The Pac 10 Landmine Games
The traps to watch out for
By
Pete Fiutak
Landmine Games For Every Team
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It's
next to impossible for a team to get
up for every game over the course of
the long season. It's easy to be
jazzed for the big rival or the top
five team, but college kids can't
remain focused enough to play razor
sharp for one game and then
maintain the same high level again the next week for the also-ran.
Below are
the very dangerous letdown games for
each team. These might be sandwich games, games a team and
the fans won't take seriously, the game after a big
rivalry, the game before a big game, or just a game that the
team just won't be stoked for and could turn into a painful
loss against a weaker opponent. If you find yourself
arguing that these games will be easy, you're jumping into the
same trap these teams might fall into. At the very least,
these could be tougher tests than your favorite team might
think. Sure, the team might win the game, but it might
be pushed very, very hard.
-
Arizona - Sept.
12 vs. Northern Arizona
This is a landmine because ... Coming off a tough
opener against Central Michigan, Arizona might
be looking past NAU to get to road games at
Iowa, Oregon State, and Washington. If
everything is clicking, the Wildcats should win
in a walk, but if the Wildcat offense isn't
quite working yet, especially on the O line, it
could be a long day against a team that led the
FCS in sacks last season and finished third
against the run.
-
Arizona State -
Oct. 10 at Washington State
This is a landmine because ... It'll be easy to assume
a walk-in-the-park road trip considering how bad
Wazzu was last year and with ASU winning the
matchup 31-0. However, the Sun Devils were 1-4
on the road last season and will be coming off a
tough home game against Oregon State. The
Cougars aren't going to be challenging for the
Pac 10 title, but they'll be better.
-
California -
Sept. 19 at Minnesota
This is a landmine because ... The Bears have gone east of Colorado just once since late 2004,
and the results weren't good losing to Maryland
last season. They went 1-4 on the road with the
lone win at Washington State. After home dates
against Maryland and Eastern Michigan, Cal has
to deal with Minnesota's bright, shiny new
stadium, and it should be rocking as the Gophers
will be pointing to this game as a possible
program changer. It won't help the Bears' mindset that at
Oregon and USC will follow.
-
Oregon - Nov. 7
at Stanford
This is a landmine because ... Oregon has won seven
straight over Stanford, but it could fall in a
letdown trap after facing USC in what should be the Pac 10 game of the year. The Duck ground game isn't going to be stopped cold by the Cardinal defensive front, but
this could end up being a bit of a shootout.
Helping Jim Harbaugh's team will be the prep
time; the Cardinal gets a week off before the
game and will have been at home for three weeks.
-
Oregon State - Sept. 12 at UNLV
This is a landmine because ... As good as Oregon State
has been over the last few years it has had
issues on the road. It lost its first three road
dates last year, including a loss to at Utah, and lost three of its first four away games in 2007.
UNLV will have had a chance to tune up against
Sacramento State and should be relatively sharp
running the spread. The Rebels played two BCS
teams last year, Arizona State and Iowa State,
and won both games.
-
Stanford - Sept. 19 vs. San Jose State
This is a landmine because ... It's not like this is a
true road game for the Spartans, having to
travel up the road a few miles for the Bay Area
battle. With the best receiving corps in the WAC
and the Dick Tomey-coached defense, it won't be
an upset if SJSU pulls off the win. Stanford
will be coming off two road games to start the
season, going to Washington State and Wake
Forest, while the Spartans will be battle tested
playing USC and Utah to kick off the season.
-
UCLA - Nov. 14
at Washington State
This is a landmine because ... UCLA lost six of its
last eight games against Wazzu and struggled in
a 44-41 win in 2005. UCLA's offense will be
inconsistent, and it could be struggling a bit
with its third road game in four weeks. The
Bruins will play at Arizona and Oregon State
before hosting Washington. It should be a
shootout with the Cougars likely to see this as
a possible chance to pull off a big Pac 10
upset. It might be its only real chance.
-
USC - Nov. 7
at Arizona State
This is a landmine because ... So where's the clunker
going to come? Last year it was against Oregon
State (and against Arizona, but the Trojans
pulled out a sluggish win) while two years ago
it was the gack against Stanford. The trip to
ASU comes at the perfect time for a clunker. It
comes after the road trip to Oregon, it's the
third road game in four weeks, and it should be right
about when the Trojans hit their annual in-season
malaise. ASU will have been home for a few weeks after playing Cal the week before.
-
Washington -
Sept. 12 vs. Idaho
This is a landmine because ... For a team on a 14-game
losing streak, there's no such thing as a
landmine. But the game against Idaho might
qualify after starting the season against LSU
and with USC to follow. The pressure will be on
to not just beat a bad Vandal team, but beat it
badly. If Idaho can hang around for just a
little while, the collar could quickly get tight
around the Dawgs' neck. There might not be
another game this season, at least until the
Apple Cup against Washington State, when UW is
favored.
-
Washington
State - Sept. 19 vs. SMU
This is a landmine because ... The Cougars start the
season at home against Stanford and Hawaii, and
should win at least one of the two. And then
comes SMU with its high-octane passing offense
(at least that's the goal), and while Wazzu will
be used to seeing the ball in the air after
facing the Warriors, the June Jones-led Mustangs
should be more explosive. With road games
against USC and Oregon over the following two
weeks, the full focus might not be there.