A Grip on Sports: A few things that happened Saturday had us all in with spending time in front of the TV, though the Seahawks’ recent injuries could make today tougher

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A Saturday in November featuring college football games that seemed as if they should have been broadcast in black and white? All in with that. A Gonzaga men’s team that looks capable of defending at a higher level than we’ve seen in a while? All in with that as well. A Seahawks squad struck down in mid-momentum by a bunch of injures? No, that’s not good for us at all. It seems a little too early on a Sunday morning to be sharing such deep thoughts.

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• Too early and too much to digest. Though the latter is of our own making. Maybe instead of trying to fix an upset stomach last night by overeating, a couple of Tums might have sufficed. Well, live and learn.

Like sixth-ranked – though ninth in the CFP committee’s eyes – Oregon’s football program has.

The Big Ten is a different beast when the gales of November sweep down from Canada. Toughness in the trenches matter. So does tenaciousness. And the occasional big play.

The latter was a perfect throw by Dante Moore on the game’s final drive. An NFL- caliber throw into an NFL-sized window. The 27-yard laser zipped into Malik Benson’s hands and keyed a 53-yard drive that allowed the Ducks to survive, 18-16.

Three hours north on a two-lane, asphalt highway, No. 24 Washington tried to survive as well. Against a Wisconsin team that seems to have been revived by imitating Alan Ameche’s early 1950s game plans. Run, run, run and then let the punter pass it. Turns out, a fake punt was good for exactly half of the Badgers’ 48 yards through the air. They were enough, though, as the Huskies moved the ball better but scored three points too few in the kill-any-CFP-hopes 13-10 defeat.

Offense? Who needs offense? Well, second-ranked Indiana. In the last 1-minute, 51-seconds. And Fernando Mendoza, the transfer quarterback from South Florida who arrived via Berkeley, supplied it. Well, he and Omar Cooper Jr., whose left toe hit the endzone turf a millisecond before he was out of bounds. And saved the Hoosiers’ undefeated season, 27-24. Thankfully, the game wasn’t in black and white or the replay official might not have seen that the back judge had ruled correctly.

• Black and blue might be the right colors for Gonzaga this season. As in what their opponents may feel when the game is finished. Actually, though, outside of Graham Ike and Jalen Warley, the Zags aren’t real bruisers. What they are is simple: a collection of long, athletic dudes who can challenge shots all over and then turn the misses into dunks on the other end.

Not sure I’ve ever written that before. Heck, watching them do such things to a good-but-not-great Oklahoma team in the Arena last night, it hit me. Errol Knight would fit in fine this season, other than Knight, even in his Gonzaga prime, would be about the fifth-best athlete Mark Few could put on the floor.

We’re only two games into a schedule that includes a lot of pre-conference teams who can match up with the perimeter athletes and Graham Ike and Braden Huff inside. What remains to be seen is how this team responds when that happens. Who takes charge. Who tries to do too much. Who is the guy when a bucket is needed. When a stop has to happen.

It will be fun to find out.

• Just when it seemed the Seahawks were rising from the muck and mire of the NFL middle, along come more injuries to try to pull them back in.

Imagine a hand rising from a swamp, covered with green algae and vines, pulling at a talon, trying to keep the Hawks earth-bound.

Maybe the Cardinals aren’t good enough to take advantage. But with an injury list that includes half the receivers and too many key defensive parts – Jarran Reed the most recent, Ernest Jones IV the most notable – this afternoon’s matchup at Lumen Field should be a Big Ten-like slog.

If the host team can pull out of the sludge, get to 7-2 and stay atop the NFC West – no matter what happens in San Jose between the 49ers and visiting Rams – then the path to the postseason seems not just attainable but probable.

And when the skies of November turn gloomy, that’s a ray of sunshine we all need.

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WSU: There are three games left in the football season. Only three. And then the Cougars will have emerged from their wanderings in college football’s wilderness and be ready to enter the promised land of a rebuilt Pac-12. Jacob Thorpe reflects on the exodus they’ve endured the past 40 months or so, and how this bye week marks a touchstone on the school’s long journey back to relevance. … It hasn’t been the best of starts for either of the Washington State basketball teams. The men are 0-2 and the women fell to 0-3 following a 77-64 loss at Southern Utah on Saturday. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner does what he almost always does, putting together five thoughts on Saturday’s games. … There were winners and losers all over America. One of them is whoever reads this Chuck Culpepper summary of the day’s event in the Washington Post. … USC is still in the CFP hunt. It’s a journey the Trojans are happy to make.

• Here are the rest of the (current, old and future) Saturday Pac-12 games, listed chronologically. The results and links below also include games in which finding news turned out to be nearly impossible.

– West Virginia 29, Colorado 22: Freshman quarterback Julian Lewis was up-and-down and that wasn’t enough for the Buffs. They got close but fell just short. But Lewis showed enough promise to look like a key part of Colorado’s future.

– No. 6 Oregon 18, Iowa 16: No trouble finding news here as the Ducks went into Iowa City and matched blows with the Hawkeyes in a constant rain. In the end, Dante Lewis made one exceptional throw and Atticus Sappington made one decisive kick. … As John Canzano emphasizes, this Oregon team may be built for the stretch run – if UO doesn’t lose too many more playmakers to injury.

– Arizona 24, Kansas 20: There was a tangible reward at the end for the winning team. Bowl eligibility, which still seems somewhat important to everyone. The Wildcats rallied late to win their homecoming contest and ensure a 13th contest in December.

– Wisconsin 13, No. 24 Washington 10: This is the type of Big Ten games the Huskies signed up for, right? It’s just right now they may not be ready for them. The road. The physicality. The in-game injuries. The wet weather. OK, that last one should not matter but it sure seemed to in this one against a team that passed for 48 yards – half of them coming on a fake punt.

– North Carolina 20, Stanford 15: The fourth quarter may give Cardinal fans a modicum of hope but it shouldn’t. Being outplayed decisively by the Tar Heels for three quarters is the reality of their situation.

– Louisiana 42, Texas State 39: The 3-6 Bobcats suffered another close loss – they have lost five consecutive games, two in overtime, two others by a total of four points and a blowout at James Madison – that led to postgame fisticuffs.

– California 29, No. 14 Louisville 26 (OT): Game on the line. Fourth down. A 20-yard field goal to tie and move into a second overtime or go for the win? Justin Wilcox chose the latter. And freshman quarterback Jaren-Keawe Sagapolutele made him look like a genius. … The upset further jumbled the ACC race.

– Utah State 51, Nevada 14: This one was over early in Logan. And now the Aggies need just one more win to qualify for the bowl season.

– Nebraska 28, UCLA 21: Once again the Bruins looked a bit befuddled by a backup quarterback. But, to be fair, Nebraska lost its starter last week against USC and TJ Lateef had time to prep for the Rose Bowl challenge.

– UNLV 42, Colorado State 10: The Rams held their own for a little while. But the Rebels wore them down and ran away with the Mountain West win.

– Sam Houston 21, Oregon State 17: Karma may have made a visit to Corvallis on Saturday night. The Beavers started 0-7, fired their coach and then pounded a bad FCS team, Lafayette, 45-13 for their first win. Sam Houston lost their first eight games, traveled to Oregon on the heels of two losses by a combined 59 points, fell behind 17-0 and then rallied for a streak-busting victory. … This one had to hurt OSU, though Robb Akey, as always, remained optimistic.  

– Hawaii 38, San Diego State 6: The Aztecs’ two losses this season came after tougher-than-usual road trips. And both came by lopsided scores. There was the week two defeat in Pullman and last night’s rough journey across the sea to the islands.

• In basketball news, the Oregon women started quickly and rolled over visiting Montana. … Arizona State picked up a win over Eastern Washington. … San Diego State won. … The Utah men had to rally to get past Weber State. … Stanford topped Montana.  … San Diego State wants to play with a mature attitude.

Gonzaga: Another game in the Arena, another loss for a Power Five school. It has happened pretty regularly lately. Last night it was Oklahoma, of the – checks notes and he has to do pretty regularly as well – mighty SEC coming to town and leaving with an 83-68 loss on its resume. Theo Lawson had a close-up seat and put together this analysis of the win. … He also helped the folks in the office with the recap with highlights. … Jim Meehan focuses on Tyon Grant-Foster, the transfer who hasn’t had much time fitting in to the offensive schemes. He seems to be doing pretty well anyway. … Jim also has the instant takeaways. … Colin Mulvany has the photo report which includes shots of the Arena crowd – and one of Spike.

EWU: Playing the No. 2 team in the nation is hard enough. Playing it in its home stadium, where it hardly loses, adds another level. Throw in some cool weather and the usual Missoula atmosphere and Eastern Washington seemed doomed. Except it wasn’t. And, with second left, the Eagles had moved the Montana’s 5-yard line, trailing by five points. That’s when the wet ball, the noise and the weight of it all may have hit first-time starting quarterback Jake Schakel. The redshirt freshman had passed for 451 yards, shredding the Griz like no one has this season. All he needed was to spike the ball and throw for 5 more. Instead, as he tried to do the former, he lost it and the fumble meant he would never have the chance for the latter. Dan Thompson has the whole story of the 29-24 loss in this gamer and this notebook. … The Eagle men’s basketball team has been close three times without winning. Saturday night in Boulder, it took Colorado to overtime, only to fall 102-97. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, third-ranked Montana State hung a 66-14 loss on visiting Weber State. … Sacramento State rolled over host Portland State. … Northern Arizona had little trouble with Northern Colorado. … Host Idaho State topped Cal Poly 27-17. … Abilene Christian had no trouble with next-year Big Sky member Utah Tech. … Southern Utah evened its record at 5-5 with a 27-17 win over host Eastern Kentucky. … In basketball news, the Thunderbird men weren’t as successful, losing a home game to UT Rio Grande Valley. … The Montana State women rolled at Portland. … Idaho State did the same at home.

Idaho: No. 11 UC Davis had to win. Had to because last week the Aggies had lost at home to Idaho State in a huge upset. Had to because a loss to the Vandals in Moscow might have meant no FCS playoffs after an exceptional start to the season. And they did, holding off UI’s rally and leaving town with a 28-14 victory. Peter Harriman was in the Kibbie Dome and has this coverage.

Whitworth: The Pirates are once again going to the NCAA Division III playoffs. They will be the Northwest Conference’s automatic qualifier after Saturday’s 29-0 win over host Willamette in Salem, Ore. … The men’s basketball team opened its schedule with a 92-47 home rout of Walla Walla University.

Preps: The State cross country races took place Saturday in Pasco and Greg Lee was there. His coverage of the girls’ races leads off with St. George’s Regan Thomas coming up one spot short in her attempt to repeat as 2B champion. … The boys? Mead’s tight pack and 4A title rout leads the way. … Dave Nichols covered the 2A State football game at West Valley, as the Eagles rolled to a 48-7 rout of Aberdeen. … Dave also has the roundup of other action from Saturday.

Chiefs: Spokane traveled to Portland, built a large lead and held off the Winterhawks late for a 4-3 victory. Dave has more in this story.

Mariners: We shared this Times story on available free agent outfielders yesterday. It is on the S-R site today.

Seahawks: For everyone who is going to be glued to their TV set starting at 1 p.m. today, we can pass along Bob Condotta’s keys to the game. … Bob’s story about the rookies, which we linked when it ran in the Times, is on the S-R site today.  

Kraken: An improbable win for Seattle, keyed by a goal that tied the home game with 1.9 seconds left.

Sounders: An improbable loss for Seattle, keyed by missed opportunities in the run of play and multiple ones in a 10-kick-long penalty kick session. The host Loons earned a 4-3 win and moved on the MLS postseason.

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• There are Sundays when 5 a.m. seems like sleeping in. And there are others, like today, when it seems as if it came only minutes after my eyes closed on Saturday night. Up a little too late, I think, listening to Gordon Lightfoot songs on my iPhone. Until later …