Pac-10 Week 11 Preview

Week 11 presents some interesting match-ups and storylines. The Ducks will look to rebound after their first conference loss. The Sun Devils will possibly unveil a new quarterback. The Wildcats will look to keep their Rose Bowl hopes alive while the Bears see how they will fare without playmaker Jahvid Best. The final storyline will occur in the coliseum where Stanford looks to pull off an upset in its second straight visit to Los Angeles.

Stanford @ 9 USC: The Stanford Cardinal will look to upset the USC Trojans for the second time in three years. Andrew Luck and Toby Gerhart were both impressive in Stanford’s upset of Oregon and USC was awful in its game against ASU. Despite this, the Trojans should win this game because they are at home. USC is the better team and Stanford will more than likely experience a letdown as most teams do after coming off such an emotional win.

Washington @ 23 Oregon State: What started off as such a promising year for the Huskies has quickly turned into something average and somewhat disappointing. Oregon State is in the middle of its annual late season surge and is coming off a big road win against Cal. Sean Canfield and Jacquizz Rodgers are leading a balanced offense that continues to impress. Despite Jake Locker’s ability, the Huskies will be over matched this weekend and should fall to the Beavers.

UCLA @ Washington State: The Bruins finally broke their losing streak last week and will now travel to Pullman looking to start a winning streak. I’m still not sold on the Bruins because of their quarterback situation, but Washington State is horrible. The Bruins will win this game not because of their talent, but because of the lack of talent that Washington State has.

17 Arizona @ Cal: After Oregon’s loss to Stanford, the Wildcats not control their own destiny. If they win out they will win the Pac-10 Conference. Had Jahvid Best not been out of this game I would have picked the Bears. But, after last week’s concussion, this game looks like a win for the Wildcats. Cal did not look the same without Best in their lineup and Arizona will have one less player to prepare for. Best is a difference maker and without him the Bears offense will not be nearly as effective. Arizona should win this game, setting up a huge match up against the Ducks next week in Tucson.

Arizona State @ 13 Oregon: Brock Osweiler may make his first career start on Saturday in place of the struggling Danny Sullivan. Oregon is returning home after an upset loss and will be looking to get back in the win column. ASU’s strength is the defense, but I doubt that they can slow down the Ducks offense because no one has been able to do that this year. The Sun Devil offense has not been effective at any point this year and there is no reason to believe that it will be effective on Saturday. I’m picking the Ducks to roll over the Sun Devils and continue on their journey to Pasadena.

On a side note, Legarrette Blount will be activated for this game and will play for Oregon for the first time since the Boise State incident.