Pac 10 Conference Roundup - Week 9

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Oct 28, 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
Oregon 24 ... USC 17
Oregon forced four turnovers, with Matthew Harper picking off two passes including one to stop USC's final drive. Dennis Dixon ran for a two-yard touchdown to start off the scoring. but USC tied it up at 10 in the third quarter on a nine-yard Patrick Turner scoring grab. And then Jonathan Stewart went to work, running for a touchdown run from 16 yards out and then from one yard away for a 24-10 Duck lead. USC wouldn't go quietly, getting a 14-yard David Ausberry touchdown catch with just under five minutes to play, forced a three and out, and then got picked off to end the game.


Pac 10 Player of the Week
Arizona QB Willie Tuitama completed 38 of 51 passes for 510 yards and five touchdowns with an interception, and ran five times for seven yards in the win over Washington

Conference Roundup

Arizona … The Arizona offense is equal part exhilarating and frustrating. Willie Tuitama has shown flashes of brilliance before, but he just can't come up with a consistent performance from one week to the next. Beating Washington was a huge step for the program, showing off the offensive brilliance of Tuitama, Mike Thomas and the passing game, but now the team can't go back in the tank and lose to home against UCLA. A little more defense along the way would be nice.
Arizona State … ASU didn't get a ton of yards against Cal, but it made them count. The rushing combination of Keegan Herring and Dimitri Nance might not make everyone forget about Ryan Torain, but it was strung enough to take the pressure off Rudy Carpenter for a second straight game. Give credit to the Sun Devils for not panicking when down early. Cal had the nice lead, the passing game was working relatively well, and it seemed like the magical run was about to end. Not quite. Now comes the real fun with a trip to Oregon. Win that game, and then it's time to really start talking about a possible national title run.
California … The running game has gone bye-bye. It didn't show up against UCLA and went missing against Arizona State. Nate Longshore didn't get sacked, but he was hit just enough to make him relatively ineffective in the second half. The Cal defense was the Cal defense, good at times, but unable to come up with the really big stops when needed. On a three-game losing streak, now it's time for a big, easy win over Washington State before dealing with USC. The season isn't totally lost, even if the Rose Bowl is, but things could quickly go into the tank with a home loss to the Cougars.
Oregon … Oregon showed against USC that it can move the ball when it had to on the ground, and considering the lack of healthy receivers, that's going to be a theme. The Trojans loaded up to stop the run, but it wasn't as easy as just moving the safeties up. Oregon did a great job of opening up the lanes for Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart to get through, and now the offensive line will have to continue the momentum against Arizona State. Next week will be tougher than this week.
Oregon State … Stanford was punchless, but that overshadowed the problems with the Oregon State offense. It was balanced, but it didn't get nearly enough from from the passing game and struggled too much on third downs. However, when you hold on to the ball for 36:09, and 12:50 in the fourth, you're doing something right. The pass rush has been dominant, and it'll need to keep it rolling against USC next week.
Stanford … Without Jason Evans to a knee injury, and with Anthony Kimble out with a shoulder injury, Stanford became one dimensional on offense against Oregon State, and Tavita Pritchard and the passing game wasn't up to snuff. The defense did a great job of generating consistent pressure into the backfield, which will be a must over the final month of the year, but without more of an offense, it's going to take the opponent to melt down to come up with another win.
UCLA … You know what you're getting out of UCLA, even it you don't really know from week to week which team will show up. You know you'll get a home run, but if there aren't several, the offense doesn't produce. The defense will have its moments, but when things go wrong, they go really, really, wrong. After running into a buzzsaw against Washington State, a rebound win over Arizona is now a must. How quickly could things go south? After the trip to Tucson, the Bruins play Arizona State, Oregon and USC.
USC  … Don't blame the defense. It did as good a job as could be asked for against the Oregon running game, and held the Ducks to 339 yards. The offense simply didn't do enough, and didn't appear ready for a game like this. Mark Sanchez did a nice job showing off his mobility to buy time, but he wasn't steady. The running game wasn't used enough, possibly because of the injuries on the offensive line, but Chauncey Washington and Joe McKnight never got into a rhythm. In the end, the four turnovers were too much to overcome against a top team on the road.
Washington … The Husky defense couldn't handle the run over a two-game span, and then it couldn't come close to slowing down Willie Tuitama and Arizona's passing game. Worse yet, a brilliant day from Jake Locker, in what might have been his breakout performance, was spoiled by five turnovers, three coming from Locker. Now the season has crashed and burned with six straight loss and road trips to Stanford and Oregon State ahead. The key will be for the young team, especially Locker, to improve each week.
Washington State … Where did this performance come from? A week after getting blasted by Oregon, the Cougars dominated UCLA on both sides of the ball with its most physical game of the year. Dwight Tardy ran well, setting up Alex Brink and the passing game, and the Bruins didn't have an answer. The defense didn't allow UCLA to do much of anything after a big touchdown run on the opening drive. Now the momentum has to carry over to trip to California. Win in Berkeley against the reeling Bears, and then the season takes a big turn.

  Conference Overall Home Away
  W L PF PA W L PF PA STR W L W L
Arizona State 5 0 183 95 8 0 295 125 W8 6 0 2 0
Oregon 4 1 211 120 7 1 350 175 W3 4 1 3 0
UCLA 4 1 166 110 5 3 205 191 L1 3 1 2 2
USC 3 2 134 99 6 2 259 140 L1 3 1 3 1
Oregon State 3 2 131 134 5 3 219 185 W3 4 1 1 2
California 2 3 145 143 5 3 266 214 L3 3 1 2 2
Stanford 2 4 102 207 3 5 175 245 L1 1 4 2 1
Arizona 2 4 172 178 3 6 251 251 W1 2 2 1 4
Washington State 1 4 88 178 3 5 199 265 W1 3 1 0 4
Washington 0 5 150 218 2 6 230 273 L6 1 4 1 2
Saturday, October 27
3:00 PM at Oregon 24 ... USC 17
CFN Prediction: Oregon 34-27   OU -3
3:00 PM Arizona 48 ... at Washington  41
CFN Prediction:
UW 33-23   UW -3.5
6:30 PM at Oregon State 23 ... Stanford 6
CFN Prediction: PSU 34-16   PSU -13.5
6:30 PM at Washington State 27 ... UCLA 7
CFN Prediction: UCLA 30-21   UCLA -6
10:00 PM at Arizona State 31 ... California 20
CFN Prediction: Cal 34-30   Cal -3

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
Sept. 29 -
California 31 ... at Oregon 24
Oct. 6 - Stanford 24 ... at USC 23
Oct. 13 - Oregon State 31 ... at California 28
Oct. 20 - at UCLA 30 ... California 21
Oct. 27 - at Oregon 24 ... USC 17

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
Sept. 29 - California WR DeSean Jackson
Oct. 6 - Stanford QB Tavita Pritchard
Oct. 13 - Oregon State LB Alan Darlin
Oct. 20 - Oregon RB Jonathan Stewart
Oct. 27 - Arizona QB Willie Tuitama

  

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