Pac-10 Week 3 Wrap Up

Week 3 was an interesting week within the conference. There were upsets of top 25 teams and overtime victories. This week had many headlines and notable stories including Washington State getting a win (when something this rare happens, it deserves a headline), Oregon snapping Utah’s 16 game win streak, Jahvid Best’s 5 touchdowns, and Washington’s upset of the third ranked USC Trojans.

 Cal @ Minnesota: The Bears continue to impress everyone as they ran their way to a 35-21 win at Minnesota. The Bears have now shown that they are the best team in the conference thanks to Jahvid Best. Kevin Riley passed for 252 yards on Saturday. He didn’t have a big game, but he doesn’t have to. Riley understands that all he needs to do is manage the game so that Cal can hand the ball off to Best and ride him to victory. With 5 rushing touchdowns and his 7th consecutive game with 100 plus rushing yards, Best has legitimized himself as a true Heisman candidate.

 USC @ Washington: From 2004 to 2008 the Washington Huskies went 12-47. In 2009 Steve Sarkisian became head coach and has his team at 2-1 and ranked number 24 in the country. With a late field goal, Washington beat USC 16-13.  While this game was a major upset and had a lot of shock value on the surface, we should be fair to USC and acknowledge that they were playing the best quarterback in the conference in Jake Locker. They were also playing a Huskies team that was coached by former USC coaches who knew the system, had nothing to lose, and have shown great improvement each week this season. This is the second straight year that USC has lost in the week following a big victory over Ohio State. USC didn’t have their best team on the field as they were missing their starting quarterback, free safety, cornerback, defensive end, wide receiver, and nickelback.

 Utah @ Oregon: The Utes came to Autzen stadium with a 16 game win streak and left with a loss. The Oregon offense is finally starting to get on track and become the team that everyone expected. They still have problems as the defense is suspect at best and Jeremiah Masoli is struggling as he completed just 4 passes for 95 yards and an interception. The positive aspect is that freshman running back LaMichael James seems to be the replacement for Legarrette Blount. James rushed for 156 yards in the 31-24 victory. As potent as the Oregon rushing attack may be, they will need Masoli to pass the ball and play exceptional if they have any chance of beating Cal next week in their Pac-10 opener.

 Arizona @ Iowa: As expected Iowa defeated the visiting Wildcats. Freshman running back Adam Robinson rushed for 101 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 27-17 victory. Arizona never got anything going on offense; they used 3 quarterbacks and only managed 105 yards through the air. The Wildcats will look to rebound next week as they travel to Corvallis to take on the Beavers, who are also coming off of a loss.
 Cincinnati @ Oregon State: The Beavers’ 26 game home win streak in non-conference games came to an end Saturday. The Bearcats were able to keep Jacquizz Rodgers under 100 yards. Oregon State was unable to run the ball, meaning they couldn’t control the clock and had to give the ball to the Bearcat offense where quarterback Tony Pike threw for 331 yards and 2 touchdowns.

 San Jose State @ Stanford: Chris Owusu ran back the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and the Cardinal never looked back. Toby Gerhart rushed for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns as Stanford routed the Spartans 42-17 in its home-opener. Stanford has 3 defensive touchdowns, a special teams' touchdown, and did not punt until early in the third quarter. This all sounds good, but they were playing San Jose State. Stanford will get a test next week when they host Washington.

 Louisiana-Monroe @ Arizona State: ASU had a 14-0 lead at the end of 1 and a 24-7 lead at the half. The defense was impressive for the second straight week as they forced the Warhawks into 3 turnovers. Sullivan threw for 220 yards as ASU looked good on offense. They looked better then last week, but will still need to improve if they want to go into Georgia and beat the Bulldogs next week.

 Southern Methodist @ Washington State: The Cougars came from behind, forced a turnover in overtime, and won the game. Yes, believe it or not this actually happened. 2-0 Southern Methodist lost 30-27 as Washington State got its first (and possibly only) win of the season. The 39 yard field goal in overtime clinched the win, and also marked the first time that Washington State had the lead all season.

 Kansas State @ UCLA: Starting quarterback Kevin Prince is expected to be out 3 more weeks with a broken jaw, but in the meantime Bruin fans should have liked what they saw from Kevin Craft. The senior backup threw for 186 yards and a touchdown. Freshman running back Johnathan Franklin rushed for 119 yards as UCLA defeated Kansas State 23-9. UCLA has a bye week before going to Stanford on October 3rd.