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.

Week Four Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

Evie and I
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

Not often do Top 10 teams lose by 39 points to unranked opponents. Not often does perhaps the leading Heisman candidate drop off the list altogether after an off game. And not often is a Cal/Oregon game a blowout. Not often does a team ranked 118th in offense but up over 300 yards in the first half alone and 42 points. However all of these things happened at Autzen Stadium last Saturday and the result was a Pac 10 race clearly in flux. After the Boise State game many Duck fans having given up hope and after the UW/USC game people had all but given the Pac 10 title to Cal but now both of those beliefs need to be readdressed. The upcoming Cal/USC game is for all intensive purposes a playoff game, probably more so for Cal than USC. If the Bears were to lose to USC it makes the road to Pasadena all but impossible for them since they would have loses to both USC and Oregon and unless they expect the Ducks and Trojans to each drop three Pac 10 games that will eliminate them from anything better than the Sun or Holiday Bowls. USC is still in the national title hunt and probably won’t be looking past the Bears since the Bears are still ranked and this has become a pretty intense rivalry despite USC’s domination in the win column. The Stafon Johnson injury is tragic but USC probably more so than anyone else in the country has depth to burn at halfback. More important for them I believe is to have Jeremy Bates open up the playbook. Cal on the other hand was clearly looking past Oregon to USC and the Ducks handed the Trojans a perfect notebook on how to play against Best. Force him to run inside and stack the box to make Riley beat them. Cal is a much better tem at home clearly but will they be able to pick themselves up off the mat after last week? The second playoff game of the week is Stanford vs UCLA. The Bruins have a very solid d but a shaky offense and in my book are still quite unproven. If they can contain Gearhart they can make a game of it but if not expect the Cardinal to grind out a victory and get to 3-0 in league play. If this happens they will be in the thick of the Rose Bowl race. They get Oregon at home late in the year and have been the only team since 2001 to beat USC in the Coliseum in league play. Oregon State could see its season go in the toilet if they can’t beat ASU and history says they won’t. The Beavs have not beaten ASU in Tempe since 1969 and Arizona State looks to have a solid offense. Look for Riley to have a quick trigger finger with Canfield if he craps the bed early with a pick. The Washington Huskies clearly were a bit hungover from USC to compete against Stanford. Being weak against the run against a power running team doesn’t work out too well. The Huskies played Stanford at a really bad time in between big time names USC and Notre Dame. Weis will be under immense pressure note to drop a game to Washington since he needs to go 10-2 to get a BCS bid and still has USC to play. Might still be a year to early for the Dawgs to go bowling. They will need to beat WSU, split with the Arizona and Oregon schools and steal a victory somewhere else to get 6 wins. Possible but a loss to Notre Dame makes that even tougher. Arizona made the switch from Matt Scott to Nick Foldes and the mulleted one was fairly prolific through the air against a weak Beaver pass defense. Nice road win for the Cats before the bye week. ASU played just well enough to lose at Georgia, they should be able to regroup with a win versus the Beavers. Jeff Tuel looked pretty solid in relief duty for WSU who is a hard playing yet low talent level team. They should struggle mightily in Eugene. Oregon has put up over 50 points both times Chip Kelly offenses have matched up with the Cougars.


1. USC (3) – Good news is they got Barkely back for WSU. Quite worrisome they went over 30 minutes without scoring vs the Cougs and only put up 27. Now they face the rest of the year without Stafon Johnson who is replaceable on the field but was a key senior leader on the offense in the huddle. Will this team continue to struggle offensively against non San Jose State defenses? If the Trojans lose to Cal do the wheels come off on the season for Carroll.
2. UO (4) – The Oregon performance last week amazing. The defense looks to be the best unit for the Ducks since at least 1995. However the coaches poll didn’t seem to notice. They somehow moved Boise State to 5th and then kept Cal 5 spots ahead of Oregon. BCS if you want any legitimacy force the coaches vote to be made public every week or better yet take the voting out of their hands completely and let AP and the Harris poll decide it.
3. Cal (1) – Probably read their press clippings a bit too much and got outplayed in all aspects of the game versus Oregon. Tedford teams have had a tendency to give up on the season after tough losses when they are highly ranked. Does this happen again? Lose to USC and the Rose Bowl is completely out of play.
4. UCLA (5) – I think that Stanford will beat them this week but until the game is played I will honor the only undefeated Pac 10 team left in the Bruins. Stanford/UCLA should be a low scoring game but I will give the edge to the team with the better offense in Stanford.
5. LSJU (8) – I have been under-ranking them since the Wake Forest game but still think this squad has an outside shot at the Rose Bowl if USC drops another game. Harbaugh has taken Carroll’s model of how to build a program at a private – high academic standard school and I truly believe that his goal to contend for national championships at Stanford is actually possible if he can keep his staff in place and keep the recruiting up.
6. ASU (7) – Hadn’t played a real team until the Georgia game and play the Dawgs close Between the Hedges. I still have major questions about the offense but the Devils have a tough defense and will be a difficult team to defeat at home. A win over OSU makes the Beavers path to being bowl eligible look not so hot with 5 Pac 10 road games this year and already a home loss.
7. UA (9) – Looks like Stoops made the right move with going to Foldes. The Cats get a week off to prepare for Washington who may be a bit tired after the emotional USC win and then back to back road games. Arizona beating Washington makes it very likely the Cats ends up in the top half of the conference.
8. UW (2) – Big drop I know but I had to honor them last week for the win versus USC. That they had a letdown versus Stanford was no surprise but the run defense looked atrocious as Toby Geahart went for over 200 yards. That isn’t a good sign for a team playing in a conference with a lot of solid power running teams.
9. OSU (6) – The Beavs have been off all year and maybe this is the season that Riley’s late season magic goes away. I think they need to move on to Moevao but the bigger issues may be on defense.
10. WSU (10) – I give the Cougs a lot of credit for having some heart. Makes me wonder if they can steal a home game some time this year against a team like OSU or UCLA.

Pac 10 Power Poll & Week Three Review

Obviously the big story was Washington beating USC the question begs though is whether we should be surprised or not. Looking at the numbers we should probably not be surprised. USC is the epitome of a LA team as they tend to only get up for “name” competition. Outside of the Trojans loss to Texas Pete Carroll hasn’t lose a game to a non Pac 10 school since early 2002. Washington, like Oregon State and Stanford before it defeated a heavily favored USC team that didn’t put 100% focus in to playing the days opponent. The Huskies had a gutty effort from a defense that has been maligned for years as well as great QB play from Jake Locker. The Trojans probably should have opened up the playbook more for Aaron Corp. Even in the Ohio State game USC played very close to the vest, luckily in the Ohio State game USC was playing a coach more conservative than Glenn Beck in Jim Tressell. Of other note the question begs is how good of a “game coach” Pete Carroll is. The Trojans don’t have a very good record in games decided by 6 points or less under Carroll so it makes me think that his success has been probably more based on great recruiting and being able to get good athletes to play well in a team concept rather than brilliant strategizing. Carroll has prevented the type of slides seen in the Hackett era where if USC were to be out of the National Championship race they’d quickly fold the tent. If they were to lose to say Cal and either Oregon or Notre Dame and get knocked out of the Rose Bowl and the BCS Title game will the team keep playing at such a high level? We shall find out. Oregon found a semblance of a running game but again beat a team more so with special teams and defense than because of the offense. Jeremiah Masoli needs to start connecting with his receivers and finding Ed Dickson. Frankly pretty amazing to only complete 4 passes and win a game but the Ducks find themselves now 2-1 with a huge game versus Cal coming up. The Bears got 5 TDs from Jahvid Best but have to be a little worried about surrendering 21 straight points to Minnesota. Oregon has better team speed than the Gophs and will have just as much or more of a home advantage than Minnesota. Oregon/Cal games tend to be very close since Tedford arrived with Cal typically prevailing however 2007 was the first time since 1988 that Cal had won in Eugene. I think they make it 2 two in a row but we shall see. UCLA was able to beat a BCS team with Kevin Craft at the helm, that in itself was quite an accomplishment. Prince will likely now be back for the Oregon game, UCLA has a bye week this week before playing Stanford. ASU and Stanford both won games against bottom dwelling FBS teams. OSU lost to a tough and fast Cincinnati team that has the easiest route to the BCS Championship of any team in the county. Finally WSU earned the right to return to the poll with a win versus SMU. Savor the victory Cougs it is the last one you will see till next September, maybe . . .
1. Cal (2) – Did what they need to do go out and win on the road in a game played not on the West Coast. Jahvid Best is a Heisman contender right now and the Bears with a win over Oregon have the inside track to the Rose Bowl with USC already having a loss.
2. UW (5) – Maybe short lived as the Dawgs have yet to play a road game and face Stanford on Saturday. Sarkisian has turned around the ship but let’s see if they can get past the USC hangover to beat the Trees.
3. USC (1) – Have they ever been this low in my poll? Not sure I’d check but I don’t have the time. Pity the Cougs who have to travel to the Coliseum to face a very angry team of Trojans.
4. UO (6) – The Ducks could easily be 0-3 right now and if they don’t find a semblance of a passing game to find some balance they will tumble down towards the bottom of the Pac 10. Beat Cal and the BSU game will be all in the past and the Ducks will have their Rose Bowl fate in their own hands.
5. UCLA (9) – Undefeated but I am still pretty suspect of this team. Can’t lose on a bye week won’t know if they are real until they play Stanford.
6. OSU (4) – Hasn’t played a good game this year and are a home dog to Arizona. I don’t agree with that as I think the Beavs are the better team but outside of the Rodgers brothers they are really devoid of playmakers.
7. ASU (7) – Pretty hard to judge them based on the schedule they have played. Travel to a Georgia team that is a bit less talented than they have been in the past but still ASU is a twelve point dog. I like Georgia big in this one.
8. LSJU (10) – Beat SJSU , always nice not to lay an egg on that game like has happened so many times in the past. Stanford has a shot to jump to 2-0 in Pac 10 play if they can beat Washington.
9. UA (8) – Had a pretty crappy performance in Iowa City that has lead to Matt Scott’s benching. Now have to travel to Corvallis before the bye week hits. If the Cougs can’t get the passing game going they could be in trouble.
10. WSU (NR) – Congrats Cougs you are back on the list after getting a win. Your prize is a trip to LA to play USC.

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Two Review

USC once again played a powerhouse BCS conference power and once again vanquished said foe. The Trojans were outplayed for most of this game and I still wonder about their ability to sweep all of their Pac 10 road games as well as Notre Dame this year. There are major roadblocks upcoming starting in Seattle a place that has been an after-thought for just about anyone not from the bottom reaches of the WAC over the last few years. The Washington game is a perfect example of the type of game that USC struggles where they overlook the opponent (Stanford 07, OSU in 06 and 08, UCLA in 06) so even though USC should on paper dominate this game could be a good matchup. The drama of the Sarkisian/Holt regime playing their old boss in Pete Carroll could prove interesting. Cal, Washington and Arizona all played Big Sky teams (you should have stayed their Idaho and you know it) and not much noteworthy to be taking form those scores outside of UW breaking the streak and Arizona only coming up with 34 points versus a FCS opponent. I have yet to see the Cats play so hard to judge them at this point but they should not be only scoring 34 versus State Directional College nor should they be surrendering 17. Going in to Iowa City without Rob Gronkowski could prove difficult. Both Oregon and Oregon State squeezed out wins versus teams they should probably have beaten by more points. The Ducks have to be happy with the job of the defense to make big plays as it saved the offense’s bacon by putting up two scores. The Oregon offense finally showed a pulse in the 4th quarter but for the Ducks to even hope about going to a bowl this year they need to put together more drives. Third down has been atrocious on both sides of the ball and the time of possession numbers put up by the offense are pathetic. The Ducks use of the no-huddle is doing the defense no favors whatsoever and isn’t fooling anyone on the opposite side of the ball. The playbook will need to be opened up for the Ducks to defeat Utah. The Beavs may have looking past UNLV or maybe had too good of a time in Vegas but with the win all is forgiving. They will face a very high scoring team in Cincinnati who is the first ranked BCS conference opponent to travel to Corvallis in who knows how long. The BearCats killed the Beavs in 07 so revenge will be on the mind. Does OSU have the horses to match Cinci’s high scoring attack? Jaquizz is dinged up again and probably can’t shoulder a huge loud so Riley is going to have to get creative. ASU should roll ULM but they have to face Georgia in two weeks. UCLA pulled a major surprise in going to Knoxville and beating Tennessee who was obviously looking past the Bruins to their matchup versus the Gators. Major problems in seeding the Bruins in my poll this week. Kevin Prince got hurt and is now out 3-4 weeks so that means that Kevin Craft is the likely starter. Even thought they are playing the putrid Kansas State Wildcats a Kevin Craft led team doesn’t inspire much confidence in me. UCLA should face a tough next month or so. Stanford went east played early and lost a game they were ahead 14-0 in to Wake Forest. Will this game cost them that bowl bid for the first time since 01. Perhaps, if they also lose to Notre Dame they’d have to win 4 more Pac 10 games just to get to 6 and they’ve already played and beat the Cougs. I don’t want to waste more than a sentence talking about the Cougs so I won’t.
1. USC (1) – Got outplayed for 59 minutes in the Horseshoe yet still won. Why is that? Well Jim Tressell continues his play not to lose strategy which against a team like USC works basically never. Aaron Corp looks to take the reins now as super-frosh Matt Barkely has a bum shoulder. Husky Stadium will be loud and if they can play like they did on defense versus LSU and stop the turnovers on offense well the Dawgs have a shot. USC gets WSU next week so I don’t think they will look past the Huskies, the visit to Berkeley looms large though.
2. Cal (2) – Scrimmaged against Eastern Washington. Now the Bears need to avoid what they did the last two years and that is losing a game east of the Rockies. The Bears have adjusted practice schedules to try and get the body clocks on Central Time. Minnesota has recruited well the last 2 years so they have some good young athletes and now play in a swanky new on campus stadium. The Gophs will be fired up for this game and if the Bears look past them to the Oregon game they could stumble.
3. Really Big Drop off here – Until further notice I have booted the Cougs out of the Pac 10 and until someone proves they deserve it I am leaving the 3 spot empty. Had UCLA not lost Kevin Prince to injury I would put them here but since they did well I will keep this spot warm for one of the teams below who can prove they belong with a nice win versus a ranked opponent.
4. OSU (3) – UNLV is not a very good team but seem to always give teams a tough fight at night in Vegas just to lose (well except to you ASU . . .) Cincinnati is a very fast team on both sides of the ball. The winner of this game will probably be in the 40. I question whether OSU has the firepower to match the Bearcats point for point but the Bearcats also don’t have any experience playing on the West Coast. Big game for Pac 10 pride.
5. UW (5) – The streak is over! Yes it was Idaho but a win is a win when your last win was in November of 2007. The Huskies now go from playing on the of 3 worst FBS teams to one of the 3 best FBS teams. The Husky fans, coaches and players are up for this one but it could prove too much too fast. Sarkisian has them on the right path but Carroll won’t let his boys look past the Dawgs. Unless all Aaron Corp can see is purple the Trojans take this one.
6. UO (6) - The Ducks probably stole the Purdue win but give credit to the ball hawking defense. I am encouraged by the running game finding some late traction but the Ducks need to be improved greatly to beat Utah. Utah has looked quite un-impressive and is untested in it’s tour de crap de WAC (do they play Idaho and New Mexico State this year too?) but they do have all 5 starters back on the oline, a great front 7 and have won 16 straight games. Utah always plays Oregon tough but luckily for the Ducks this one is in Autzen and BSU is the only non-BCS team to beat the Ducks in Autzen since the Rich Brooks era,
7. ASU (7) – Didn’t play last week and off to Georgia in two weeks this week not much to say as I have yet to see this squad on TV but they should roll ULM.
8. UA (8) – Again unimpressive scoring numbers. Grigsby put up 200+ yards but that was against NAU. Iowa surely has a better d than the Lumberjacks and won’t overlook the Cats like they did with NIU. However a win here and the Cats look to be in great shape to go to back to back bowl games.
9. UCLA (9) – Purely based on injuries and suspensions for the KSU game. UCLA pulled a huge win in Knoxville and is a very solid defensive team as usual but if they have to revert to Craft at QB should be in a world of hurt in the short term. Thankfully they aren’t travelling to Provo this weekend.
10. LSJU (4) – Big drop yes , really hard to pick team 3-9 at this point and someone had to be last and with the Cougs booted from the poll someone had to be forced down a spot unfairly. Can’t look past SJSU, it has happened way too many times in the past.

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week One Review

Oregon had very high hopes going in to their matchup versus Boise State but saw their dreams shattered by an embarrassing offensive performance on the blue turf. The post-game meltdown of LaGarette Blount will be forever remembered as lore in college football perhaps as much as the famous punch that ended the career of Woody Hayes. Chip Kelly’s legacy as a coach may well be defined by how he gets his team to respond to the horrible performance both on and off the field. Blount, I believe, was a divisive force in the locker room but now that he is gone the entire team will either come together and play at the level they are capable of or they could see the season tailspin in to a year ala 2004 where the Ducks find themselves in the unusual position of being outside of the bowl picture. Playing Purdue is probably the best thing for Oregon right now but they are also not a team that they Ducks can automatically beat ala a Portland State. If the Ducks can’t beat Purdue (Autzen Stadium at night, long travel, body clocks thinking the game starts at 10:15) the Ducks will be lucky to beat anyone on the schedule outside of Washington State. If they can regain their mojo on offense versus Purdue the Ducks should be able to get things back on track and finish towards the top of the Pac 10. In the other notable game Washington showed they may have a pulse again in their performance versus LSU. Jake Locker was fairly effective as a drop back passer and Polk gave them a real running threat for the first time in well I can’t remember. The Dawgs have lost 15 straight games but that streak will end this weekend versus the putrid Vandals of Idaho. Stanford looks to be improved but it is tough to gauge anyone when they play WSU but a league road win is still a league road win. Cal, USC, ASU and OSU all rolled up on sub-standard competition but I was particularly impressed by Cal’s demolishing of a Maryland team that beat the Golden Bears last year. Let’s see how the Bears respond to playing Oregon but if they keep it up I think this Cal team has a legit shot to end the USC Pac 10 championship streak. UCLA and Arizona both got wins which is positive but they were not overly impressive. The Cats defense did a good job holding high flying CMU to 6 points but to only score 19 at home versus a MAC team could be some warning signs that Matt Scott could struggle a bit this year to match what Tuitama gave them.
1. USC – USC started out a bit slow versus San Jose State but then ended up putting 56 on the Spartans. Ohio State in Columbus is a much different experience and Matt Barkley may not have as much confidence as he showed in game 1. The Buckeyes played like dung versus Navy but may well have been looking past the Midshipmen to the Trojans. Pryor is a great athlete at QB and the Trojans have suffered a few losses over the years to duel threat quarterbacks in Vince Young and Dennis Dixon. I think USC will squeak out a win versus Ohio State but would by no means be surprised to see Ohio State pull the mild upset.
2. Cal – Dominant performance versus Maryland but this was also to be expected. An ACC team traveling west to play at night against a high powered offense that wants revenge is a recipe for disaster. Cal has a scrimmage versus EWU this weekend so the main key is to avoid injuries.
3. OSU – Not much can be gleaned from the performance versus PSU outside of the fact that Jaquiz Rodgers seems to be on the mend. The Beavs can’t afford a slip up to UNLV but it is a dangerous game for them. The Pac 10 was mauled by the Mountain West last year and that trend needs to be reversed.
4. LSJU – Jim Harbaugh has set the bar high for his Trees and they got a much valued road W in league play. Ofcourse it was against Big Sky front runner Washington State but hey a win is a win. Stanford travels all the way to Winston-Salem this weekend to play Wake Forest. Tough place to play and the travel will be tough but a very important game for Stanford to win if they wish to go to a bowl game for the first time since 2001.
5. UW – Husky Stadium was rocking, UW had some swagger and they gave LSU a battle though the final score was padded by a TD by Washington on the last play of the game. The streak should end versus Idaho if it doesn’t there is something ghastly wrong still with the Huskies. USC awaits the week after as the Trojans continue their tour of loud opposing stadiums to play road games in but I don’t we will get a real gauge as to how much Washington has improved until they face Stanford on the road on 9/26.
6. UO – Not much more needs to be said. The Ducks need to regain focus and need to remember that it is not about your name or how you look but how you play if you want to be a champion. Masoli needs to learn how to check down if he wants to remain a starter and the defense can’t be made to play another 40+ minute game.
7. UA – Solid defensive performance versus a high flying offense means that Stoops defense may be one of the better in the conference. The Cats do have to be concerned about only putting up 19 but they get to scrimmage NAU this weekend before they go out to face an Iowa team that should have lost to FCS member Northern Iowa.
8. ASU – Not a team I have much confidence in and playing Idaho State who is the worst team in the Big Sky means nothing as they have a bye this week the Devils get an incomplete grade from me.
9. UCLA – San Diego State is a terrible team and UCLA got the W versus them but now they have to go to Knoxville to face a revenge minded and seemingly rejuvenated Volunteer team with a freshman QB at the helm. Not a good sign for Kevin Prince or the Bruins who can hopefully rally the next week for Kansas State in Pasadena.
10. WSU – The Cougars played decently against Hawaii last year and this is a winnable game for them as well as next week’s battle versus SMU. If the Cougs can’t pull either of these out they are looking at 0-12 in the face unless they pull another Apple Cup miracle.