NASPAQ – Pac-12 Stock Report : Week 3

On Separation Saturday the Pac-12 split the four games against ranked opponents with  Arizona State losing by a point at Wisconsin, the Dawgs getting a beat down like they were facing Michael Vick, and two big upset performances out of Arizona and UCLA. Two teams (USC & Oregon State) couldn't cover the spread against inferior opponents, and Cal had their annual national television audience letdown against Nevada. Playboy also came out with their Girls of the Pac-10 edition and it's a must get. Leader of the Pac's official girl is now Rachel Lorraine of UCLA (pictured below).

Quarterbacks

Let's jump right into our competitive positional markets with the quarterbacks. In case you haven't already heard, Jake Locker(LUCK) had a miserable day and was outplayed by a freshman on his home turf. He's apparently unaware of the Under Armour commercials or protecting the house, and his stock is down 20% because of it. On the opposite end of the spectrum was Andrew Luck(LUCK) who had the speedy Chris Owusu back at wide receiver to help him complete 17 of 23 passes and four touchdowns. His numbers were identical to his week 1 stats except he had 100 less yards. Nick Foles (FOLE) was the runner up for top QB performance this week and saw his stock go up 8% with an impressive win over Iowa. His interception for a pick-six hurt his stock, but he still topped out at $135 this week.

	Team	Symbol	Δ	Δ%	Total
Andrew Luck	Stanford	LUCK	↑ 15	12%	$140
Nick Foles	Arizona	FOLE	↑ 10	8%	$135
Matt Barkley	USC	BARK	-	-	$120
Jake Locker	UW	LOCK	↓20	20%	$80
Kevin Riley	Cal	RILE	↓10	11%	$85
Jordan Wynn	Utah	WYNN	-	-	$55
Tyler Hansen	Col	HANS	↑ 10	25%	$40
Darron Thomas	Oregon	DARR	↑ 5	20%	$30
Kevin Prince	UCLA	PRNC	↑ 5	33%	$20
Ryan Katz	OSU	KATZ	↑ 5	33%	$20

Wide Receivers

Most of the wide receivers saw a decrease in their receptions this week, but their stocks continued to rise. Juron Criner (CRIN) had to leave the Arizona game with turf toe, but still managed a 46 yard touchdown reception. Robert Woods (WOOD)only had 4 receptions, but his 97 yard punt return for a touchdown increased his stock by $10. James Rodgers (JROD) only had 5 receptions for 22 yards, Jake Locker couldn't get the ball to Jermaine Kearse (JERM), and RonaldJohnson (ROJO) only caught three balls, but all three finished with a touchdown. My horn needs to be tooted as I left James Rodgers off of the pre-season All-Pac-10 Team, because I predicted his numbers would drop.

	Team	Symbol	Δ	Δ%	Total
Juron Criner	Arizona	CRIN	↑ 5	7%	$70
Jermaine Kearse	UW	JERM	↑ 5	7%	$70
Ronald Johnson	USC	ROJO	↑ 5	10%	$55
Marvin Jones	Cal	MARV	↑ 10	25%	$50
James Rodgers	OSU	JROD	↓10	18%	$45
Jeff Maehl	Oregon	MAEL	↑ 10	33%	$40
Doug Baldwin	Stanford	BALD	↑ 5	25%	$30
DeVonte Christopher	Utah	DEVO	↑ 5	25%	$25
Robert Woods	USC	WOOD	↑ 10	66%	$25
Keenan Allen	Cal	KEEN	↓10	33%	$20
David Ausberry	USC	BERY	-	-	$15
Devin Aguilar	UW	AGUI	↓10	40%	$15

Running Backs

The nation already knows that the Pac-12 is the Conference of Quarterbacks, but the running backs are quickly becoming the best in college football.LaMichael James (LMJ) and Shane Vereen (VERE) saw a $20 bump in their stocks with 200+ yard performances. Vereen had multiple highlight reel runs and LMJ has speed like the Twilight vampires. We had some great running from the LA schools starting with Allen Bradford (BRAD) finally breaking through with his 12 carries for 131 yards and a 56 yard touchdown. Not to be outplayed by his cross-town rival, Johnathan Franklink (FRNK) of UCLA looks to be the man to take the SuperSoaker offense to pistol status after his 160 yards and 3 touchdowns. His stock IPO'd this week at $20.

	Team	Symbol	Δ	Δ %	Total
JacQuizz Rodgers	OSU	QUIZ	↑ 5	4%	$125
LaMichael James	Oregon	LMJ	↑ 20	19%	$125
Shane Vereen	Cal	VERE	↑ 20	26%	$95
Chris Polk	UW	POLK	↓ 5	6%	$75
Kenjon Barner	Oregon	BARN	↓10	18%	$45
Nic Grigsby	Arizona	GRIG	↓10	28%	$35
Allen Bradford	USC	BRAD	↑ 5	33%	$20
Cam Marshall	ASU	MRSH	↓ 5	25%	$15
Marc Tyler	USC	MARC	↓ 5	25%	$15

IPO's

We had some standout performances  on the defensive side of the ball with Patrick Larimore (LARI) being the Leader of the Pac. Larimore was named the Nagurskie National Defensive Player of the week after recording 11 tackles (10 of which were solo), a forced fumble, and a pass breakup in UCLA's upset of the Houston Cougars. While Cal was getting pistol-whipped by Nevada, DJ Holt (HOLT) notched 16 tackles forced a fumble. Rumor has it that he is the cousin of famous Arrested Development star Steve Holt so watch for him on the Berkeley campus doing something like this. Dwight Roberson (ROBE) also had a sweet 16 tackles for the Oregon State Beavers with their victory over  Louisville. Jordan Wynn's backup - Terrance Cain (CAIN), was almost perfect by throwing 20 for 23 as the Utes knocked off UNLV. He's proving that he might be the best backup quarterback in the conference.

	Team	Symbol	Δ	Δ%	Total
Johnathan Franklin	UCLA	FRNK	-	-	$20
Patrick Larimore	UCLA	LARI	-	-	$20
DJ Holt	Cal	HOLT	-	-	$20
James Washington	Arizona	WASH	-	-	$20
Dwight Roberson	OSU	ROBE	-	-	$20
Steven Threet	ASU	THREE	-	-	$15
Terrance Cain	UTAH	CAIN	-	-	$15
Tyler Gaffney	Stanford	GAFF	-	-	$10
Stepfan Tylor	Stanford	STEP	-	-	$10

Don't Be So Defensive

Players Market

Our analysts thought before the season that teams could avoid directing their plays around Akeem Ayers (AYER), but his big play potential is ubiquitous. He should have scored on his 77 yard interception return but he gets style points for breaking Case Keenum's ankles (or knee).  Mason Foster had 14 tackles and forced a fumble against Nebraska, but Taylor Martinez told him to hit the weights on his way to an 80 yard touchdown run. Foster is #40 and the guy that misses the tackle on the play. Brooks Reed (REED) may look like a blonde version of the WWE wrestling icon Undertaker, but it translated perfectly when he buried Ricky Stanzi on four consecutive plays to end their chances of a comeback. His pressure off the edge has led to James Washington (WASH) ascension to the conference's sack leader through three games.

	Team	Symbol	Δ	Δ%	Total
Akeem Ayers	UCLA	AYER	↑ 10	11%	$95
Rahim Moore	UCLA	MOOR	↑ 10	12%	$90
Mason Foster	UW	FOST	↑ 5	6%	$85
Jurrell Casey	USC	CASE	↑ 5	6%	$85
Vontaze Burfict	ASU	BURF	↑ 5	6%	$85
Brooks Reed	Arizona	REED	↑ 10	13%	$85
Mike Mohamed	Cal	MIKE	-	-	$80
Omar Bolden	ASU	BOLD	↑ 10	15%	$75
Trevin Wade	Arizona	WADE	↑ 10	15%	$75
Tony Dye	UCLA	DYE	-	-	$55
Malcolm Smith	USC	SMIT	↓ 5	-	$50
Richard Sherman	Stanford	SHER	-	-	$45
TJ McDonald	USC	TJMC	↑ 5	20%	$30
Cliff Harris	Oregon	CLIF	↑ 5	20%	$30
Michael Thomas	Stanford	THOM	↑ 5	33%	$20

Unit Market

Oregon is #1 in the nation in scoring and total defense, but even scarier is the that all of the reps their younger players receive in blowouts make them a deeper unit each game. Cal and UW were absolutely rocked in their blowout losses, and USC did just enough to eek out the win. Nickell Robey and TJ McDonald are looking very promising in the secondary for the Trojans, but the team as a unit is still undisciplined. UCLA has proven that it has the best secondary in the conference by shutting down Case Keenum and Andrew Luck in back-to-back weeks, but they need to get stronger up front with all of the great running backs in the Pac-12. Oregon State was unable to avoid the slow start this year after losing their first game and they have an even tougher test this week when they travel to face Boise State on the Smurf Turf. A strong defensive performance is exactly what the Beavers will need to give the offense a chance.

	Symbol	Δ	Δ%	Total
Oregon Defense	ORED	↑ 10	8%	$135
Arizona Defense	ARID	↑ 10	15%	$75
Utah Defense	UTAD	↑ 5	7%	$70
ASU Defense	ASUD	↑ 5	8%	$65
USC Defense	USCD	-	-	$60
Stanford Defense	STAD	↑ 10	20%	$60
UCLA Defense	UCLD	↑ 15	37%	$55
Cal Defense	CALD	↓ 10	16%	$50
OSU Defense	OSUD	-	-	$40
Colorado Defense	COLD	↑ 5	16%	$35
UW Defense	UWD	↓ 10	22%	$35

If you would like to read more of our articles you can find us at Leader of the Pac.If you would like to learn more about the NASPAQ you can find it here.