Pac 10 Things We Learned This Week

The mercy of a 69-0 win, a wasted opportunity for Stanford and how the Pac-10's down year could create a domino effect are among the 10 things gleaned from week eight of conference play.

-The sick man of college football
In case anyone needed additional confirmation of the Pac-10’s mediocrity this season, it came in the form of the initial BCS rankings released Sunday afternoon. USC checked in at No. 5 – not exactly a surprise.

Seeing Pitt, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Northwestern and Florida State and not another representative from the Conference of Champions – not exactly a surprise.

Aside from USC at the top and Washington State way down scraping the bottom of the barrel with instate rival Washington about a half step better, the rest of the league is a total tossup. Heck if the Trojans put together another lackluster effort as they did at Oregon State, teams one through eight are almost interchangeable.

Who knows what to expect from one week to the next?

Those woes could spill over into the BCS. If the Beavers win out, Oregon State claims the Pac-10 automatic bid and plays in the Rose Bowl. Mike Riley’s success then secures a berth for a non-Big Six team like Utah, TCU or Tulsa because one of them will be in the top 16 and ahead of OSU. USC, too glamorous to pass up in terms of TV ratings and fan base, earns an at-large bid shutting out the Big Ten runner up.

Better yet, the Men of Troy play in the national championship game. The SEC and Big XII fans will love that.

-California screamin’
It was not an acid-fueled flashback to last season, Bears fans. It just seemed that way as terrible quarterback play and a defense that can’t stop anyone – the two flaws that sent Cal plummeting from No. 2 in the country to 6-6 – reemerged in a disheartening 42-27 loss at Arizona.

Nate Longshore threw a critical pick six and completed just 18 of 37 attempts. Sophomore Kevin Riley wasn’t much better as he tried to rally the Bears back in the fourth quarter.

It isn’t clear who will start this week against the Bruins, but the bigger concern should be the loss of dynamic running back Jahvid Best, who left the game with soreness in his left elbow, and Wildcat freshman Keola Antolin’s 149 yards on the ground.

With its four of its next five opponents pacing the conference in rushing offense, plus a UCLA team that would prefer a balanced attack, another late season swoon could be ahead for Cal.

-‘Cats scratch offensive itch
Give credit to Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes for getting his top playmakers involved in a major way against Cal.

One week removed from a lackluster 6 for 61 effort in a loss to Stanford, tight end Rob Gronkowski and receiver Mike Thomas combined for 195 yards and caught both Willie Tuitama scoring passes.

Can they execute like that against the Trojans’ stout defense, which hasn’t allowed a touchdown in the last 11 quarters?

-Please don’t accuse USC of running it up
I’m looking in your direction, Tim Brando.

Pete Carroll did everything possible to keep the score down against lowly Washington State, including letting the clock expire at the end of the end of the first half from the Cougars’ 10 yard line. They attempted only one pass in the second half and played every available man on the travel roster, including a handful of walk-ons for most of the final 30 minutes.

Carroll indicated last week that the Trojans would still try and run their basic offense even if things got out of hand, but even he sounded troubled by the turn of events Saturday.

"I was a little uncomfortable. I just didn't want the score to go any higher than it had to," he said. "I feel terrible for them.”

It’s usually a cliché, but USC really could have scored 100 had they been so inclined.

-Paul Wulff has already lost much of the Cougars’ faith
For 280 consecutive games, Washington State had found its way onto the scoreboard. Even in blowout losses to Cal and UCLA this season, they managed three points.

But the gutless offensive performance against the Trojans (nine pass attempts against 37 runs) ended a mark that had survived through great highs and terrible lows.

Discretion may have been the better part of valor in terms of keeping the Cougars healthy for the rest of the year, but unless the homegrown Wulff can restore pride on the Palouse, the manner of Saturday’s loss will not be forgotten.

-Stanford throws a gutter ball
It was a very simple equation: beat UCLA and Washington State to go bowling. Anything else would be gravy.

Instead, the Cardinal wasted a golden opportunity as the Bruins scored with 10 seconds to play in a 23-20 shocker. Too many turnovers, too little passing offense and the prevent defense did them in.

Now Stanford needs to take down Oregon on the road or beat revenge-minded USC or Cal to reach six wins.

-Who knows what to make of UCLA?
Rick Neuheisel was going to pull QB Kevin Craft in the first half until offensive coordinator Norm Chow pointed out he was the only player who could run the two minute offense.

Craft guided the Bruins to a chip shot field goal to end the second quarter and ended up winning the game.

If only he could treat every play like his back is up against the wall, then UCLA might have something here.

-Ditto Oregon State
Moments of brilliance (the win over USC) offset by moments of disaster (the last minutes against Utah) for the Beavers.

They could end up in the Rose Bowl or no bowl whatsoever.

-UDub disaster
Last one to leave Montlake, please turn out the lights.

-Bye week blues
USC-Arizona will dominate the spotlight next week, but the showdown between the Sun Devils and Ducks is the most interesting game on the Pac-10 docket.

Both teams come off an open week hoping to have fixed their offensive woes, but ASU has little margin for error if it hopes to make any bowl game one year after sharing the conference title with USC.

Oregon is 5-2 overall but has yet to beat a quality opponent and remains an unknown quantity.

Something has to give.