Pac-10 flops while USC flies high
PULLMAN – In a week that may have contained the high point of the season, No. 1 USC’s 35-3 nationally televised rout of then-No. 5 Ohio State, there were also too many low points for the Pac-10.
Seven of them.
As in seven losses, many of them by larger-than-expected margins, others against huge underdogs.
•Then-No. 15 Arizona State lost at home in overtime 23-20 to a UNLV team that had lost 21 of its last 22 road games when the Rebels blocked a 35-yard field-goal attempt by Thomas Weber, the Lou Groza winner last season;
•Arizona turned the ball over five times in a 36-28 loss to New Mexico;
•UCLA suffered its worst defeat since the Great Depression, 59-0 at BYU;
•California followed up its historic rout of Washington State by traveling across the country and playing uninspired football in a 35-27 loss to Maryland;
•Stanford couldn’t move the ball at all in the second half and lost to TCU 31-14 on a sloppy field in Dallas;
•Washington barely put up a battle and lost at home 55-14 to now-No. 2 Oklahoma;
•And on Friday, WSU was thumped by a lightly regarded Baylor team 45-17.
“Games like last week make you want to retire,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson joked about the Sun Devils’ upset defeat.
Kidding aside, most of the conference coaches thought it just came down to the parity of college football.
“Bottom line in our football game, we had opportunities in the third quarter to put the game away … and we didn’t do that,” Erickson said. “I don’t know if it was looking ahead but, obviously, we didn’t play well enough to win.”
“Every week you’re going to be surprised,” said Oregon State’s Mike Riley, one of the few winners last Saturday. “There’s a lot of good football out there in our world of college football.”
Up until last week, the same could have been said about the Pac-10. But in one week the conference’s reputation took a huge hit.
“Given the history of it, it was just a bad day,” California coach Jeff Tedford said. “It’s never happened before to our conference.
“It was kinda just a weird weekend.”
Weird yes, but not unexpected.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re the home team or on the road,” said Oregon’s Mike Bellotti, another of the three conference winners. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the favorite or the underdog. You better play four quarters of inspired football.”
Bellotti’s team may have won 32-26 in double overtime over Purdue, but not only was it closer than expected (the Ducks were as much as an eight-point favorite) it also cost Oregon another quarterback.
Justin Roper, who inherited the job when Nate Costa went down with a season-ending knee injury, was lost near the end with a bad knee.
At first it looked like Roper might be lost for up to a month, but Bellotti said Tuesday “he’s going to be back in possibly a week or two. So it’s a fairly minor injury.”
About the only conference coach with few worries is USC’s Pete Carroll.
Not only did the Trojans solidify their hold on No. 1, but they came out of the showdown with only a few dings.
“I’m feeling pretty good, as a matter of fact,” Carroll said.
Not so the rest of the Pac-10.
“The conference did get hammered last week,” Carroll said. “And that’s the first time I can really remember that happening like that. Why that happens, I don’t know.
“It was a big week for the Mountain West, man. They had a fantastic week. Probably their best week ever.
“I don’t know what that means on the scene or any of that stuff. It really depends on how everybody responds.”
Around the conference
Arizona gets tight end Rob Gronkowski back this week in its Pac-10 opener at UCLA, which makes coach Mike Stoops happy. “He gives you more options,” Stoops said Tuesday. “A guy 6-6 running down the field is a good-looking guy.” … Despite an 11-of-21, 125-yard passing performance in a 31-14 loss at TCU, Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said Tavita Pritchard is still his quarterback. He did concede that the Cardinal have to improve in the passing game. … Oregon State finally got a win, 45-7 at home against Hawaii, then the Beavers have a bye. Not that coach Mike Riley minds, because the Beavers’ next opponent is USC. “It might be,” their best team Riley said. “It’s hard to distinguish. They’ve had a lot of good football teams, national champions. It’s just a really good football team.” … Carroll was asked about the problems facing protégé Lane Kiffin with the Oakland Raiders and why anyone would go from college to the pros. He did say the NFL is “a blast,” but admitted its better to be a college coach, and better for him, because you have total control of the program. … Tedford still isn’t blaming the time and travel for the Bears’ loss. He said the humidity was a factor but the slow start was more mistakes and miscues than any other factor. “It comes down to football,” he said. … After the shutout at BYU, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel wasn’t available for his regular time on the conference call. The Bruins have a bye this week. … UW’s Tyrone Willingham, whose Huskies also have a bye, doesn’t think all is lost after a 0-3 start. “We’re only three games into the season with nine games yet to go,” he told reporters Monday. “And if we can string together a pretty good run here, we’ll find ourselves to be a pretty good football team at the end of the year, and hopefully that’s where the benefit of playing the tough schedule we’ve had early will help us.”
WSU notes
Three important cogs for WSU were withheld from practice: center Kenny Alfred, Cory Evans, nursing a sore hamstring, and Jeshua Anderson, who started practice but left after his shoulder acted up. Coach Paul Wulff expects all three to play Saturday against Portland State. … One player who didn’t seem too bad was quarterback Kevin Lopina, who left last week’s game with a sore right wrist. Lopina took most of the snaps with the ones and said afterward he was “good to go.” … With Alfred resting and Vaughn Lesuma making the transition to left guard, the No. 1 offensive line didn’t include any starter playing the same spot they started at the beginning of fall camp. When asked if he had to deal with such uncertainty on the offensive line, Wulff said, “I have, actually. There have been times when there’s been a lot of shuttle.” Still, he said, it isn’t helping the line’s cohesiveness. … The defense prepared for PSU’s run-and-shoot offense by setting a goal of 12 big plays (such as interceptions, big hits) during practice or there would be gassers to run. If the defense reached that number, the defensive coaches would run. The defense hit 12. The coaches ran. Speed wasn’t their strong suit. … WSU has already played 16 players who are either walk-ons or were once without scholarships. Seven of them have started (Myron Beck, Brian Danaher, Reid Forrest, Nico Grasu, Adam Hineline, Wade Penner and Dan Wagner).