Pac-12 Roundup Week 5

I missed writing last week’s Round Up as I took a bit of a bye week from blogging, but did follow most of the action over the past week. Here’s the breakdown.

USC 48 Arizona 41
Lowdown: The Trojans survived a shootout with the Wildcats. Although USC was never truly in danger of losing the game, Arizona always found a way to fight back with a touchdown to put themselves back into a puncher’s chance. The offensive numbers in this game were absurd, with Nick Foles and Matt Barkley going for a combined 893 yards and 8 touchdowns through the air. Both secondaries didn’t seem to be able to defend a lick either as both fanbases are getting increasingly frustrated with their respective defenses.

Up Next: The Wildcats have survived their brutal opening stretch, if you can call a 1-4 start “surviving.” Arizona has faced a Top 10 team three weeks straight, and have lost by a total of 178-96 points. They’ve got a much easier test coming up this week against hapless Oregon State. While it should be easier, the game is an absolute must win for Arizona if they want to give themselves any shot at sparking a dream run at bowl eligibility this season.

The Trojans are off this week before their Thursday night matchup against your Golden Bears. A week off before preparing for their annual shellacking of their Nor-Cal rivals may be just what the doctor ordered for the Kiffen kin.

Washington St. 31 Colorado 27
Lowdown: You’ve gotta be frustrated if you’re a Colorado fan. You knew your team had some tough games on the road this season, but you had to figure that you could at least win two of three very winnable home games against CSU, Cal and Wazzu. And the Buffaloes looked like they were going to do just that, sporting a nice 10 point lead with just three minutes to play. But Wazzu rode the arm of backup QB Marshall Lobbestael to a comeback win with two late touchdowns.

Up Next:
Washington State is alive with hope again sporting their shiny 3-1 start. It is worth noting however, that WSU’s opening schedule has been pretty darn soft, and get another manageable matchup against UCLA this week, although it is their third straight road game. While Washington State is far from a contender this year, they’re definitely going to be competitive in most games, and a win over UCLA should put them on a safe road to bowl elgibility.

Colorado on the other hand has to be beside itself with its 1-4 start, which will likely move to 1-5 after their upcoming road trip to the Farm to face Stanford. You can actually easily see that changing to 1-9 with games against Washington, Oregon, ASU, and USC following immediately afterwards. While it may be too early to say, I’d be shocked to see Colorado finishing with more than 3 wins this season.


Washington 31 Utah 17
Lowdown: In one of the more surprising outcomes in the conference, Washington capitalized on Utah’s turnovers to roll the Utes in the second half. While Washington’s defense is still mediocre at best, they’ve shown signs that they may be rounding the corner. Keith Price and Chris Polk continue to shine for the Huskies. Meanwhile, Utah shook their head in disbelief after watching their starting quarterback Jordan Wynn leave the game with a sagging shoulder.

Up Next: The Huskies are rocking their best start in years at 4-1, and have a chance to be that much closer to bowl eligibility with an upcoming game over Colorado. The Huskies are making a strong case for being the third best team in the Pac-12 North, and possibly the fourth or fifth best team in the conference.

As for Utah, you have to think that a 2-2 start is on the lower end of preseason expectations for the Utes. The Utes are finding the Pac-12 much tougher waters than the Mountain West. Although the upcoming matchup against Pac-12 ASU has lost some of its luster, it’s still the premier matchup in the division this season with USC ineligible for the Pac-12 title. Win, and Utah is right back into the thick of things to win the Pac-12. Lose, and I’d say Utah finishes at best 8-4 this season. At best.

Oregon St. 20 Arizona St. 35
Lowdown: The Beavers had a tough test in front of them against ASU and actually took a 13-0 lead to start the first quarter. A stunned Arizona State squad redbounded however, giving up just 7 points the rest of the way while scoring 5 touchdowns. It was a sloppy game however, with both teams combining for 9 turnovers.

Up Next: Things are dreary in Corvallis, with the Beavers off to their first 0-4 start in years. I still think the Beavers respond as the season wears on, especially once their quarterback (whoever it is) begins to settle down and the team sees key returns from injury. With that said, the Beavers are playing like the worst team in the conference right now. It’s not WSU 2008-2010 seasons bad, but it’s pretty bad right now. OSU faces Arizona next in what is a must win game for both teams looking to get out of the divisional basement.

Arizona State is flying high after rebounding from their loss to Illinois, and is the hands down favorite to win the South. With USC ineligible and Utah stumbling, the Sun Devils can begin painting their ticket to the Pac-12 championship game with a win over Utah this Saturday.

UCLA 19 Stanford 45
Lowdown: The Bruins made it a game for most of the first two quarters, but stubbed their toes once they couldn’t punch a touchdown in from Stanford’s one yard line. After that, it was all Stanford as the Cardinal put together their most complete game of the season. Most are talking about Andrew Luck’s ridiculous one hand grab (you read that right) which will make nice highlight material for Luck’s Heisman presentation. The Bruins have to be admired for putting up some fight, but still looked like a team going through the motions for the rest of the game once things got ugly.

Up Next: Suddenly a game against the Cougars doesn’t like so much of a gimmie for the Bruins. In fact, I’d have to say the WSU has to be favored here, despite UCLA playing at home. The Bruins are going to have to beat WSU and pull off an upset or two to keep fighting for bowl eligibility.

Stanford continues to yawn through their comfortable opening slate of games, and things will get incrementally harder before their Oct 29th showdown against USC. The ‘Furd face Colorado this week, play at WSU the week after, and then host Washington. They should be favored in all three, and again, I’d be shocked if the Cardinal weren’t 7-0 and in the Top 3 before they face USC, another team they’ll likely beat.