Week 6 Report

The Good: Palo Alto, California - The #1 Stanford Cardinal clashed with the #13 Washington Huskies in what could only be described as a stunning battle of defensive strength.  Both teams were used to lighting up the scoreboard, but both Pac 12 leading passer Kevin Hogan and freshman Cyler Miles struggled through the game.  The first half was slow going until the Huskies found the endzone with a 1 yard run by Deontae Cooper.  Stanford answered back with an explosive 59 yard touchdown run by Anthony Wilkerson and just like that the game was tied 7 - 7.  On the next drive Washington quarterback Miles completed a pass to his fullback Cooper Pelluer for his first touchdown of the day.  the clock was winding down as Hogan drove down the field and, after being stopped 3 times at the goal line, eventually settled for a field goal.  Jordan Williamson's 23 yard field goal was good as the game went into the half 14 - 10 Huskies.  The 2nd half was even quieter than the first as the only touchdown in the third quarter was a 2 yard run by Bishop Sankey to cap off an efficient drive by the Huskies.  They now led 21 - 10 with the fourth quarter about to begin.  The Stanford coach must of said something to his quarterback because Hogan came out firing on all cylinders.  He drove down the field and soon found Ty Montgomery wide open for a 45 yard touchdown.  The Cardinal elected to go for 2 on the extra point and succeeded.  The score was now 21 - 18 and all the cardinal needed was to get the ball back and kick a field goal.  This game had the makings for a comeback, but on the onside kick, Washington was able to recover the ball and put that thought far out of mind as they ran the clock out to victory.  An upset by immeasurable proportions as the Huskies could return to Washington with the confidence and look forward to next weeks game against the #4 Oregon Ducks.  

The Middle: Dallas, Texas - Arizona State had to be feeling the pressure that only a 2 game losing streak provides as they arrived in Dallas to take on the #2 Norte Dame Irish in a neutral site game.  After a 3 and out by both teams, Notre Dame junior quarterback Andrew Hendrix led the Fighting Irish out onto the field as he replaced the injured senior Tommy Reese and soon found himself in the redzone.  He ran the ball himself for 7 yards and scored the first points of the day making it 7 - 0 Irish.  As the first quarter came to an end, Taylor Kelley launched a 15 yard pass to sophomore wideout Richard Smith for a score of their own.  The second quarter was all field goals as ASU kicker Alex Garoutte made a 28 yard field goal.  The Irish answered back with two field goals by Kyle Brindza, 23 yard and 40 yard, that gave the Irish the lead going into the half 13 - 10. The second half began and Kelley drove down the field and ultimately scored, taking the lead for ASU 17 - 13 on a 16 yard pass to sophomore receiver Jaelen Strong for his second of the day.  The Irish answered back again as Hendrix scored with his arm this time, completing a 10 yard pass to senior receiver Tj Jones and shuffled the lead back in their favor 20 - 17.  The fourth quarter was all defense as ASU shut down everything Notre Dame threw at them while driving into field goal range twice.  Garoutte nailed both kicks, putting the Devils ahead 23 - 20 with 47 seconds left in the game.  The ASU defense went on to hold off any hope of an Irish comeback.  The Sun Devils completed the second upset of the day as they went on to defeat the Irish behind their kicker Alex Garoutte who gets an honorable mention for his outstanding performance.  With this win over the #2 team in the nation, the Devils can only be optimistic about what is to come next week.

The Bad: Boulder, Colorado - The game under the radar this week was a matchup between the #4 Oregon Ducks and the Colorado Buffaloes.  Both teams came into this game undefeated, but only one team would leave so.  The Ducks' spread option offense seemed unstoppable with Marcus Mariota at the helm and De'Anthony Thomas in the backfield, but the Buffs coach had a game plan of his own.......hold the ball on offense as long as he could.  The first quarter began with a nearly 4 minute drive by the Buffs that finished with a 8 yard touchdown pass from the freshman quarterback Shane Dillon to junior wideout Tyler McCullough to put the Buffs up 7 - 0.  The Ducks followed suit and scored on a 4 yard run by Mariota on a read option, the hallmark of the Duck's offense.  The game was now tied 7 - 7, but Dillon stayed poised and precise as he faced the Ducks punishing rush defense.  The run game for the Buffs was nonexistent, but the pass was working, especially on third down thanks to the play calls by coach Dayne.  The Buffs went on to score with another 8 yard pass from Dillon, this time to his tight end Vincent Hobbs giving the Buffs the lead 14 - 7.  Halftime came and went as both teams traded 3 and outs, showing how much defense was a part of this game, and remained scoreless throught the 3rd quarter.  After another 3 and out by the Buffs, Oregon drove downfield and were 11 yards from the touchdown as a 4th down arrived gave the Ducks pause.  Coach New elected to go for it since they only needed 2 yards for a first down. They called a run for Thomas to the left side, but it was stuffed by sophomore safety Marques Mosley.  It was a turnover on downs and the Buffs offense trotted out onto the field. They moved slowly down field and reached the goal line after eating up tons of the clock.  Ultimatly, Christian Powell scored on a 2 yard run making the score 21 - 7 with under 3 minutes in the game.  The Ducks offense stalled out as they could not find the endzone again and the Buffs went on to win the game.  The Ducks offense was kept to under 200 yards as they will fall out of the top 10 with a loss to an unranked team.  Oregon can only hope they can forget this game as they head into Husky Stadium to face the Washington Huskies next week.

Game Of The Week: Los Angeles, California - The Arizona Wildcats vs the USC Trojans is the game of the week after a poll by all of the Pac 12 head coaches.  After looking at the rest of the division's schedules you could argue that there are some higher ranked teams facing off this week, but none of the other games are as intriguing as this one.  Both teams come into the game with one loss and the knowledge that one of them will walk out of Memorial Coliseum with their head held high and still in the hunt for the division title while the other will all but be knocked out of the race completely. I'll see you guys at the Coliseum.

Once again great job my friend so much fun to read these!! Cant wait until week 7 is done and maybe just maybe I can finally read about myself a little or in the upcoming weeks (as long as im not the victim of the bad section lol). Keep this up and Lax my try to talk you into doing these full time!!

I was actually going to name UCLA vs Cal the game of the week but then another person voted for Arizona vs USC which put them one up on you guys. Your guys game looked like a good one though so who knows.......it might just make it  

Jettwing wrote:I was actually going to name UCLA vs Cal the game of the week but then another person voted for Arizona vs USC which put them one up on you guys.  Your guys game looked like a good one though so who knows.......it might just make it  

I will stay tuned in hopes i fit in somewhere:D  but regardless i look forward to the next report