| Matt Scott and Arizona narrowly slipped USC's grasp, sending the Trojans to their second defeat. (US Presswire) |
Pac-12 scoreboard
No. 2 Oregon 70, Colorado 14: A look at the scoring summary shows more "Os" than a box of Cheerios. That's a ton of "Os." Eight first-half touchdowns for the Ducks (8-0, 5-0) will do that for you. As expected, Oregon scored at will against the overmatched Buffaloes (1-7, 1-4), with just about everyone on display. Marcus Mariota had three touchdowns, backup QB Bryan Bennett had three scores, Kenjon Barner had two, De'Anthony Thomas had two and coach Chip Kelly himself might have had eight or nine. (For more on the game, check out CBSSports.com's Eye on College Football blog)
UCLA 45, Arizona State 43: A freshman quarterback behind three freshmen offensive linemen with a wide receiver crew with four freshmen trying to set up a freshman for a game-winning field goal? That's the recipe for success. Well, UCLA (6-2, 3-2) may have flirted with danger, but the kids are alright. Redshirt freshman QB Brett Hundley led the Bruins down the field to set up a 33-yard field goal by freshman K Ka'imi Fairbairn as time expired to pull out the come-from-behind win over the Sun Devils (5-3, 3-2). Boosted by a critical, questionable play call -- a Johnathan Franklin run with 13 seconds left that went for 7 yards to make it closer for Fairbairn -- gave UCLA and coach Jim Mora an earlier-than-expected bowl berth. QB Taylor Kelly was 25 of 35 for 315 yards, four touchdowns and an interception for Arizona State, which has lost two straight and travels to Oregon State and USC in back-to-back weeks.
Arizona 39, No. 9 USC 36: Matt Barkley may have outdueled Matt Scott, and Marqise Lee may have outdueled Austin Hill, but Scott and Hill got the last laugh as Arizona (5-3, 2-3) surprised USC (6-2, 4-2). Scott completed 27 of 51 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 100 yards and a score while Hill grabbed 10 passes for 259 yards. Barkley and Lee, though, shined in defeat. Barkley went 31 of 49 passing for 493 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, while Lee set a conference record with 16 catches for 345 yards and two touchdowns. A last-second Hail Mary by Barkley hit Lee in the hands before dropping to the ground, giving the Trojans a costly second loss. (For more on the game, check out CBSSports.com's Eye on College Football blog)
No. 19 Stanford 24, Washington State 17: Washington State had more yards (385-256), first downs (25-13) and time of possession (33:36-26:24), but the Cougars (0-5, 2-6) didn't have more where it counted -- points. Stanford (6-1, 4-1) survived the upset bid thanks largely to a defense that scored a touchdown and had nine sacks. A fourth-quarter interception return for a touchdown by DB Ed Reynolds proved to be the game-winner, but the win wasn't sealed until Cardinal DL Henry Anderson sacked WSU QB Jeff Tuel on the final play of the game with Washington State at Stanford's 19. Tuel was 43 of 60 with a career-high 401 yards in the loss. Stanford QB Josh Nunes was 7 of 15 for 136 yards and a touchdown. Cardinal RB Stepfan Taylor, who ran for a career-high 189 yards against Cal last week, was limited to 58 yards. (For more on the game, check out CBSSports.com's Eye on College Football blog)
Washington 20, No. 7 Oregon State 17: Maybe Mike Riley brought back Sean Mannion too early. In his first game since undergoing meniscus surgery Oct. 10, Mannion threw four interceptions in the Beavers' loss. Backup QB Cody Vaz, who led the Beavers to a 2-0 record in Mannion's absence, almost engineered an impressive comeback. With Oregon State trailing 17-10 in the fourth, Riley called on Vaz, who directed a 76-yard touchdown drive. But Washington repsonded on the ensuing possession with a 63-yard drive that culminated with a Travis Coons 30-yard field goal that proved to be the difference. Mannion was 18 of 34 for 221 yards and a touchdown. Vaz was 7 of 11 for 97 yards and a touchdown. Husky QB Keith Price threw for 194 yards, but the offensive story for Washington was RB Bishop Sankey, who scored both Huskies touchdowns and ran for 92 yards. (For more on the game, check out CBSSports.com's Eye on College Football blog)
Utah 49, Cal 27: Cal coach Jeff Tedford called it one of the worst losses he's had and it's easy to see why. The Bears gave up a defensive touchdown, two kickoff returns for scores and four offensive touchdowns to a Utah offense ranked last in the Pac-12. All four Ute offensive touchdowns came on the ground, including two from John White, who had 105 yards. Utah (3-5, 1-4) freshman QB Travis Wilson threw for 156 yards and ran for a score. Reggie Dunn had two 100-yard returns for scores. QB Zach Maynard threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears (3-6, 2-4).
Play of the day: The call goes like this -- "Thomas is going to let it bounce. Thomas will take it. Thomas turns 20, eludes a tackler, bouncing out left side, can he get to the edge? Has tacklers ahead, shakes right, moves left, near edge, breaks 30, tiptoes 40, across midfield, still churning, 30, to the 20, here he comes, Black Mamba, all the way home for the touchdown, Oregon." That was the call for Thomas' absolutely insane punt return touchdown against Colorado, which you can see for yourself above.
He said what? UCLA coach Mora after the Bruins' come-from-behind win over Arizona State: "I am so ... darn ... proud of these kids."
RapidReports offensive star of the day: USC WR Lee. Last week, it was Barkley breaking Pac-12 records, this week it was Lee. The sophomore wide receiver had 16 catches for a Pac-12 record 345 yards in the Trojans' loss to Arizona. The previous mark was 293 yards by Mike Hass (Oregon State). Lee's 16 catches included two touchdowns that went for more than 40 yards.
RapidReports defensive star of the day: UCLA LB Eric Kendricks. Kendricks, who entered the game ranked third in the Pac-12 with 57 tackles and fourth with 8.1 tackles per game, likely moved up the charts Saturday. He had 17 tackles against the Sun Devils, and in a two-point, last-second win, every one of them mattered.
His seat is getting uncomfortable: Colorado coach Jon Embree. It's not that the Buffaloes are losing. That can be forgiven. But the way Colorado is losing -- by 56 points to a conference foe? -- is pretty damning.
A possible spot on the bench for: The Arizona State defense. The Sun Devils had one job: Don't let UCLA's freshman foundation enter field-goal range. So what'd they do? They let the Bruins march down field, even gaining a critical extra 7 yards on the second-to-last play from scrimmage, and UCLA won it.
Why you care about these three stat lines:
- Colorado lost: This may not sound like big news, but it is. Every FBS team that has beaten Colorado this season has followed up the win with a loss the next week. Oregon's next opponent: USC.
- Johnathan Franklin runs for 164 yards: After being held to an average of 90.5 yards per game the past two weeks, the Pac-12's leading rusher responded with 164 yards in a big win over Arizona State. UCLA's offense works best when Franklin is running well, and if he runs well over UCLA's final four games, the Bruins could win the Pac-12 South.
- Matt Scott throws for 369 yards: Not only did Scott throw for 369 yards, but he also threw three touchdown passes in the Wildcats win. Arizona has three conference losses, but if they win out and USC loses once -- the Trojans have to play Oregon -- the Wildcats will be the Pac-12 South champions. Scott's health is a question mark after he suffered a concussion Saturday.
Key number: 426. Oregon ran and ran and ran against Colorado, and Forrest Gump could not have done it better. The Ducks had 426 yards and it was most certainly a family affair.
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