Related from the weekend: Gang Green The Sequel?, Bowl Still A Possibility for Washington, Best And Worst From Saturday.
Guess we’ll have to wait for the traditional Pac-10 rivalries, because Oregon-Washington has sure become a dud. Fortunately, we have that plucky team in Corvallis that seems to make life miserable for the Pac-10’s kingpin.
On to the weekly grades:
Washington: Oregon, not USC or LSU, is the best team the Huskies have faced all year. And Washington looked a lot like a 0-12 team that has morphed into a 3-5 squad. Some good, some bad, which is not nearly enough to cut it against a potential Pac-10 champion. Clearly, the Huskies will want to examine their special teams during the bye week, because the Ducks exposed all of their weaknesses; it was worth a cool 15 points. The Husky defense was porous after the first quarter, but other than a few years of recruiting classes, I’m not sure what else Washington can do in that department. There’s only so much scheme can do. Jake Locker looked mortal, and some of that is on him. Locker so badly wants to prove he’s a quarterback who can stand in the pocket and withstand pressure; several Oregon players mentioned afterward that strategy made it easy pickings for their pass rush. A year from now, if Locker returns to UW, it’ll be interesting how much he’s learned about when to stay, and when to run. Grade: C-minus
Washington State: If you throw out the first quarter, Cal-WSU was a pretty competitive game. If that isn’t loser talk, I don’t know what is. Still, if you’re the Cougars, you’ve got to look for positives somewhere. They did manage 440 yards against a Pac-10 defense, which is something. Freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel completed 28 of 42 passes for 354 yards, which is something. Johnny Forzani looks like a receiver to watch, which is something. Now if WSU could stop giving up 28 first quarter points, make an average quarterback like Kevin Riley look Heismanesque and getting 13 penalties for 114 yards, perhaps Coug games would be watchable. Grade: C
Oregon State: I can envision a time in December when we look back and say Oregon State vs. USC was the best game of the Pac-10 season. The Beavers did the unthinkable: making the Trojans’ defense appear pedestrian. A Pete Carroll-coached USC team has never given up 36 points in Memorial Coliseum. There can be no doubt now that Jacquizz Rodgers is one of the country’s best running backs, and a certain Heisman Trophy candidate in 2010. USC figured to make Rodgers a central part of the game plan, and yet a determined defense and a first-half ankle injury still couldn’t hold the sophomore running back to less than 100 yards. He might have locked up Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year on Saturday. Yes, the Beavers made too many mistakes on defense and special teams. But all in all, it was a solid performance and one that signals the Beavers are going to be murder in November. Grade: B-plus
Oregon: Chip Kelly with extra time to prepare is like getting in a ground-floor opportunity at Google. He’s had nine of those game-situations since coming to Oregon (season opener, bye week, bowl game), and eight times the Ducks have scored more than 40 points. Jeremiah Masoli might have only been 75 percent, but he sure looked full speed to me. The Ducks defense was stifling when it needed to be. The special teams directly contributed 15 points to the good, which is a good day on anyone’s scorecard. Grade: A-minus
California: The Bears were thrilled with their new toy, the Wildcat offense, which unleashes their best weapons, running backs Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen. Hard to say whether it’s a long-term solution, given that Saturday’s opponent was Washington State. There was a lot of angst about Cal’s defense giving up 440 yards to the Cougars, but I wouldn’t read much into that, either. The Bears had 28 points before the end of the first quarter, and my guess is there was a bit of disinterest shortly thereafter. Grade: B
Stanford: As home fields go in the Pac-10, Stanford Stadium might be the worst in terms of striking fear in an opponent. But, wow, the Cardinal sure seem to be a different team at home. They road-graded a good defense in Arizona State, bullying the Sun Devils for 473 yards of offense. Now if Stanford could just take this show on the road, the Cardinal could start making bowl plans. Grade: A-minus
USC: There will be some who mock the Trojans a little and say, that’s all ya got for a revenge game? Not me. Oregon State is a good football team. Every time the Beavers made a run at USC, the Trojans had an answer. The offense and special teams performed at a high level. This isn’t the defense of recent years, but anyone who has been paying attention knew that. They had better figure out a few things before next Saturday though, because Oregon is going to spread out USC just as much as Oregon State did. Grade: B
UCLA: Once again, the defense outscores the offense. For the second time in three weeks, the Bruins score a defensive touchdown while the offense can only get field goals. Pathetic. It’s beginning to look like the only Pac-10 team UCLA can beat is Washington State, and even that’s not a sure thing. Grade: C-minus
Arizona State: I never thought I’d see the day when Dennis Erickson might not be the man for a college football reclamation project. But questions are starting to surface midway through his third season at ASU after another sorry performance on the road. The offense simply isn’t progressing. Shutout in the first half, desperate after halftime, only 290 yards against a pedestrian Stanford defense. Only this time, ASU’s usually dependable defense didn’t do much, either. It could be long, ugly end to the 2009 season. Grade: D
Arizona: While all of the Pac-10 talk centers on USC and Oregon, the Wildcats are quietly slipping into the league title picture. Sure, the Wildcats are flawed; they rely a little too much on the passing game with their top three running backs slowed by injuries, and the defense is inconsistent. But Arizona seems to have certain grit, which is way too much for a bad team like UCLA and might be enough to spring an upset or two in November. Grade: B
Nick Daschel covers the Pac-10 for Buster Sports, and can be reached at ndaschel@bustersports.com
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