Showdown at Autzen

TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State and Oregon will play for control of the Pac-10 and a possible shot at the national championship.

Raise your hand if you predicted that in August.

Picked by the Pac-10 media to finish in the middle of the conference, the fourth-ranked Ducks and No. 6 Sun Devils instead find themselves in the middle of the chase for the Bowl Championship Series title. ASU’s 31-20 victory over then-No. 18 California, coupled with Oregon’s 24-17 win over then-No. 9 Southern California, set up the West Coast’s unexpected game of the year on Saturday in Autzen Stadium.

Neither team was ranked in the preseason. Reporters assigned to the conference pegged ASU to finish fourth in the Pac-10, two slots above the Ducks.

“We’re just a bunch of guys who nobody thought was very good,” Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson said. “It’s kind of scary, starting to read our name in the paper every week now.”

The Sun Devils (8-0, 5-0 Pac-10) lead the Ducks (7-1, 4-1) in the conference standings but trail them in the latest Associated Press Top 25. That’s somehow fitting in this upside-down Pac-10 season.

When the season began, USC and Cal were expected to duel for the conference title. But the Golden Bears have plunged from No. 2 in the nation to sixth-place in the Pac-10 in 21 days, and the Trojans’ unprecedented string of five straight Pac-10 titles is in peril.

Twice this year, a last-place team has handed a contender its first conference loss. It happened when Stanford upset USC on Oct. 6 and again on Saturday when Washington State beat UCLA.

Of course, the Bruins still control their own Rose Bowl destiny despite the 27-17 loss in Pullman.

Meanwhile, ASU and Oregon have been plugging along, seemingly oblivious to the chaos around them.

The Ducks have been lurking on the fringe of the national title picture since they went into Ann Arbor and ripped the Wolverines 39-7 on Sept. 8. The game came one week after Michigan’s loss to Appalachian State, and many observers focused on the Wolverines’ woes rather than the Ducks’ strengths.

That’s changed. After ushering the Trojans out of contention, the Ducks are no longer the best-kept secret in the Pacific Northwest.

“Now we put a big target on our back,” Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon said. “Everyone wants a piece.”

Dixon has quietly moved into Heisman Trophy contention as the triggerman on the nation’s third-ranked offense, which averages 43.75 points per game. He ranks sixth nationally in passing efficiency, and has 16 touchdown passes and only three picks.

Oregon has beaten two Top 25 teams – Michigan and USC – and lost to a third, Cal, when Cameron Colvin fumbled as he dove for the potential tying touchdown in the final seconds. But coach Mike Bellotti said the Ducks’ resume is incomplete.

“We still have a lot to prove, and I think we’re ready to prove it,” Bellotti said.

The Sun Devils were saying the same thing after their decisive victory over the slumping Golden Bears in Sun Devil Stadium, ASU’s first win over a ranked opponent.

Sunday’s game

Kevin Smith ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns and set four school records to help Central Florida (5-3, 3-1 CUSA) beat Southern Miss (4-4, 3-2) 34-17 at Hattiesburg, Miss.

Smith, a junior, set the school career rushing record with 3,372 yards, breaking Alex Hayne’s mark of 3,359 set from 2001-04. Smith also set marks for TDs in a season (16), career 100-yard games (16) and had a school-record 43 carries.