Grip on Sports: It’s a cliché, but Saturdays in the fall are really fun

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A quick spin around the cliché dial for your Sunday morning – and my birthday. You can send presents – if the following column doesn’t make you ill. Read on.

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• Clichés are clichés because there is truth in them. So what were the truths from yesterday?

“Nothing good happens after midnight.” Especially back East. Though there was a contentious argument between Washington coach Chris Petersen, ESPN haircut Kirk Herbstreit and most of the national media about the late start times for Pac-12 games. Conference commissioner Larry Scott got involved, the Twitterverse was up in arms and I, for one, decided to be extremely grateful for all that ESPN does for me and mine. It all brings to mind another cliché: tempest in a teapot.

“You can’t replicate speed.” If I were an offensive coordinator at a Pac-12 school, my scout team’s defensive line would be made up of linebackers and safeties the week we played Washington State. It’s hard to duplicate the Cougars’ speed up front in practice with defensive linemen. Oregon’s experienced offensive line didn’t seem ready to handle how quickly WSU got off the ball and into the gaps, having to double not only Hercules Mata’afa, but just about every Cougar defender. That left the linebackers free to fly to the ball and make tackles. They did.

“Good pitching stops good hitting every time.” There is a football corollary to this baseball adage having to do with defense versus offense. But these days it isn’t true, at least not in the Big Sky. Eastern Washington proves it in almost every conference game. The Eagles rely on their offense, much as the Golden State Warriors do. The defense is fine, but Eastern is willing to trade six for three – and if you miss a bunch of field goals, as UC Davis did yesterday, that’s even better.

“Mike Leach’s teams win with offense.” The Air Raid is the basis of Leach’s success, sure. But his great teams, like his 2008 Texas Tech group, are great because they also have a ball-hawking defense. If the offense is stuck in neutral, the defense gives them a boost. If the offense can’t get the ball in the end zone, the defense doesn’t allow the opponent too either. The Cougars have that type of defense this season.

 “This is our year.” I’m not sure that’s a true cliché, but it seems pretty common in Los Angeles as far as the Rams are concerned. Hot starts seem to be their thing. This year’s 3-1 out of the gate seems a bit better than last year’s, mainly because they won a road game at Dallas last week. But today the Hawks come a calling. Will Jared Goff and the Rams hold up? I’m looking forward to finding out.

 “Injuries are part of the game.” This cliché is way too true. Football injuries are as common as the cold, but a lot worse to watch. The teams with the better depth have an advantage as the season winds down. Washington State hasn’t had that advantage very often. But if the Cougars’ young linebackers keep playing has they have, there might be a cliché – “WSU can’t afford injuries” – that proves not to be true.

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WSU: Want one more cliché, one that’s become common the past couple weeks? “The Cougar defense is OK, but their opponents’ injuries are why they are winning.” OK, sure. That ranks right up there with “WSU is winning because it’s playing at home.” The injuries help, sure (as the Cougars’ own hurt) as did the long homestand. But the Cougars are winning because they are solid. Theo Lawson described their solid play Saturday in his game story. John Blanchette described the defense’s solid play in this column. And I had three takes, two of which were positive. The third was about the special teams. … Theo also had stories on the difference makers, the WSU flag flying for the 200th consecutive week, Gerard Wicks’ breakout game, the Ducks’ starting quarterback and the WSU defensive injuries. … Tyler Tjomsland was in Eugene and posted an in-depth photo gallery. … The Times sent Stefanie Loh down I-5 and she has stories on how well the slot receivers played, the defense and three things we learned. … From the Oregon perspective, the Ducks and their first-year coach, Willie Taggart, know they have to play better if they don’t want to hear the Autzen Stadium crowd boo as it did last night. The Oregonian’s Ken Goe felt the defense played well enough to win, but had no help from the offense. Austin Meek of the Register-Guard echoed those sentiments.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, we have one question: Why was Khalil Tate languishing on the bench? The Arizona quarterback ran for an NCAA record (for QBs) 327 yards as the Wildcats raced past host Colorado 45-42. Though Arizona won – and it needed one – embattled coach Rich Rodriguez has to be held accountable for not playing a guy who seemed unstoppable. Meanwhile, the Buffaloes became the first Pac-12 division champion to start the next conference season 0-3. … California was out of the game with Washington early, which allowed anyone east of the Rockies to go to bed. The Huskies moved to 6-0 with an easy 38-7 win over the visiting Bears. … The most-anticipated game of the night was in Salt Lake City where Troy Williams showed why he lost Utah’s starting quarterback job earlier, helping Stanford to a 23-20 victory with ill-timed interceptions. Bryce Love also showed why he should be a Heisman favorite. … The sun shone brightly in the Coliseum as USC ho-hummed its way past overmatched Oregon State 38-10. The Trojans didn’t show much, but they didn’t have to. The Beavers aren’t good and their only quarterback is hurt.

Gonzaga: It was a day to show off. So the Zags did. They showed off their new scoreboard, a new trophy or two and a new team. It was Krazy. At least that’s how they spell it at GU. Jim Meehan was there and he has this story. So was Colin Mulvany, and he put together a photo gallery. And Ryan Collingwood dropped in to talk with the fans. … Jim also has a story on Kyle Wiltjer again looking for a new NBA home. … The women’s volleyball team continued their hot start. Jim did triple duty by covering their win over Loyola-Marymount. … The men’s soccer team opened WCC play with a home loss.

EWU: Jim Allen was in Northern California and he was able to witness Eastern avoiding the trap UC Davis laid. The Aggies thought they had the win. … Around the Big Sky, it was an upside-down weekend in some ways. Montana rallied on the road, at Idaho State, and a former Griz assistant accused them of “extremely” dirty play. … Montana State was one-dimensional against Portland State, but that was enough in a 30-22 win. … It was a bad week at North Dakota, until Saturday. The Fighting Hawks topped visiting Northern Colorado 48-38. … Not only did Cal Poly remain winless after losing 20-14 at Southern Utah, the Mustangs lost their quarterback as well. … In what may have been the most shocking result of the day, Northern Arizona hosted 11th-ranked Northern Illinois and rolled 37-16.

Idaho: This was a game the Vandals could have won. Probably should have won. But they lost to Louisiana-Lafayette 21-16 at home. Peter Harriman has the game story.

Whitworth: The Pirates played their two toughest Northwest Conference football games back-to-back to open the season. They lost their two toughest NWC games, the second coming yesterday at the Pine Bowl, 43-23 to George Fox. Whitney Ogden was there and has this story.

Chiefs: Portland’s offense is on fire as the Winterhawks defeated Seattle 10-5.

Preps: Though college football dominates Saturdays, there still are some prep events. We can pass along roundups from cross country and soccer. … I missed Colin Mulvany’s photo report from Friday’s Central Valley win over Gonzaga Prep. 

Seahawks: So what will happen in the Coliseum today? Will the beat-up Hawks slow down Todd Gurley and the Ram attack? Or will Los Angeles continue its hot streak? We’ll watch and report back with our postgame three takes.

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• So I turned 49 today. For the 12th time. (Update: Darn it, the 13th time. Math is hard. Thanks for the edit Kent.) Until later …