of Ohio State from 1951 to 1978. As the story goes his favorite saying was, “three yards and a cloud of dust.” Being a coach who insisted his teams control the line of scrimmage a solid ground game was indicative of his style and philosophy. After a great rushing performance by his team fans would raise their shoes in the air as a symbol of the Buckeyes walking all over their opponent and the 48-10 victory over the Bruins had that kind of feel to it.
The Buckeyes shut-out UCLA in the first half while scoring the first five times they had the ball to lead it 27-0 at the break. Six minutes into the third quarter at the end of a 13 play 69 yard drive Ohio State would find the end zone again to go up 34-0 on a 1 yard TD run by their Freshman RB Isaiah West. UCLA would finally get on the board a couple of minutes later with an 18 yard TD pass from Sophomore QB Luke Duncan to Sophomore WR Kwazi Gilmer to make it 34-7. But the Bruins special teams would drop the ball on their kick-off which was returned 100 yards for a TD by Senior CB Lorenzo Styles Jr. to push that lead back out to 41-7 with time running out in the third.
In what seemed like a leisurely approach to start the fourth quarter considering they were trailing by four scores the Bruins spent over six minutes moving the ball 61 yards in 12 plays down inside the Ohio State red zone. Sitting 4th and 3 at the 14 yard line they sent out their Junior Place Kicker Mateen Bhaghani who connected on a 32 yard field goal to make it a 41-10 game. The Buckeyes were more than happy to take their nice sweet time as well and burned up seven more minutes of the final quarter on an 11 play 75 yard drive and 8 yard TD run by Sophomore RB James Peoples to give us our final 48-10 with less than two minutes left.
For UCLA, Sophomore QB Luke Duncan connected on 16-of-23 for 154 yards, 1 TD to Gilmore, and no interceptions. On the ground the Bruins collectively rushed 25 times for just 68 yards—20 yards less than what Ohio State had been giving up on average—without any of those runs finding their way into the end zone. For the Buckeyes, Sophomore QB Julian Sayin was 23-of-31 for 184 yards and 1 TD to Junior WR Bryson Rodgers, and no picks. On the ground Freshman RB’s Bo Jackson and Isaiah West along with Sophomore James Peoples led the way rushing 29 times for 215 of the team’s 222 yard total and 4 TD’s. Ohio State had 17 more first downs, over 200 more total yards of offense, converted their third downs better than 50% of the time, were successful 2-of-3 times on attempted fourth down conversions, and had the ball almost ten minutes longer than the Bruins.
Purdue at Washington
The Ohio State game aside, the Huskies are just a completely different team at home. Over the last five games they are averaging 43 points at home in their three wins and 8.5 on the road in their losses. Slow to start, Washington fumbled and lost the ball on the fifth play of their first possession and were then held to a three-and-out on their second. But the third time’s the charm and starting their drive with a 43 yard pass reception from QB Demond Williams Jr. to Senior WR Omari Evans, the Huskies moved 62 yards downfield and into the end zone in just six plays on a 1 yard TD run by Sophomore RB Adam Mohammad to take a 7-0 lead. Holding Purdue scoreless the entire first half and with the assistance of a boilermaker interception Washington would score on back-to-back-to back TD’s to take a 28 point lead into the locker room at half-time.
Holding Purdue to a three-and-out to start the third quarter the Huskies would score two more TD’s on either side of the Boilermakers getting their first points on the board with a 41 field goal by their Sophomore Place Kicker Spencer Porath to make it 42-3 after three. Purdue would score on their first two possessions of the 4th Qtr while holding Washington to a three-and-out, adding 10 more points onto the scoreboard with a 53 yard field goal and a 9 yard TD pass from Sophomore QB Malachi Singleton to Senior WR EJ Horton Jr. to make it 42-13 with just over seven minutes left in the game. If not already out-of-reach, the Huskies would add seven more points at the end of an 8 play 75 yard drive on a 2 yard TD run by Senior QB Kai Horton to give Washington a 49-13 lead and the win with just two minutes left.
For Washington, Sophomore QB Demond Williams Jr. connected on 84% of his passes for 257 yards, 2 TD’s–1 to Sophomore WR Audric Harris and 1 to Freshman WR Dezmen Roebuck—and no interceptions. On the ground Purdue couldn’t keep Washington’s Sophomore RB Adam Mohammad out of the end zone who rushed 17 times for 59 yards and three TD’s. Freshman RB Jordan Washington added 108 yards on just five carries and another TD. Along with the TD by Horton the Huskies collectively rushed 40 times for 212 yards and five TD’s. For Purdue, their Sophomore QB Malachi Singleton was 16-of-28 for 150 yards, 1 TD to Senior WR EJ Horton Jr., and no interceptions while also rushing 11 times for 22 yards. On the ground the Boilermakers combined for 100 yards on 30 rushing attempts. The Huskies led in first downs, 24-to-14, were successful 70% of the time on 3rd down, had 507 yards of total offense compared to 267 for Purdue while the defense recorded three sacks, six tackles for loss, and five pass disruptions. Up next for Washington, a trip to the Rose Bowl and a game against UCLA.
No. 21 Iowa at No. 17 USC
This was an intense game with the Trojans not getting their offense going until the second quarter and defensive ducks in a row until the second half. Held scoreless in the first quarter and down 7-0, Iowa would find the end zone again on their first possession of the second quarter on a drive that stayed alive due to a Trojan pass interference penalty to go up 14-0 on a 1 yard TD run by the Hawkeyes Senior QB Mark Gronowski. Eleven plays and 75 yards later USC would finally get on the board with a 1 yard TD run of their own by Sophomore RB Bryan Jackson to cut the lead by seven, 14-7. But the Hawkeyes would be back in the end zone on their next possession, a 9 play 75 yard drive ending with a 5 yard pass play from the Iowa Sophomore WR Reece Vander Zee back to his QB Gronowski to give the Hawkeyes a 21-7 lead with over three minutes left in the half. USC would use almost all of it to work the ball down just inside the Iowa Red Zone where sitting 4th and 13 their Freshman Place Kicker Ryon Sayeri would hit a 40 yard field goal to make it 21-10 at the break.
The Trojans had the ball to start the third quarter and were able to cut into the lead a little more at the end of their first possession. Driving the ball all the way down to the Iowa 14 yard line, USC tried three times to move it forward but couldn’t get any closer than the eleven where on fourth down Sayeri would kick a 28 yard field goal to trail by just eight at 21-13. After forcing Iowa to punt after just five plays on their next possession the Trojans would score again 9 plays and 82 yards later after connecting on a 35 yard pass, recovering their own fumble, two back-to-back runs, and two back-to-back passes including a 12 yard TD pass from Junior QB Jayden Maiava to Junior WR Makai Lemon and cutting the lead to just two points at 21-19. With less than two minutes to play in the third quarter the Trojans would intercept Iowa on the 4th play of their next drive and be in the end zone under two minutes into the 4th Qtr on Jackson’s second rushing TD of the game to finally get over the hump and take the lead 26-21. USC would hold Iowa to a three-and-out on their next possession and eat up three minutes of clock on their own before having to punt the ball back to the Hawkeyes with well over eight minutes left to play. Iowa would use over six of those to get the ball just outside the USC Red Zone. With just about two minutes to play and needing a TD to take the lead the Hawkeyes would go for it sitting 4th and 6 at the Trojan 29. But the pass would be broken up by USC’s Sophomore Safety Kennedy Urlacher and Iowa would have to turn the ball back over on downs to the Trojans who would run out the clock for a dramatic must win game.
USC seems like it is on the verge of really busting out and have shown pretty dramatic improvement of late. In the first five games of the season against arguably combined lesser talent the Trojans were giving up 251 passing yards a game. Over the last five, just 145 yards. In addition to the improvement of their secondary in limiting yardage and breaking up passes the team overall has been much more disciplined. Those same first five games they were averaging about 80 yards in penalties while over the last five they have cut that down to just 29 yards. In this game USC’s Junior QB Jayden Maiava connected on over 70% of his pass attempts for 254 yards, 1 TD to Junior WR Makai Lemon, and no interceptions. On the ground, walk-on Freshman RB King Miller did all the heavy lifting picking up 83 of the team’s 106 yards on 19 carries while it was Sophomore RB Bryan Jackson who would find the end zone two of the four times he handled the ball. For Iowa, Senior QB Mark Gronowski was 12-of-19 for 132 yards, 1 TD to Sophomore WR Dayton Howard, and 1 interception. And in what we could call a hat trick Gronowski also rushed 8 times for 32 yards and their only TD on the ground as well as caught a 5 yard TD pass from his Sophomore WR Reece Vander Zee. The Trojans led in first downs by four, in total yards of offense by 40 yards, were penalized just three times for 30 yards, and had no turnovers. Up next, the biggest game of the year as USC travels to Eugene to take on the Ducks in Autzen stadium in a must-win game that will determine which former PAC-12 team makes it into the CFP out of the Big Ten.