Buster Sports

Here are the best and worst moments of Saturday’s Pac-10 games:

Best: USC-Oregon State going old school Pac-10. A couple of gun-slinging quarterbacks and offenses trading touchdowns in the most entertaining half of football to date this Pac-10 season. The SEC likes its defense, but out here on the West coast, we like it when two teams hang seven touchdowns on the scoreboard in two quarters.

Best: Stanford bullying a good defense. Sure, Arizona State’s defensive numbers are skewed by a soft schedule, but there’s little doubt the Sun Devils have a talented, aggressive defense. The Cardinal weren’t swayed, running for 237 yards and passing for 236 yards against what was the country’s No. 7 defense.

Worst: Washington’s third quarter collapse. When the Huskies win the coin toss, coach Steve Sarkisian likes to defer to the second half, because he believes the third quarter is the most important stage of a football game. That sure was the case Saturday in Husky Stadium, but not in Washington’s favor. UW played like the Ty Willingham Huskies during the opening stages of the second half against Oregon. The Ducks needed all of 17 plays to move 180 yards and score three touchdowns to turn a close game into a one-sided 43-19 win.

Worst: WSU doesn’t wake up after its bye week. So much for being ready and refreshed coming off a bye week. Cal hit the Cougars defense for touchdown plays of 21, 27, 37, 61 and 76 yards during the first 19 minutes on the way to a 49-17 trouncing.

Nick Daschel covers the Pac-10 for Buster Sports, and can be reached at ndaschel@bustersports.com

Pac 10 football, USC Football, Oregon beats Washington