Week 3 Open Thread

[sancho]

ESPN's new Pac-12 power rankings:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/61317/pac-12-power-rankings-week-2-3

[sancho]

Week 3 is big for Pac-12 teams:

Stanford @ Army - If you aren't rooting for Army vs our pretty boy elites, you are a communist
UCLA @ Nebraska - Like a mini Rose Bowl
Fresno St @ CU - Good, last chance for MWC vs Pac-12 (until USU rolls into LA that is)
BC @ USC - BC wins, and Kiffin is gone
Tennessee @ Oregon - Rare SEC/Pac-12 game
UW @ Illinois - no fancy new stadium for Huskies in this game (mini Rose bowl II)
SUU @ Wazzu - I have nothing to say about this game
Ohio State @ Cal - mini Rose Bowl III
Oregon State @ Utah - many of us circled this as a must win back in the spring
Wisc @ ASU - mini Rose bowl IV
UTSA @ Arizona - Roadrunners!

All these Big10/Pac-12 games are exciting and show what could have been if not for USC/Notre Dame ruining our scheduling agreement.I hope we can make that agreement real someday soon.

[LA Ute]

Dan Patrick talking about USC and Kiffin now. Says the situation there reflects a trend, not just one bad game.:snack:

Also says Mack Brown is in trouble because of the trend there -- BYU game being only the latest example. He gives BYU no credit for the win, which is probably not quite fair and must be annoying to BYU fans. http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/signs/smiley-vault-signs-123.gif (http://www.smileyvault.com/)

[sancho]

He gives BYU no credit for the win, which is probably not quite fair and must be annoying to BYU fans.

BYU's defense deserves credit, but everyone already knew they had a good defense. I'm not sure BYU's offense deserves anything. With the talent Texas has on defense, anyone could have coached them to shut down a one dimensional run attack. Anyone but Mack Brown.

I think both Kiffin and Brown should have been fired yesterday. It's clear now that neither one is wanted or capable. Once you know you don't want your coach anymore, you fire him immediately. Otherwise, you run the risk of him partially turning things around. If Mack Brown ends up at 9-3 this year, it will be harder to justify firing him. Do it now while the justifying is good.

[LA Ute]

BYU's defense deserves credit, but everyone already knew they had a good defense. I'm not sure BYU's offense deserves anything. With the talent Texas has on defense, anyone could have coached them to shut down a one dimensional run attack. Anyone but Mack Brown.

I think both Kiffin and Brown should have been fired yesterday. It's clear now that neither one is wanted or capable. Once you know you don't want your coach anymore, you fire him immediately. Otherwise, you run the risk of him partially turning things around. If Mack Brown ends up at 9-3 this year, it will be harder to justify firing him. Do it now while the justifying is good.

Still listening to Dan Patrick. Pat Forde says USC is headed for a 6-6 season at best, but Haden is not the type of AD who'll "trap door" a coach mid-season. Says Mack Brown has too much support to be fired mid-season but probably won't be around after this season. Texas boosters don't accept WTH losses, and BYU was one. Ouch.

[sancho]

Still listening to Dan Patrick. Pat Forde says USC is headed for a 6-6 season at best, but Haden is not the type of AD who'll "trap door" a coach mid-season. Says Mack Brown has too much support to be fired mid-season but probably won't be around after this season. Texas boosters don't accept WTH losses, and BYU was one. Ouch.

I think that's bad policy. Once you know you want to fire a guy, you do it right away. Gives you a chance at salvaging something this season and gives you a lot of time to think about replacements. The media always seem to think this is unprofessional or something. The coach still gets paid. Time to move on.

[Utah]

Dan Patrick talking about USC and Kiffin now. Says the situation there reflects a trend, not just one bad game.:snack:

Also says Mack Brown is in trouble because of the trend there -- BYU game being only the latest example. He gives BYU no credit for the win, which is probably not quite fair and must be annoying to BYU fans. http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/signs/smiley-vault-signs-123.gif (http://www.smileyvault.com/)

To be fair to Texas, BYU only ran one offensive play and Texas wasn't informed that the QB can keep the ball, Texas never doubled Van Noy, and Texas ran the ball 39 times and never tried to take advantage of BYU's secondary.

BYU took advantage of Texas' stupidity. Good for BYU. But that's the same team that got beaten by Virginia and they didn't improve on much from that Virginia game.

There is a reason why Williams had 140 yards on 39 carries against Virginia: Virginia didn't allow Taysom's legs to beat them. Look how that game turned out.

The Texas game does not change my opinion of BYU at all.

If anyone thinks Whitt is going to leave Hill unaccounted for, they are crazy.

If anyone thinks DE will run the ball 39 times and not attack their secondary with Dres, Fitzgerald, Denham and Lewis and attack their LB'ers with our TE's with our crazy accurate QB...

BYU winning like this was best possible turnout for Utah. We now have tape on the one thing BYU does well.

[LA Ute]

Dan Wolken, USA Today sports: (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/09/08/analysis-mack-brown-texas-lane-kiffin-southern-california-coaches-hot-seat/2782321/)


All summer long, Texas coach Mack Brown tried to paint the most pleasant picture of his program, denying the notion that he was under pressure to win big this season.

Halfway across the country, Southern California athletics director Pat Haden posted a video on the school's athletics website declaring emphatically that Lane Kiffin was not on the proverbial hot seat.


Just two weeks into the season, those sunny outlooks for two of college football's mega-programs are already in serious doubt.


Brown might not publicly acknowledge that his tenure at Texas is in jeopardy, but his actions Sunday said it all. Fewer than 24 hours after the Longhorns were embarrassed by Brigham Young, 40-21, Brown fired defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and replaced him with Greg Robinson, a former Syracuse head coach and veteran coordinator in the NFL and college ranks.

Meanwhile, USC fans chanted "Fire Kiffin" at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday night as the Trojans, who were 15-point betting favorites against Washington State, fell 10-7.


For Brown and Kiffin, what has transpired the first two weeks isn't merely a worst-case scenario, it's practically apocalyptic.


Texas didn't just lose a road game to middling BYU, it was absolutely annihilated, yielding 550 rushing yards to a team whose offense has been one-dimensional and quite easy to defend most of the last two years. Brown pretty much tipped his hand after the game when reporters asked him if Diaz would continue as coordinator and he responded by saying he would need to watch the tape.

779

[LA Ute]

The coming week in our conference:


PAC-12 TO BE TESTED IN WEEK THREE

Walnut Creek, Calif - The Pac-12 went a perfect 8-0 against non-conference foes in week two, outscoring their opponents 384-111. USC and Washington State faced off in the first Conference game of 2013 with the Cougars picking up their first win over the Trojans since 2002 in a 10-7 victory at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. The competition ramps up this week as Pac-12 teams will face non-conference opponents that have gone a combined 18-2 through the first two weeks of the season with three Pac-12 programs taking on nationally ranked teams. Week three will also feature the second Conference game of the season when Oregon State visits unbeaten Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

AROUND THE PAC-12

PICK SIX: Pac-12 defenses stepped up to add points of their own to the scoreboard. Five interceptions were returned for touchdowns last week. COLORADO returned a pair of picks for touchdowns (55 yds and 39 yds). The Buff’s defense had just three interceptions all of last season. ARIZONA also returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns (52 yds, 49 yds), including Tre’Mayne Bondurant’s second return for a score this season. WASHINGTON STATE added a pick six for its only touchdown in its 10-7 win over USC. UTAH’s defense also got into the scoring column with a fumble return for a touchdown (21 yds).

QB KEEPER: Last season, four different Pac-12 quarterbacks accounted for 10 rushes of at least 30 yards each, with half of those coming from OREGON QB Marcus Mariota. Just two weeks into the 2013 season, five different Pac-12 quarterbacks have accounted for eight rushes for at least 30 yards. The list this season includes: ARIZONA’s B.J. Denker (30, 35) and Javelle Allen (61); Oregon’s Mariota (46, 71); UCLA’s Brett Hundley (37); UTAH’s Travis Wilson (38, 51). Each of the eight rushes resulted in touchdowns. Both Mariota (5th/117.5 ypg) and Denker (10th/65.5 ypg) are among the league’s top ten in rushing.

THESE GUYS HAVE CLASS: Thirty NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate football. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The Pac-12 was represented by six student-athletes: Vincenzo D’Amato (CAL), Alden Darby (ASU), Jake Fischer (ARIZ), Andrew Furney (WSU), and Will Sutton (ASU).

PAC-12 WELL REPRESENTED ON NFL ROSTERS: According to NFL.com, 266 former Pac-12 football players were listed on team rosters (active, reserve, practice squads) for the opening weekend of the NFL season. That was the third most by any conference, trailing the SEC (371) and ACC (291). USC led all Pac-12 schools with 45 former Trojans listed on NFL rosters, while CALIFORNIA was next with 35. For the complete list (as of Sept. 6), see pages 8-9 of this release.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

No. 5 STANFORD (1-0) at Army (1-1)
Sat., Sept. 14, 12 noon ET - CBSSN
STANFORD: Senior FS Ed Reynolds had a game-high 12 tackles (9 solo) to go with an interception in Stanford’s 34-13 victory over San Jose State. His interception extended Stanford’s streak of consecutive games with a takeaway to 25. The streak is the longest in the nation . . . Stanford’s current streak of being in the Top 5 of the AP poll for three consecutive ranking periods is one week shy of the school’s best of four weeks achieved during the 1940 season.

No. 16 UCLA (1-0) at No. 23 Nebraska (2-0)
Sat., Sept. 14, 11 a.m. CT - ABC
UCLA: With 4,014 career passing yards, sophomore QB Brett Hundley needs 74 yards to move into UCLA’s top ten list, passing former Bruin and 1967 Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban (4,087 yards). In the season-opener, Hundley connected with 10 different receivers with senior Shaquelle Evans pulling in 6 rec/81 yards and 1 TD . . . Junior RB Jordan James rushed for 155 yards in the opener as UCLA rushed for 345 yards against Nevada . . . In last year’s win over Nebraska, the Bruins had 653 yards in total offense (344 rush/309 pass).

Fresno State (2-0) at COLORADO (2-0)
Sat., Sept. 14, 12 noon PT - P12N
COLORADO: Junior WR Paul Richardson has been Mr. Consistency posting nearly identical numbers in each of the first two games this season. He grabbed 10 receptions for 208 yards in the season opener, then tallied 11 receptions for 209 yards in the win over Central Arkansas. It’s the first time in Pac-12 history that a receiver has posted back-to-back games with 200 or more yards receiving . . . The Buffs look to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2008.

Boston College (2-0) at USC (1-1)
Sat., Sept. 14, 12 noon PT - P12N
USC: The Trojan defense held Washington State to seven yards rushing and now leads the nation in rushing defense allowing 15.0 ypg, as well as sacks with 11 (5.5 per game) . . . The offense saw a breakout performance by sophomore TB Tre Madden who has posted back-to-back games with 100 or more rushing yards. He’s the first Trojan since Marcus Allen in 1981 to open the season with consecutive 100-yard rushing games. Madden’s grandfather is NFL All-Pro RB Lawrence McCutcheon who set the since-broken Los Angeles Rams career rushing record (6,186 yards).

Tennessee (2-0) at No. 2 OREGON (2-0)
Sat., Sept. 14, 12:30 p.m. PT - ABC
OREGON: Through two games, the Ducks have posted five 100-yard rushing performances - two by De’Anthony Thomas, two by Marcus Mariota and one by Byron Marshall. Mariota is the first Oregon QB to rush for 100 or more yards in back-to-back games . . . Strike fast, strike often. Eight of Oregon’s nine scoring drives last week against Virgina were accomplished in under two minutes. That’s 17 of 19 scoring drives this season in less than two minutes (the other two drives were 2:11 and 3:08) . . .

No. 19 WASHINGTON (1-0) vs. Illinois (2-0)
Sat., Sept. 14, 5 p.m. CT - BTN
WASHINGTON: The Huskies appear in back-to-back AP polls for the first time since the 2003 season . . . Senior QB Keith Price has 56 TD passes in his career, most in school history and ranks 25th all-time in the Pac-12 . .. Junior TB Bishop Sankey has rushed for 100 or more yards in five of the last six games. He’s gained 368 yards over his last two games.

Southern Utah (2-0) at WASHINGTON STATE (1-1)
Sat., Sept. 14 - 3:30 p.m. - P12N
WASHINGTON STATE: With its 10-7 win over USC, WSU snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Trojans. It was the first win at USC since 2000 . . . The Cougar pass defense held USC to 54 yards on 11 completions (4.9 ypc), while limiting All-American Marqise Lee to 27 yards on seven catches . . . WSU leads the Pac-12, and is sixth in the FBS, allowing just 72.8 passing yards per game.

No. 4 Ohio State (2-0) at CALIFORNIA (1-1)
Sat., Sept. 14, 4 p.m. PT - FOX
CALIFORNIA: Freshman QB Jared Goff has thrown for 930 yards in two games, completing 72 of 115 pass attempts (62.6 percent). His two-game total is just eight yards shy of the Pac-12 record two-game total of 938 yards set by former Cal Bear Pat Barnes in 1996. Barnes posted 435 yards vs. UCLA, then followed with a school-record 503 yards vs. Arizona . . . The last time Cal hosted a non-conference foe ranked among the top five was No. 4 Nebraska in 1998 (lost, 24-3).

OREGON STATE (1-1) at UTAH (2-0)
Sat., Sept. 14, 8 p.m. MT - FS1
OREGON STATE: Junior QB Sean Mannion threw for 372 yards and 4 TD in the win over Hawai’i. It was fifth time he’s thrown for 350 or more yards in a game, while it was the sixth time he’s tossed three or more TD passes in a game . . . Mannion connected with 10 different receivers against Hawai’i. Sophomore RB Storm Woods had 7 rec/95 yds, while junior WR Brandin Cooks had 7 rec/92 yds and 2 TDs.

UTAH: The Utes are coming off a game in which they set a school mark for points in a quarter with 35 in the second quarter of a 70-7 win over Weber State . . . It’s the second time in school history it has amassed 100 points in the first two games (1973; 29-22 loss at Texas Tech, 82-6 win vs. UTEP) . . . Sophomore QB Travis Wilson has connected on 31-of-47 for 566 yards and 5 TDs this season and his 202.2 passing efficiency rating ranks eighth in the FBS.

UTSA (1-1) at ARIZONA (2-0)
Sat., Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. - P12N
ARIZONA: After serving a one-game suspension, junior RB Ka’Deem Carey returned to post 171 rushing yards on 16 carries (10.7 ypc) and 2 TDs, including a 56-yard TD run on his first carry of the season . . . Carey has 31 rushing TDs, second on the school’s career list. (UA record is 44 by Art Lupino, 1953-56) . . . Junior S Tra’Mayne Bondurant added his FBS-leading third interception of the season with a pick he returned 52 yards for a TD, his second return this season for a touchdown.

No. 20 Wisconsin (2-0) at ARIZONA STATE (1-0)
Sat., Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. - ESPN
ARIZONA STATE: ASU is 8-0 vs. the Big Ten at Sun Devil Stadium . . . The Sun Devils continue to play discipline football as they committed just one penalty for five yards in their season-opening win over Sacramento State. ASU led the Pac-12 last season with just 55 penalties (4.2 per game) for 454 yards (34.9 ypg) . . . Junior QB Taylor Kelly completed 23 of 31 passes for 300 yards and a career high-tying five TDs. He has a streak of 102 straight pass attempts without an interception dating back to last year, which currently stands fourth nationally. His touchdown passes of 16, 41, 24, 33 and 26 yards, all went to five different receivers. Dating back to the final three games of the 2013 season, Kelly has gone 76-of-102 (.745) with 13 touchdowns and zero interceptions on 1,005 yards.

- www.pac-12.com -

[sancho]

4 Pac-12/Big12 games this weekend. Pac-12 could finish anywhere from 3-1 to 0-4 in those games.

[OrangeUte]

Tcu v. Texas tech is a boring game. But tcu just tied it up with a punt return. 10-10 with 11:10 left in the fourth quarter.

[FN Phat]

Try again?

[OrangeUte]

Try again?

Now it's 10-10. Thank heavens. That was just embarrassing.

[uteinlogan]

Also says Mack Brown is in trouble because of the trend there -- BYU game being only the latest example. He gives BYU no credit for the win, which is probably not quite fair and must be annoying to BYU fans. http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/signs/smiley-vault-signs-123.gif (http://www.smileyvault.com/)


The zoobs played well and deserve credit. However when the zoobs started a smack email chain at my employment they will have none of the Texas is overrated talk. They are convinced that they are really that good to run for 500+ yards on a legit Longhorn team. The fact that they didn't do that against UVA is also somehow irrelevant. It's so hard to talk to the uber-zoobs that even Bama wouldn't do that against Idaho. Oh well. Zoobs will be zoobs.

[LA Ute]

The zoobs played well and deserve credit. However when the zoobs started a smack email chain at my employment they will have none of the Texas is overrated talk. They are convinced that they are really that good to run for 500+ yards on a legit Longhorn team. The fact that they didn't do that against UVA is also somehow irrelevant. It's so hard to talk to the uber-zoobs that even Bama wouldn't do that against Idaho. Oh well. Zoobs will be zoobs.

I hope that kind of thinking gets into the players' heads. They've had a whole week to marinate in Kool-Aid. Could be very helpful to us.


"It's men in shorts."

-- Rick Majerus

[OrangeUte]

Cal is going to surprise people today. I just have a feeling about this one.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Cal is going to surprise people today. I just have a feeling about this one.

Cal surprised me plenty last week against Portland State. There's no way they keep this close.


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[DrumNFeather]

UCLA had a rough start, but they are rallying

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[LA Ute]

UCLA had a rough start, but they are rallying

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Hundley looking good now. We're not going to be able to stop him but I hope we can minimize the damage he'll do.


"It's men in shorts."

-- Rick Majerus

[LA Ute]

The Bruins have scored 21 straight in Nebraska. I'm happy to see this. Go PAC-12!


"It's men in shorts."

-- Rick Majerus

[GarthUte]

UCLA really settled down and has put it together in playing for their teammate, Pasquale. The Utes certainly know how it feels.

[OrangeUte]

Bama aTm is becoming a very exciting game. Huge game from mccarron and manziel. Good football.

Oregon bores me. Fun for awhile but then it's just not fun anymore because it isn't competitive at all.

[Utah]

Yeah, Oregon is the new BYU. Way overhyped, weak schedule and they lose to the one good team they face every year.

That's so 1984.

Either schedule better or stop talking about 'em.

[Utah]

So, after losing to the mighty Cromson Tide, how many spots in the poll does A&M...rise?

i mean, they took it to Alabama, so they must be the best ever, right? If A&M were is the Big 12 still, they would have lost by 30, right?

[Utah]

Wow, sorry, I suck at iPad typing. I hope that made sense.

[OrangeUte]

Bama aTm was a great game to watch. Can't claim otherwise.

Cal not getting creamed. That is a good thing.

[OrangeUte]

Cal has a legit quarterback in Goff.

[Mormon Red Death]

Cal has a legit quarterback in Goff.

Does he have a brother on the team? that's the question

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[OrangeUte]

Does he have a brother on the team? that's the question

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A brother. No. A band of brothers? Also no. That's taken by the real band of brothers.

[DrumNFeather]

Crazy ending in that game...Wisconsin QB chasing down the ref

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[Utah]

Crazy ending in that game...Wisconsin QB chasing down the ref

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The refs were terrible. Three bad calls on one play. Should have been a fumble. Then a delay of game. Then you don't allow the offense to snap the ball.

Wow. Guess the NCAA has all the resources tied up in keeping Saban's payroll met.

[U-Ute]

Ole Miss rolls Longhorns. Taysom Hill looking more like Johnny Lingo than Johnny Football.

[GarthUte]

The refs were terrible. Three bad calls on one play. Should have been a fumble. Then a delay of game. Then you don't allow the offense to snap the ball.

Wow. Guess the NCAA has all the resources tied up in keeping Saban's payroll met.

All that could have been avoided had the QB just spiked the ball. It's on him, not the officials.

[sancho]

I think both Kiffin and Brown should have been fired yesterday. It's clear now that neither one is wanted or capable. Once you know you don't want your coach anymore, you fire him immediately. Otherwise, you run the risk of him partially turning things around. If Mack Brown ends up at 9-3 this year, it will be harder to justify firing him. Do it now while the justifying is good.

This is happening. Brown upset Oklahoma, and now the sentiment to keep him will grow. Then Texas ends up stuck with a guy who will never get them back to the championship game. Should have fired him while the firing was good.