Nick Daschel is a veteran sports writer and columnist who has worked on the West coast for nearly three decades. Nick has covered the Pac-10 for about 15 years, primarily focusing on the Northwest schools.
Reviewing the Saturday that was, but first, a reminder of what’s ahead this week with what we hope is the revival of a pretty good rivalry:
On to the weekly grades:
Washington: Suspect there is a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth Sunday in Seattle after the awful finish against Arizona State. But let’s back up a bit. The first half was one to forget, too. The Huskies were outplayed and fortunate to escape at halftime trailing only 14-7. The second half was much better. Washington got a lot more pressure on ASU quarterback Danny Sullivan, and its offense was clicking. Jake Locker enhanced his NFL stock with some of the long, impossible throws he made during the final two quarters. By the way, one overlooked play is Johri Fogerson’s fumble of a punt return early in the fourth quarter at the UW 44. At the time, Washington trailed 17-14, but had all of the game’s momentum on both sides of the ball. We might not be talking about Chris McGaha’s inexplicable touchdown streak had Fogerson hung on to the ball.
But, it’s hard to get past those final, bizarre 77 seconds of the game. Even if you’re trying to guard against a possible field goal attempt, ASU still had to move the ball inside the 20 to have a reasonable chance given kicker Thomas Weber’s physical condition. How about using one of those three timeouts to make sure everyone is on the same page? You know, a timeout where you might say to the secondary, “Be sure not to let one of their receivers run down the middle of the field unchecked. Okay?” By the way, ESPN.com’s Ted Miller nails it here on defensive coordinator Nick Holt and his antics during and after the ASU loss. Grade: C-plus
Washington State: Bye week.
Oregon State: Bye week.
Oregon: Bye week.
California: OK, promise not to get so windy on the rest of these. Well, at least we know Jeff Tedford hasn’t entirely lost it. He had a bye week to get Cal’s offense back on track, and the Bears did in a big way, scorching what is supposed to be a decent UCLA defense for 35 first half points. Kevin Riley got back some of his previous form, but he’ll need several good performances to erase the USC and Oregon debacles. Jahvid Best remains puzzling. One run for 93 yards, the other 17 for nine yards. He has to do better. Good thing Cal’s JV back, Shane Vereen, is pretty good. Grade: B
Stanford: Not sure which team should be more disappointed, Washington or Stanford. Wait, I pick Stanford, because at least the Cardinal had their game by the throatlatch. When you’re up 28-13 and your quarterback is pitching like Greg Maddux in his prime, the game should end in a win. Nearly 600 yards of offense against Arizona ought to be enough. But, as usual, Stanford’s defense finds a way to boot one. Only this time, it hurt much worse than the meltdown at Wake Forest. With games remaining against ASU, Oregon, USC, California and Notre Dame, getting to six wins will be an uphill battle. Grade: B-minus
USC: For a little more than seven quarters, USC outscored two Top 25 teams (Cal, Notre Dame) 64-17 on the road. Sure, it got a little dicey in the end, and the Trojans didn’t help themselves with a flood of dumb fourth-quarter penalties against the Irish. But the real USC is the team that buried Cal and Notre Dame during that 107-minute stretch. The Trojans made the Heisman frontrunner, Jimmy Clausen, look ordinary. USC freshman Matt Barkley, not Clausen, was the best quarterback on the field Saturday. Grade: B-plus
UCLA: Is it possible the Bruins have but one Pac-10 win in their future, the free square known as Washington State? Yes. Because UCLA is road kill if its defense doesn’t show up, and it didn’t against Cal. Giving up five touchdowns between 24 and 93 yards is disgraceful. The Bruins offense was a tick better, but still, having to settle four times for Kai Forbath field goals when the other team is blowing up the scoreboard doesn’t cut it. Grade: C-minus
Arizona State: Wow, is the Sun Devils’ defense going to be good when it grows up and gets a little discipline. Only a quarterback of Jake Locker’s ability could have stood up to ASU’s searing defensive heat Saturday. Offensively, I suppose I’ll tip my cap to Danny Sullivan, who had a solid game against the Huskies. But how many of you watched that game thinking, this is more about UW’s lack of defense than Sullivan’s playmaking ability. I’ll raise my hand. Grade: B
Arizona: In the first three starts of his Arizona career, Nick Foles is 104 for 138 for 1,053 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s Tom Bradyesque. Who needs a stinkin’ defense when the quarterback can throw for 400 yards with his eyes closed? OK, so it’s not that simple; otherwise, Washington State would have won big during the Alex Brink era. About that Wildcat defense: what happened? Weren’t these guys supposed to give USC a run for best-of-show in the Pac-10? In three league games, the Wildcats have given up a cool 106 points. Speaking of the Cougars … Grade: B-minus
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