Pac-12 Roundup: Week 5

All the conference upsets are making for some fantastic entertainment and intrigue, but are terrible for my record. Went 3-2 last weekend (27-16 on the season) with the Bears disappointing but perhaps not nearly as much as a Stanford team that played one of the worst games in recent history against Washington.

Stanford 13 Washington 17
Lowdown: Whew boy. Most pundits and yours truly were wrong about this one. After the Cardinal's physical dominance over USC two weeks ago, most expected Stanford's offense to come in and push Washington's undersized defense around. Meanwhile, Stanford's defense was supposed to phyiscally dismantle Washington's patchwork offensive line and Keith Price. Well, the latter certainly happened, but it was Stanford's offense that struggled to move the chains against an inspired Washington defense. Stanford was held to just 235 yards of total offense, with QB Josh Nunes completing just 18 of 37 passes for 170 yards, no TDs and an INT. Stepfan Taylor was held to just 75 yards on 21 carries (3.6 ypc) and the Cardinal were held without an offensive TD in, geez, I don't know how long.

All in all, Stanford's offensive ineptitude, questionable playcalling (who calls a fly route on 4th and 4), and the few mistakes of a generally very good defensive contest saw the Cardinal flush away their number 8 ranking. Washington picked up a critical win as they enter into a brutal stretch of their schedule.

Up Next: As mentioned above, things are about to get real for the Huskies. They start their tough stretch of games with a road trip to Autzen to face the Ducks. This season has taught me to never say never, but the Huskies have a pretty seasoned losing streak to the Ducks who are playing about as well as any team in the nation.

Things aren't much easier for the Cardinal as they have Arizona at home before hitting the road to go to Notre Dame. Stanford needs to get their mojo back against a vastly improved Arizona team. I think their defense holds their ground, but the question will be how the offense does against Rich Rod's defense.

Oregon State Arizona
Lowdown: I predicted this would be the most entertaining conference game of the week and both teams didn't disappoint. The Beavers and Wildcats battled back and forth and provided one of the more thrilling games in the young season. Ultimately, it was the maturity and growth of Sean Mannion that put the Beavers over the top. The sophomore signal caller went 29 for 45 for 435 yards, 3 TDs and no INTs. His poise showed when Mannion went 6-6 for 52 yards and a game winning TD pass with just 1 minute left in the game.

Up Next: The Beavers are easily the surprise team in the north. They host host the Washington State Cougars. It's just so strange to see Oregon State start strong. But again, credit this team's toughness and the job Mike Riley has done in getting the Beavers ranked 14th in the nation. As long as the team continues play with confidence and toughness, Riley's crew is likely to go 4-0 for the first time in 10 years.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats have now dropped two in a row, but they shouldn't necessarily be hanging their heads. They've dropped two games against two quality ranked teams and are easily proving to be a far improved team, especially with QB Matt Scott putting up videogame numbers. The senior signal caller will have to get over his ankle sprain and propensity for the occasional turnovers however, as they're facing a Stanford Cardinal team that's eager to get the bad taste out of their mouth.

Oregon Washington State
Lowdown: Credit Washington State for making it a real competitive first half. However, Oregon simply pressed the turbo button in the second half, and dominated the Cougars down the stretch, outscoring WSU 28-7 in the second half. Ducks QB Marcus Mariota had his toughest game of the season, going 21-32 for 169 yards, 1 TD and 2 TDs. But Oregon's run game was more than enough, rolling up 300 freaking yards on the ground and Kenjon Barner nearly topping the 200 yard mark. WSU's passing offense rolled up 410 yards, but their run game was more than non-existent, being held to -8 yards on the ground.

Up Next: Washington State have the challenge of traveling to Corvallis to face the "other" Oregon State team. The Cougars look outmatched as Oregon State's defense looks legit while the Beaver's offense appears to be hitting all cylinders. Their best hope might be for their offense to develop some offensive balance, while capitalizing on their opportunities to win in some type of shootout.

Up until last Thursday, I would have yawned about this game. Now, if the Huskies can show the type of inspired performance they did against the Cardinal, we could have an interesting game on our hands. But someone might need to remind the Huskies that the Ducks will provide a far stiffer offensive challenge than Stanford's one dimensional attack last week.

UCLA 42 Colorado 14
Lowdown: For as much as Colorado did well in their gritty comeback win against WSU the week prior, the Bruins were simply too much for the Buffaloes. The game was never close with UCLA outscoring the Buffaloes 21-7 in both halves. It was an efficient day for UCLA's offense, rolling up 492 yards of offense, while the Bruins held Colorado to just 309 yards and 14 yards.

Up Next: The Buffaloes are on a bye while UCLA faces off against your sturdy (or submit your adjective) Golden Bears. Thoughts on this later.