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Sixty-two to twenty!
In case you were stuck in a bunker lacking wi-fi and other obvious necessities, the Ducks were defeated 62-20 at home by the Utes. The game was relatively close at halftime, but after that Utah exploded. When I saw the final score, I thought someone drugged me. 62-20? The fact that Utah could score 62 on Oregon is mind blowing enough, but Oregon only scoring 20 points is something from a different universe. Oregon is now out of the top 25 for the first time since 2009 (!!!) and Utah has cracked the top 10. UCLA moved up to #7 after their impressive victory at Arizona. USC and Stanford both improved in the rankings after their respective victories against Arizona State and Oregon State, and Cal stayed put at #24 thanks to a 30-24 victory at Washington. Since Arizona lost, they will join the outside-looking-in viewing party with Oregon on the border of the top 25.
There are only four Pac-12 games this week, with Oregon State, USC, Washington, and Utah on bye. Regardless, there will still be lots of good football with plenty at stake for those playing.
The first Pac-12 game will take place between #24 California (4-0, 1-0) and Washington State (2-1, 0-0). Washington State is fresh off their bye, so perhaps their Pac-12 opener at Berkeley will be the perfect opportunity to show the world that they are finally ready to play some high-flying football. Unfortunately, Cal is actually really good this year. Jared Goff is continually shredding defenses, and he showed some serious guts on the road last week against when he pulled out the win in Seattle. This week, Goff and the rest of the Cal squad will be uber-motivated to keep their perfect season alive. Wazzu already lost to Portland State, and some would argue that in itself means their season is over. However, if there's anyone out there who knows how to send his players a message, it's HC Mike Leach.
Tune into the Pac-12 Network at 1:00 pm PT this Saturday to see if the hapless Cougs get mauled by the undefeated Golden Bears.
Soon thereafter, #7 UCLA (4-0, 1-0) will host Arizona State (2-2, 0-1) in Pasadena, putting their undefeated record on the line. Last week, UCLA saw the good side of Josh Rosen. The true freshman QB threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns on the way to a 56-30 rout of Arizona. This week against the Sun Devils, they will be playing the lesser of the two Arizona schools. ASU took a 42-14 drubbing last week and won't find it any easier against UCLA. Junior LB Myles Jack, who is largely considered to be a lock in the 1st-round for the next year's NFL draft, is now out for the season. Two other starters for UCLA's defense will be on the sidelines, so ASU's struggling offense might have a bit more room to operate. If they want to keep their season from completely derailing, they will have to get some points on the board and try to make the true freshman uncomfortable. Watch this one on FOX at 4:30 pm PT.
Oregon (2-2, 0-1) will attempt to save some face this week in a trip down to Boulder to take on Colorado (3-1, 0-0). The Buffaloes might be just what the Ducks need to get back on track. The Buffs have perennially been cellar-dwellers in the Pac-12 and have already dropped a game to Hawaii this season. Oregon badly needs a win this week
On the flipside, Colorado has looked better since that loss to Hawaii, and Oregon still has a lot of question marks on both sides of the ball.
WR/RB/Really Fast Person Byron Marshall will be out for an extended amount of time, and QB Vernon Adams has been ineffective since breaking his finger against Michigan State. Backup Jeff Lockie looked marginally better than Adams against Utah, but was still unable to get anything going. The Ducks will essentially be relying on "Rolls" Royce Freeman to get their offense going, which is not the worst position to be in. Freeman has looked beastly so far this season, and will be put to the test now that the Ducks really need to lean on him. The offense should still flow. The defensive side of things is a different story.
The Ducks defense has allowed an astronomical amount of points this year. Namely, the Ducks secondary needs to get their act together. Colorado will be airing it out all night long against the Ducks, and without starter CB Chris Seisay it won't be easy to stop. The Buffs will try and seize the opportunity to kick Oregon while they're down. We'll see how much fight UO has left. Check it out on ESPN at 7:00 pm PT.
Wrapping up the day, Arizona (3-1, 0-1) will be taking on Stanford (3-1, 1-0) in Palo Alto. After a crushing loss to Northwestern in the first week of the season, everyone wanted to count Stanford out. Today, they are considered to be the favorites for the Pac-12 North.
The turn around for Stanford has been swift. They look like a completely different team from the one that showed up in week one, and most recently shredded the Beavers with their brutish run game.
Arizona might find it tough to stop, especially with Scooby Wright still nursing his knee injury. Starting QB Anu Solomon might be out this week as well, making this a really tough road matchup for the Wildcats coming off a tough loss. Set the tube to the Pac-12 Network at 7:30 pm PT to see if Stanford has a repeat performance of last week.
Here's the complete national schedule, including the revised time for the Michigan-Maryland game, adjusted, of course, for East Coast Bias time.
ESPN
Miami (FL)
Cincinnati
ESPN2
Memphis
CBSS
Connecticut
BYU
ESPN3
Pittsburgh
Virginia Tech
SECN
South Carolina
Missouri
Purdue
(2) Michigan State
BTN
Minnesota
(16) Northwestern
Iowa
(19) Wisconsin
ESPNU
Penn State
FSN
Kansas
Iowa State
FS1
(23) West Virginia
(15) Oklahoma
ABC
Texas
(4) TCU
(22) Michigan
Maryland
ESPNN
Louisville
NC State
Ohio
Wyoming
Liberty
Buffalo
Boston College
Duke
(11) Florida State
Wake Forest
North Carolina
Georgia Tech
CBS
(13) Alabama
(8) Georgia
ABC/ESPN2
Texas Tech
(5) Baylor
Nebraska
Illinois
(1) Ohio State
Indiana
AMSN
Kansas State
(20) Oklahoma State
Auburn
PAC12
Washington State
(24) Cal
(3) Mississippi
(25) Florida
Arkansas
Tennessee
(9) LSU
Vanderbilt
FCS
FOX
Arizona State
(7) UCLA
(21) Mississippi State
(14) Texas A&M
Kentucky
(6) Notre Dame
(12) Clemson
UTEP
Oregon
Colorado
Boise State
Arizona
(18) Stanford