Saturday, October 29
Arizona State 48 - Colorado 14 (pick: ASU 45-10)
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. Colorado's Tyler Hansen returned after sitting out Oregon the week before, throwing for 285 yards but was outdueled by Brock Osweiller. The ASU QB tossed for 307 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.
UCLA 31 - California 14 (pick: Cal 34-23)
The serial face-plants on the road continues for California. If Tedford's Bears can't beat the Bruins in the Rose Bowl this year they may never. Mind boggling.
Utah 27 - Oregon State 8 (pick: OSU 24-18)
Another road face-plant. the way Utah's defense shackled the OSU offense is reason for concern - the way Utah's offense ran over the Beaver defense exponentially moreso.
Washington 42 - Arizona 31 (pick: Arizona 35-21)
Upset pick gone awry - Chris Polk (5 TD's) erased three Keith Price INT's and the Huskies win going away.
Oregon 43 - Washington State 28 (pick: Oregon 57-12)
LaMichael James and Darron Thomas knocked off the rust in the opening half then Bryan Bennett knocked off the Cougars in the second. Leading 15-10, head coach Chip Kelly replaced Thomas with Bennett and the red shirt freshman threw for a pair of touchdowns in relief. Kelly remained tight-lipped about the reason for the switch other than to indicate they were "performance-slash-injury" related.
Stanford 56 - USC 48 (3OT) (pick: Stanford 34-17)
Instant classic - these two went back and forth at each other from start to finish. Andrew Luck's interception with just over three minutes remaining in the game gave the Trojans a 34-27 lead. Stepfan Taylor's 2-yard run tied it with 0:38 to go - Luck completed four passes and ran for 16 yards to get him to the doorstep. Three overtimes later the Cardinal pounced on Curtis McNeal's fumble, ending USC's bid for the upset.
Friday, November 4
USC @ Colorado
Wouldn't be a surprise if SC came out a little flat - add the above to a short prep week to get ready for Friday game and the Trojans might be slow to find their feet. Unfortunately for Colorado - the Buffaloes simply have no ability to take advantage. Trojans 34-21.
Saturday, November 5
Utah @ Arizona
Intriguing match-up in the desert division.. a win would do wonders for either team and a loss makes what remains a disappointing season for either that much worse. Taking a cue from the Utes damage to OSU last week end, they get the nod, 31-24.
Washington State @ California
Da' Bears.. what's a guy to think about the Bears. losing the rest of their games would be instant karma after not showing up last weekend against UCLA. But every stinking time it seems they follow it up with a credible performance at home and beat someone they shouldn't. This time it's personal - Washington State 42- California 10.
Arizona State @ UCLA
Winner gets the inside track to the Southern Division berth in the Pac-12 championship game. The Bruins did look better then they have of late primarily because quarterback Kevin Prince looked better - running the ball for 163 yards and throwing for 92. However, both impressions must be viewed in the light of the aforementioned missing California defense. That won't be the case this weekend, the ASU defense is fast and physical enough to dismantle the Bruin attack. ASU 38-17
Stanford @ Oregon State
Cover the eyes of the youngin's - this won't be pretty. At every position on both sides of the ball this match-up doesn't work for the Beavers. Stanford rolls - 63-13.
Oregon @ Washington
Offensively the Huskies are more of a threat than they have been in the past decade. Quarterback Keith Price and running back Chris Polk get all the headlines but Devin Aguilar, Jermane Kearse, Austin Seferian-Jenkins and James Johnson give the Huskies a deep, experienced receiving corps that makes the task of defending Washington more than just an exercise in loading the box. With or without Darron Thomas and/or a 100% LaMichael James, Oregon has the firepower to keep up but it is on the other side of the ball that Oregon holds the telling advantage. Nick Allioti's group frequently gets more than its share of undeserved scorn, but they have shown a knack of keeping teams out of the end zone. Despite their record, that is something Huskies have yet to do against a potent offense - Nebraska put 51 on them and Stanford pasted 65 on their foreheads. Even in their wins the Huskies have yielded big digits to teams like Hawaii (32), Arizona (31), 24 to punchless Colorado. Oregon won't stop at 32 and Washington won't score 40.. Ducks 42-28.
