The 10 Most Spectacular Plays From The Pac-10 Conference This Year

Now that we've seen what's going on in the Big 12, the SEC, and the Big Ten, let's continue on with the most spectacular college football plays in the Pac-10 conference.

More capillaries have been burst watching the Washington Huskies this year than in all previous years combined.

USC continues Winning Forever, except on the day that it lost.

Oregon is on top, Washington State is on bottom, Arizona and Stanford can't decide, and Cal has been spotted in first and last, sometimes on the same day.

Ten wild plays from this conference are sure to upset some central part of your nervous system. You've been warned.

No. 10: Stanford's Chris Owusu Starts The Washington Game With A Kickoff Return TD

I'm partial to special teams touchdowns because they can kill the will of another team so swiftly.

On the first play of the game, Chris Owusu takes Washington's kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and the Cardinal never let up, pounding Washington 34-14 in a game that never got within reach for the Huskies.

Owusu won Pac-10 special teams player of the week honors for this play - he currently averages 35.5 yards per return, if you're crazy enough to kick to him.

No. 9: Kevin Riley Gives Taylor Mays Heisman Notions

It's spectacular plays like this Taylor Mays' interception of a Kevin Riley pass in the back of the endzone that get Mays thinking he can win the Heisman this year.

Cal quarterbacks need to stop encouraging this kind of behavior. Please?

No. 8: Chris Nwachukwu Picks Off SMU's Bo Levi Mitchell To Win In Overtime

SMU's Bo Levi Mitchell had had his way with the Washington State defense all day, going 40 of 47 for 424 yards and two touchdowns.

But the 0-2 Washington State Cougars, who had just gone on an 80-yard drive to tie the game and send it to overtime, clamped down when it mattered most.

Chris Nwachukwu, picked off Mitchell's touch pass in the back of the endzone, and Nico Grasu booted the game winning field goal, giving the Cougars their lone win of the year.

No. 7: Kenjon Barner's Return Sparks The Oregon Offense At UCLA

Oregon was held to no points in the first half on the road at UCLA. Ducks fans were worried that what happened at Boise wasn't some terrible aberration, some misplaced nightmare.

Then Kenjon Barner took UCLA's kick 102 yards to spark the Oregon offense to a 24 second half points and a 14 point win. Take that return away, and maybe get a different result on fourth and goal earlier in the game, and the Pac-10 standings get turned upside down and inside out.

No. 6: Danny Sullivan And Chris McGaha Go Deep On UDub

Washington was in a bind. Do they allow Arizona State the underneath route and risk a run after catch and a field goal? Or do they play deep?

Unfortunately, they chose the worser of two evils, as Arizona State's Danny Sullivan hit WR Chris McGaha deep for the game-winner, 24-17, in another wild Husky finish that, this time, didn't break UDub's way.

No. 5: Damian Williams's Punt Return Knocks The Wind Out Of The Bears

We'll never know if this game was winnable for the Cal Bears, who have lost six straight to the Trojans since their three-overtime win in 2003.

That's because Damian Williams' punt return to start the second quarter knocked the wind out of the Bears for the half, and they didn't make a mark on the scoreboard until a field goal in the fourth quarter.

No. 4: Jahvid Best Skies Some Gopher Fools

There was a time not too long ago that Pac-10 opponents watched what Jahvid Best did to opposing defenses and shook in their boots.

This clip of Best skying it for the touchdown to put Cal on the board is pretty spectacular. Best went on to score all five touchdowns in Cal's road win, so it's really a pick-your-spectacular touchdown scenario, here.

Take the tongue-in-cheek praise for what it's worth, Cal fans. There's always next year.

No. 3: Matt Barkley Converts Two Third Downs And Deals The Death Blow

The whole video is worth watching, but Matt Barkley's last drive against the Buckeyes, down 15-10, was truly spectacular.

Twice, Barkley converted on third and nine on passes to Damian Williams and Joe McKnight out of the backfield, and his completion to Anthony McCoy on a seam route to split the Buckeyes coverage was a throw some senior quarterbacks wish they could make.

The #1 pro-style quarterback bloomed before our eyes in leading the touchdown drive, converting on the two-point conversion, and dealing OSU a tragic loss in the Shoe.

No. 2: The Immaculate Interception

The Arizona Wildcats were clinging to a tenuous 33-29 lead, having given up a long drive and a Jake Locker touchdown pass to Kevario Middleton.

The jailbreak screen that was called broke in the wrong direction, when Nick Foles' pass was kicked in the air, intercepted by Mason Foster, and returned for a touchdown and a Husky lead. The play happened so fast it was tough to tell whether it was legitimate.

Replays showed it was, and the Huskies converted a two-point conversion, outlasting Arizona to finish off another hair-raising win, 36-33, at home.

No. 1: Jake Locker Finds Jermaine Kearse To Keep UDub's Upset Hopes Alive

Jermaine Kearse made one move to get into position, and Jake Locker's pass was right on time (any later and it gets picked) as the Huskies convert a third and 15 on their way to kicking a game-winning field goal to beat the #3 team in the country.

If this pass is dropped or broken up, or worse, intercepted, the national title picture probably looks worlds different than it does today.

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