Week Five Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

Week five showed us who is a contender and who is a pretender in the conference. The marquee game of the day was the USC/Cal game but the game turned out to be another blowout loss for the Bears who have yet again gone from highly ranked team to also-ran in the course of just a few weeks. Oregon showed the rest of the conference the model for shutting down the Bears. Sellout to stop Jahvid Best early and force Riley to throw to beat you. In the last two weeks Cal has been outscored 72-6 and now rather than thinking they were the Rose Bowl favorites the Bears now will have to regroup to just be bowl eligible. A 3-0 non-conference record helps and they still get to WSU but can they squeak two or more wins out from the rest of the league? How long till Andy Ludwig loses play calling duties to Tedford and why is Cal’s defense playing so poorly? Looks like a lower-tier bowl at best for Cal and some of the luster of Tedford seems to have gone away. Stanford beat UCLA in a physical game that lead the Trees to the top of the conference at 3-0. They’ve played a fairly easy schedule so far but can prove they are a true contender for the Rose Bowl with a win at Reser this weekend against a rebounding Beaver team. Oregon beat WSU in a game that was 42-0 in the second quarter and was pretty uneventful other than an injury to Jeremiah Masoli who is likely going to be the backup to Nate Costa down at UCLA this weekend. The Ducks also lost Willie Glasper for the year in the practice and are down to 3rd stringer Anthony Gildon at WR. Look for teams to try and test Oregon through the air early in games the rest of the season. Just as I was given Sark credit for going for it on 4th downs ala Pete Carroll the Husky coach decided to go conservative and take the field goal in South Bend when they had a 4th and goal from the 6 inch line. The decision back fired as Notre Dame took the shorter field for a TD and ended up winning in OT. Washington has now lost two games in a row and faces a rested Arizona team who has run the ball quite well with Nic Grigsby and company. The Dawgs are getting exploited on the ground and this is a bad trend in a conference which has now become known for power running. Just when you think OSU is down and out they rebound like they did against ASU. The Beavers are now 3-2 and could claw their way back to a position towards the top of the conference with a win versus Stanford. The Beavs will need to try and make this a track meet because a grinder type game will fall right in to Stanford’s hands. Riley needs to get an early lead and force Stanford to pass rather than using the effective power run/play action offense they have been using quit effectively this season.

1. USC (1) – USC and Cal have played close in most of their games in the Carroll/Tedford era. Not the case this time. USC gets a week off to prepare for Notre Dame. The game should be the closest it has been since the Reggie Bush push game but USC should be able to handle the Domers without too much of a problem in two weeks.
2. UO (2) – There was no letdown for the Ducks versus WSU which was nice for Oregon. Biggest concerns are the health of Masoli and depth in the defensive backfield. Oregon needs to put away UCLA early but the Bruins have a tough defense. A UCLA win puts USC in the catbird seat yet again for a Pac 10 championship.
3. LSJU (5) – The Trees are in solid shape and should be ranked for the first since 2001 but aren’t. A win over OSU would put them there but they’ll also be playing their toughest foe of the season so far. A win here for Stanford gives them 4 Pac 10 wins already and would keep the pressure on Oregon and USC.
4. Cal (3) – As good as any time possible for a bye Cal needs to regroup before they travel down to Pasadena next week. Nice for them that UCLA plays a game against the very physical Ducks this weekend. Tedford needs to stop the bleeding right here or the season is lost.
5. UCLA (4) – I didn’t know what to make of this team before the Stanford game and the lack of offense they showed made them take their first loss of the season. UCLA will get Pricne back for this game but will need to score at least in the mid 20’s to have a chance in this game. I expect a close physical game versus Oregon with the Ducks prevailing.
6. UA (7) – Arizona has to be licking their chops a bit to face a Washington defense that has been giving up yards on the ground in bunches. Husky Stadium will be loud and rocking but the emotional state of the Huskies right now has to be questioned. The Cats will put themselves at 4 wins with a 2-0 conference slate with a win in Seattle making it very likely they will be bowl eligible this season while making it very difficult for the Huskies to be.
7. OSU (9) – Beavs winning in Tempe was huge and something they have not done since 1969. Question is how they do at home against Stanford. The Beavs have lost 2 straight home games and any early struggles against Stanford and I’d expect to hear the boo-birds out in force at Reser.
8. UW (8) – If Washington wants to get back to a bowl game for the first time in awhile they can’t afford to drop a home game to Arizona. The Dawgs had a nice effort in South Bend a loss is a loss and they have to be in the dumps right now. This type of game is a real challenge for Sark’s regime and a loss here gives them 4 losses already on the season meaning they’d need to finish 4-2 just to get to .500 which will be tough considering the second half schedule.
9. ASU (6) – If the Devils can’t beat WSU then expect the pressure on Dennis Erickson to become immense. The fan-base seems to be pretty blasé about the state of the program and a loss to a doormat Cougar squad would mean crowds in the 30’s at home the rest of the season at Sun Devil Stadium. ASU may have made the wrong move by going with Erickson who may have seen the game pass him bye.
10. WSU (10) – I rarely feel sorry for a team that loses at Autzen but I feel bad for the WSU players and coaches who are trying their hardest but simply don’t have the talent to compete at the Pac 10 level. Will Paul Wolff get a chance to see if he can turn it around? I think they are at least 2 more seasons from even sniffing a .500 record.