Football: Week two review in the Pac-10

In week two we saw less post-game activites and we didn’t encounter many surprises.

Arizona
Running back Nic Grigsby rushed for 207 yards in Arizona’s 34-17 win over Northern Arizona. He reeled off a 94 yard run before being stopped at the N. Arizona one yard line. Of course the score would have been the ultimate reward for a run like that. It was the second longest run in school history. Grigsby is currently leading the Pac-10 rushers with 329 yards through two games.

Next week the Wildcats travel to face Iowa from the Big Ten Conference for their first real test of the season.

Arizona State
Arizona St. had a bye week. They will face Louisiana-Monroe next Saturday.

Cal
Jahvid Best rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns in Cal’s 59-7 win over Eastern Washington.

Cal’s defense played well and their run defense only gave up 14 rush yards. But, they were playing Eastern Washington. Still, the stats will look nice.

They travel to Minnesota next week.

Oregon
Oregon’s defense really should get most of the credit for the Ducks’ 38-36 win over Purdue. If not for an interception and a fumble both returned for touchdowns, the Ducks might have not kept the Boilermakers from leaving Autzen with a win. Even considering how well the D played the game still game down to a last minute drive by Purdue which resulted in a touchdown. A failed two-point conversion is all that kept the game from going into overtime.

Walter Thurmond III intercepted a pass and took it to the house for the score and Javes Lewis scooped up a fumble and returned it for the score.

QB Jeremiah Masoli was the Ducks’ leading rusher as the team looks to fil the void left by the suspension of LeGarrette Blount.

Blount did make a pre-game appearance on the field with the team before heading off before game time.

No. 18 Utah makes a visit to Autzen Stadium next week and the Ducks must improve on both sides of the ball if they expect to compete with the Utes. The offense is far behind the defense and there is a lot of work to be done on the O-line.

Right now it looks like Oregon could easily lose 3 to 5 games this season. They need to find their rhythm and gel together as a team.

Oregon State
The Beavers went to Las Vegas and narrowly escaped with a win. A field goal by Justin Kahut with seven seconds remaining lifted the Beavs to a 23-21 win over UNLV.

It was much of the same for the Rodgers brothers—Jacquizz rushed for 166 yards and caught for 65 yards with one TD while James accumulated 109 yards with a touchdown.

Overall the game shouldn’t have been as close as it was. No. 17 Cincinnati will make a visit to Reeser Stadium next week and the Beavers need to step up their game if they want to get a win.

I’m still on the fence as to whether this team will be a top tier Pac-10 team this season or a mid-level team.

Stanford
Stanford lost to Wake Forest after the Demon Deacons scored a touchdown to take the lead with only two seconds remaining. The Cardinal played very well for most of the game and looked to have the game in hand early. But after half time Wake Forest went to work and ground it out for the win.

Andrew Luck threw for 276 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while completing 23 of 34 passes.

Ryan Whalen caught both of Luck’s TD passes and ended with 123 receiving yards.

This Stanford team will surprise some team throughout the season once they figure out how to keep playing for the entire game.

UCLA
UCLA travelled to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. The game wasn’t as big as those in the past between these two teams, but it was sure to be a good one none-the-less. Well, it wasn’t as good as it could have been as both team played sloppy. The Bruins couldn’t stop fumbling the ball, although they only lost on of them.

QB Kevin Prince broke his jaw and is expected to be out 3-4 weeks. Let’s hope this isn’t the start of another QB injury plagued season for the Bruins.

USC
The Trojans took on Ohio State in what was one of the bigger games of the weekend. Freshman QB Matt Barkley didn’t shine, but he played well enough and kept his composure during the team’s late game winning drive.

Like Barkley, Joe McKnight  didn’t put up huge numbers. But it was the way the two handled the pressure and performed when they absolutely had to during the 14 play 86 yard drive resulting in a game winning touchdown.

Washington
Washington beat Idaho 42-23 and ended their 15-game losing streak! What more is there to say.

The Huskies again played well and Jake Locker threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Could he be showing the nation that he can pass and not just rely on running the ball? Seems to be that way so far.

The defense did give up almost 350 yards passing, so there’s plenty of work that needs to be done. But, it’s nice to get the big monkey off their back having gotten the Win.

Washington State
Washington State hosted Hawaii and ended up losing 38-20. The Cougs had seven turnovers. They played poorly and showed why they are going to be this season’s worst team from the Pac-10.

If Washington State cannot find a way to win next week against SMU, I’m not so sure they will manage a win all season.

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