Pac-12 Roundup Week 3

Had a better week in my conference predictions, going 7-3, with the surprises being Stanford outphysicalling USC, ASU letting me down as my upset team, and Utah showing that they still have some life in them. So far, I'm 22-11 on the season with Colorado's incompetence being my saving grace. On to the breakdown!

Washington State 35 UNLV 27
Lowdown:Washington State survives a far closer game than anyone could have imagined. An entertaining game ended in one of the more curious sequences I've seen so far. First off, WSU coach Mike Leach elects not to run down the clock with an 8 point lead and instead passes on 2 of the Cougars' 4 downs (without punting), leaving UNLV with the ball on their own 34 yard line with 40 full seconds. Second off, the referees spot the ball short of a critical first down, burning off critical time for the Rebels. On replay, it was clear they had picked up the first down. On the subsequent play, UNLV's wide receiver was knocked out of bounds but again the Rebels were spotted in bounds with more time running down. UNLV was then forced to chuck up a hail mary with just 2 seconds to go. I guess the officiating crew was that eager to hit the roulette tables.

As for the game itself, talk about busted coverage plays after busted coverage plays. The game featured 6 catches that made up 200 yards for the Cougars. Anyone who watched it saw the Rebels give up one big pass play after another, which I couldn't understand. If you know you're facing off against Marquess Wilson, why would you leave him single covered with no safety help over the top? Despite that, the Cougars were prone to giving up some big plays as well. After thinking that WSU's defense had improved, they surrendered 466 yards to one of the worst teams in the FBS. The team still has a ways to go, though the Cougars are 2-1 with their first road non-conference win since 2005.

Up Next: The Cougars look to go 3-1 with hapless Colorado coming to town. Though WSU isn't where they'd like to be just yet, they're still infinitely better than Colorado.

Oregon 63 Tennessee Tech 14
Lowdown:The only news here is that Tennessee Tech is worse than I expected which isn't saying much. The Ducks had a bit of a sloppy game with 12 penalties for 105 yards, but still managed to roll up 651 yards of offense. It really wasn't fair to put DeAnthony Thomas out here against these guys, but then again, life isn't fair. Just ask Khloe Kardashian.

Up Next: Oregon prepares for the first "test" of the season when they host Arizona. The Wildcats still aren't close to the team ready to knock off the Ducks, but they are going to put up some points. This should be a fun one for anyone who likes offense (Chip Kelly vs. Rich Rod) and bad uniforms.

Washington 52 Portland State 13
Lowdown:Like I predicted, the Huskies took their post LSU frustrations out against Portland State who somehow managed to have a poorer showing than I imagined. The game was over after the first quarter, but out of respect for the Vikings, let's say it was over after halftime when the Huskies were up 45-0. I started to look into stats to write about then I went on with life.

Up Next: Here comes the teeth of the Huskies Pac-12 schedule. Their blowout loss to LSU told us nothing that we didn't already know: the Huskies aren't ready to compete at an elite level. But if Washington can beat a visiting Stanford team, they'll make a push for upper tier of the Pac-12 North behind Oregon.

Arizona State 20 Missouri 24
Lowdown: ASU looked like they were dead in the water, down 24-7 in the fourth quarter. The Sun Devils seemed to be done in by road jitters with multiple turnovers, penalties and special teams gaffes. They made a furious rally to narrow the score to 24-20, only to see Kelly's pass on third down picked off to finish the game. I had been high on the Sun Devils after seeing their impressive and polished play the past few weeks. Though they still look like a better squad than they did last year, they did show they're still a ways away from being a team that isn't prone to mistakes with enough defensive pressure and solid coverage downfield.

Up Next: A very interesting game against Utah. The Utes are looking to get back into their winning ways and are still as physical of a team as one will find in the conference. The game will go a long way in to providing some clarity in the Pac-12 South. But this one should be fun to watch.

USC 14 Stanford 21
Lowdown: I had predicted that Stanford would keep it close with USC through the first three quarters before the Trojans eventually use their playmakers to pull it away. Nope. The Cardinal pull off the first major conference upset of the year. I'm absolutely shocked given the question marks at offensive line, secondary, and lack of playmakers at the WR spot for Stanford. But I will say that the Cardinal impressed me in that they played an inspired brand of ball and came in with a gameplan that they executed perfectly. I think that's about as well as I've seen the Cardinal defense ever play.

Up Next:We've got a real good one coming up with Stanford making their first road trip up to Seattle to face the Huskies. They're going to want a use a similar gameplan to pressure Keith Price and drape Washington's weapons in Kasen Williams and Austen Sefarian-Jenkins. The Cardinal have gotten better in each game, but can they continue their inspired play in their first road trip of the season?

Colorado 14 Fresno State 69
Lowdown: Man it isn't even funny anymore. I mean I could crack more jokes here with Colorado, but it's kinda like laughing at the kid who eats by himself near the bathroom at lunch. It just stops being funny after awhile. Actually, nevermind, I just watched this and I'll admit, I laughed. I predicted Colorado would lose to Fresno State, but I thought they'd show some fight. Instead, they get completely rolled by a Fresno State squad that is improved, but far from good enough to roll 55 on someone in the half. I mean Weber State held them to 37 points. Last week I thought things could only get better for Colorado, now I don't even know what to think.

Up Next: A road trip to Pullman to face the Washington State Cougars. Just, I don't know guys, but you're going to lose. Wazzu will even find a way to roll up over a 100 yards on the ground on you guys, and that's saying something.

Utah 24 BYU 21
Lowdown: Wild, wild game. The Utah Utes looked like they had the game in the bag 24-7, and then decided that they were bored. The Utes completed mistake after mistake, allowing the BYU Cougars to rally back to a 3 point deficit with a minute left in the game. When Utah fans stormed the field after it appeared BYU's final pass fell short, it was ruled that there was a second remaining on the clock. The fans rushed the field a second time after BYU's field goal attempt to send the game into overtime was blocked. That's a no no, guys. The Cougars were granted another field goal attempt, only to have the kick bounce off the left upright. Now you guys can rush the field.

Up Next: The Utes salvaged the season and bought themselves some fuzzy feelings with a win over their rival. But with conference play starting up, the Utes face an ASU team that will tell us a whole lot more information about both teams. How will the Utes do against a spread ASU offense that will try to work the open field? How will their offensive line fare against an ASU defense that has shown the ability to fly all over the field? Again, a game to watch.

Arizona 56 South Carolina State 0
Lowdown:Rich Rod! Matt Scott! Heisman! Rose Bowl! Yarggh! Not only did the Wildcats roll up 689 yards, they shut out FCS SC State. Though I'm surprised the Wildcats have found a running game, I'm more surprised by their defense that has shown more spark and big play ability.

Up Next: All good things must come to an end. The Wildcats make the trip up to Autzen Stadium to face off against the 3rd ranked Ducks. Like I've stated on the blog before, don't expect the Wildcats to pull off the upset, but this one is going to be far more interesting than most had thought going into the season. We are going to see some yardage (over a 1000 easily) and some points in this one.

UCLA 37 Houston 6
Lowdown: No one was expecting Houston to come close to testing the Bruins this weekend. This was not a good Houston team at all. With that said, there is still something to shutting out a team for 3 quarters. Brett Hundley continues to mature, going for over 300 yards through the air, though he did throw two picks. The nation will continue to talk about the direction Jim mora has the Bruins headed, the revelation that is Brett Hundley and the workhorse in Jonathan Franklin. It will be very interesting to watch the Bruins get test on the road in conference play in coming weeks.

Up Next: The Bruins face off against a tough Beavers squad. The Bruins shouldn't struggle too much defensively against OSU, but I'm far more interested to see how OSU's defense does against UCLA, because so far, UCLA has looked pretty dominant on that side of the ball.