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Pac 10 Conference Roundup - Week 2

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Sep 10, 2007

Pac 10 conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

Click on each team for game recaps, thoughts, schedules and more and scroll down for the games, results, players of the week  and the conference roundup.

 Arizona | Arizona StCalifornia | Oregon | Oregon St | Stanford
UCLA | USC | Washington | Washington St

Pac 10 Game of the Week
UCLA 27 ... BYU 17
UCLA jumped out to a 20-0 lead helped by a 56-yard Trey Brown interception return for a score, two Kai Forbath field goals and a four-yard Kahlil Bell scoring run, but had to hang on as BYU pulled within three in the third quarter on two Max Hall to Austin Collie touchdown passes. The Bruins finally got a little breathing room in the final minutes on a three-yard Chris Markey run to finish off a 12-play, 45-yard drive that ate up 3:40. BYU outgained UCLA 435 yards to 236 but got timely plays from the defense including two key sacks and a forced fumble from Bruce Davis
.

Pac 10 Player of the Week
Washington State QB Alex Brink completed 38 of 47 passes for 469 yards and five touchdowns with an interception in the win over San Diego State.

Conference Roundup
Arizona … It wasn't a plus how the Wildcats allowed Northern Arizona to make it interesting in the fourth quarter, and the offense wasn't able to run as well as it might have liked to without using a few quirky plays, but Willie Tuitama got hot and was great at using all his receivers. Mike Thomas needs the ball in his hands as much as possible; he proved again to be the team's most dangerous playmaker.
Arizona State … It's not like the Sun Devils didn't try to be the Sun Devils of old against Colorado with several chippy penalties and three turnovers, but it didn't matter; the team is too good. The defense is as physical as any the program has seen since the late 1990s, while Rudy Carpenter showed for the second straight week that he has the poise and command back. He threaded the needle with a few beautiful passes he wasn't making last year. Now the team has to work on the finer things against San Diego State, like not committing 12 penalties for 136 yards, and has to do more to pound out the ground game with someone other than Ryan Torian.
California … There was bound to be a bit of a letdown after the emotionally charged win over Tennessee, but Cal will have to be wary all year long of letting down in games. It was a breather with about five minutes to play, and then the Bears took their foot off the gas and it became way too close. As explosive as the Cal offense is, it's going to have to keep pushing and keep going for the big plays until the defense can prove it can stop someone.
Oregon … Fine, so Michigan isn't any good right now, but Oregon had a whole bunch to do with that this week. Dennis Dixon got time, the speedy receivers had no problems getting open and things got ugly. Dixon is in a zone at the moment, making all the right reads and all the right throws, but he, and the Ducks, looked good at the beginning of last year, too. Now Oregon has to keep the momentum going against a Fresno State team that battled Texas A&M in three overtimes, and then it's the Pac 10 season. If the Chip Kelly offense stays this effective, this will be a nasty team to beat.
Oregon State … Pin this ugly loss to Cincinnati on the offensive line and the quarterbacks. The O line never appeared to get off the team bus, being outhustled, pushed around, and dominated all game long, while the glaringly obvious issue is at quarterback, where both Sean Canfield and Lyle Moevao stunk it up for a second straight game. Fortunately, Idaho State is up next to tune things up before Pac 10 play, but there appears to be a long way to go before the Beavers can keep up in a shootout. Sammie Stroughter didn't catch a pass in his return after missing the Utah game for personal reasons.
Stanford … Didn’t Play This Week
UCLA … UCLA's defense showed up when it had to against BYU, but the offense that was so balanced and so good against Stanford appeared to miss the bus. It's too much to call Ben Olson's 13-of-28, 126-yard performance a major step back, but it certainly wasn't a positive, while the rest of the offense only managed a mere 236 yards total to BYU's 435. The defense made the plays early and very late, and the offensive line helped pave the way late, but this was hardly the type of game Bruin fans are going to feel great about. A bounceback performance at Utah is a must before dealing with a hot Washington team.
USC  … Didn’t Play This Week
Washington … Washington might not have been perfect against Boise State, but after getting the program's first win over a ranked team since 2003, there's not much room for complaining. Jake Locker will get all the national exposure as a dangerous dual threat playmaker, but this was a game for the defense. The defensive front held up extremely well against a good Bronco offensive line, and was able to generate decent pressure throughout. Now comes the big chance to make a national statement with Ohio State coming to town. Locker will need to use all the weapons around him against the Buckeye defense.
Washington State … Alex Brink might turn out to be the Pac 10's most productive quarterback this season, which is saying a ton, if he has the command of the offense like he had in the win over San Diego State. He moved the ball around well to his scary-good trio of receivers, while Dwight Tardy added some nice balance on the ground. The offense hung up 654 yards, and is going to do that often to the average defenses. Now the consistency will have to be there against the good teams. USC is looming in two weeks.

  Conference Overall Home Away
Team W L PF PA W L PF PA STR W L W L
UCLA 1 0 45 17 2 0 72 34 W2 1 0 1 0
Oregon 0 0 0 0 2 0 87 34 W2 1 0 1 0
California 0 0 0 0 2 0 79 59 W2 1 0 1 0
Arizona State 0 0 0 0 2 0 78 17 W2 2 0 0 0
Washington 0 0 0 0 2 0 66 22 W2 1 0 1 0
USC 0 0 0 0 1 0 38 10 W1 1 0 0 0
Washington State 0 0 0 0 1 1 66 59 W1 1 0 0 1
Arizona 0 0 0 0 1 1 52 44 W1 1 0 0 1
Oregon State 0 0 0 0 1 1 27 41 L1 1 0 0 1
Stanford 0 1 17 45 0 1 17 45 L1 0 1 0 0
Thursday, September 6
7:30 PM at Cincinnati 34 .. Oregon State 3
CFN Prediction:
OS 27-16   OSU -5
Saturday, September 8
2:00 PM California 34 ... at Colorado State 28
CFN Prediction: Cal 41-20   Cal -17
3:30 PM Oregon 39 ... at Michigan 7
CFN Prediction:
Mich 38-30  Mich -6
3:30 PM at Washington 24 ... Boise State 10
CFN Prediction: BSU 34-30  BSU -3
6:30 PM at UCLA 27 ... BYU 17
CFN Prediction:
UCLA 30-16   UCLA -7.5
9:00 PM at Arizona 45 ... Northern Arizona 24
CFN Prediction: Arizona 31-9
7:00 PM at Washington State 45 ... San Diego State 17
CFN Prediction: WSU 42-23   WSU -16.5
10:15 PM at Arizona State 33 ... Colorado 14
CFN Prediction:
ASU 37-17   ASU -14

Past Pac 10 Games of the Week
Sept. 1 -
California 45 ... Tennessee 31
Sept. 8 -
UCLA 27 ... BYU 17

Past Pac 10 Players of the Week
Sept. 2 - California RB Justin Forsett
Sept. 9 - Washington State QB Alex Brink

  

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