This Week in the Pac-10

Last week the Pac showed they belong when talking about the best conferences in America. This weekend gives the conference a chance to put a stranglehold on their outstanding out-of-conference record. The Northwest teams aren't going to have too many bumps in the road, but the rest will have their hands full.

Air Force v. California
Portland State v. Oregon
Fresno State v. Oregon State
Colorado v. UCLA
Montana State v. Washington State
Arizona v. Wisconsin
USC v. Kansas State

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Air Force v. California

You think the Bears might see some running from the visiting Falcons? Through two games, AFA is averaging nearly 370 yards per game on the ground, a pretty staggering number. They've already run the ball 133 times in two games. And it's not like if you clamp down on 2 or 3 guys you have their game solved. There are SIXTEEN Falcons with carries so far this year. In a word? Crazy. California hasn't done too badly with their rush defense, giving up an average of 111 yards per game. If they can keep AFA to half their average, they walk all over the Falcons. Two things have become clear after watching Jeff Tedford's team so far this year; Tom Holmoe had talent last year and Tedford's troops are firing on all cylinders. Every phase of the game is in sync and they look downright tough to beat. Mostly because they aren't beating themselves. If Kyle Boller continues to get time and Joe Igber keeps defenses honest with his tough yards, it should be a field day for the home team. AFA is understandably good against the run...heck they see it all day. But they could be susceptible against the pass, so Boller will have to make them pay. Jonathan Makonnen impressed me against Michigan State and the former CCSF product should have another big game this Saturday.
California 35-21

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Portland State v. Oregon

Is there any comment needed on this game? Let's see. The Ducks beat Idaho by 37. PSU got by perennial powerhouse North Carolina A&T by three last weekend. But wait! Let's give the Viks credit. Stephen F. Austin didn't give them any trouble. They beat them by 8. Justin Wood, Ryan Fuqua and Jesse Levin are the targets Oregon needs to concentrate on. Take Fuqua and Levin out of the equation and PSU doesn't have any offense. If there was ever a game where Onterrio Smith could pad his stats and get back into the minds of those Heisman voters, this might be the one. Only problem is, he would need to break an NCAA record or two to wake them up from their East Coast funk.
Oregon 70-3

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Fresno State v. Oregon State

The good news for Fresno; Jeff Grady comes back to start, replacing Paul Pinegar. Pinegar put in a gritty effort against Oregon but Grady is a better quarterback. There might be even better news if Bernard Berrian is cleared to play, but that's looking like a game-day decision. Of course, Pat Hill is used to having a little salt poured in with his sugar, so the loss of LB David Adamo for three weeks couldn't have been totally unexpected. The other bad news? This game isn't in Fresno. Sophomore QB Derek Anderson has been like a house afire for Dennis Erickson and this game looks to be an old-fashioned shootout at the Reser Corral. Rodney Davis will have his work cut out for him going up against arguably the quickest defense in the Pac, and Beandip Stadium won't be a kind host upon Grady's return. Fresno will hang tough and have already shown against Oregon that they get up for the big games, but I expect the Beavers match up with the Bulldogs a lot better than the Ducks. Dwight Wright is a nice changeup for Steven Jackson and OSU goes legitimately 10-deep when it comes to available pass-catchers for Anderson. It'll be more pitch and catch for Derek and the Dominoes.
OSU 45-21

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Colorado v. UCLA

USC set the tone for this weekend's massacre du jour. I mean, isn't this just what the Buffaloes ordered? Let's get our butts kicked by a Pac-10 team, and then go out to play another Pac-10 team on the road in front of 90,000? There's a winning formula. As soon as Colorado Head Coach Gary Barnett named Robert Hodge as the starter for this Saturday's rout, Bob Toledo sent a check to Buffalo OC Shawn Watson and the victory celebration started in Westwood. Seriously, CU was outgained by the Trojans 425-61, so what's to stop UCLA from coming in and doing the same type of be-bop and destruction at the Rose Bowl this weekend? Probably themselves. Cory Paus still hasn't proven he can really handle a tough game (not saying this one is going to be that), and looked positively average at Oklahoma State. If I was Toledo (and I thank my higher power every day I'm not), I would ride Manuel White and Akil Harris into the sunset, and those guys could easily put up 300 yards and 4 touchdowns combined on CU's sorry butts. With no Buff seemingly willing to step up and provide any offense whatsoever, having a complete game of nothing but three-and-outs is not totally out of the question for that group. So where are the Marines when you really need them Gary?
UCLA 38-3

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Montana State v. Washington State

Another laugher in the Palouse, in a history of laughers. What was the score of this doozy last year? 53-28? How in the world did the Cougs give 28 points to those pesky kitty kats? I mean...those ferocious Bobcats. Heck, they handled Adams State with ease last weekend (bonus points for those that can actually tell me where Adams State is). The only thing Mike Price needs to worry about is making sure he has enough players to field a team. This might be tougher than you think at first glance. Rien Long and Billy Knotts have been indefinitely suspended for something, who knows what. Add Josh Parrish, Jerome Riley, Wil Derting and Jeremy Williams out for this Saturday's contest with injuries and all of a sudden Washington State looks pretty young out there. That's OK. As long as Jason Gesser, Mike Bush and Devard Darling are out there, Price could get the rest of Pullman High to fill out his team and they should win this one going away.
Washington State 51-7

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Arizona v. Wisconsin

This game is a really intriguing one. Wisconsin hasn't looked like a world-beater at all, but they still remain undefeated. And the one game they have played on the road (UNLV), they played like a dominant team. Unfortunately for the Badgers, their pass defense has looked a little susceptible, and Arizona's Jason Johnson looks to be as confident a quarterback the Pac has right now. He's averaging nearly 380 yards a game in offense, so you know John Mackovic will try and ride Johnson's arm to a win. The real wild card here is 'Cat TB Clarence Farmer. A pre-season all Pac-10 pick, he just hasn't gotten off to the start he envisioned. Wisconsin is giving up 140 yards per game on the ground, so will Farmer exploit the Badgers' swiss-cheese run D? Sorry, had to get a cheese reference in there somehow. Arizona will try to turn this into basketball on grass, while Barry Alvarez will try to take the air out of the football. Who will be successful? In a toss-up game like this, especially in cheese country, give it to the Badgers.
Wisconsin 32-27

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USC v. Kansas State

An even more-intriguing matchup. Last year was a 10-6 snoozer in LA. If KSU's first three games are any indication, they are going to score a lot more points than 10. So far in three games, they are averaging a Wildcat hair short of SIXTY points a game. Then again, they have played against the likes of the local Manhattan church choir, the firefighters from nearby Junction City and the Topeka Elks. Somebody mentioned that this is the first time a ranked out-of-conference opponent has traveled to play Kansas State under Bill Snyder's watch, and considering he's been there thirteen years...that's saying something. He perfected cupcake scheduling, so it's nice we can finally give him props for having some stones and letting KSU's AD bring in a team Wildcat fans might actually want to see. KSU has two legit QB's (Marc Dunn and Eli Roberson), two legit running backs (Darren Sproles and Daniel Davis), and a defense that is second in the country in scoring defense (see above for competition). There may not be a more confident team in the country right now than USC (save perhaps Notre Dame), especially after they took Colorado behind the woodshed. Malaefou MacKenzie finally woke up and realized he's a player, and that's downright scary. The real surprise hasn't been MacKenzie, however. It's been true frosh WR Mike Williams. He's become what Keary Colbert wants to be - a 'go-to guy'. I think K-State gives USC a wake-up call, but in all seriousness just about any scoring scenario is possible in this game.
Kansas State 31-24