Week 2 in the Pac-12 again kicks off Thursday night, as it did in week 1, and continues on Friday night this week, before hitting high gear Saturday, with 8 games, including the first ever Pac-12 Conference game, and a very rare conference non-conference game.
Arizona (1-0) at #9 Oklahoma St. (1-0) kicks things off Thursday at 7 PM CDT (5 PM PDT) on ESPN.
The Wildcats cruised past Northern Arizona 41-10, as Nick Foles fired 5 touchdown passes to 5 different receivers. However, they traveled to Stillwater without Juron Criner, who was the best receiver last year in the then Pac-10 but had an appendectomy Monday.
The Cowboys blasted Louisiana-Lafayette 61-34 (who coincidentally will visit Tucson on Nov. 26), behind a 388 yard, 3 touchdown passing performance by Brandon Weeden.
The game is a rematch of last year's Holiday Bowl, in which Oklahoma St. dominated Arizona 36-10, an evening the 'Cats would like to give themselves and the nation a reason to forget.
#21 Missouri (1-0) at Arizona St. (1-0) keeps things rolling Friday at 7:30 PM AST & PDT on ESPN.
The Sun Devils scorched UC Davis 48-14, as Brock Osweiler threw for 262 yards and 3 touchdowns, which was more than the Aggies' total offense, and Cameron Marshall added another pair of scores.
The Tigers edged Miami-Ohio 17-6, but James Franklin struggled in his first effort to follow in the line of NFL bound quarterbacks that have led Missouri in recent years.
Oregon St. (0-1) at #8 Wisconsin (1-0) kicks off the Saturday slate at 11 AM CDT (9 AM PDT) on ESPN2.
The Badgers opened the season last Thursday night in fine fashion, easily beating UNLV 51-17.
The Beavers were upset 29-28 by Sacramento St. in overtime.
Badger quarterback Russell Wilson was the Big 10 Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns, and running for 62 more yards, and another score. But it was Montee Ball, who ran for 3 touchdowns in addition to catching one of Wilson's scoring tosses, that really tore up the Rebels.
Oregon St. got an NCAA leading 223 yards rushing, and all 3 of their touchdowns against the Hornets, from true freshman Malcolm Agnew, but Agnew tweaked his hamstring in practice this week, and went from doubtful for the game to not even making the trip. Terron Ward will lead the running back committee in Agnew's absence.
There is a log jam of 4 games in the 12:30 time slot.
California (1-0) at Colorado (0-1) at 1:30 PM MDT (12:30 PDT) on Comcast Sports California and Fox College Sports Atlantic. The Pac-12's first non-conference conference game.
The Buffs and the Golden Bears already had this game on the schedule, the completion of a home and home that began last year in Berkeley, when the Pac-10 expanded to 12 teams, and though the game won't count in the Pac-12 standings, it does count toward possible bowl eligibility. And since Colorado plays 13 games, due to last week's unsuccessful visit to Hawaii, where the Rainbows prevailed 34-17, the Buffs need 7 wins, not 6, in order to go bowling, so its really a big game for them.
Cal claimed a 36-21 win over Fresno St., while Colorado dropped a 34-17 decision at Hawaii, their 19th. consecutive road loss.
Nevada (0-0) at #13 Oregon (0-1) at 12:30 PM PDT on FX.
The Ducks dropped three fumbles, and as a reult, a 40-27 contest with LSU in Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
The Wolfpack had their bye in the first week of the season.
Darron Thomas threw for 240 yards, but La Michael James was only able to run for 54 yards, less than the 61 he recorded catching the ball. The Ducks will be looking to get their offense back in high gear against Nevada, who is replacing quarterback Colin Kaepernick, after he led them to a 13-1 record last year.
#6 Stanford (1-0) at Duke (0-1) at 3:30 PM EDT (12:30 PM PDT) on ESPNU.
The Cardinal ran San Jose St. back down to the bottom of the bay area in a 57-3 blowout.
The Blue Devils lost to the Richmond Spiders 23-21.
The intrigue here will be how long Andrew Luck stays in the game, and how much coach David Shaw wants to pad Luck's stats, in a game few will watch, and fewer will watch finish.
Hawaii (1-0) at Washington (1-0) at 12:30 PM PDT on ROOT NW & RM.
The Huskies had their hands full, but pulled out a 30-27 win over Eastern Washington.
The Rainbows opened a 17 point halftime lead before trading points with Colorado in the second half.
Watch what Hawaii dual threat quarterback Bryant Moniz, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another 121 yards and 3 scores, in the victory over the Buffs, does. The Husky defense gave up over 500 yards to the Eagles, as Bo Levi Mitchell completed 39 of 69 passes, for 473 yards and 3 touchdowns.
However, Husky cornerback Desmond Trufant also earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors after he saved the game for Washington with an interception in his own end zone with 29 seconds left. Trufant also had a team high 11 tackles, and forced a fumble. It also helped the Huskies to have kicker Eric Folk hit field goals from 53, 47, and 40 yards out, as well as making all of his extra point attempts, earning Pac 12 Special Teams Player Of The Week honors as a result.
UNLV (0-1) at Washington St. (1-0) at 2 PM PDT in the Obscure Bowl, featuring NO TV.
The Cougars clobbered Idaho St. 64-21, but lost quarterback Jeff Tuel for a month or two to a broken collarbone in the process. Marshall Lobbestael completed 14 of 19 passes in place of Tuel, for 230 yards and 2 touchdowns, and will lead the Washington St. offense until Tuel returns.
Wisconsin moved the ball at will against the UNLV defense, rolling up 499 yards, but the Rebel offense was able to move the ball, and with balance, getting 146 yards both running and passing. It was dropped passes that led to 3 field goal attempts, 2 of which were missed, on 3 consecutive first half UNLV drives, 2 into the Badger red zone, that cost the Rebels any chance at the win in Madison.
Utah (1-0) at USC (1-0) at 4:30 PM PDT on Versus. It's the first ever Pac-12 conference game.
The Utes are looking to make an impression on the big stage that is the LA Coliseum, against the conference's most storied program, in their first ever Pac-12 game. Utah coasted to a 27-10 win over Montana St. 27-10 in their opener last Thursday, after opening a 24-0 lead just 18:07 into the game.
The Trojans set school records for catches, 17 by Robert Woods, who was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player Of The Week as a result, and completions, 34 by Matt Barkley, but still barely beat Minnesota 19-17. USC was unable to score in the second half.
San Jose St. (0-1) at UCLA (0-1) at 7 PM PDT on Fox Sports West.
The Bruins lost quarterback Kevin Prince to a concussion, and fell behind Houston by 17 points at halftime. Richard Brehaut rallied UCLA to within 3 points, but the Bruins ultimately lost 38-34, despite holding the ball more than 8 minutes more than the Cougars. The problem was the UCLA defense couldn't stop Case Keenum, who completed 30 of 40 passes, for 310 yards and pair of touchdowns.
San Jose St. only stopped 4 (of 13) Stanford drives, only crossed midfield 3 times against the Cardinal defense, and lost 3 fumbles. The Spartans will have to improve in all areas in order to compete against the Bruins.
Here's the national schedule, complete with eastern times so you can remember to subtract 3 hours.
Note that the only other games that do not have some sort of tv besides Washington St.'s are 3 MAC games and the Utah St. game. 3 of those 4 involve non-FBS teams.
Playing multiple week-night games, and one morning game, got 6 conference games televised nationally, and the 3 on regional coverage will be available in most of the county on most sports packages. With the schedule spread out, most Pac-12 fans will be able to watch every down of 5 games, and most of another, live. But the absence of even a hand cam feed to an internet stream for the second week in a row from Pullman is nothing short of incredible. Don't count on it not happening again, though.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com