Just when you thought the Pac-10 race was under control, Stanford shocked the conference by upsetting the number 8 Oregon Ducks. The Pac-10 entered the day with 4 teams ranked among the top 25. Two of the four were upset, USC won but was very sloppy throughout the game. After this week there are 6 conference teams that are bowl eligible (Oregon, Arizona, Stanford, Cal, USC, and Oregon State). Oregon and Arizona each control their own destiny and the showdown in Tucson, two weeks from now, will determine who goes to the Rose Bowl.

 

 

Washington State @ 18 Arizona: This is the only conference game this weekend that was not close. Coming into the game Washington State had lost 18 of its past 21 games and they made it 19 of 22 after their 48-7 loss to the Wildcats. This game was never even close as Arizona took a 31-0 lead just 17 minutes into the game. The Wildcats were able to hold the Cougars to 185 total yards. The Wildcats are the only Pac-10 team that has never been to a Rose Bowl and with a win at home against Oregon in two weeks, the Wildcats could go to their first Rose Bowl.

 

 

8 Oregon @ Stanford: The Oregon defense that had looked so dominating by only giving up a total of 58 points over its past 5 games, gave up an astounding 51 points to Toby Gerhart and the Stanford Cardinal. Andrew Luck threw for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the real story of this game was the Ducks inability to stop the run. Gerhart rushed for 223 yards and 3 touchdowns. Stanford had 505 yards of offense in the win and became bowl eligible for the first time in 8 years.

 

 

Washington @ UCLA: Kevin Craft took over for injured Kevin Prince and snapped UCLA’s 5 game losing streak. UCLA turned the ball over 5 times, but were able to force the turnover when it mattered most. With Washington driving for the game-winning score, UCLA intercepted a Jake Locker pass in the final minutes to secure the 24-23 victory.

 

 

Oregon State @ 20 Cal: Another top 25 upset happened in Berkeley as the Beavers knocked off the Bears who were without Jahvid Best for the majority of the game. Best suffered a concussion and needed to be carted off the field in the first half. Oregon State won 31-14 for their fifth straight victory in Berkeley. Without Best, the Bears offense was not the same. Sean Canfield threw for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns. Best has movement in all extremities and will be ok. He was taken to the emergency room after the injury, but solely for precautionary reasons.

 

 

12 USC @ ASU: The Trojans played sloppy and should have lost this game, but they were able to somehow pull out a 14-9 victory Saturday night. The Sun Devil defense was the key to this game as it held the Trojans to 7 points (the other 7 points came off an interception returned for a touchdown). Both teams were unable to move the ball consistently, but a long touchdown pass from Barkley to open up the second half proved to be the difference.

 

There are 5 weeks to go in the college football season and the Pac-10 race is far from being over. The Oregon Ducks are the favorite as they are the only undefeated team in conference play. However, they still need to travel to Tucson, Arizona to face the Wildcats who only have one loss. The conference also features four teams with two losses who have small margins of hope. Then there is UCLA and Washington State who are both still seeking their first conference victory.

 

 

8 Oregon @ Stanford: After coming off an impressive 47-20 victory over the then number 5 USC Trojans, the Oregon Ducks are full of confidence and look to extend their 7 game win streak against Stanford. Both these teams like to run the ball, but they do so in incredibly different ways. Oregon uses the speed of LaMichael James to run on the outside, while Stanford uses Toby Gerhart to run between the tackles. The defense of Oregon has been excellent all year long and they will continue this trend on Saturday. Gerhart is the conference's leading rusher, but the Ducks will find a way to slow him down and pull out the victory.

 

 

Washington State @ 18 Arizona: The Wildcats have moved up to number 18 in the polls and should have an easy time this week against the winless Cougars. Washington State is coming off a loss to Notre Dame and will extend its losing streak to 6 on Saturday. Arizona will beat Washington State and begin looking ahead to their matchup with Cal next week.

 

 

Washington @ UCLA: Until UCLA gets production from the quarterback position, they will continue to struggle. Washington has Jake Locker, who is quite possibly the best quarterback in the conference, leading their team. The Huskies have struggle of late by losing their last two games, but I expect them to get back on track this week in the Rose Bowl. Jake Locker has the ability to will his team to victory and will find a way to get the job done on Saturday.

 

 

Oregon State @ 20 Cal: After coming off a last minute victory against the Sun Devils, the Bears will look to continue their winning ways this weekend as they return home. The Bears have a three game winning streak and will extend it to four against the Beavers. Oregon State's offense looked impressive against USC, but I have no confidence in a team that required all 60 minutes to beat an awful UCLA team at home. The Bears have one of the best offenses in the conference and will use all their weapons to beat the Beavers in Berkeley.

 

 

12 USC @ ASU: Both teams are coming off losses, but of very different sorts. The Sun Devils lost on a last minute field goal by the California Golden Bears, while the Trojans were embarrassed on national television by the Oregon Ducks. USC will be looking to restore its name and is expected to dominate the Sun Devils. Danny Sullivan is turnover prone and that is the one thing that the Sun Devils will not be able to afford on Saturday. The Sun Devils defense will try to keep the game close, but in the end there is no reason to believe that the Trojans will get their third conference loss.

Week 9 was an exciting week in the Pac-10 as two of the four games were decided in the final minutes. We also saw an Oregon team tear apart USC and virtually crush all hopes that the Trojans had of winning the Pac-10 for the 8th straight year.

 

Cal @ Arizona State: This game was surprisingly close. The Sun Devils shut down Jahvid Best as they held him to 63 total yards. The Devils knew that in order to have a chance to win, they would need to force Kevin Riley to beat them. Riley threw for 351 yards and two touchdowns and led the Bears to a last second victory. With 23 seconds remaining in the game, Giorgio Tavecchio kicked a 23 yard field goal to give the Bears as 23-21 victory over the Sun Devils. ASU continues to struggle on offense as Danny Sullivan threw another two interceptions in the loss. Next week the Sun Devils will host USC and the Bears will host the Beavers of Oregon State.

 

UCLA @ Oregon State: For a team that usually lacks quarterback play, the UCLA Bruins got a great game from Kevin Prince who threw for 323 yards and 2 touchdowns and rallied the Bruins from a 19-3 deficit tying the game at 19. Unfortunately the Bruins still lost and fell to 0-5 in conference play, matching its worst start ever. The Bruins lost because they were unable to contain Jacquizz Rodgers who had 112 rushing yards, 96 receiving yards, and a touchdown pass.

 

Washington State @ Notre Dame: Notre Dame has had close games for the past 6 weeks, but that all changed this week as they had buried the Cougars by halftime. The Irish were up 30-7 at halftime and cruised to an easy victory in San Antonio. They went on to win 40-14.

 

USC @ Oregon: Remember when Pete Carroll coached teams thrived on great defense and always found ways to win the big games? Well, that all changed on Saturday night in Oregon as the Ducks torched the Trojans’ Defense for 613 yards, the most ever given up in the Carroll era. Oregon won 47- 20 in a game that was close until halftime. The Ducks were up 7 at the half. The Ducks outscored the Trojans 23-3 in the second half. Oregon is now undefeated in conference play and is in the driver’s seat to win the conference and clinch a Rose Bowl Berth. Jeremiah Masoli was named national player of the week after throwing for over 200 yards and rushing for over 100. Oregon running back LaMichael James also rushed for 183 yards, a career high.

There are four Pac-10 games this weekend. All have interesting storylines, but no matter how good the other three games may be all eyes will be on the Oregon-USC game at 5 o’clock Saturday night. Even though USC at Oregon is the most intriguing match-up of the weekend, we can not forget about the other Pac-10 games.

 

Cal @ Arizona State: The Golden Bears are coming off of an impressive win against Washington State in which they put up a season high 559 yards of total offense. Cal’s offense has a lot of weapons and is expected to put up points even against an ASU defense that is among the best in the country. ASU has a stellar defense, but lacks offensive rhythm and efficiency. The offense is the team’s obvious weakness and will not be able to put up enough points to keep pace with the Golden Bears on Saturday.

 

UCLA @ Oregon State: Remember when the Bruins started the year 3-0 including a victory at Tennessee? The Bruins looked like a football team that could make some noise in the Pac-10 until reality set in. UCLA is in the middle of a four game losing streak because it does not have an effective quarterback. Reser Stadium is a tough place to play and the Beavers are gaining momentum. They are coming off a loss at USC, but they were able to put up over 450 yards of offense on that great USC defense. Oregon State should beat the Bruins and extend UCLA’s losing streak to 5.

 

Washington State @ Notre Dame: Hopefully Jimmy Clausen realizes what a great opportunity he has on Saturday. Clausen is in the discussion of Heisman hopefuls and in a year where no one has really stood out, Clausen could legitimize his candidacy with a big game over Washington State on Saturday. The Cougars do not have much of a defense and Notre Dame should be able to throw the ball all over them. This game is being played in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

 

USC @ Oregon: This is easily the Pac-10 game of the week and possibly the National Game of the Week. ESPN’s College Game Day announced that it will make the trip to Oregon to watch the Ducks take on the Trojans. In my Pac-10 Season Preview I predicted that the Ducks would upset the Trojans and I’m sticking to it. USC has looked good on defense for the majority of the year, but they showed vulnerabilities and weaknesses against Oregon State on Saturday. The Beavers put up over 450 yards of offense without nearly as explosive of an offense as what the Trojans will face on Saturday. Autzen Stadium is the second loudest in the country and will be a hostile environment for the Trojans. They have played in tough environments before, but Oregon provides a unique home-field advantage and it will be interesting to see how Barkley is able to adapt. The Trojans have lost three straight times in the state of Oregon and are facing a team that is better than any of those three previous teams. Oregon can be expected to have an explosive offense, but what makes this year’s team so special and unique is the defense. Oregon’s defense is better than usual and is among the best in the country. This game will be a great game to watch and should be entertaining for a multitude of reasons. This game has the potential to determine the Pac-10 Champion along with who gets the Rose Bowl Berth and I’m going with the Ducks in a close one.

Oregon @ Washington: Once again, the Ducks defense made a play that turned the momentum of the game. Oregon looked flat throughout the first quarter, but when the Ducks blocked a punt and recovered in the end zone the entire team was inspired and began playing with intensity. The Ducks scored on their first 4 possessions of the second half and cruised to a 43-19 victory. Jeremiah Masoli was back in action after sitting out the last game due to a knee injury. The Ducks remain unbeaten in conference play and will host USC next Saturday in a game that will more then likely determine the Pac-10 Champion. Washington State @ Cal: Kevin Riley threw 3 passes in the first quarter and all of them went for touchdowns. The Bears were up 28-3 at the end of the first quarter and cruised to an easy win against the overmatched Cougars. The Cougars should have been motivated by last years 66-3 loss to the Bears, but instead they came out and lost 49-17. Best had 159 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day. The lone bright spot for the Cougars came in the form of freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel who threw for 354 yards and 2 touchdowns. UCLA @ Arizona: When will the UCLA offense show up? UCLA has had trouble at quarterback all year, forcing them to rely on the run game. When the U of A defense held the Bruins to 65 rushing yards, it all but assured a Wildcat victory. Despite turning the ball over 5 times, the Wildcats were able to defeat the Bruins 27-13. Arizona is now 3-1 in Conference play and still a legitimate threat to win the conference. UCLA is currently on a 4 game losing streak and will face the Oregon State Beavers next week. Oregon State @ USC: After last season’s upset loss at the hands of the Beavers, it was expected that USC would come out trying to avenge that loss. The Trojans did get the win, but in less convincing fashion than expected. The Trojans won 42-36 behind Allan Bradford who ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Barkley threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns. The most surprising aspect of this game was that USC’s defense gave up 482 yards to the Beavers. USC fans better hope that the Trojans fix these defensive problems before facing Oregon on Saturday. ASU @ Stanford: Despite facing the nation’s number 2 ranked rush defense, Toby Gerhart was still able to rush for 125 yards and a touchdown. Andrew Luck threw for 236 yards and Stanford used a balanced attack to beat the Sun Devils 33-14. Stanford needed this win to end a three game losing streak. The Cardinal also greatly improved their chances of reaching their first bowl since the 2001 season.