Storyline: Big games are on the horizon this week in the Pac-12. Can Stanford win at UCLA? Will USC pull off an upset at Utah? Who’ll win the shootout in Tempe? Can the Huskies keep rolling?
Friday, September 23rd
(FS1) USC vs. Utah – 9:00- Utah -2.5
Saturday, September 24th
(FS1) Boise St. vs. Oregon St- 3:30 – Oregon St.+13
(PAC-12 Network) Colorado vs. Oregon – 5:30 – No Line Available
(ABC) Stanford vs. UCLA – 8:00 – UCLA +3
(ESPN2) California vs. Arizona St.- 10:00 – Arizona St.- 4
(PAC-12 Network) Washington vs. Arizona – 10:30- No Line Available
BYES: Washington St.
UO lost a heartbreaker to NU (dailynebraskan.com)
For consecutive weekends PAC-12 teams have won games that they were supposed to win and the league came up short in tough road tests. Sure, UCLA went on the road and beat BYU by a field goal, but Oregon lost a heartbreaker v. a Cornhusker team that’s going to be a headache in the Big Ten. Colorado went to the Big House and competed with Michigan for about a half, but ran out of steam and allowed the Wolverines to take over.
A bright spot for the league last week was Cal’s late-night home win against a ranked Longhorn squad. The Bears defense has yet to show up this year but, once again, they showed a powerhouse offense, scoring 50 points and on the way to beating Texas, 50-43.
The state of Washington took care of business last week as both teams won with WSU getting its first win of the year, 56-6, over overmatched Idaho.
Finally–but certainly not least–the league opened in great fashion with a contest between USC and Stanford. Stanford once again showed why you can’t take the Cardinal for granted. They showed up in a big way on the defensive side of the ball and stifled what was supposed to be a talented USC offense, winning 27-10.
PAC-12 play ramps up this week. The only non-league game involves Oregon St. hosting a solid Boise St squad that has already beaten Washington St. this year.
North vs. South: No, it is not the Civil War revisited. It’s cross-over week in the PAC-12. Out of the five PAC-12 matchups this week, four involve North v. South. The only interconference game will take place Friday night when USC travels to take on Utah. The PAC-12 South really needs to step up and make a statement against North counterparts. They missed out last week when Stanford made USC look like an average team. UCLA will get a shot this week at home against the Cardinal. If Stanford can beat UCLA, that would mark back-to-back wins against PAC-12 South hopeful champions.
The Arizona schools both have home games this week. Arizona St. battles Cal in a game involving overachieving teams. Both teams put up points and play zero defense. Expect an Arena Football game in Temple. Meanwhile in Tuscon, Arizona hosts Washington. Washington has played as expected so far this year–beating up on bad teams. The Wildcats are 2-1, but they’ve been far from impressive. Wins against Grambling and Hawaii is nothing to get excited about, but maybe playing at home will give them a boost.
Colorado travels to Oregon to take on the Ducks with both teams coming off of tough road losses. This game could be sneaky good because both teams have played well to start the season.
Courtesy: touchdownsandtogas.wordpress.com
Will The Real Trojans Please Stand Up: If anyone can figure out what type of team USC is going to be this year please let me know. Sure, anyone can lose to Alabama. But lose 52-6?! Yes, USC bounced back to defeat outmanned Utah St., but then ‘last week’ happened. This was supposed to be the Trojans’ chance to show it’s back, but USC laid an egg instead. The team looked inept on offense and, defensively, they did enough to lose the game. Head coach Clay Helton is making a change at the QB position, hoping to jumpstart the offense now that they’ve dug themselves a hole. Traveling to Utah won’t be easy this week, but….
Keep On Keepin’ On: Hey, Washington, you’ve done as expected: get off to a 3-0 start against bad teams–Rutgers, Idaho, and Portland St.–by a combined score of 148-20. The Huskies, the trendy pick to win the PAC-12 North, travel to play Arizona to start the PAC-12 campaign. For the Huskies the challenge is clear: if you’re a conference champion contender, perhaps even a CFP contender, then you have to take care of business against an average team on the road. The schedule gets tougher after this one (at home v. Stanford with a road trip to Eugene). That’s why this week is critical. Don’t slip up Huskies!
Game Of The Week, Stanford vs. UCLA: Stanford can continue its dominance of South teams by beating UCLA in Pasadena. But the task this week will be more difficult than it was last week v. USC. The Bruins haven’t looked great to start the season, but they’ve challenged themselves by playing a national-status road game against Texas A&M, losing in overtime. Then, last week, the Bruins went on the road again, beating BYU in Provo. This is ‘the time’ for the Bruins: win on Saturday and make a claim to be ‘the team to beat’ in the PAC-12 South. I keep picking against the Cardinal and keep losing. I’m a glutton for punishment: Stanford is going to have to prove it to me one more time. I say UCLA 27-23.
Todd Graham is primed to have ASU go 4-0. (photo, davidabowers.com)
Underrated Game Of The Week, California vs. Arizona St.: A Week 4 match-up between Cal and Arizona St. probably didn’t jump off the page when schedules were released. Both teams were supposed to be a year away (at the very least) before making an impact in the league. But sometimes teams come out of nowhere and that seems to be the case with these foes. California comes into the game with a 2-1 record and tons of momentum after knocking off upstart Texas last week. Arizona St. enters with a 3-0 record, which means ASU would start the year 4-0 with a win. If you like offense, then Tempe is the place to be Saturday night. I say Arizona St. 55-51.
Upset Of The Week, Colorado vs. Oregon: Once conference play gets into full swing it’s often very difficult to find games that are true upsets. This week the Buffalo head to Eugene to take on the Ducks. Both teams are coming off tough road losses against quality Big Ten teams. Both teams enter the game with 2-1 records. Both teams are playing their first conference game of the year. All signs point to the Ducks taking care of business. Colorado is not a great road team and Eugene is a tough place for ANYONE to play. But I like what I see from Colorado and I believe the future is bright in Boulder. While I don’t think this will be Colorado’s week to spring an upset, I do believe the game will be closer than experts think. I say Oregon 38-30.
Lock Of The Week, USC vs. Utah: As the saying goes “All good things come to an end.” That happened to me last week with my LOW–USC. But I’m confident that another streak will start this week. To boot, I’m going back to the well. USC is +2.5 points traveling to Utah for a Friday night game that will be played in a raucous atmosphere. Utah at 3-0 is a minor surprise. The Utes resume, while not overly impressive, does include a nice win against BYU. USC, while a disappointing 1-2, has lost games against Top 10 teams. USC is more battle-tested than Utah and needs this win in a very big way: the season is over if the Trojans lose Friday. I’m not getting a ton of points here, but I won’t need the couple I’m getting. I say USC 30-20.
