DG on PX - Pac 10 Things We Learned This Week

10 Pac-10 thoughts and observations including how the 2009 Oregon-Oregon State game can impact the 2010 Heisman Trophy.

-The stage is set for the biggest Civil War ever, the Civil War of the Roses
We’re back where we started, Oregon playing on a Thursday night.

There was a BCS berth on the line in that first game of the year, with Boise State needing an undefeated season to crash the party.

Now the Ducks, who looked so inept on the blue turf, can secure a trip to Pasadena on Jan. 1. with one more win.

Over Oregon State.

The Beavers were so close to the Rose Bowl last year, needing only one more win.

Over Oregon.

These are clearly the two best teams in the conference, the two best coaches and quarterbacks and running backs. Two underrated defenses. The two programs that almost dethroned USC the last two seasons can now finish the job.

The winner gets to smell the roses, but it will be a consolation prize, secondary to a year’s worth of in-state bragging rights.

-There’s more than a berth in the Rose Bowl on the line
It will decide Pac-10 coach of the year and first-team all-Pac-10 quarterback. It will also go a long way in determining my offensive player of the year, currently a three-man race between Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, running back Jacquizz Rodgers of Oregon State and Stanford’s bruising Toby Gerhart.

-Let the 2010 Heisman race begin
Masoli and Jacquizz can get a jump on reservations for New York by winning the Civil War, then enjoying a month in the ESPN hype machine before the Rose Bowl.

Masoli’s case would be especially strong, as the Ducks return almost everyone of note next season and should be in the preseason top 5, if not No. 1 with a win over Ohio State.

-The football gods have a sense of humor
Oregon kept Oregon State out of the Rose Bowl last season.

Florida kept Alabama out of the BCS title game last season.

Texas kept Nebraska out of the national championship with an upset in the 1996 Big 12 title game.

Is there ever a statute of limitations on revenge?

-Shane Vereen out-Gerhart’d Toby Gerhart
If you were going to wager a guess which Big Game rusher had 42 carries, you would have said Gerhart, right?

Nope, it was Jahvid Best’s backup with 42 attempts for 193 yards and three touchdowns. Vereen now has 346 yards and four scores as the workhorse - 70 carries - since Best’s fall and concussion.

-Even Andrew Luck can lay an egg
The redshirt freshman, whose spectacular play led coach Jim Harbaugh to declare him the best quarterback in the nation, turned in his worst game of the season (10 of 30 for 157 yards and one interception).

After four spectacular games and leading upsets of Oregon and USC, Luck seemed incapable of such a poor performance. Luck, UCLA’s Kevin Prince and Matt Barkley of USC have all struggled at times in their first seasons as starters, but the Pac-10 will be better off in years to come for their on-the-job training.

(Just remember that when you read my feature on the trio tomorrow.)

-What in the world was Jim Harbaugh thinking? Twice?
Going for it on fourth-and-8 from your own 23 with 3:32 left to play? Really?

No carries for Gerhart from the Cal 13? Really?

-Someone at Stanford is getting fired
Cal fans stormed the field after retaining the Axe, but not their home turf. They turned Stanford Stadium into Bear Territory.

If you needed further proof why the Cardinal will never be taken seriously as a football power, there you go.

At least the Bears left the goal posts, unlike Iowa’s memorable visit to the Metrodome.

-Welcome to rivalry week(s)
Am I the only one who finds it utterly bizarre the Pac-10 rivalry games are spread out over three weeks? Am I the only one who even cares anymore?

Arizona-USC and Cal-Washington close the season in games that only matter in terms of deciding the second-tier bowls. That’s so much better than closing with the Big Game or Apple Cup.

Even rivalry week traditions are no longer immune to change. The annual flag football game between the student newspapers of USC and UCLA was played last Friday, moved up a week because of Thanksgiving.

The Daily Trojan defeated the Daily Bruin, 39-38, with a touchdown pass on the last play of the game and successful conversion to finish the decade undefeated.

-No more loopholes for USC
The Trojans had one last glimmer of hope, a six-team tie for the conference lead that could send them back to the Rose Bowl. That was extinguished with Oregon State’s romp over Washington State, so the streak of Pac-10 titles ends at seven, a truly incredible feat in this age.

USC is left hoping for wins in its last two games and being selected from the pool of 6-3 teams for the Holiday Bowl.