Upside Down

The PAC-10 is all backwards this year. A glimpse at the conference standings might make you do a double take. Stanford's at the top, Cal is down near the bottom, and SC is wandering around the middle.

For the first time in years, the PAC-10 is wide open.

Cal got whooped by a Ducks team that looked dead in the water just a few weeks ago. USC is 1-1 in conference play with a loss and an ugly win over the two cellar dwellers from last season. Cal hosts USC next week in a game that looked much more interesting 2 weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Stanford beat up the Huskies, who were still hung over from their win against the Trojans. Jim Harbaugh has the opportunity to take his team to a 4-1 (3-0) record for the first time in who knows how long.

Even Arizona is up at the top with their win over Oregon State last night.

This is one of those seasons where almost anyone could win the conference. I'm sure SC is still the odds on favorite, but it wouldn't surprise me to see multiple teams share the conference crown this year.

Oh, did I mention that UCLA is the only remaining undefeated team in the conference?




Ah yeah.

Next week should shake things up even more, with the Bruins and Sun Devils opening up conference play against Stanford and Oregon State.

PAC-10 Power Rankings: Week 7

1. USC. Sanchez and the offense struggled in the second half against ASU. He doesn't look like he is 100% since getting injured against Oregon. The defense is scary good, however. This team isn't unbeatable and I think they could lose one more before the season is over. Maybe in two weeks against Arizona? Up next, a freebe against WSU.

2. Oregon State. The Beavers were the latest squad to put up 60+ points on the Cougs. The offense looks really good and Moevao, Rodgers and Stroughter are a tripple threat. This team is clicking right now and their momentum should continue in Seattle next week.

3. Arizona. Well, the Sun Devils proved once again that they're a Mike Stoops coached team. With everything going well for them this season they lose one to the Cardinal. I think Stanford is a pretty good team this year, so I can't drop Arizona too far. But two fourth quarter drives that end in field goals deep in enemy territory isn't going to get it done. Neither is giving up a long drive on the ground to a 3rd string QB. They host the Bears next week in a game that should help shake out the middle of the conference.

4. Oregon. Not a particularly impressive win against the Bruins... a team that the Ducks should have put away early. Their passing game is not very good with Masoli at the helm. This team runs the risk of being completely one dimensional as quick, athletic defenses can sell out on the run. A bye week should help with all the injuries and maybe get Roper back in the saddle.

5. California. The Bear hibernated this past week, but they're back in action against the Wild Cats. If they can win that game in the Arizona desert then I'll become a believer. Until then, I'm not drinking the Kal-aid.

6. Stanford. Nice win over Arizona. Harbaugh has this team focused each week and playing very solid football. Pritchard going down in the game is problematic for this team. Jason Forcier looked horrible. Loukas is untested but his scrambling ability was the difference yesterday. We'll see what they can do on the road against the Bruins... and if they can get healthy in time. The ground game is very potent and the defense ain't half bad.

7. UCLA. Somethings looked good against the Ducks (Offense second half) and others looked very poor (missed tackles and offense in the first half). The Bruins might be maxing out on potential at this point but if they can find consistancy they could win a few along the way.

8. Arizona State. Carpenter is a warrior... a warrior who has been beaten to a pulp behind a suspect offensive line. This team is on a four game skid and that has to be messing with their confidence. A tough pair of contests against the Oregon schools won't make getting a win any easier. The defense has been solid and 3 picks against USC helped save a rout.

9. Washington. They move up simply by not playing. Can they take the rest of the season off? No? Well, at least they have a new coach... no? They still have Willingham? Why?!? The Beavers are coming to town next. Should be an 0-6 start. Weeeee.

10. Washington State. The defense has given up an average of 55 points per conference game. Now their looking to start the 4th string quarterback against the Trojans. That average could start heading north of 60. Would Wulff's pld 1-AA Eastern Washington squad beat his new Cougars? Me thinks the answer is yes.

PAC-10 Power Rankings: Week 6

1. USC. The Trojans looked like a top-10 team this last week. They absolutely demolished the Ducks and Sanchez was having a field day with their secondary. The only question is will the Trojans loose their focus again? They might in a few weeks when they head to Tuscon.

2. Arizona. They haven't played anyone of note yet, and this week is no exception when they drive up to the Farm. But the Wildcats keep winning and keep putting up big numbers on offense and on defense. They also play some of the better teams in the conference at home. Sure they had that embarrassing loss to New Mexico State. But who in the conference doesn't have an embarrassing loss?

3. Oregon State. The Beavers were 90 seconds away from upsetting another undefeated top-25 team this last week. Mountain West be damned... Uath is a tough opponent and very difficult to beat in Salt Lake City. The OSU offense looked good, but the defense needs to play much stouter.

4. Oregon. Losing to the Trojans on the road is nothing to be ashamed off. But giving up 41 consecutive points and almost 450 passing yards is embarrassing; especially considering that the defense was supposed to be a strength this year. They should rebound this week against the Bruins.

5. California. Beat the Sun Devils, but struggled to move the ball at times in the second half. I'm still not convinced that this team is as good as their record. Having two capable QBs is one big positive for them however. Longshore looked steady at the helm. They have a week off to prepare for Arizona.

6. Stanford. Almost came back against the Irish last week in south bend. They're still a scrappy team that can knock off almost anyone in the conference on any given day. QB play is still inconsistent and the defense got burned by Clausen more than a few times.

7. Arizona State. I thought the Sun Devils would have bounced back this week, but too many mistakes on offense hurt them. The offensive line has to buy Carpenter more time and he has to make better decisions when throwing. They won't catch any breaks at the Coliseum this week... especially with Rudy hurt and likely out for the game.

8. UCLA. A good looking win against Washington State... but let's face it, the Cougs are the free square on the PAC-10 bingo board. Have a lot to prove before they can move up a few slots. A huge test against Oregon awaits.

9. Washington State. Stemmed the bleeding a bit against the Bruins... only losing by 25 points instead of 50+. Stacking against the run helped improve the effectiveness of the defense on the ground. Unfortunately, the secondary was just as bad.

10. Washington. The Locker-less Huskies absolutely ate it on the road against the Wildcats last week. Which team in Washington will win it's first game against a D1-A opponent... the Huskies or the Cougs? It might be the winner of this year's Crapple Cup.

PAC-10 Power Rankings: Week 5

I thought it would be fun each week to put together a "power ranking" of how well each team in the conference is playing right now. Instead of looking at each teams overall record, I'll simply consider how they look today and their prospects for the future. Kicking it off with week this first addition:


1. USC. The Trojans have way too much talent to be ranked any lower at this point. They showed their immaturity last week by buckling under pressure. Carroll should have them refocused and ready for the Ducks.

2. OSU. Jacquizz and his Beavers passed the test last week. This from a team that usually plays their best football later in the season. They might be vulnerable to a let down game against Utah this week.

3. Oregon. Fourth string, fifth string... what quarterback are they on? Didn't matter last week as the "system" can sure put up a lot of points. Depth is still a concern for the long haul. Game in Coliseum this Saturday should be brutal.

4. Arizona. They haven't really been tested but the numbers don't lie. Good offense and good defense... at least for now. Has Stoops finally put together a complete team? We may not know for a couple more weeks as the Wildcats host the winless Huskies this Saturday.

5. Arizona State. Don't sleep on these guys. They still have one of the best quarterback in the conference and a lot talent around him. The loss to Georgia didn't look any better after the Bulldogs got whipped by Alabama. They return to action this week against the Bears.

6. California. Despite the record, this team hasn't looked very impressive in their wins. Statistically they didn't play much better than Colorado State, but big special teams play and a pick-6 was the difference. Losing their best running back in Jahvid Best for two weeks with a dislocated elbow is a concern.

7. Stanford. Not a lot of talent. Not a lot of depth. But the Cardinal put in workman like performances each and every week. They also seem to be playing teams at the right time (see Oregon State week 1). Quarterback play is a weak spot.

8. UCLA. The offense takes two steps forward while the defense takes a step back. Giving up 30+ points each week isn't going to win many games. They have a chance at their first conference win this week when the Cougs come to Pasadena.

9. Washington. Jake Locker has accounted for 70% of the Huskie offense this season. He is also out for up to 8 weeks with a broken thumb. They weren't winning any games with him in the lineup but the chances of them winning games with him out of the lineup doesn't look very good. Willingham fired in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

10. Washington State. The good news is the Cougs won a game two weeks ago. The bad news is they lost their first and second string quarterbacks for the season. Ouch. Giving up 60+ points to conference opponents is bad. Giving up 60+ points to conference opponents at home is deplorable. Maybe a road trip will change the results? Don't count on it.

Did you know?

There are more teams from the Mountain West ranked in the top-25 then from the PAC-10. Ugh. With Oregon taking a dive against Boise State (granted, they did lose another QB during the game) there are more teams from the WAC ranked in the AP poll as well. Double Ugh. With Fresno State taking us on this week, I don't know if that will change significantly come next Monday. Tripple Ugh.

The Nine Dwarves

Wow, our conference just absolutely shat itself today.

BYU humiliates UCLA on the road.
UNLV beats ASU at home. #15 Arizona State... loses to UNLV... at home.
Cal gets beat by a hapless Maryland team.
Arizona loses to frickin' New Mexico.
Oklahoma crushes Washington.
Stanford goes oh-fer against TCU.

Oregon has to rally and needs overtime to squeek past a mediocre Purdue team.

Oregon State has some saving grace against a shell of a Hawii team.

... and then USC beats the CRAP out of a top-10 Ohio State team.

We deserve the reputation of being the Nine Dwarves.

Cardinal Lick the Beaver

Wow. I thought Stanford would be better this year and Oregon State worse. But wow. Harbaugh and company survived a thrilla up on the Farm. I think it will be a very, very competitive year in the PAC-10.

Apparently Oregon State misses Yvenson Bernard. They were all pass on Thursday night. Meanwhile, Stanford was running the ball well behind Gerhart. I think our chances against both teams is improved now, especially if they stay fairly one dimensional of offense. Neither defense looked very good.

On a side note... thank god football season has started! Is is Monday yet?!?!

Helemt PAC-10 Schedule

Saw this over on Bears Necessity. It's a cool representation of the entire PAC-10 schedule showing each opponent by their football helmet. Looks like a good out of conference schedule this year and there are some very intriguing match ups this year.

California Deamin'

Tough night for the California contingent of the PAC-10. All four teams from the Golden State lost. USC to Oregon in a thriller. Cal jumped out to a 13 point first-quarter lead in Tempe and then "pulled a Bruin" by getting outscored 30-7 the rest of the way. We lost to the Cougs... to nobody's surprise. Stanford got tossed by the Beavers. When was the last time all four California schools lost on the same night?

They almost did it back in 2002. USC, Cal, and UCLA all lost on 9/21/2002 but Stanford had a bye that week. No, you have to go all the way back to 10/19/1996 to find a Saturday where all four teams put a notch in the lose column. The Bruins got creamed by Washington up in Seattle 41-21. The Trojans lost to the Sun Devils 48-35 in Tempe. The Cougs squeeked past the Bears in Pullman 21-18 and the Cardinal lost 26-12 in Corvallis.

Racing back to the present, it doesn't look good for these teams in conference play. Somehow UCLA is leading this motley group with a 4-1 record. The Trojans are 3-2 in the PAC-10 and likely kissed a 7th straight conference title goodbye. The Bears, who were 2nd in the country just a few weeks ago have lost 3 straight. Stanford is just Stanford. In the end it might be a non-California team that takes the title this year. That hasn't happened since 2001 when Oregon took the crown. With the way they've been playing lately, it might be the Ducks in 2007 as well.

The Week of Reconing

In so many ways this is the week where the "real" PAC-10 schedule begins.

ASU, UCLA, and USC really haven't had to play the top teams in the conference up until now. That all changes this Saturday as USC heads to Oregon and California visits undefeated ASU. The following week, Oregon plays the Sun Devils and USC plays a pesky Oregon State squad. UCLA, in the meantime, heads to cellar dwellers WSU and Arizona. Of course, with the inconsistency of this team, no game is a gimme.

I have to say, I think USC is starting to come back around. They demolished Notre Dame, but more importantly, they are starting to get back some key injured players. Next week they should see some offensive lineman return including guard Chilo Rachal. Sam Baker and Kris O'Dowd are still questionable but could practice and play. Their running game is also starting to solidify with Staffon Johnson back. They still don't look like a dominant program but the next two weeks will tell us for sure. I think they will beat Oregon and Oregon State, because Carroll always seems to have his troops prepared for the big games. That leaves them 5-1 in conference play.

Arizona State might be in some trouble. They lost leading running back Ryan Torrain for the season and they have a brutal stretch of games coming up. They've been playing very well, however, and I think the Sun Devils will be a hard-win for anyone playing them. At the same time, I also believe the Bears will rebound and give ASU's defense their first real test of the season. I think a Cal victory is in the making. Likewise, the Sun Devils will lose on the road to the Ducks. That leaves them at 4-2 in conference play.

That leaves the Bruins. Who knows what to expect from this squad. Beat a good team, lose to a bad. It makes watching games a lot of fun but also maddeningly frustrating at the same time. If the defense keeps playing well and the offense can continue to gel under Pat Cowan, then UCLA should take care of business. Call me a skeptic, but I think the Bruins will drop one of these road games. If they can manage to defy the historical evidence and actually beat these two teams on the road then they could be sitting alone atop the conference rankings.

For fun, let's just say UCLA wins both games. I think the standings would shake out like so:

UCLA 6-0
USC 5-1
ASU 4-2
Ore 4-2
Cal 4-2
OSU 3-3
Stan 2-5
AU 2-5
UW 1-5
WSU 0-6

That would set UCLA for a run at the conference crown with ASU and Oregon at home (with a bye before Oregon) and a big show down with the Trojans at the Coliseum. A lot of pieces still need to fall into place, but at least UCLA owns its own destiny at this point. All of those games are winnable and I don't think the Bruins are a prohibitive underdog in any of them. Of course, all of that is predicated on this team actually playing to it's potential each week. Can they do it? Stranger things have happened.

Is the PAC-10 this Bad?

We're 7 weeks into the schedule and the PAC-10 only has one undefeated team. That sounds about right, if you said that before the season started; USC would be undefeated and the nine dwarfs would be scrambling to keep up. Oh, but things haven't gone according to form this year, have they? ASU sits atop the conference, the lone team without a blemish on their record, and everyone else is licking their wounds from some head-scratching defeats. How did this happen? Is the PAC-10 this balanced or this bad?

Before anyone gets too excited about Arizona State, let's remember that they haven't exactly played stellar competition. They have, literally, played almost the entire bottom half of the conference as it stands today (Stanford, Washington, WSU, and Oregon State). Their out of conference opponents included SDSU and SJSU... not exactly football juggernauts. They also had Colorado, which has turned into a decent team, but otherwise it has been a bakery full of creme puffs. Every game has been at home with the exception of Stanford and WSU (which they barely won). They still have games at UCLA, at Oregon, and match ups with Cal and USC. They have played great football and were extremely under rated coming into the season, but you have to think their winning streak is about to end soon.

The Trojans are a big blemish on the conference. It has been a long time since anyone could honestly say that. Pete Carroll definitely takes the cake for "doing less with more" this season. Barely squeaking out a victory against Washington; losing to 1-3 Stanford; then barely getting past an Arizona team that only has one victory over a D1-A opponent. That hardly sounds like the gem of the conference. With pre-season hype through the roof, it is hard to think of another team (well, maybe Michigan and Louisville) that is disappointing more right now. They've had their fair share of injuries, but common, they are stacked 3-deep with All Americans.

California was looking hot until this last weekend. I'm sure some Bear fans will wring their hands and say they lost because of their backup QB. Don't believe that for a second. Riley's numbers compare very favorably with Longshore's averages for the season. His 20/24, 294 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT were better than what Longshore had against Arizona. I would take those numbers any day of the week and twice on Saturday. No, it was their defense that was suspect. Giving up 478 total yards (including almost 300 in the air) to an Oregon State offense that has struggled much of this season. Like the old saying goes, defense wins championships. Cal ain't winning a championship anytime soon.

That leaves us with Oregon, another team expected to make some noise this year. The Ducks have looked pretty good, but they were fortunate to play a Michigan team reeling from their loss to Appalachian State. The Wolverines are playing great football right now and that game probably wouldn't go down the same if it were played this weekend. On the flip side, their one loss to Cal probably should have been a victory. Still, like the Bears, they aren't playing stingy defense and with games remaining at Seattle, at Corvallis, at Pasadena, and hosting USC, they aren't going to finish with only that one loss.

No need to go into UCLA. Our pre-season top-20 ranking went down the tubes with our blow-out loss to Utah and that was back when we were still relatively healthy. With no clear starting QB, and a mountain of injuries, this team is in for a very long second-half of the season. I could say we are the biggest disappointment, but did anyone really expect this team to win the conference? We're still technically in that race, but baring some miraculous turn-around, it looks like a the middle of the conference finish for the Bruins.

You could say there is some parity here in the conference. The PAC-10 did win some big OOC games this year including victories over Tennessee, Nebraska, and Michigan. But even those games are fading as those teams rack up defeats. The bottom feeders in the conference are scoring wins they shouldn't and the top-tier teams are looking very pedestrian. Sure, everyone is losing this year to unranked teams, but even in victory our best teams look very vulnerable. Sagarin says we are the #2 conference behind the SEC. That might be true, but that gap is very wide and deep at this point. No, I think the conference is just that bad this season. We have no clear-cut leader and the top is muddled with teams that don't strike much fear into their opponents. Not exactly the sign of a good conference. We'll probably continue to bloody each other in conference play and it wouldn't surprise me if the eventual conference champ has two or more defeats. It could be an ugly bowl season this winter.

Running With the PAC: Week 4

So, a little late with my recap of last week's games. I've had a couple of really busy days at work and it doesn't look like things will slow down anytime soon. Anyways, on to football!

We saw the real start of PAC-10 play this last Saturday as all 10 teams locked horns in conference show downs. I already discussed the UCLA game, but I also wanted to note that Matt Slater was awarded the PAC-10 special teams award of the week. This is the 3rd week that a UCLA player has won a conference award (Olson - offense, Perez - Special Teams). We'll see if a defensive player can get the nod this week as we head to Corvallis to take on Oregon State.

Speaking of the Beavers, they struggled again this week with their quarterback play. Sean Canfield ended up throwing 5 interceptions in their loss to Arizona State. They actually jumped out to a quick start but Rudy Carpenter and company stormed back and ended up winning 44 - 32. Carpenter ended up throwing for 361 yards and 4 touchdowns and the junior has regained some of the magic from his freshman season. The Beavers are becoming a one dimensional team that relies heavily on Yvenson Bernard to move the chains. Their defense, though, is pretty good against the run when their offense isn't handing the ball over every other series. The Bruins may have a hard time running this week so Olson will have to deliver.

The Trojans whipped the field with Washington State to nobody's surprise. They've extended their home winning streak to something like a million games. I don't know if anyone is going to be able to beat them at the Coliseum this season, the Bruins included. What's interesting is that they are primarily racking up yards on the ground. That is a big departure from last season when the Trojans were high flying and Booty was the focal point of the offense. Don't get me wrong, Booty is still putting together good performances, it's just that the numbers show more of a running game developing.

The Bears got their revenge on Arizona for last season's shocking loss in Tuscon. They came out and punched the Wildcats in the mouth early, scoring 4 touchdowns in the first quarter. Things settled down after that but Stoop's boys never really threatened in that game. Longshore put up some rather pedestrian numbers only throwing 1 TD with 1 INT but he moved the chains with 235 yards passing. It was the Bear running backs that took all the glory. With a combination of Forsett, Montgomery, and Best racking up 186 yards and 4 touchdowns. California continues to press for their place as the 2nd best team in the conference.

The final matchup pitted Oregon versus Stanford on the Farm. The Ducks proved once again that their offense is potent, scoring 55 points and racking up 589 yards. The flip side of that is that their defense proved to be just as bad, giving up 402 yards and allowing the team to trail hapless Stanford 31-24 at the half. I can't quite figure out if Oregon is really good. They show flashes of brilliance but also seem to have glaring weaknesses as well. Stanford, to their credit, is a scrappy team that you can't take lightly. They will shock a team, or two, this season.

Running with PAC: Week 3

Let's take our minds off the Utah disaster for a while and talk about the rest of the PAC-10. It was Cal State week for the conference as San Deigo, Fresno, and San Jose were on the schedule. This week also saw USC return to action in a feature match up with the Nebraska Corn Huskers.

Stanford matched their win total from last season by smacking around bay-area wipping-boy San Jose State. They blanked the Spartans in a game between two west coast light-weights. Oregon got the honor of spanking Fresno State in their post-Michigan victory lap. The Ducks hung 42 points on the Bull Dogs in the first half alone with 4 touchdowns coming from Stewart and Dixon. The final Cal State beat down came at the hands of the Sun Devils. San Diego State rolled over as expected and ASU improved their record to 3-0.

There was a lot of hype surrounding the rematch between Pete Carroll's Trojans and the once-mighty Nebraska program. The game wasn't even remotely as close as the final score might imply. The Trojans dominated from the start and their offensive line absolutely punished the Corn Husker front four. Sam Keller's 2 interceptions setup easy scoring drives for the Trojans that put the game out of reach. USC looked very much like the best team in the nation after a lackluster performance in week one. Stafon Johnson had a huge game gaining 121 yards on the ground, making his case for the starting running back spot.

Washington State and Oregon State took on Idaho and 1-AA Idaho State respectively. After their own decimation against Cincinnati, the Beavers took out some frustration on the Bengals (Yes, I had to go look that one up) scoring 61 points. WSU also cruised over the hapless Vandals for their second straight win. The Bears got their own Mountain West patsy last Saturday, but they creamed Louisiana Tech. Justin Forsett and an impressive 153 yards and 3 touchdowns in the affair.

Which leaves us with the only other loser of the week, Arizona. The Wild Cats lost to lowly New Mexico for their second defeat of the season. The Lobos picked apart Arizona's secondary for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns. It was a close finish with Arizona's eventual capitulation in front of their own fans in Tuscon.

(photo credit: AP)

Running with PAC: Week 2

We'll start off this week with the Thursday night game that featured Oregon State visiting Cincinnati. The Beavers looked a little shaky against Utah the prior week, but the wheels came off the bus against the Bear Cats. They had a ridiculous 7 turnovers (6 interceptions!) and were completely embarrassed in a 34-3 shellacking. Sammie Straughter rejoined the team for this game after missing most of training camp due to a death in the family. The rust was apparent as Straughter fumbled a punt that was recovered inside the 5 yard line by Cincinnati. A blocked punt also lead to easy points and the otherwise good Beaver special teams looked very poor. Ultimately, the Bear Cats stacked against the run and bullied OSU's offensive line. Without a dependable passing game, the Beavers struggled all night long.

The Oregon match up with Michigan was the marquee game of the week. If the Wolverines hadn’t dropped their opener to Appalachian State, this might have been a big win for the Ducks over a top ranked team. As it turns out, Michigan may be headed for a train wreck season with Oregon as just the second of many defeats. Dennis Dixon was hot, hitting 16 of 25 passes for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns. After trading scores early, it was all Oregon and they romped their way to a crushing 38-7 victory at the Big House.

The big surprise of the week was a commanding 24-7 victory by Washington over a ranked Boise State squad. Freshman quarterback Jake Lockier played as advertised and he has hit the ground running (literally!) and propelled the Huskies to two consecutive victories. I originally thought the Huskies would be a rather easy-out for UCLA, but that game looms large two weeks from now at the Rose Bowl. This team is gaining confidence each week and they have some young talent that can produce.

In other conference news, both Arizona schools cruised to victory. Arizona beat up on local whipping boy, Northern Arizona. ASU got punched in the face early by Colorado but they recovered and easily coasted to a big 19-point victory. Washington State rebounded after their loss to Wisconsin in week one and easily defeated an out-matched San Diego State team. Stanford and USC got to sit on their butts this week but will be back in action this Saturday against San Jose State and Nebraska respectively.

Notre Dame got demolished again this week to nobody's surprise. They walked into Penn State and the Nitnany Lions had their way in a romping 31-10 affair. It looks like Weiss has settled on Jimmy Clausen at quarterback. He struggled putting together only 17 completions on 32 attempts for 144 yards a 1 interception. Utah struggled to move the ball against the Air Force Academy and fell short with a 4th quarter rally. The team suffered another setback after losing wide receiver Brent Casteel for the season. The Bruins will be heading out to Salt Lake City next week to take on the Utes.

We wraps up this weeks article our victory over BYU. The game was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the UCLA defense looked suffocating as they swarmed and attacked Max Hall and the Cougar offense. Trey Brown had another huge day and his pick-6 sparked the Bruins and helped push UCLA to a commanding 20 point lead in the 2nd quarter. The offense wasn’t moving the ball that well, but Kalil Bell became a one-man team taking 4 consecutive runs 40 yards for a touchdown. The other good news was Kai Forbath hit both of his two attempts, one from 40+ yards out.

The second half, by comparison, was a nightmare; BYU stormed back and erased all but 3-points of the Bruin lead by the 4th quarter. The UCLA defensive back seven could not cover the middle of the field to save their lives and Max Hall connected with running backs, receivers, and tight ends all virtually un-covered between defenders. The offense ground to a halt and Ben couldn’t connect with his receivers in BYU’s zone 3-4 defense. At the end of the game, both the defense and the offense stepped up to make big stands; this senior lead team willed themselves to victory despite some key injuries on defense.

You have to give the Cougars some credit for the Bruin’s struggles. They have a huge offensive line, a solid quarterback, and a very dependable defense. I figured it would be a close game but I didn’t think UCLA’s offense would go into a turtle-like shell after having some success early in the contest. The final 10-point margin of victory doesn’t show just how close the Bruins came to losing that game. The defense was left on the field for way too long in that second half and you could tell they were gassed at the end. The UCLA offense will have to perform much better if the Bruins are going to make any noise this year in the conference title race.

(photo credit: AP)

Running with PAC: Week 1

Well, the first week is done and the PAC-10 looked pretty good as the 2007 kicked-off. Everybody won their out of conference games except Arizona and WSU. Most of the games were blow-outs against weaker competition, but a nice start for our conference. The big game of the night was a huge national TV win by California over the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Bruins looked pretty darn good yesterday. Sure, it was Stanford and they aren't a tough opponent; yeah, our defense probably gave up more yards and points then you would have expected; But hey, the offense did a great job! Ben Olson looked very good, connecting on 5 touchdowns for 286 yards. Joe Cowan was the much-missed play maker in the receiving corp; he caught two passes, both going for touchdowns. Brandon Breazell also had a big day with 6 receptions and his own TD. The running game was awesome and that was largely due to Kalil Bell. He's taken his fair share of criticism from us arm-chair quarterbacks over the last few years, but I have nothing but praise for him today. A career high 195 yards, including that big 60 yard rambler. There is plenty of room for improvement, but overall it was a solid victory and a good start to the season. I'll have a lot more to say about the game this week on the Bruin Show but in the meantime you can always read the recap from ESPN.

The Trojans won their game against Idaho. That wasn't a big surprise, but the low scoring 38-10 final score wasn't expected. USC sputtered a bit playing at home against the lowly Vandals. Don't get me wrong, they won easily. They just didn't look as polished as you would expect. They had 3 turnovers, including an interception from Booty, and were actually out gained by Idaho in the second quarter with the Vandals getting more yards and first downs than the Trojans. Is that a sign of weakness? No, it's more the sign of a team with some new players playing their first game in 9 months. Next week they'll take to the road to play at Nebraska. The Corn Huskers looked very good in their opener, so it should be a high-spirited, and competitive rematch this year.

California probably had the toughest opener of any team in the conference. Their offense looked really good and Nate Longshore made some great throws, hitting on 19 of 28 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Their defense gave up some long drives and big plays to Tennessee, but were stout when they needed to be, including an impressive goal line stand in the 3rd quarter. DeSean Jackson also proved once again that you should never punt the ball to him. He look the first attempt back 77-yards to the house. The Bears are going to be good this year and they definitely lived up to the #12 pre-season ranking.

Two other Bruin opponents played each other on Saturday in the Arizona and BYU match up in Provo. The new spread offense in Arizona looked absolutely anemic, scoring their only touchdown with less than a minute left to play in the game. Some of the credit has to be given to the stout Cougar defense which completely suffocated Arizona. The Bruins will have a very tough opponent in BYU next week at the Rose Bowl and it will be a very good litmus test of how much our offense has improved. The Cougars gained most of their yard through the air behind the arm of new quarterback Max Hall. The UCLA secondary will have to step it up this week to keep this team in check.

Looking around the rest of the conference, Washington looked pretty good in a 42-12 win over an out matched Syracuse squad. They gained almost all their yards on the ground with dual-threat quarterback Jake Lockier having an impressive debut. The red-shirt freshman went 14 of 19 in the air for 142 yards and he tacked on another 83 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. Washington State but up a valiant effort at Wisconsin and they actually matched the Badgers point-for-point in the first quarter and were only down by 7 headed into the 4th quarter; But they faded in the stretch and lost 42-21.

The Ducks got into a wild shoot out with Houston. Oregon came out the winner in the 48-27 match up but their defense struggled giving up 538 yards. Dennis Dixon looked good, rushing for 141 yards and passing for 131 more and scoring 3 touchdowns. I already went over the Oregon State and Utah game. Both teams struggled on offense, with Oregon State's quarterbacks looking pretty shaky. The Beavers won 24-10 but it wasn't pretty. Arizona State pummeled a hopelessly overwhelmed San Jose State, 45-3. The Sun Devils had a nice balanced attack behind Rudy Carpenter and Ryan Torain. The two combined for 5 touchdowns and ASU looks like they'll have another great offense this season.

The final team on UCLA's schedule this year is Notre Dame and the Irish got smoked by Georgia Tech. In fact, it was the worst opening-game defeat in Notre Dame history. Evan Sharpley got the nod at quarterback but Weiss ended up playing three different players at the position. The real story was the terrible offensive line play. Once again this team can't give their QB any protection and Sharpley got sacked 7 times. Notre Dame ended up with negative rushing yards for the game (mainly because of the sacks) as Georgia Tech blitzed their socks off. Everyone knew the Irish would struggle this year without their top offensive players, but such a lopsided defeat was a big surprise. We'll have to wait and see if this team will improve before they come play the Bruins at the Rose Bowl in week six.

(photo credit: AP)