Storyline: Washington State and Colorado continue to surprise. UCLA continues to disappoint. Washington continues to stand tall. Will that picture change this week?
Friday, October 21st
(ESPN) Oregon vs. California- 10:00 – California -3
Saturday, October 22nd
(PAC-12 Network) Colorado vs. Stanford- 3:00 – Stanford -2.5
(FOX) Utah vs. UCLA – 4:00 – NO LINE AVAILABLE
(PAC-12 Network) Oregon St. vs. Washington- 6:30 – Washington -35.5
(PAC-12 Network) Washington St. vs. Arizona St.- 10:00 – Arizona St. +6.5
Byes: Arizona, USC
Overview: Last week two teams continued to take major steps forward, one team started to show that … maybe, just maybe … it’s on the road to a conference title push, and another team demonstrated–again–that the ’16 season is likely to end up in extreme disappointment.
Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay, front, runs past Arizona State defensive back Gump Hayes (photo, Centre Daily Times)
The movers were Colorado and Washington St. with each team notching impressive home wins. Colorado put a whooping on ASU, 40-16. The Buffs got its fifth win of the season and, more importantly, is now 3-1 record in the PAC-12 South.
Washington St., which has come out of nowhere after a 1-2 start, throttled UCLA, 27-21, Saturday night. The Cougars, at 4-2 overall with a 3-0 conference record, are tied with Washington in the PAC-12 North. The most impressive thing about WSU’s win is that the defense showed up.
On the other side of the coin–a promising season gone awry–there’s UCLA. Many experts picked the Bruins to win the PAC-12 South (me included). With Saturday night’s loss, though, the Bruins are an incredible 3-4 overall and a shocking 1-3 in the league.
But all is not completely lost in the great city of Los Angeles. USC has picked up the pieces and won three games in a row. Last Saturday USC ran past Arizona on the road, 48-14, building up a 34-7 halftime lead. Talented receiver Ju-Ju Schuster lead the way with 132 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. The Trojans are now 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference.
In other PAC-12 action last week Utah survived at Oregon St., 19-14, and Stanford won the battle of underachievers in South Bend, 17-10.
This week ten of the twelve teams will be in action, all with inter conference showdowns. Arizona and USC have the byes.
Stanford a Spoiler? Stanford enters this week in a position that they’re not used to–as spoilers. What makes this statement even crazier is that it’s about spoiling Colorado. If the Buffalo pull off this win, then CU will be in the driver’s seat to win the PAC-12 South. I repeat win the PAC-12 South. The last time the Buffalo played in a litmus-test game this year they came up short against USC. This is the same type of game…on the road against a brand name. But this brand name isn’t playing very well right now. I think it’s going to be a close one.
Questions abound at UCLA (photo, College Hotline)
What’s Left For The Bruins? It is only mid-October and the Bruins have pretty much played themselves out of title hopes and, perhaps, also a significant bowl game. At 3-4, 1-3 UCLA is trending in the wrong direction. There’s still a long way to go this season, but it’s a long time for 18-22 year-olds to stay focused. So the Bruins need a solid leader to re-focus and energize the team. I used to think that Coach Mora was that guy, but I’m starting to wonder whether my gut feeling was correct. If the Bruins have any type of pride they’ll start playing the type of football people expected them to play. We shall see.
Thank God For A Bye: Football is a contact sport that requires recovery time. People sometimes forget the mental grind that football players go through. And that’s on top of physical contact. If there’s a team in the PAC-12 that needs a mental break it’s the Arizona Wildcats. Coach Rodriguez must be waking up every morning wondering what he has gotten himself into. The Wildcats were not supposed to be great this year, but they are 2-5 overall instead–and an even worse 0-4 in an average PAC-12. But the other side of this coin is this: I’m surprised that Rich Rod still has his job. Hazell at Purdue was let go Sunday morning and I thought Rodriguez might suffer the same fate. While Rodriguez might keep his job through the season, after that who knows? The Wildcats need to rest up physically and mentally and, then, play with pride and start ruining someone else’s season.
Game Of The Week, Colorado vs. Stanford: The tables have turned in the PAC-12 and the match-up in Palo Alto this Saturday is enormous for Colorado. The Buffalo continue to gain more and more national attention, but Colorado will have its hands full against SU. Colorado can’t repeat what happened in L.A against USC. They fought hard, but lost, 21-17. Stanford is not in vintage form, but the Cardinal play with energy and this is a home game. If Colorado doesn’t win then people will start talking about the Buffalo’s ability to win “the big game.” A win means it’s time to jump on the Buffalo bandwagon. I’m just not sure if it’s Colorado’s time yet, though. So I say Stanford, 31-20.
WSU ran past UCLA. Will the Cougs repeat at ASU? (photo, Go Joe Bruin)
Underrated Game of The Week, Washington St. vs. Arizona St.: Both teams are having nice seasons and ASU has been playing well at home. The Cougars are rolling, still undefeated in the PAC-12. And they stayed undefeated last week by playing a more physical style of football. That says the Cougars are more than “an offense that wants to outscore you.” If that defensive effort continues, I may change my mind and believe that Washington St. can actually win the PAC-12 North. With all of that said, While I feel this game could go either way, the Cougars are a little more talented. I say Washington St., 41-37.
Upset Of The Week, Oregon vs. California: Why do I continue doing this to myself? I know Oregon is simply not good this year. I’ve been waiting (for weeks) for the Ducks to get their act together … and they continue to disappoint. It’s one reason why this league is so average. On the other hand, California has surprised, at times, this year. I’m not a fan of the Bears’ Arena Football style, but it has definitely worked in stretches. California was supposed to be a year away from being really competitive, and they’re slowly moving in that directiony. With the way the Ducks have been playing, they should lose this Friday night game in Berkeley. Hold on though: I smell an upset. For what reason, and “just because,” I say Oregon 48-44.
Lock Of The Week, Oregon St. vs. Washington: Hey, Oregon St. you have played really well the last two weeks! Two weeks ago you beat California to win your first league game in over a year. Last week you gave Utah everything it wanted, losing 19-14. The arrow is clearly moving in the right direction for the Beavers. But now you have to make a trip to Spokane to take on a rested (from a bye week), VERY talented, and imposing Huskie team. The Huskies haven’t just been beating opponents, they’ve been dominating them. Sometimes teams come out flat after a bye week. But I don’t see that happening with a conference crown and the CFP is at stake. It’s time for Oregon St. to come back to Earth, while Washington continues to soar. I say Washington will win big, 51-17
