UCLA at Stanford
It seems like everytime UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly heads north, away from Los Angeles and more towards Oregon, he pulls off a big win-this time it was against Stanford, 34-16. Before that there was the crazy 67-63 victory up in the Palouse over Washington State. Is it geography, or could the fact that Stanford had to start their third string QB and three freshmen on the OLine due to injury have something to do with it. Stanford has had so many injuries this year that their center is the only player on that line that has started every game. No matter what the reason, UCLA had to be happy about eclipsing the 11 year losing streak against the Cardinal. The Bruins exploited the weakness of Oregon’s offensive line and young signal caller all night long picking up seven sacks against Stanford QB Jack West as well as 11 tackles for loss which led to an inefficient and unproductive night in the air (less than 50% completion for 143 yards and zero TD’s) and a Stanford ground game that was almost nonexistant-just 55 yards and 1 score on 30 attempts. I mean when was the last time Stanford rushed for so little and averaged less than 2 yards per carry.
After winning the toss and electing to take the ball first, Stanford picked up a field goal at the end of what turned out to be their longest drive of the night which consisted of 8 plays gaining 31 yards in the air and 13 yards on the ground. Since they only gained 55 yards rushing the whole game, you can imagine what happened the rest of the way. They went three-and-out on their next three possessions for a total of minus 8 yards. As a matter of fact, after their first possession they averaged just 4 plays and 6 yards for their next six in the half-going in at the break down 14-10. They got to 10 as a result of their Special Teams blocking a UCLA punt late in the first quarter that went into the end zone and was covered by Stanford’s Brycen Tremayne. But that was all the scoring for the Cardinal over the next two quarters as they didn’t pick up any more points until late in the 4th which, by then, was too little too late.
Other than the one pick he threw that Stanford was unable to capitalize on, Dorian Thompson-Robinson had a great first half throwing TD’s on UCLA’s first two possessions, both to Freshman WR Kyle Philips, as well as taking one in for a score himself, giving UCLA a 21-10 lead at the half. Joshua Kelly torched the Stanford run defense picking up 176 yards and 1 TD on 18 carries, including a scamper of 54 yards with less than seven minutes left in the 4th Qtr to go up 34-10. The Cardinal would pick up a rushing TD with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter to close it to 34-16 which, after failing a 2 point conversion, would be as close as they got and the final score.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson ended up connecting on 21 of 34 for 192 yards, 2 TD’s, and 1 pick. On the ground, UCLA rushed 43 times for 263 yards and 2 TD’s. All toll the Bruins had 455 yards of Total Offense compared to less than 200 for Stanford, including 9 more 1st downs. On the defensive side, it was UCLA’s best game of the year holding Stanford to less than 200 yards of Total Offensie while limiting their ground game to under 2 yards per carry. If they can be as productive on defense going forward they might win a couple of more before the end of the season. Up next for the Bruins is Arizona State at home in the Rose Bowl on Saturday, October 26th, at 4:30pm on the PAC12 Network while Oregon stays home as well to take on Arizona earlier in the day at 12:30pm, also on the PAC12.
Arizona at USC
The four way tie logjam at the top of the PAC-12 South Division got straightened out this past weekend and surprisingly enough it’s USC as the only team in the South that has complete control over their destiny going forward. Utah has a better overall record of 6-1 compared to the Trojan’s 4-3, but in the South Division both teams are sitting at 3-1 with USC holding the tie-breaker over the Utes after beating them earlier in the season-a loss Head Coach Kyle Whitingham is still probably in therapy over. This past Saturday, a very confident looking group of Trojans ran roughshod over the visiting Wildcats 41-14 with USC Coach Clancy Pendergast’s defensive unit leading the way-finally looking like it has put all the pieces together with seven sacks, eleven tackles for loss and two forced fumbles-both recovered by the Trojans.
It’s not exactly that the Wildcats couldn’t move the ball as they had exactly the same amount of yards in the air as the Trojans, 247, in addition to 138 yards on the ground. But for three quarters USC held them to just 167 yards of Total Offense and not a single point. In the first half alone Arizona punted four times, fumbled once, and miss their only chance at points-a long 56 yard field goal attempt with five plus minutes left in the first quarter. The second half started off in a similar fashion for Arizona with three punts, an interception, and a missed field goal. With their starting QB, Kahlil Tate only able to produce 47 yards in the air, and having been sacked six times already, the Wildcats opted for a change and brought in Freshman Grant Gunnell to replace him. Althought Gunnell connected on 16 of 26 for 196 yards and 2 TD’s, by the time he got going the game had already been decided.
After dusting the cobwebs off last week in a tough loss to Notre Dame, Freshman QB Kedon Slovis managed a great game for the Trojans connecting on 19 of 28 for 232 yards, 2 TD’s, and no interceptions while spreading the ball out multiple times to four different receivers with Tyler Vaughns and Michael Pittman Jr. combining for more than half the yards as well as a TD a piece. The big surprise on the night came in the running game with Freshman Kenan Christan making his debut at running back. As the Associated Press wrote; “Kenan Christon only got in the game because the first three tailbacks on Southern California’s depth chart were all hurt and the fourth-stringer had just fumbled.” Talk about taking advantage of your opportunities or as my dad would say, “makin’ hay while the sun shines,” Christon, who was a track star and California’s 100-meter champion last year, took off on a blisitering 55 yard run early in the 4th for a score and less than five minutes later another score on a run from the Arizona 30 yard line. Christon is one of a long line of running backs who come from the running back capital of the world, San Diego. Some that come to mind are Marcus Allen, Reggie Bush, Ricky Williams, Terrell Davis, Marshall Faulk, and the list goes on I’m sure.
Arizona packs their bags for Palo Alto to take on a Stanford team that is struggling with injuries this coming Saturday, October 26th, at 12:30 on the PAC-12 Network, while USC get an early start and heads to cooler climate to take on Colorado Friday, October 25th, at 6:00pm on ESPN2.
Oregon at Washington
In what had to be one of the best games to watch this past weekend, both starting QB’s for Washington and Oregon put on quite a show at Alaska Airlines Husky Stadium with the Ducks prevailing in the end 35-31. With only 9 yards difference between the two they collectively threw for 569 yards, 7 TD’s, and no interceptions-giving all those NFL scouts and GM’s in the stands something to think about regarding the first round of next year’s NFL draft. The ground game was almost as close with Oregon edging the Huskies by just under 30 yards, both collecting a rushing TD. All toll there was just 20 yards of difference between the two in Total Offense. But as close as the stats were in the end, for a long while it seemed as though Washington was going to get the best of the Ducks scoring three 1st half TD’s against a defense that had only given up 4 TD’s total on the year.
As the AP wrote in their recap posted on espn.com; “Eason was great. Herbert was better.” And as good as they were it was the Oregon defense that stepped up their game in the final quarter to finally slow down and stop the Huskies long enough, coming back from a 14 point deficit, to finally win the game. As Mike Vorel, sports columnist for the Seattle Times wrote; “The Huskies led 28-14 and 31-21 in the third quarter Saturday, then surrendered 14 consecutive points and went scoreless in the final 15 minutes.” After connecting on a 36 yard TD at the end of the 3rd Qtr to pull the Ducks to within 3, 31-28, the Oregon defense forced two three-and-outs at the beginning of the 4th period and then sealed the win on a Justin Herbert pass to Jaylon Redd to go up 35-31 with about five minutes to play.
In the 8 play 40 yard drive that ensued, Eason connected for 48 yards in the air but was hampered by a sack and a false start penalty that left the Huskies with a 3rd down and 23 yards to go. He almost got it all on a 20 yard pass to Marquis Spiker with just 58 seconds left on the clock. But on 4th and 3 at the Oregon 35, Eason’s pass fell incomplete and that was the ball game. Salvon Ahmed provided the meat of Washington’s run game rushing for 140 yards and a TD while Oregon’s run-by-committee approach had three different RB’s that accounted for their one rushing TD and all but 8 of their total yards on the ground. Where the Huskies really struggled was on third down where they were only 3 of 13 including failing three times in the wildcat formation on 3rd and short.
Washington will be off this next Saturday before hosting Utah on November 2nd while the Ducks return home to host the Washington State Cougars in Eugene on Saturday, October 26th, at 7:30pm on ESPN.
Oregon State at Cal
After suffering a 45 point loss at the hands of Utah the previous week Oregon State roared back with a vengence defensivelly collecting a season high, maybe an all time high, 9 sacks to come back after leading early to defeat the Cal Bears 21-17. It’s been fun to watch the improvement of the Beavers this year. They’re one or two recruiting classes away from having the size Head Coach Jonathan Smith is looking for but he has this team headed in the right direction. In 2017 Oregon State finished with an overall and conference record of 1-11 and 0-9 respectively with the head coach replaced half-way through the year. Last year, Smith’s first, they improved slightly going 2-10 and 1-8. This year they’re 3-4 and 2-2 despite having a sub-par recruiting class.
Oregon State led the entire game until just 32 seconds remained in the third quarter when a Devin Modster pass put Cal up 17-14. It took a 12 play 80 yard drive by the Beavers, including three third-down conversions, ending with a B. J. Baylor 13 yard TD run with less than five minutes left in the game to finally get back ahead for good. After being sacked seven times Cal QB Devon Modster was pretty roughed up and as a result taken out midway through the 4th Qtr with a lower body injury leaving Freshman QB Spencer Brasche to try and get the win. But the Oregon State pass defense picked off the Freshman and then ran seven plays to get the clock down under two minutes before punting back to the Golden Bears. In the last minute of the game Brasch threw three incompletions and was sacked twice in his effort to get back downfield and win the game or at least tie the score.
With Oregon State recording 9 sacks on the day and 14 tackles for loss neither Devon Modster or backup Spencer Brasche had great numbers for the day. Modster connected on less than 45% of his passes for 151 yards and 1 TD, while Brasche in limited duty was even much worse connecting on 2 out of 6 for just 45 yards, no scores, and one interception. The Oregon State run defense did an outstanding job limiting the Goldern Bears to 107 yards on the ground and just one rushing TD. For the Beavers QB Jake Luton wasn’t super efficient, connecting on just over 50% of his passes, but he didn’t make mistakes either going 18 of 34 for 174 yards, 2 TD’s and no interceptions. Senior RB Artavis Pierce and Sophomore B. J. Baylor carried the majority of the load on the ground for Oregon State, collectively carrying the ball 31 times for 117 yards and one rushing TD by Baylor.
Oregon State gets an extra week to prepare before hitting the road to take on the Arizona Wildcats November 2nd while Cal travels to Salt Lake to take on a tough Utah team this coming Saturday, October 26th, at 7:00pm on FS1.
Colorado at Washington State
With RB Max Borghi keeping the Buffaloes defense honest running for 105 yards and 1 TD on 12 carries Washington State Senior QB, Anthony Gordon, had a field day against Colorado’s secondary connecting on almost 70% of his passes for 369 yards and 4 additional TD’s while leading the Cougars to a 41-10 victory back home in Pullman. The Buffaloes also collected one rushing TD and their RB, Alex Fontenot, matched Borghi exactly in yards gained with 105. But their Senior QB, Steve Montez, had a less than stellar day connecting on 16 of 30 for 129 yards, no TD’s, and 2 interceptions.
In his first three games of the year Montez averaged 285 yards a game while connecting for 6 TD’s against just 1 interception. Over the last two games between Oregon and Washington State, Montez is averaging just 130 yards a game, has no TD’s, and has thrown 6 interceptions. Washington State was just 3 yards shy of 500 yards of Total Offense compared to 320 yards for Colorado and had four more first downs as well as executing their 3rd down situations to the tune of 50% compared to 33% for the Buffaloes.
Regarding his team’s positive defensive performance Washington State Head Coach Mike Leach had this to say after the game; “I think we are emerging defensively. We simplified some things but we are still kind of coming together there a little bit, honestly. I think the defense has some of its best football ahead of us.” On the other side Head Coach Mel Tucker was pretty frustrated after a couple of really tough weeks in which Colorado has turned the ball over way too often and struggled to finish drives. “We need to be able to score touchdowns, especially against a team like this who can move the ball and score,” Tucker said. “That has been an issue for us the past couple of weeks. Obviously, we are moving the ball but we can’t finish drives and we missed a couple field goals. Those are thing that we have to get cleaned up.”
Colorado goes back home on a short week to host a USC team that knows if they can win out they’re headed for another shot at the PAC-12 Conference Championship. That game will air on ESPN2 at 6:00pm Friday, October 25th. Washington State travels to Eugene to take on the Ducks Saturday, October 26th, at 7:30pm on ESPN.
Arizona State at Utah
This was going to be the year that they didn’t have to wait for someone to loose another game before making it into the PAC-12 Conference Championship and yet, even though they have a far better overall record at 6-1 than anyone else in the PAC-12 Southern Division, here they are sitting in 2nd place behind USC. It has to be infuriating for Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham that the only loss they have on the year just so happens to be against the team who supposedly had a slim-to-no chance of winning the division and yet currently has the same 3-1 record as you do in the South. A team that didn’t even win enough games last year to play in the post season. To add insult to injury, after knocking the Trojan starting QB back into the locker room with a vicious hit on just the second play of that game, they got beat by the Trojans third string QB. This happened four whole weeks ago and Utah is still playing like Whittingham feels-pissed off and determined to capture what is rightfully theirs, the PAC-12 South and then who knows what else.
This past week Arizona State, the team that held the tie breaker in the South on Utah for a while last year, had to endure the depth of Whittingham’s frustration to the tune of 21-3 while on the road in Salt Lake. Never mind that Utah didn’t score a shit load of points as that’s never Whittingham’s focus. It’s the 3 points that they held the Sun Devils to that matters most to him. After all, if they can’t score they can’t win. As the AP wrote in their recap; “Our defense was lights out,” said Kyle Whittingham, a defense-first coach who admitted to exulting in the low-scoring affair. “I can’t remember a better defensive effort, certainly not as of late.”
A couple of records were broken during the game. By holding the Sun Devils to just three points Arizona State’s record streak of 125 games with more than 10 points, which began after a 28-0 loss to USC in 2008, was broken. But the Utah all time rushing record that everyone in the stadium was waiting to be broken by RB Zack Moss looked in jeopardy when Moss had to leave the game in the first half. But he was able to return and even though the Sun Devils were all over him everytime he touched the ball, he was able to finally break through for a 32 yard TD run with less than six minutes left in the 4th Qtr to not only ice the game but also break the Utah record of 3,219 yards held by RB Eddie Johnson-a record he held for more than thirty years.
All together Moss rushed 25 times for 99 yards and 2 TD’s while fellow RB Jaylen Dixon provided the other seven points on a 10 yard run three minutes into the 2nd Qtr to give Utah an early 7-0 lead. QB Tyler Huntley connected on 12 of 19 for 171 yards, no TD’s, and 1 interception which leads to the only critical commentary you can wage at Utah regarding this game. In addition to the interception, they fumbled and lost the ball three times, two times in a row at the beginning of the game after holding Arizona State to consecutive three-and-outs on their first two possessions. Fortunately their defense only allowed the Sun Devils to get three points total from all of that ball mishandling. But if they make it to the PAC-12 Conference Championship loosing the ball that many times against Oregon would be suicide.
As far as Arizona State goes, it was a rough night to say the least for Sun Devil Freshman QB Jayden Daniels who connected on less than 25% of his passes for a mere 25 yards, no scores, and 1 interception. After averging 255 yards per game for the season with 5 TD’s against 1 interception, Daniels was sacked three times and as the AP reported, “was running from pressure almost every time he dropped back.” The Utes got some traction going in their ground game with their star Eno Benjamin picking up 104 yards on 15 carries but couldn’t get close to the goal line most of the game, not even passing mid-field in the first half.
Utah had 12 more first downs, 200+ more yards of Total Offense, a 50% third down efficiency compared to 15% for Arizona State, and even though they turned the ball over four times the Sun Devils couldn’t do anything with it and further shot themselves in the foot with 12 penalties for 122 yards. As QB Jayden Daniels said after ranking the Ute’s front as the best he’s faced; “Relentless defense. They’re going to get after the quarterback. Herm Edwards was even more direct in his comments; “They hit us in the mouth and they beat us up.”
Utah stays at home to host another defensive minded team in Cal on Saturday, October 26th, at 7:00pm on FS1 while Arizona State travels to the Rose Bowl to take on UCLA earlier in the day at 4:30pm on the PAC12 Network.