Arizona at Stanford
After missing three games due to a thumb injury, Stanford QB K. J. Costello didn’t miss a beat at home against the Wildcats connecting on 70% of his 44 attempts for 322 yards, 3 TD’s and no interceptions. With Senior RB Cameron Scarlett adding two more scores carrying the ball 19 times for 102 of Stanford’s 150 yards on the ground, the Cardinal were able to keep Arizona at bay for a 41-31 victory. Arizona had a 10-7 lead at the end of the 1st Qtr and tied it up at 31 a piece on a Kahlil Tate pass to Drew Dixon with 9:32 left in the 3rd Qtr. But that would be the last time the Wildcats put up any points as Stanford put up a TD on their next possession as well as a field goal after a Kahlil Tate interception half-way through the 4th.
As the AP reported in their game recap, Costello didn’t seem to have any lingering issues regarding his thumb injury and wrote; “Showing no signs of discomfort, Costello rifled passes to 12 different receivers, including a pair of touchdown passes to Simi Fehoko and one to Brycen Tremayne, whose only two career receptions have both gone for touchdowns.” The Wildcats started Tate but also used his backup, Freshman Grant Gunnell who was perfect during the short amount of time he was in connecting on 7-of-7 for 68 yards, 1 TD to Jalen Johnson in the first half while leading an 8 play 65 yard drive, and no interceptions. Tate connected on just over 50% of his passes for 205 yards and 2 TD’s but also threw two interceptions. Kahlil also contributed on the ground combining with J. J. Taylor for 1 score and 210 yards collectively of Arizona’s 222 yards rushing.
Stanford was more disruptive on the defensive side picking up 3 sacks and 7 tackles for loss againt 0 and 3 respectively for the Wildcats and were better at protecting the ball with no turnovers against two for Arizona. The Wildcats had three more first downs and slightly more Total Offense but Stanford, as is typical for the style of football they like to play, had the ball in their possession nine more minutes. The Cardinal, fighting injuries to their starting line all year long, were finally able to play the same players in back-to-back contests bringing a comment after the game from Arizona Safety Tristan Cooper who said; “They are better on the field than they were on film.”
With Costello back Stanford, at 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the PAC-12 Conference, stand a good chance of becoming bowl eligible over their next four games. But they’ll be taking a week off before hitting the road to Boulder to take on Colorado, Saturday November 9th. Arizona, at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference, are going to have a tougher go of it with both No. 7 Oregon and No. 9 Utah yet to play and will need to beat an improved Oregon State this coming Saturday in Tucson at 1:30pm on the PAC12 Network as well as their in-state rival, Arizona State, in the yearly “Duel in the Desert,” both team’s last game of the year on November 30th.
Cal at Utah
Wow-I guess Cal Head Coach Justin Wilcox said it best; “This was crushing. There’s nothing worse. It makes you want to throw up.” To say Utah dominated Cal is a gross understatement. They absolutely crushed the Golden Bears, holding them scoreless the entire game and to less than 100 yards of Total Offense-including just 60 yards in the air and 23 yards on the ground, winning 35-0. Both QB’s for Utah were very efficient with Senior Tyler Huntley connecting on 11-of-17 for 214 yards and 1 TD while backup Sophomore Jason Shelley did a great job managing the game for the Utes the second half connecting on 4-of-5 for 28 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions. Although eight players handled the ball on the ground more than once it was Utah’s all time rushing leader, Zach Moss, who picked up the lion’s share with 115 of their 231 total yards and 2 TD’s on 17 carries.
As the AP wrote in their recap of the game on ESPN; “After becoming Utah’s career leader in yards rushing last week, Moss increased his total to 33 touchdowns on the ground and surpassed Del Rodgers, who set the previous mark of 31 from 1978-81. Moss also reached 100 yards rushing for the 15th time, breaking the school record he had shared with Devontae Booker and John White IV.” Utah was so dominate in this game that by just half-time they already had a 28-0 lead and 351 yards of Total Offense against just 33 yards for the Bears. All that with a gimpy QB who wasn’t 100%, sporting a limp due to a lower left leg injury-an injury that kept him out after the break. But by halftime it was already clear that this game was going to be all Utah, allowing them to rest not only Huntley but also their rushing champion, Zach Moss, most all of the 2nd half.
The stats tell it all: Utah held a 23-6 advantage in first downs; had 473 yards of Total Offense compared to 83 for the Bears; converted on third-down better than 50% of the time compared to less than 20% for the Bears; and had possession of the ball for 15 more minutes, or a whole quarter, longer than Cal. It was a total beatdown. Regarding Huntley’s injury Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham remarked; “The offensive line was more determined to protect him and keep the hits off him . . . His toughness rubbed off on the rest of the team.” As the AP noted; Utah has allowed only 10 points in the last 14 quarters, and the lone touchdown was a last-minute score in the 52-7 win over Oregon State two weeks ago.”
On the Cal side they offered no excuses even though they played the game without their regular starter Chase Garbers and backup Devon Modster who were both out due to injuries. Freshman QB Spencer Brasch in a baptism by fire first college football start had to deal with the best defense the PAC-12 has to offer and as a result only connected on 7-of-19 for 47. Give him some credit though, he may not have scored but he didn’t give up the ball either. I’m sure having a game like that as a baseline early in your career can only help highlight the different areas one needs to improve in order to complete at a high level. It will be interesting to watch his game develop over the next few years.
The Bears have lost four in a row after starting 4-0 and reaching No. 15 in the Associated Press poll while Utah’s win makes it their ninth consecutive home game victory. Since the Utes didn’t have Oregon on their dance card this year, next up for them should be the toughest competition they’ll face in the regular season as they head to Alaska Airline’s Husky Stadium to take on Washington this Saturday, November 2nd, at 1:00pm on FOX. Cal has a bye week in which they can try and get it back together before hosting the Cougars on November 9th, another team besides Washington that let Oregon slip out of their grasp.
Washington State at Oregon
With four lead changes in the first half alone it looked as though Washington State might be able to extend their winning streak against Oregon to five games as the Ducks just couldn’t seem to pull out ahead for any length of time or extend a lead once they got it-even after getting the benefit of a pick-six thrown by Gordon with just under two minutes left in the half, leaving the score tied 17-17 at the break. The second half was much of the same with both sides getting two TD’s and a field goal a piece with the difference being a decision by Cougar Head Coach Mike Leach to go for a 2-point conversion early in the 4th Qtr, bringing Washington State to within 3 points at 31-28. On the next possession Oregon took the ball 52 yards in 12 plays but were held to a field goal after getting pushed back on a false start penalty leaving them with a 4th and goal at the Oregon 12 yard line. With Oregon up 34-28 and less than three minutes to play Washington State took the ball from their own 10 yard line on an 8 play 90 yard drive in just over two minutes to take a 35-34 lead on an Anthony Gordon to Brandon Arconado pass into the end zone, leaving just a minute on the clock for Oregon to get back downfield. But between a 36 yard return on the ensuing kickoff and a 24 yard pass play from Herbert to Juwan Johnson, Camden Lewis connected on a 26 yard field goal with time expiring to save the game and maybe a lot more for the Ducks as they squeaked by the Cougars 37-35.
Washington State had 27 first downs compared to 25 for Oregon but were extremely inefficient on third down conversions resulting in 9 less minutes of possession, only successful slightly over 10% of the time compared to about 65% for Oregon who also held the advantage in Total Offense at 528 yards compared to 446 for the Cougars. And even though the Ducks were tagged 9 times for 100 yards in penalties they did a great job of protecting the ball while the Cougars handed it over twice, one being that back breaking pick-six thrown just before the half. Oregon QB Justin Herbert connected on 70% of his passes for 222 yards but when it came time to put points on the board it was their RB, CJ Verdell, who had a field day against the Cougars rushing 23 times for 257 yards and 3 TD’s including a socrching 89 yard run to the house with just over a minute left in the 1st Qtr to put them ahead 9-3.
For the Cougars, Anthony Gordon threw for almost twice as many yards, 400+, connecting multiple times with seven different receivers including 2 TD’s and 130 yards to Senior WR Brandon Arconado and 1 TD to Junior WR Renard Bell while Max Borghi, doing what he could on the ground, picked up 54 yards on 8 carries for another score. Surprisingly the Cougar Defense was the more disruptive of the two, sacking Herbert three times and picking up five tackles for loss. One plus for Washington State if they ever have to win a game on a field goal with time expiring their Place Kicker, Sophomore Blake Mazza, hasn’t missed a single field goal or extra point the whole season connecting on 13-of-13 field goals and 41-of-41 extra points to date.
After going 11-2 in 2018 it has to be really frustrating for Washington State to be sitting at 4-4 overall and 1-4 in the conference. None the less, there is still plenty of time left to get bowl eligible and the Cougars will hit the road after a bye week to take on the California Golden Bears. Oregon also packs their bags to play probably their stiffest competition left this season, USC in the Coliseum. This is a must win game for both programs as USC needs to win out in order to become the PAC-12 South Division Champion while a loss by the Ducks will eliminate whatever little hope is left to get them into a NFP semi-final. Another game which looms large for the Duck’s chances to make it into that playoff is the matchup between Utah and Washington. A win by the currently unranked Huskies over No. 9 Utah will push them down in the rankings making a possible meeting and win by Oregon over Utah for the PAC-12 Conference Championship not as meaningful, strength wise, for the Ducks.
Arizona State at UCLA
Although the QB’s for both teams connected on about 70% of their throws for a collective 443 yards, 5 TD’s and no interceptions, it was the ground game that ruled the day as UCLA’s Joshua Kelley carried the ball 34 times for 164 yards and 4 TD’s in the Bruins victory in the Rose Bowl over the Arizona State Sun Devils, making this the 2nd time UCLA has defeated a Top 25 team this year. As the AP reported; “Kelley has rushed for over 100 yards in three of the past four games [and] is the first Pac-12 player and fourth nationally this season to have four rushing touchdowns in a game.” After scoring just 10 points through three quarters the Sun Devils made a desperate attempt to come back, scoring 22 points in the 4th, but UCLA already had them by 32 at the start of the period. And even though the Bruins didn’t score any more points additionally they didn’t need to-beating the Sun Devils by 10, 42-32.
Both sides fumbled and lost the ball early, Arizona State on it’s first possession of the game and UCLA on it’s second, with each leading to TD’s for the other team and a tie score of 7-7 halfway through the 1st Qtr. But on two almost mirror possessions, one of 16 plays and 81 yards at the end of the 1st Qtr and another of 16 plays and 80 yards with just over 4 minutes left in the half, the Bruins put two Joshua Kelley running TD’s up on the board to go up 21-7. Adding insult to injury, after holding the Sun Devils to no gain after they decided to go for it on a 4th and 1 at the UCLA 36, the Bruins took the ball with just over a minute to play 64 yards down the field in just 5 plays and 38 seconds culminating in a Dorian Thompson-Robinson 20 yard TD pass to Kyle Phillips to go in 28-7 at the break.
UCLA kept the pressure up scoring another TD on their first possession of the 2nd half on a 9 play 71 yard drive ending in Joshua Kelley’s 3rd rushing TD of the game. Arizona State finally put some more points up on the board when they got the ball back but shot themselves in the foot with a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with the ball at the UCLA 2 yard line, pushing them back to the 17. Facing a 4th down they chose to kick a field goal making it 35-10. After another TD in the air by UCLA’s Thompson-Robinson pushing the score to 42-10, the Bruins tried to help their opponents out by fumbling and lossing the ball twice-both leading to TD’s. Adding those 14 points to an additional TD by the Sun Devil’s after holding UCLA to a three and out gives us our final score of 42-32
Both teams were equally efficient in third down conversion at 50% and were within 10 yards of each other in Total Offense, but UCLA ended up with 27 first downs compared to 18 for the Sun Devils, the result of having possession of the ball for 17 more minutes-more than a full quarter. Moving forward the Bruins need to win 3 of their final 4 games to become bowl eligible and they won’t do it handing the ball over to the other side three times. Other than that they’ve got a shot against Colorado this Saturday, November 2nd at 6:00pm on the PAC12 Network at home and Cal on November 30th, probably no shot against Utah on the road, which leaves the big rivalry game against USC. Winning bragging rights may be all that’s left for both teams by then, but if USC is still hanging onto the PAC-12 South Division at that point I think it will be a very difficult game for the Bruins to win. With Arizona State needing just one more win to become bowl eligible they get a week off in preparation to host what could be a very dangerous game for USC on the road on November 9th. As the AP noted in their recap to the game; “The Sun Devils are 5-4 against the Trojans after they lost 11 straight from 2000-2010.”
USC at Colorado
When the game started it looked as though it was going to be a walk in the park for the Trojans, scoring a TD in under a minute on two Kedon Slovis’ passes to WR’s Pittman and Vaughns topped by a 37 yard scamper by Amon-Ra St. Brown into the end zone. But Colorado fought back, along with some help from USC. First, a long 70 yard 13 play drive that stalled on the Trojan 5 yard line leading to a James Stefanou field goal for the Buffaloes and then, an interception by Colorado in their own red zone on the Trojan’s next possession leading to a 12 play 77 yard drive and a Steven Montez pass to K. D. Nixon for a TD and a 10-7 Buffalo lead. After holding USC to a couple of 3 and outs Colorado scored again on an 8 play 65 yard drive and another Montez-to-Nixon pass into the end zone to go up 17-7. On the Trojan’s next possession they were the recipient of a little help via a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty which moved them from the 32 yard line of Colorado down to the 17. USC almost shot their good fortune in the foot as Kedon Slovis fumbled on an 8 yard run, but the ball was fortunately recovered by the Trojans and on the next play Slovis connected with Kenan Christon in the end zone to get them within 3 points, 17-14, where the score stayed through the break.
Both teams came out of the gate quickly after the half with Colorado taking the kick-off and just 45 seconds and two plays later hitting pay dirt on a pass from Steven Montez to Laviska Shenault Jr. that went 71 yards putting the Buffaloes up by 10, 24-14. Just five plays, seventy-five yards and two minutes later the back-and-forth continued on a 21 yard Kedon Slovis to Tyler Vaughns into the end zone to get the Trojans back to within three 24-17. But the Buffaloes were not to be denied and came right back on an 8 play 66 yard drive in one tick under three minutes to score again, this time on a Montez 17 yard run into the end zone to put Colorado back up by 10 points where it stayed all the way through the rest of the 3rd quarter.
So here they were, after getting into the position of controlling their own fate in the PAC-12 South the Trojans were behind 31-21 to one of the very worst teams in the conference at the end of the third quarter in Bolder, just 15 minutes away from Utah taking back the lead in the Division. But things changed after that with the Trojans holding the Buffaloes to an average of less than 15 yards over their next three possessions while in the mean time connecting on two Kedon Slovis to Michael Pittman Jr. TD’s to finally go back ahead 35 to 31 where it stayed.
In spite of the loss Colorado QB Steven Montez, who over the prior two games had thrown 6 interceptions against zero TD’s, had a good outing for the Buffaloes connecting on 27 of 43 for 324 yards, 3 TD’s and no interceptions while the ground game picked up an addition 196 yards and a score on 34 carries. All toll, 520 yards of Total Offense-2 more than the Trojans. The Buffaloes actually had the ball 8 minutes longer than USC but squandered some of that with unnecessary penalties getting flagged 13 times for 109 yards. USC QB Kedon Slovis connected on almost 70% of his passes for 406 yards, 4 TD’s, and 1 pick while the ground game picked up 112 yards and 1 score on 26 carries with Freshman Kenan Christon responsible for more than half of those.
To be successful this year in the PAC-12 all roads go through Oregon and if the Trojans are going to remain atop the PAC-12 South Division they’ll have to beat the Ducks at home in the Coliseum next Saturday, November 2nd at 5:00pm on FOX. Colorado also heads to Southern California to play the much improved UCLA Bruins in the Rose Bowl, also on Saturday at 6:00pm on the PAC12 Network.