Pac 10 Conference Roundup - Week 4

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 St |  California | Oregon | Oregon St | Stanford
UCLA | USC | Washington | Washington St

Pac 10 Game of the Week
UCLA 44 ... Washington 31
In a game of big plays, UCLA came up with a few more. In a wild second half, UCLA's Dennis Keyes took an Jake Locker pass 60 yards for a 24-10 lead on the way to a seemingly easy fourth quarter, but the Huskies started off the fourth quarter by turning an interception into a 20-yard Anthony Russo touchdown. Just when it seemed like UW was about to take over the momentum, UCLA got it back as Chris Markey tore off a 72-yard touchdown run. But the Huskies would respond with a 63-yard Russo score to pull within seven. Again, it seemed like UW was about to make a big move, but on the ensuing kickoff, Matt Slater took it 85 yards for a score. Kai Forbath hit two late field goals, and the Bruins weren't threatened again.

Pac 10 Player of the Week
Oregon QB Dennis Dixon completed 27 of 36 passes for 367 yards and four touchdowns, and ran nine times for 15 yards and a score

Conference Roundup

Arizona … Arizona can't completely abandon the running game. It had to after the first quarter against Cal, getting down 28-3, but the offense simply doesn't appear to be strong enough to throw the ball 61 times every game and win. The defense didn't generate enough pressure in the Cal backfield, and it took too long to get the offense going. Now the Washington State game is critical to avoid a brutally ugly start. Road trips to Oregon State and USC follow.
Arizona State … While ASU didn't have its sharpest performance so far in the win over Oregon State, the defense made the big plays to turn things around, and the offense took advantage of every opportunity. Ryan Torain ran well, but the offensive line struggled with the Beaver pass rush, and didn't open up consistent holes to run through. Even so, the offense showed excellent explosion to put the game away. It's not necessarily a bad thing to play an average game and put up 44 points in a win over a good team like OSU.
California … Will the team be able to maintain its focus for a full season? It's still early, and already the defense has suffered second half lapses, while the offense hasn't been able to keep its foot on the gas against a good team. 14 penalties for 121 yards, and too many misfires in the second half, helped make things closer than they should've been against Arizona. The lack of a the home run from DeSean Jackson, or anyone else, isn't a concern considering how balanced the offense was. However, to beat Oregon, Cal needs that explosion back.
Oregon … Basically, the win over Stanford showed that the only way anyone mediocre can stay with the Ducks, is if the Ducks screw up. Three second quarter fumbles allowed the Cardinal to take the lead, but that only gave Dennis Dixon and the offense more chances to crank out even bigger stats. No quarterback is playing better right now than Dixon, but give credit to the offensive line for giving him time to operate. Now the real test kicks in: California. Win that, and it's a whole new ballgame on a national scale.
Oregon State … It continues to be a simple issue for Oregon State. The quarterback play isn't up-to-snuff against the better Pac 10 passers. While Sean Canfield threw for 324 yards, his five interceptions gave Arizona State too many chances to blow the game open. On the flip side, Sun Devil quarterback Rudy Carpenter didn't make many poor decisions. Yvenson Bernard and Sammie Stroughter each did their part, but with Canfield struggling, the offense had to spend the day playing catch-up.
Stanford … Oregon is playing as well as anyone in the country right now, so it's hard to exactly gauge how good Stanford might be. Unfortunately, that could also be said over the next few weeks against Arizona State and USC. The offense did show a spark when it got its opportunities in the second quarter, but there wasn't much happening once the Ducks got on a second half roll. RB Anthony Kimble had a nice day, providing a ground game the program hasn't had on a consistent basis against good teams in years. To have any shot against Arizona State, the ground game has to keep the clock moving and control the tempo.
UCLA … How strange is this team? After a stunningly miserable loss to an awful Utah team, the offense kicked it into high gear against Washington with 333 rushing yards and big plays from the defense, but now there are problems. QB Ben Olson was out with headaches, but he suffered a knee injury, meaning McLeod Bethel-Thompson, an unheralded third stringer, had to hand the ball off. The Bruins showed the explosiveness needed to make a big run in the Pac 10, but a steady, and healthy, quarterback has to emerge from the pack.
USC  … USC decided this week it wanted to win by throwing the ball, so it threw the ball. After proving last week against Nebraska how dominant it could be when it wanted to pound away, the Trojan offense was ultra-efficient against Washington State, with John David Booty hitting everything midrange to keep the offense moving. The ground game certainly wasn't ignored, pounding away for 215 yards, but this game belonged to Booty. This is when he looked like a Heisman candidate.
Washington … The Huskies have playmakers on both sides of the ball, and a ton of promise at the offensive skill spots, but for the second week in a row, the defense struggles in the second half and couldn't stop the big plays. Jake Locker showed once again what a talent he is, and just how dangerous a runner he is in the open field, but the attack needs to be more consistent and all the parts need to be working to beat a team like UCLA. However, it'll have to get ready to bomb away with USC coming to town this week. The Husky D line won't be able to handle the Trojan running game.
Washington State … The Cougar offense was supposedly built to be able to handle shootouts against top teams, but Alex Brink was never able to bomb away against USC, coming up with only a few big plays, and the running game wasn't remotely close to being able to help the cause. There's hardly any shame in losing to USC, but now the Cougars have to make sure there's no letdown against one of the few apparent Pac 10 layups: Arizona. A nasty four-game stretch follows, so it's not overstating things to call next week's trip to Tucson a key to the future of the program. Lose this, and there's likely a new coaching staff in Pullman next year.

	Conference				Overall					Home		Away
	W	L	PF	PA	W	L	PF	PA	STR	W	L	W	L
UCLA	2	0	89	48	3	1	122	109	W1	2	0	1	1
Oregon	1	0	55	31	4	0	194	86	W4	2	0	2	0
California	1	0	45	27	4	0	166	98	W4	3	0	1	0
Arizona State	1	0	44	32	4	0	156	62	W4	4	0	0	0
USC	1	0	47	14	3	0	134	55	W3	2	0	1	0
Oregon State	0	1	32	44	2	2	120	95	L1	2	0	0	2
Washington	0	1	31	44	2	2	111	99	L2	1	1	1	1
Washington State	0	1	14	47	2	2	125	134	L1	2	0	0	2
Arizona	0	1	27	45	1	3	106	118	L2	1	1	0	2
Stanford	0	2	48	100	1	2	85	100	L1	1	2	0	0

Saturday, September 22
6:00 PM	at California 45 ... Arizona 27 CFN Prediction: Cal 41-21   Cal -16
8:00 PM	at USC 47 ... Washington State 14 CFN Prediction: USC 45-20  USC -24
10:00 PM	Oregon 55 ... at Stanford 31 CFN Prediction: Oregon 41-20   UO -16.5
10:00 PM	at Arizona State 44 ... Oregon State 32 CFN Prediction: ASU 27-23    ASU -12
10:15 PM	at UCLA 44 ... Washington 31 CFN Prediction: UCLA 30-20   UCLA -5.5

Past Pac 10 Games of the Week
Sept. 1 - California 45 ... Tennessee 31
Sept. 8 - UCLA 27 ... BYU 17
Sept. 15 - New Mexico 29 ... at Arizona 27
Sept. 22 - UCLA 44 ... Washington 31

Past Pac 10 Players of the Week
Sept. 2 - California RB Justin Forsett
Sept. 8 - Washington State QB Alex Brink
Sept. 15 - Oregon State WR Sammie Stroughter
Sept. 22 - Oregon QB Dennis Dixon